Last Friday, for the first time ever, we staked out a spot early for fireworks. 90 minutes early, to be exact.
I have mixed feelings about waiting that long. It turned out, we had a great viewing spot (on the curb of the hub across from the entrance to Tomorrowland), and the fireworks were REALLY fun to watch from there, once the show began.
We had three family groups surrounding us while we waited, all with very young children. Fortunately, they were not children who behaved terribly (although I admit I had to dole out some extra lollipops and friendly attention to the little girls sitting next to me because they were getting pretty rowdy and their responsible adult was not making any effort to keep them from repeatedly swinging their arms into my son's head
).
Honestly though, the worst part of the experience for me was when hoards of people started scrambling into place last minute, bumping into, shoving, and pushing into the space of people who had been waiting a very long time.
I'm glad we saw the fireworks from that spot one time (it was my DD's boyfriend's very first visit to
Disneyland and I went through the trouble of getting a great viewing spot because I wanted him to get to see them really well - and I definitely feel that our viewing experience seriously added to the "magic" for him) ....but I wouldn't do it again.
As for parades...I guess it depends on the parade as to whether or not staking out a spot early is worth it. I personally don't like the current parade *at all*, so I would never go through any extra trouble to view it, myself. However, I feel like the Christmas parade, and parades as good as say, the Lion King one they had years ago, are worth the extra effort to get a curbside veiwing spot.
If you just want to get to see some of the current parade...I accidentally found that the seating around the planters right outside the It's a Small World shop that you exit through when you get off the ride are good places to stand and see the parade fairly well.