Christmas Parade Taping FAQ : Crowds / Dates / Etc

[uknomi]

Hi all, I know this has been asked BUT does anyone know who will be at WDW for the castle and parade. We were there last year for the parade taping in the AP section and had a blast. My kiddos are dying to know who we definitely be there that weekend. So and clues would be gerat!!

High School Musical cast already performed at Disneyland last week. The video is on U-TUBE. The following is a quote from Orlando Sentinel Newspaper - Earlier this week, a note appeared on the passholder Web site, indicating that in November we would be able to submit requests for the Nov. 30 taping of celebrity performances on the castle stage in the Magic Kingdom. That especially interested me because of the expected performers: 'High School Musical' stars, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Joey Fatone and Drew Lachey, Josh Groban, Harlem Boys Choir and Whitney Houston. The lineup has not been confirmed by Disney, but I did find it on an online source that has been accurate in the past.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm interested in knowing about Carlos Santana. Is he at WDW or Disneyland? I think he lives in California, so Disneyland would make more sense. However, I'm a BIG Santana fan so if he's coming to WDW that weekend, does anyone know what time? I'd make a special trip to the MK to try to see him. Or maybe I'd be fortunate enough to see him around the hotels.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Christmas Parade FAQ -- Created from Posts in This Very Thread - Thank YOU! To all Posters:

When is the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade Taping?

Friday, November 30th and Saturday, December 1st. Sunday, December 2nd is reserved in case they didn't get everything on the first two days.

Who will be present or performing?

Courtesy of Malice:

Regis Philbin (WDW)
Kelly Ripa (WDW)
Billy Ray Cyrus (WDW)
Jonas Brothers (WDW)
Joey Fatone and Drew Lachey (WDW)
High School Musical Performance w/ HSM Stars (WDW)
Josh Groban (WDW)
Harlem Boys Choir (WDW)
Whitney Houston (WDW)

What do they tape and on which day?

Friday, they tape the castle forecourt shows and a few other 'tidbits' and on Saturday they tape the actual parade route. There is a LOT of starting and stopping and doing the same thing over and over again.

I'd love to take my DD or DS, what time should we be there?

The tapings are generally audience controlled via Lightship Entertainment. AP holders were given a chance at tickets for both days and those tickets are gone. The Lightship people usually have handed out most of their tickets by this point in time as well. You can try emailing them at.. tvaudience@gmail.com

Can I see the parade or forecourt shows anyway without tickets?

Depends. Usually you can see 'something' from a distance or a non-roped off viewing spot but generally speaking your view will be much less interesting than those with tickets. (IE: Tickets get the primo locations)

I could NOT care less about the parade, how will this affect me going to the MK on those days?

On Friday, the shows are taped in the Castle Forecourt area and the crowd is pretty much restricted to that area and the taping is usually done around 2pm at the latest according to a number of posters.

On Saturday, Main Street USA is gridlock. It's nasty.. Amazingly, the rest of the Magic Kingdom is apparently "a walk in the park" once you get past Main Street.. at least until early afternoon. When people start walking away from the taping to go on rides in early to mid afternoon, then it gets pretty busy. The MK is open til midnight on that Saturday.

 

[haley's mom]

When will a definite schedule be available? We leave on the 27th and would like to try to catch a glimpse of some performances.

Also, will there be a tentative time schedule for each performer?

 

[surgefest]

First what are the dates for the taping and what are the times?? Does anyone know?? also i have someone in my party who is interested in seeing regis and kelly.... Where are they exactly???? How crowded is it really???? Any information on this would be great.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

I emailed tvaudience for 4 vouchers for Friday's tapings--no luck, all gone.

If anyone has to cancel or received extras, please pm me or email j.stender@mchsi.com.

 

[deej696]

There is a sticky at the top of the page that will most likely answer your questions, but the tapings are on the 30th and 1st, with Regis and Kelly on the 1st, however I'm not sure where they usually are stationed. I want to say its at the square as you first enter the park where the statue of Roy Disney is located...

 

[CanadianGuy]

I've merged this to the main Parade FAQ thread. Most of your questions can be answered in the first post on thsi thread on page one.

Knox

 

[TheresaNY]

When will a definite schedule be available? We leave on the 27th and would like to try to catch a glimpse of some performances.

Also, will there be a tentative time schedule for each performer?

Does anyone know the answer ?? We will be there Friday and would like to know/see some performances. Any confirmations or timetable ?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Read the first post in this thread.. unless you have confirmed your attendance with the audience coordinator (Lightship Entertainment) don't count on getting very close to the action.

The stage tapings will take place on Friday from about 7am til about about 2pm....

Knox

 

[TheresaNY]

What exactly do you mean on "don't count on getting very close to the action"? Will be able to see at all and hear ?? I am guessing that we won't be standing in front of the castle, but will it be worth watching at all? Will we be able to stand by the back of the hub ? My kids are mainly interested in the HS Musical stars.

 

[CanadianGuy]

What exactly do you mean on "don't count on getting very close to the action"? Will be able to see at all and hear ?? I am guessing that we won't be standing in front of the castle, but will it be worth watching at all? Will we be able to stand by the back of the hub ? My kids are mainly interested in the HS Musical stars.

I may have overstated my case on that one point, but remember, in addition to the 'ticketed audience' controlled by the Lightship Entertainment, every child under the age of 18 (and quite a few children over the age of 18 ) want to see those HS Musical performers..

So.. you won't be able to just stroll in at 11am (or whatever time) and grab a spot and catch them. The ticketed audience has to be there by 7 or 8am I think and is supposed to stand there till.. 2pm or something.

In short, be prepared for some craziness.

Knox

 

[yulilin3]

What exactly do you mean on "don't count on getting very close to the action"? Will be able to see at all and hear ?? I am guessing that we won't be standing in front of the castle, but will it be worth watching at all? Will we be able to stand by the back of the hub ? My kids are mainly interested in the HS Musical stars.

I went to Mk this past weekend and they don't give a definite answer on the celebrities performing. They say it's because of security reasons and in case someone has to cancel. I got the chance to change my vouchers from friday's taping to saturday because my kids are in school and I didn't want them to miss it. If you really want to get a chance to look at the taping I would suggest to get there early, wear festive colors and BEG with CM's around the main area. The first group of people has to go in the park at or before 8:00. The park opens at 9pm. So I would be there as early as eight. If this doesn't sound like something you REALLY want to do. I would say, skip it, and go to another park.

 

[goofy4tink]

What exactly do you mean on "don't count on getting very close to the action"? Will be able to see at all and hear ?? I am guessing that we won't be standing in front of the castle, but will it be worth watching at all? Will we be able to stand by the back of the hub ? My kids are mainly interested in the HS Musical stars.

What it means is that you won't be able to arrive and just walk up and watch the taping. I was part of the Castle acts taping a year or so ago. We were at the park before 7 am, put in place and told we were to be there for the next three hours..until about noonish. There was a huge horde of people. But, by about 11:00 the crowd started to thin out a bit. So, if you arrived after that time you might be able to watch a bit closer than otherwise. But, the crowd that was put in place was from the very front of the Castle stage area back to the center of Main St where the Walt statue is.
For the parade itself, it tapes on Sat. Those sitting/standing along the parade route got their special passes way in advance. Others entering the park will be sent through the shops in order to avoid Main St...it's crowded there.

There are different acts taping through out the days, Fri/Sat throughout the park. No one knows for sure who will be where at what time..you just have to go and get lucky, or not.

 

[cmash95]

unless they are performing twice, the HS musical stars won't be at WDW because they were taped at disneyland last weekend. also miley cyrus was taped there this past weekend so if you have children that want to see them they are going to be dissappointed.

 

[malice]

Yesterday 11/18 Miley Cyrus taped her performance for the Xmas special at Disneyland.

pics courtesy of wolfy666 from micechat

 

[dfsc]

I went to Mk this past weekend and they don't give a definite answer on the celebrities performing. They say it's because of security reasons and in case someone has to cancel. I got the chance to change my vouchers from friday's taping to saturday because my kids are in school and I didn't want them to miss it. If you really want to get a chance to look at the taping I would suggest to get there early, wear festive colors and BEG with CM's around the main area. The first group of people has to go in the park at or before 8:00. The park opens at 9pm. So I would be there as early as eight. If this doesn't sound like something you REALLY want to do. I would say, skip it, and go to another park.

I have Friday taping vouchers from the AP site. I would prefer Saturday. Has anyone tried to change the Friday AP passes to a Saturday?

 

[missesdisney]

There is a sticky at the top of the page that will most likely answer your questions, but the tapings are on the 30th and 1st, with Regis and Kelly on the 1st, however I'm not sure where they usually are stationed. I want to say its at the square as you first enter the park where the statue of Roy Disney is located...

In the past they have been down main street on the left where you would turn to go to the Crystal Palace.

 

[yulilin3]

I have Friday taping vouchers from the AP site. I would prefer Saturday. Has anyone tried to change the Friday AP passes to a Saturday?

I have the Friday taping vouchers from the AP site as well. I had e-mailed lightship for the parade taping and they gave them to me for friday, so I e-mailed them back and they changed it to Sat. So I guess I'm going alone on Friday for the celebrity portion and I'll go on Saturday with my two kids and sister and brother in-law for the parade. I have the vouchers for Sat at 11:30am.

 

[hrpoth]

I "reserved" a spot in the audience section for DVC members for Friday's taping. This is our first attempt at this. The DVC website said we should check-in by 11:30AM, but does not really spell out if we are guarranteed to be in the audience. Has anyone done this before and does the "reservation" guarantee us a spot as long as we are there by 11 AM?

Thanks for any help/suggestions!!