Carnation Cafe for PTN Viewing

[LoriLovesMickey]

First off I just want to say thanks to all those who post here. I considered myself a Disneyland expert, until I came here! Plus I just don't go to the park as much as I did when my kids were young. I'm lucky to go every 2 years now so things can change in that time frame!

Anyway, getting ready for a trip with DH starting on the 19th. This used to be a great time to go crowd wise but from what I am reading I am prepared for higher then normal September crowds. We have our BB F! reservation for Saturday and I am trying to plan a good way to see PTN and the fireworks. I thought I read something about getting a reservation at Carnation Cafe, sitting outside, and then moving into the sidewalk for the parade? How does that work exactly? Can you actually watch the parade from your table? Will there be room to move to the sidewalk after your meal? There is a 6:50 reservation available on both Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd. Would these time slots work for a PTN strategy? They also have 6:10 and 6:30 available.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[BadPinkTink]

I was at Disney in June so very high crowd levels. PTN was on twice and on both night I left the park during the second parade. The sidewalks are basically divided in two, with a walk way kept free along the side of the buildings for people like me who want to leave during the parade. I passed by Carnation Cafe and I would not have thought this would be a good place to view the parade as you have both the walkers and the people at the kerbside blocking your view.

This may not be an option for you, but we camped out for about 2 hours at the top of the hub, facing the Matterhorn / IASW entrance into Fabtasyland. This is by far the best place to see PTN and the Fireworks. We were there for about 2 hours before PTN. Then after the parade, we stood up and turned left and had an amazing view of the castle.

 

[LoriLovesMickey]

This sounds like a better option because I'm not sure DH would like the menu at CC. Thanks so much for the map! I would almost just rather grab some food to go and eat while we wait. The only problem is convincing DH to wait!

 

[BadPinkTink]

@LoriLovesMickey thats what we did. There is a roped off section infront of the castle, dont go into this section, stay on the sidewalk of the hub. There is a bench facing the Matterhorn / IASMW Fantasyland entrance if you get there early enough. Otherwise just sit on the sidewalk. This area in June was seated during the parade but once the parade finished everyone stood up for the fireworks. It got really crowded really quickly as everyone from across the street came over for the fireworks. When you stand up make sure to stay on the sidewalk as this means you are a few inches above everyone in front of you. Make sure you can still see the Matterhorn as they use this too

 

[LoriLovesMickey]

Are you talking about the outside sidewalk (red X), inner ring (yellow X), or center portion of the hub (green X)?

 

[BadPinkTink]

The green part. The yellow lines I added in are where the ropes are. They take these down after the parade, before the fireworks. To the left of the green X just under the tree is where the bench is.

 

[LoriLovesMickey]

Perfect, thanks!!

 

[GatorChris]

We had dinner at CC last November during the Christmas parade. We were outside and had a table maybe 7 or 8 feet from the fence. We could see the tops of the floats and hear the music as they passed by, but that was it. Had we tried to get out to the sidewalk, there wouldn't have been room for us. So we sorta watched from our table as we ate. Definitely nothing like being right next to it on the street. But since we'd already seen it earlier that week, it was like a re-cap of what we saw.