Disney World Christmas Parade taping?

[DisneyJules]

Hello!

Has anyone here attended the Christmas Parade taping that takes place in early December?? If so, is it worth it? Or is it insanely packed and a lot of waiting around? I wasn't sure if this was something we should attend or if it would be best to head to another park that day. I would appreciate your advice and thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[DebbieB]

Hello!

Has anyone here attended the Christmas Parade taping that takes place in early December?? If so, is it worth it? Or is it insanely packed and a lot of waiting around? I wasn't sure if this was something we should attend or if it would be best to head to another park that day. I would appreciate your advice and thoughts.

Thanks!

I've done it 2 or 3 times. Not directly planned it but it happened to be there when I was there. It is a lot of waiting around. What I would do is see some of it and then go to another park.

 

[WildMouser]

Sorry...I have not...but have the same question. Also, hoping that the response includes which day of the week it is usually taped.

TIA for allowing me to hijack your thread.

 

[DisneyJules]

So you can come and go? I thought we would be stuck there for the duration of the taping? Well that's good news, maybe we can pop by then and decide on the day how long we would like to stay. Do you need to get tickets to the taping ahead of time?

No problem Wild Mouser! Hopefully we can both find out

 

[minniegirl19]

they tape two days… the day they taped the parade was definitely longer i was there from 8-2ish i did this while on my college program. If i was visiting for a vacation i would suggest not to stand and wait around yeah its fun to be a part of it but at the same time you could be doing so much more with your time. The park is not crowded while the taping is going on but could get more crowded after its over. Although ALOT of the people are cast members so they might leave. You would be surprised we signed up to be a part of it and got assigned times to come so its really up to you

 

[DOOM1001]

I was there for it on a Sunday since it had rained Fri and Sat.We just showed up around 10am and CM's were telling guests they could go right in and walk up to the taping area.Apparently with the rain the previous days many people that came strictly for the taping had ditched the parade and the producers needed bodies in the audience.We saw about 12 takes of the Jonas brothers song in about 2+ hours.After that finished they went to film the actual parade coming down Main Street,which again was more standing around.The cheerleaders for example would stand around the hub for about 30 minutes until it was their time to do their routine to get taped at the front of Main Street.We got tired around 1:30 and went to eat something and ride some rides.We left the park around 4:30 with the taping still going.I did see myself for a second on the broadcast on Dec 25th.It was funny to see the painted blue sky Disney added to the broadcast as the day we were there it wasn't raining but it was far from blue.

 

[DisneyJules]

Thank you both for your input! I think we'll check it out and can always leave if we decide it's not our thing. I didn't want to waste a whole day of vacation if it meant a lot of standing around. But I'm glad to hear we can change our minds and aren't stuck in Magic Kingdom, although there are worse places to be stuck

 

[TheRustyScupper]

DISNEY WORLD CHRISTMAS PARADE TAPING:

1) Schedule:
. . . usually the first weekend in December
. . . typically Friday and Saturday, with Sunday as a rain-day
. . . activities start at 7:00am, before park opening
. . . taping can take through about 1:00, and frequently 2:00-3:00pm
2) Tickets:
. . . the first priority is for Cast Members
. . . taping tickets are then usually open to Annual Pass and DVC members
. . . these are offered on their own website
. . . lastly are general public
. . . these allow early entry into the park
. . . after tickets are gone, general public can get tickets
. . . other public access is done through normal admission
3) Celebrities
. . . usually tape celebs on Fridays
. . . usually the parade is on Saturday
. . . they can use Saturday or Sunday as rain-days
4) Viewing
. . . those with taping tickets get the better close-up viewing spaces
. . . however, when getting tickets, they must agree to be there for hours
. . . this makes for a very long day of standing in one place
. . . those without pre-arranged taping tickets get to fill-in
. . . unfortunately, fill-ins are usually third or fourth row from the front
. . . in this manner, shirts/gestures that may be offending are not visible on TV
5) Locations
. . . the majority of the filming is done on Main Street
. . . a VERY, VERY, VERY crowded Main Street
. . . other taping can be around the parks, but sporadically
. . . the taping does not usually interfere with ride times or ride lines
6) Expectations
. . . the parade, itself, is stopped several times and repeated for best shots
. . . at times, it can be very boring when the scenes are re-staged
. . . you can see some celebrities, but usually no photos nor autographs
7) Participation
. . . the families you see on TV cameras are usually pre-selected
. . . in many cases, the children are paid actors from the local area
. . . yes, some TV families are picked the day of, but most are pre-chosen

 

[OKWMom]

We happened upon it about four years ago and as non-ticket holding park goers, all it meant for us was a great deal more aggravation and crowding. It was nearly impossible for us to leave mid day for our break and I swore I would never let that happen to us again. I love Disney and watching the parade on TV, but I would rather have root canal with no novacaine than go through that experience again.

 

[WildMouser]

Thanks DisneyJules and thanks everyone for your responses!

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

In year's past it was insanely packed. Now, they film quite a few events over many days. Not all of the performers are there filming the same day. One might be there November 28th, then another December 1st, then December 2nd, then December 4th, and so on. There are still taping crowds and they do let guests be a part of it when they film, but it is usually CMs and selected "help" in the front rows to ensure the excitement, reaction and behavior is what Disney is looking for.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I avoid MK on taping days. I prefer low crowds, less congestion.

 

[Minnie824]

Last year we took a short thurs-sun trip specifically to go to the taping. We did not have tickets which was a concern to me but ended up just fine. It was DH, myself, DD12 & DD9. On Fri we went to the MK in the morning. They were taping a lot of acts at the castle. They had all the cameras set up and we asked multiple people. One of the crew was really nice and got out her schedule to show me approximate times of when the acts were performing. We watched Il Volo and they sang the same song 3 times or so then they taped the crowd, etc. We were not lined up in front, but even if you just happen upon it, there was a lot of space on the sides, etc where you could see clearly. We actually saw DH during the performance on tv too. It was crazy hot though...people in all their christmas gear but it was in the 80s. DDs lasted for the taping 3 times and we left. We came back later and watched a little of another act but there was no one we really needed to see.

So on Sat... we were up very very early. This was the parade taping. They were letting people in with tickets all the way to the right. We were in the middle but ended up having to go in the left tunnel. They let people w/the parade tickets in early. We got in at 8 and they were funneling people to the right to go around that back way behind the candy store, starbucks, etc that lets out near the plaza. I asked if we could go in the store, they said yes, so we snuck thru the candy store, out to main street and found an awesome spot outside starbucks, bascially the second row. We were there 8-11:15. In that time, they taped 30 seconds of the opening number w/ Neil Patrick Harris. They redid and redid and redid stuff. But since they started in the hub it didn't even get to us for 2 hours. If it was just DH & I we would have stayed longer, but the kids were done after almost 3.5 hours. It was interesting watching the actual production and it was fun.

If you go... be there very early and head thru the shops to get a spot. Another thing.. we were on the side of the shade. Again, mid 80s. If we were in the sun for that whole time, no way any of us would have lasted that long. Have fun!