Our last time was in 2013 and it was a sold out night. Grandma didn't want to walk so she sat down around 6:30pm on Main St with her Ipad. There were other people already hanging around but lots of prime curb space. 30mins prior, it was packed.
I guess it's all relative. There's less overall people, but I think more people watch the parades. If you can go to the 2nd parade, it'll be significantly less.