Can we catch both Electrical parade and the new Magical fireworks at one night?

[svres]

Hi,

We are visiting Disneyland next week and only have one night to spend there. There will be Electrical parade at DCA at 8:45 and the new Magical fireworks show at DLP at 9:25. Do you think it is possible to catch both? Three adults and two kids who will be carried by stroller here.

Would it be possible if we watch the first parade at the closest spot from the DCA gate and then hurry to DLP?

If not, would you recommend which one to see?

Thanks!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Normally, I would say yes, it can be done, but with the NEW elements in the Electrical Parade and NEW fireworks show the crowd is going to be huge going from one park to the other. You can try, but it will be very difficult. You can also stay in the Esplanade area, although that might be crowded right now, too.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Hi,

We are visiting Disneyland next week and only have one night to spend there. There will be Electrical parade at DCA at 8:45 and the new Magical fireworks show at DLP at 9:25. Do you think it is possible to catch both? Three adults and two kids who will be carried by stroller here.

Would it be possible if we watch the first parade at the closest spot from the DCA gate and then hurry to DLP?

If not, would you recommend which one to see?

Thanks!

I agree with Mary Jo that with the high crowds right now, it's difficult to do both; however, it is not an easy feat even without all the new-ness.

The DEP starts at 8:45pm. If you have a spot to watch the parade at the closest possible point along the parade route to the Main Gate of DCA, the second you see the last float, you turn and "walk with purpose" towards the gate. You cross the Esplanade between the 2 parks and hit the Main Gate to DL. Here's where your first road block is going to hit. If you were the only one doing this, you could soar right in. However, you are going to meet a wall of fellow guests that are also just leaving DCA to catch the fireworks - all of whom have to pass through the turnstiles with you. Then, you (and all of your new best friends) have to funnel through the tunnels under the railroad and enter Main Street. Here, you will meet your next batch of new best friends: all the people that have been camped out for hours to watch the fireworks show.

Is it do-able? Yes. Does it require patience, perseverance, and an acceptance to not have the best view, but a view? Yes. But it can be done.

Good luck and enjoy!

- Dreams

P.S. Welcome to DIS!
P.P.S FYI, DLP generally stands for Disneyland Paris. DL is Disneyland

 

[BrerMama]

It would be tight. The Electrical Parade starts deep in the park, and ends almost at the entrance. We sat at the start last night and followed the parade out, swinging left as soon as we could to avoid the parade traffic. The Electrical Parade started late last night, and the fireworks were ending as we left DCA. The parade was just getting to the front of the park as we were exiting, btw. Lots of people just sitting in the esplanade watching the fireworks. Then the line to get in DL was huge and once you got in, they were directing everyone entering to the right. It would be very, very tight on a night when they both start on time.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

It's possible to see the DEP and Magical in the same night, but like the other posters mentioned, both shows are very popular right now, so it's going to be very crowded.

We watched both shows in early-Aug. '07, on a Wednesday night.

We watched the DEP in the Paradise Pier area, on the "Mulholland Madness-side" of the parade route. Just as the parade passed we walked quickly to exit DCA. (We walked past the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail; past Soarin'; and through Sunshine Plaza to the exit.) (BTW, my wife and I were both pushing strollers. )

We were lucky and made it all the way to the hub. We watched the fireworks standing half-way between the Partners Statue and the Tomorrowland entrance, which is an o.k. spot considering.

Like I wrote above... it's possible... but your view for the fireworks may not be ideal.

HTH

Edited to add: Here are links to some maps.

DLR: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/map/mapSWF?name=MapOverviewPage

DL: http://adisneyland.disney.go.com/media/dlr_v0200/en_US/map/images/DLPLowbandMap.pdf

DCA: http://adisneyland.disney.go.com/media/dlr_v0200/en_US/map/images/DCALowbandMap.pdf

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I hope to visit the parks next month on Wed. the 15th ~ if we do we'll attempt the Trifecta ~ EP, fireworks & F! (2nd showing of F!) We would've completed the Trifecta in April of 08 had they not canceled the fireworks. Check out this post by DangerMouse ~ http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22784289&postcount=8

 

[Kriddlet]

That's a good question, and suggestions! We will be there a week from tomorrow and only have a day and a half. I already have plans to see the electrical parade, but would love to see the fireworks too, if possible.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

It would be tight. The Electrical Parade starts deep in the park, and ends almost at the entrance. We sat at the start last night and followed the parade out, swinging left as soon as we could to avoid the parade traffic. The Electrical Parade started late last night, and the fireworks were ending as we left DCA. The parade was just getting to the front of the park as we were exiting, btw. Lots of people just sitting in the esplanade watching the fireworks. Then the line to get in DL was huge and once you got in, they were directing everyone entering to the right. It would be very, very tight on a night when they both start on time.

Ditto! The same thing happened to us.

It's possible to see the DEP and Magical in the same night, but like the other posters mentioned, both shows are very popular right now, so it's going to be very crowded.

We watched both shows in early-Aug. '07, on a Wednesday night.

We watched the DEP in the Paradise Pier area, on the "Mulholland Madness-side" of the parade route. Just as the parade passed we walked quickly to exit DCA. (We walked past the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail; past Soarin'; and through Sunshine Plaza to the exit.) (BTW, my wife and I were both pushing strollers. )

We were lucky and made it all the way to the hub. We watched the fireworks standing half-way between the Partners Statue and the Tomorrowland entrance, which is an o.k. spot considering.

Like I wrote above... it's possible... but your view for the fireworks may not be ideal.

I did this in the past too, but didn't the MSEP used to start at 8pm or something like that? That was doable. 8:45pm is severely pushing it. I honestly haven't made the effort to watch it the last few years, so I don't know when the time thing changed, but it seems like it's almost intentional to keep some of the crowds on the DCA side as long as possible. I was there on Friday and the MSEP started late. We were next to Golden Dreams so one of the first people out of the park. By the time we made it out we said to heck with it. Fireworks had started, the line to get in was crazy as there were only 2 or 3 lines open, and a huge crowd of people who also didn't make it in were sitting in the plaza between the two parks. So we left and decided not to fight the crowd of people going in. I was surprised that there were only a few lines allowing people in. In years past when I tried to make both, almost all the lines were open and they always had a crowd but it was manageable and moving. On Friday, it wasn't moving anywhere near fast enough and there were more lanes of people coming out than allowed to go in. I guess that's why there was such a huge crowd of people sitting in between watching the fireworks.

 

[Spassvogel]

We saw the fireworks Thursday, so we didn't attempt the trifecta Friday, but it wouldn't have been possible because the Electrical parade started 30 minutes late. The fireworks actually ended just a min or two after the Electrical parade. We were bee-lining for the ROA to see Fantasmic, and it was already filled up. Our spot was about 20 yards from the Haunted Mansion. We lucked out and a guy who had been saving a spot for his family (among them a scooter) gave up waiting for them and let us slide up.

I know it was a unique night, so it probably won't be like that again.

 

[LittleWoodenHead]

Although, in the past, it was somewhat possible to see both the Electrical Parade and Fireworks in the same night, it doesn't sound like that is the case any longer. It's not only a question of the crowds; the construction walls at DCA apparently have a major impact on movement.

Here's a report from the other night, posted on the new DisneyFAIL blog:

As a word of warning for future Nightastic'ers: it is almost impossible to see Disney's Electrical Parade, Magical fireworks, and Fantasmic! on the same night. Last year it was reasonably possible, if you hustled a little, to see the 8:45pm Disney's Electrical Parade from Paradise Pier (where it begins), have 15-18 minutes to dash over to Disneyland for the 9:25pm fireworks, and then make your way to the Rivers of America for the 10:30pm Fantasmic. This year, the Golden Dreams/World of Color ampitheater walls make it difficult for park guests on that end of the park to make a swift exit out of DCA with the parade going on. I ended up being forced to view the "Magical" fireworks from behind the Golden Gate Bridge at Sunshine Plaza because I, along with hundreds of other impatient exit-seeking guests, was dead-ended by Electrical Parade floats.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

I did this in the past too, but didn't the MSEP used to start at 8pm or something like that? That was doable. 8:45pm is severely pushing it.

When we watched the DEP and fireworks in the same night...

the DEP started at 8:45pm.

We watched the entire parade in the Paradise Pier area from 8:45 to 9:00.

We left Paradise Pier at 9:00pm and we made it to the hub for the 9:25 fireworks. (The details are described above in post #5.)

But we did this in Aug. '07 without the Nightastic crowds and there were no construction walls in DCA.

 

[arliepooh68]

we caught the parade and watched some of the fireworks from the esplenade. . . . by the time we got back into disney fireworks were over. for some reason they were having a heck of time with people having their tickets ready when they got to the gate, seriously! they were thrilled that we had our AP's in hand waiting ... . . so it took FOREVER to get in, so keep that part in mind, you have no control over the people in front using the commensense. . . but good luck on achieving this task!