Current PTN Crowds

[Abbey1]

We'll be in DCA next Thursday and other than saying goodbye to Bug's Land (and Heimlich ) our main goal is to have a good curbside spot to watch PTN. We haven't seen the parade since it moved to DCA, and I'm wondering how early we should plan to grab a good spot. I'm assuming we won't need to find a spot as early as we did at Disneyland as DCA has a much longer parade route, but are the curbside spots still filling up pretty quickly? Has anyone been recently that could give me an idea of when we should grab our spot for an 8:50 showtime? Ideally we'd like to watch from Carthay Circle or Hollywood Boulevard.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

The actual curbs in those areas fill up much more quickly than the rest of the route. There is a lot of front-row seating all along BugsLand, Cars Land, and into the Pier, but there isn’t a physical curb to sit on.

Depending on the size of your group, I’d start keeping an eye on curb seating by 6:45-7 to see what’s available (what tends to happen is a few people start staking our spots and that leads to a bunch of other people grabbing spots all at once). If you are ok with front row seating in other areas, you can usually find good spots less than an hour before the parade starts (but if you have a large group, I’d look sooner).

 

[Abbey1]

The actual curbs in those areas fill up much more quickly than the rest of the route. There is a lot of front-row seating all along BugsLand, Cars Land, and into the Pier, but there isn’t a physical curb to sit on.

Depending on the size of your group, I’d start keeping an eye on curb seating by 6:45-7 to see what’s available (what tends to happen is a few people start staking our spots and that leads to a bunch of other people grabbing spots all at once). If you are ok with front row seating in other areas, you can usually find good spots less than an hour before the parade starts (but if you have a large group, I’d look sooner).

Awesome, thanks for the info! It'll just be me, my husband, and our son, so not too large of a group. How does front row seating without a curb work in DCA? I feel silly for not knowing this, but with Pixar Play Parade, we'd always just find a spot about 10 minutes before the parade started. Is there a rope system like there is in Disneyland? If so, when do they start roping off the area? Are you able to sit down if you are in the front row, even though there is no curb? Sorry, so many questions!

 

[DizneyMommy]

CM’s will lay down a tape line in most places. You just want to stay behind the tape. It is fluorescent tape, you’ll see it!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Awesome, thanks for the info! It'll just be me, my husband, and our son, so not too large of a group. How does front row seating without a curb work in DCA? I feel silly for not knowing this, but with Pixar Play Parade, we'd always just find a spot about 10 minutes before the parade started. Is there a rope system like there is in Disneyland? If so, when do they start roping off the area? Are you able to sit down if you are in the front row, even though there is no curb? Sorry, so many questions!

A lot of places it's just behind a certain line on the sidewalk (like a seam in the concrete?), so you can ask a CM if you can't tell. They moved the trash cans up to be at the front of the parade seating, so like by the Grizzly fountain there used to be trash cans back against the rock wall but now they're a concrete square "up" against a seam, and that's the front of the seating. There are places where it's marked with tape, too. It's not that hard to figure out when you're there; it's trickier to explain than it is in real life.

The front row sits and everyone else is told to stand.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If you choose to watch the parade from spots without an actual curb, bring jackets or something to sit on. It will make the pavement (especially if the weather is hot) more comfortable to sit on. If you have any BB F! cushions, those work great!

 

[ExcitedMama]

What happens if you snag a bench? Can people show up and stand in front of you? It’s hard to imagine CMs making people sit right?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

What happens if you snag a bench? Can people show up and stand in front of you? It’s hard to imagine CMs making people sit right?

The only benches that I know of are along Hollywood Blvd., and they're right up against the curb. No one can stand in front of them. They've removed all of the benches over by the Grizzly waterfall, for instance. (RIP, bench by the waterfall - I spent many, many an afternoon sitting on you with a sleeping kid in a stroller enjoying the "white noise" of the waterfall!)

 

[SeiterClan]

Awesome, thanks for the info! It'll just be me, my husband, and our son, so not too large of a group. How does front row seating without a curb work in DCA? I feel silly for not knowing this, but with Pixar Play Parade, we'd always just find a spot about 10 minutes before the parade started. Is there a rope system like there is in Disneyland? If so, when do they start roping off the area? Are you able to sit down if you are in the front row, even though there is no curb? Sorry, so many questions!

Good question as I was wondering this also! Thanks for clarifying about the tape @Skyegirl1999 When do they put the tape up? Like an hour before...or earlier???

 

[DizneyMommy]

The only benches that I know of are along Hollywood Blvd., and they're right up against the curb. No one can stand in front of them. They've removed all of the benches over by the Grizzly waterfall, for instance. (RIP, bench by the waterfall - I spent many, many an afternoon sitting on you with a sleeping kid in a stroller enjoying the "white noise" of the waterfall!)

RIP. A moment of silence for the best bench in DCA!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Good question as I was wondering this also! Thanks for clarifying about the tape @Skyegirl1999 When do they put the tape up? Like an hour before...or earlier???

I'm doing PTN on Tuesday; I'll pay attention to timing and take some pictures of the seating.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

RIP. A moment of silence for the best bench in DCA!

It was also conveniently close to the wine. Sleeping kid in stroller + glass of wine + bench in the shade + waterfall noise = naptime perfection

 

[SeiterClan]

I'm doing PTN on Tuesday; I'll pay attention to timing and take some pictures of the seating.

Thank you!!!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So, we did PTN on Tuesday and it was crazy crowded and parade seating filled up earlier! I will say that the very start of the route (by Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta area), where we watched, still had some front-row spots available at an hour out, but if front row is important to anyone, keep an eye on the route before the hour point. Also, the curb was full EARLY but there was lots farther back; just keep walking!

There were lots of places to fill in back by us even when the parade started, so if you don’t mind standing, you don’t have to wait long at all.

Very few places on the route have tape; it’s usually just a concrete seam that’s the “line.” They were putting ropes about 90 minutes before parade time on Tuesday.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Does anyone know if there is a map that has the parade route?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Found this in another thread. Different parade, same route.

This is what DCA’s parade route looks like. Ignore the notes written on the map they are from a prior parade.