How to avoid parade/fireworks crowds??

[quinnc19]

I will be at DLR in mid June and I am wondering if there is anywhere in DL I can go to avoid the biggest crowds (and still go on rides) or if I should just stick to DCA during those times. One of the nights I'll be there is a grad night; I'm not sure if that would factor into your advice. Thank you DLR vets for any suggestions you might have!

 

[PiratePatches]

I will be at DLR in mid June and I am wondering if there is anywhere in DL I can go to avoid the biggest crowds (and still go on rides) or if I should just stick to DCA during those times. One of the nights I'll be there is a grad night; I'm not sure if that would factor into your advice. Thank you DLR vets for any suggestions you might have!

What date is grad night? Im afraid I might be there! Since our kids have been teens, we skip the parades and such (except fireworks) and go on the rides. We usually stick to thunder mountain and can walk through to Dumbo and etc.

 

[Indiana Scott]

This has always been a strange phenomena of DL. Even when the crowds for the parades are massive, it doesn't seem to affect other area's of the park. They can be just a crowded as ever!
That being said, we usually head towards BTMRR or HM during the parades.
(I dont care about parades either)

 

[SMD]

We usually stick to thunder mountain and can walk through to Dumbo and etc.

That walkway is now closed.

You really have to pick a side of the hub and stay on it. At least with F! down that makes it easier to navigate NOS, but it also cuts down on the number of people waiting for that attraction. There's really not much you can do to avoid crowds at night. As Sherry calls it, you end up with the crowds caused by people avoiding crowds. One option is to have a late meal. Or get in line for something like Space as PTN starts. Then you'll likely be on top for part of fireworks and by the time you're off the ride people will have left. You could ride faster using FP, but it's a good use of the time and it removes you from the TL crush happening at that time.

 

[LizzyS]

Great question as I'm still trying to figure out how to avoid them myself!

 

[tdhickey]

Pick a land and plan to stay there for a bit, that's your only option.

 

[quinnc19]

Thanks for the advice so far - keep it coming! I'm a WDW vet but a DL novice so I don't know any tricks to maneuver around. Grad night is the Friday the 17th during my visit (at parks 6/16-6/18).

 

[tlovesdis]

Yes don't ever try to go from Tomorrowland to Frontierland/Adventureland when the parade is going on! We got caught up in a massive crowd and we couldn't move and people were shoving and two guys started fighting and it was just all bad!!!

 

[pinkgirlmommy]

Wow! I didn't realize it got this crazy! We have only been to WDW twice and not at crowded times. What if we want to watch the parade and fireworks but not be stuck in the middle of the crowd?

 

[realrellim]

When we were there a couple of weeks ago, we had been in NOS and decided to head back. CMs routed us through a back way behind Main Street once the parade started. I think we went to the back area around Carnation Cafe and came out at the Fire Station. We'd been planning to leave, but saw a spot near City Hall that was marked off for parade viewing and completely unoccupied and hung out there. We'd seen the parade and fireworks the day before, so we really just wanted to see the floats again and didn't care about the dancers. It was a great spot, and I think most of the spots around the hub (or down by IASW) might be less crowded that way.

As far as moving around: we didn't have any problems, except that the hub was kinda busy. We hung out in Toon Town until about 10 minutes before it closed and then moved from there through the hub to Frontierland/NLO/Critter Country. I actually didn't have too many problems our first night either. It was a slow slog down Main Street to the photo place after fireworks, but after I finally got out of there, near the beginning of the second parade, I was able to cross the street, go to Adventureland, and eventually make it back up Main Street as the parade was going on. It wasn't horrible.

 

[SMD]

Wow! I didn't realize it got this crazy! We have only been to WDW twice and not at crowded times. What if we want to watch the parade and fireworks but not be stuck in the middle of the crowd?

It depends how many people you're talking about. With 2 adults who don't need to be side by side you can find a decent standing spot somewhere on Main St and then move into the street for fireworks. With a family you need to invest some time to find a spot, hold it for a few hours, and then stay there after fireworks until the crowd dissipates. There is no secret spot that people haven't found or aren't sharing. Even with the premium dining spot you still have to get there fairly early because they can be very full and you'll want to move to a better spot for fireworks.

 

[katejc]

When were were there the week before last, it felt harder to get around than it normally does. The closure of my "escape route" from Thunder Mountain to Fantasyland made the only route across the park through the hub, and it was really packed at parade and firework times. It was manageable--we just had to think about where we wanted to be and what time it was a little bit more than we typically do. The whole Tomorrowland area is really full pretty much all day long what with all the Star Wars stuff going on so we just tried to get most of that stuff done in the mornings, with maybe a fastpass for afternoons once or twice.

One other thing we did to try to avoid parade crowds was have dinner at Carnation Cafe near parade time. We had seen the parade the previous night up close (advice: go to the late one!) so we were fine with just seeing it from CC. Then we moved out into the street for fireworks after dinner. There's another post about this somewhere, too. It worked well for us on our second night.