need to check out the "rude factor"

[kilee]

I personally have never tried the blanket method. Then again, I don't think I need ANYTHING else to carry around the park. HOwever, I do think people will stand on and sit on your blanket. I don't think it alone will be enough to hold your spot. Like others have said. There are people who will inch, inch, inch until they are just about on your back or in your lap. We've had it happen many, many times. I love the parades. We always show up about 45-60 minutes early to stake a claim on Main St (or the likes of). Anyhow, we all show up. We bring snacks and drinks and consider the wait a "break". It's our down time. Also, as the streets are filling in. We don't sit leg to leg. We live a small amount of space between us. Because by the time the parade starts we'll be packed in like sardines. I couldn't imagine if we started off that way. We'd be piled 3 to a lap!!

 

[freediverdude]

I just don't even save a prime spot anymore, or even try to stand in what I think will be a prime spot if nobody is there. It's just too absurd with the crowding. I have a much better experience just standing way back behind the crowd a ways, like 20-30 feet back or more, where nobody is standing. I still see all of the floats except the bottom few feet of them in front of the crowds, and I have plenty of room to set a drink down, shift my weight, move a little if someone gets too close, etc. That pushing and shoving right on the curb just isn't worth it, at least not to me.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by kevind65
I do however, find it rude when one or two people try to save a large area for a group that's out riding rides...If you want to save a spot for 5 people, then 5 people need to be there the whole time saving the spot...just my .02

 

[CheshireVal]

I agree this rude behavior can happen during fireworks as well. Last spring I was standing with my boyfriend at the end of Main Street (near the train station) waiting for the fireworks to start. We had a really good view. When the show started, a lady rammed her husband's wheelchair into my ankle, causing me to step aside.

I turned to her and said "Hey, that really hurt," and she had the nerve to just look at me and say "Well, my husband wanted to see the fireworks." It was all I could do to keep my calm, but I'm old enough to know that people like that can't be reasoned with. I had a bruise the next day though.

 

[momof2inPA]

I don't think the second Spectromagic parade in the middle of January will be very crowded. We went to it in October and just grabbed a bench across from the Liberty Tree tavern when Wishes ended. We saved the room in front of us with the strollers and sent a few from our group for snacks. There was plenty of room and good viewing. Many characters shook our kids' hands, so it was a great spot from that perspective.

 

[luvsTink]

Momof2...
Thanks for the viewing suggestion. I hope you are right, but since it is MLK weekend I am thinking it will be more crowded.

Anne

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just got home today. Before we left on 12/30, I read the thread about parades and decided that I would do my best to make any parade I watched a pleasant experience (since I have had a few not so pleasant ones). Unfortunately, it didn't happen. As much as I love Spectromagic, I will never watch it again unless I can go to the second parade of the night. We found a spot about 30 minutes before the start of the parade at the end of the route, no crowd, met the people around us and carried on a nice conversation with the folks from Michigan.

About 10 minutes before the parade gets to us (the lights were off at Liberty Square already), I get run over by a stroller that some woman is pushing between me and the person on my right. Then some goofus tells his kiddo to push between me and my husband and get up by the rope. Our son was already standing there and we were really pretty close by this time with others packing in along the route. I turned and told him "No" and to find another place to watch. Then he pulled out the "Parades are for kids" card. Had the nerve to call me "selfish". Then proceeds to throw a few extremely rude labels at me. My husband turned to him to tell him to lay off and both he and his "lovely" wife start up. I called over a CM, who while she did nothing (she was young and inexperienced) did go over to another higher up and then came back. The goofus and his family finally backed off.

But I'm done with Spectromagic.

 

[vellamint]

I was there last MLK weekend and it was not crowded AT ALL. We were freezing though....the people next to us had actually brought a blanket.......we even sat on benches 4 feet behind the ropes and noone was even around to even worry about being able to see or not.

 

[elgerber]

If you are watching a second showing of Spectro after Wishes, I don't think it will be a problem. The people on the curb during Wishes, will have been there during the first Spectro, and 99% of them will get up and leave. That should leave you plenty of places to sit, and will also shorten the time you actually have to wait.

Erika

 

[Lollipop Mom]

I second watching the second showing of Spectro if there are 2 while you are there. We were there from 12/29 to 1/3. We made sure our kids took a LONG nap the afternoon of 1/2 (they slept for almost 4 hours!) specifically in the hopes of making it to the second Spectro. The parade started at 10:15. I know for a fact we were still in Fantasy Land at 10:04 because I was standing in line at Pooh's "Thotful Shop" waiting to buy a scrapbook and hoping to make the 10:00 cut off to have it sent to the front of the park. The family in front of me took forever and when I checked out it was 10:04. We (and my scrapbook) headed to attempt to find a spot. It was jam packed around the castle so we made our way towards Liberty Square. Just past the handicapped area we found seats right at the rope. NOT squishing in on another family. PLENTY of room. By the time the parade started 2 other families had joined us without feeling cramped. We are going back in May and DH and I decided we would rather skip the parades this trip (since it was so crowded) than spend 2 hours steaking out a spot with a 3½ year old and an almost 2 year old! The kids loved Spectro (so did DH!) so I'm glad we planned things the way we did. The only other parade we saw was on 12/31 at the Animal Kingdom. Since it wasn't crowded at that park that day, we got front row seats there too without a long wait. When the parade left the Africa area after it started, we got seats right at the line in the area where it returns to Africa at the end. We only waited about 10 minutes total for that one.

The only time I think it's rude of people saving spots is when someone has a HUGE area saved for a total of 2 adults and 1 or 2 kids. I have no problem with saving a spot, just don't save more than you really need!

 

[Efastpitch]

You might as well face it, if there's a spot available, no matter if your saving it or not, people will try their best to get into it. I have seen a spot just big enough for one person, become filled with three people. The foreign crowd is by far the hardest groups to work with. I think it could be because they don't respect space like we do in the USA. They are use to being shoulder to shoulder.

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> shoved their wheelchair bruising my ankle

Suppose you were in the supermarket parking lot and someone let his shopping cart hit your car's fender...

I'll start going off on the tangent and the rest of you can follow:
"You just hurt my ankle with your wheelchair. Hand me twenty dollars and we will call it fair and square"

 

[epcotfan]

Originally posted by kevind65 I do however, find it rude when one or two people try to save a large area for a group that's out riding rides...If you want to save a spot for 5 people, then 5 people need to be there the whole time saving the spot...just my .02

'

I totally agree.