Paint the Night Parade and Disneyland Forever Fireworks Strategy

[krusty007]

This is good to see that others don't think its right to try and save a spot for hours for 15 people by putting down blankets. I though it was just me?

Last night at 6:45, we found a spot on Main Street near Market House. Someone left two sweatshirts with a gap in the middle. I spread my blanket between them, moving them over slightly. The person next to them said someone was sitting here and left their stuff, but thanks to this board, I know CMs have moved blankets and stuff before. Two members of the party came back and said they left their stuff here and have a party of six. I said their stuff is still here. They complained to a CM who told them they have to stay with their stuff. We moved over slightly and it worked out well. The parade and fireworks were fantastic!

 

[TechGuy]

Have there been any nights yet where Deluxe season passes have been blacked out yet since the new shows? We will be in DL June 23 - June 28 and wonder if we should wait until Saturday June 27 to attempt to see these shows, as maybe we won't have to get a spot so early in the evening?

Thoughts?

Friday two of the passes are blocked out (SoCal and Select ~80% of passes) and Saturday only the Premium AP can enter (Deluxe blocked).

 

[bellanapoli]

I wonder what the crowds are like on Saturdays when ALL APs (except Premieres) are blocked.

I'm hoping someone reports on this. We're going later in July when all the passes (except the premium ones) are blocked. I'm curious if it will make a difference.

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

I'll be there Saturday and planning on camping out starting after Soundsational. I'll try and remember to report back.

 

[TechGuy]

I will be there next week, no camping in my plans.

 

[disneydenisel]

Just got back from DLR and tried to see PTN and fireworks a few times. The first night we tried was Sunday, and I called it a "test run" because we arrived in the middle of PTN and tried to get a spot for the fireworks on Main Street. We ended up on the right hand side so could see the projections on the buildings but we could not see the castle. The fireworks were great, but I wanted to try again another night for a better view. Some folks who had already seen them said to arrive at 8:00 PM and wait as close to the castle as possible until the 9:30 show. This wasn't going to work for my family, so I tried again by myself on Tuesday and went straight to IASW and watched it from there, arriving just when they started. The projections were pretty good, but the fireworks were not as good as I had seen them from Main Street. For PTN, I found a spot near the entrance to IASW and parked myself there from 10:00-11:15 when the parade made it's way down the route toward me. I sat right at the curve in the road and it was a great viewing experience. My only problem was I hadn't had dinner, so I was hungry, and I didn't have anything to drink, so I was thirsty. And I couldn't leave my spot, so I just had to wait it out. Next time, I will show up with food supplies! It was my last night, so I just waited. PTN was great this way, but it was missing the cute little spinning characters at the end (Donald, Goofy, Minnie...), so I guess they weren't working for the second parade.

 

[jina]

I'm planning the following (we're going in 2 weeks - we have premium AP's):
- find a spot to watch the parade near IASW
- at the end of the parade, walk behind it until we get to main street (right of the castle, overlooking castle & matterhorn) then turn around

will this work? Will CM's let us walk behind the parade?

also we have a 5 year old - I'm assuming if we stand on the street we'll have to pick her up to see anything (?)

 

[::danielle::]

I watched the parade and fireworks last night. I was lucky and found a small but perfect sized area at about 7 pm. I immediately put down my blanket to claim the area for my family. I am so glad I did this because it became more and more crowded as the parade start time approached.

The area I found was directly in front of the Plaza Inn entrance on a sloping ramped section. It didn't seem ideal because we couldn't see the castle (it was blocked by trees). However, it worked out great for the parade. I was about 4 rows back. A CM tried to make us stand (which blocked the view for my kids). There was a row of strollers and EVCs not far behind us which forced the people behind that to stand. Another CM came along and allowed those of us in front to sit.

The CM monitoring our section told us to come into the street for the fireworks. He advised us to move up the street so we could see the castle. It was just my kids and I (hubby went back to the hotel) so we scurried up and found a standing spot by the inside curb behind a stroller. Being behind a stroller allowed my DD to be able to see the fireworks better than if she were standing in a crowd. The Disneyland Forever fireworks were amazing! It felt like a giant sing-along performance in the street. The projections were amazing. We could see both the castle and the Matterhorn.

After the fireworks, my kids and I moved to a bench and waited out the crowds. It definitely seemed like organized chaos. There was a huge stream of people being directed into tomorrowland. We waited until Fantasyland opened back up then headed there. The lines were very short back there. When we left at 11pm the curbs were filled with people for the next PTN parade. I should add that AP holders were blocked out so I imagine the crowd was less than on a normal Thursday.

All in all, it was a truly amazing experience. I highly recommend trying to see the parade and the fireworks. I also recommend using a blanket to keep others from taking over your space.

 

[lovebug33]

We just came back. We gave up all hope of doing Main Street. Two special needs kiddos, two elderly grandparents, and two grumpy parents means no camping out. We ended up in the disability section of IASW around 8. The fireworks were definitely disappointing, but it was better than the nothing I figured we would get. There were plenty of seats near IASW that weren't disability when we walked past at 7:30. This was a Thursday/

 

[oohykitten]

I nearly got into a fight near small world over the crowds and someone being rude with pushing down my child. Im truly scared to death to go into this mess. I want to figure out a way to time watching Fantasmic (Ill pay the money for Blue Bayou) and then get away from the crowds as much as possible...this show will be around a while, so no need to be up front for me.

 

[jeanico2000]

I watched the parade and fireworks last night. I was lucky and found a small but perfect sized area at about 7 pm. I immediately put down my blanket to claim the area for my family. I am so glad I did this because it became more and more crowded as the parade start time approached.

Sorry if I ruffle any feathers here, but this 'claiming spots for families/friends' with a blanket is just plain wrong. I hope Disney cracks down on this practice ASAP. If anyone wants to claim a spot, their behind(s) should be in it, and in person. This is akin to chair hogs on cruise ships!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Sorry if I ruffle any feathers here, but this 'claiming spots for families/friends' with a blanket is just plain wrong. I hope Disney cracks down on this practice ASAP. If anyone wants to claim a spot, their behind(s) should be in it, and in person. This is akin to chair hogs on cruise ships!

I was there last night. CMs are starting to crack down. If a blanket is unclaimed after 20 minutes, a CM can and will move it, allowing others the spot. They leave some time in case there are issues like mine where it was just my son and me and he had to go to the bathroom.

Anyway, crowd control has definitely improved in the past month. I was actually impressed with how smooth it was. We sat down around 6PM to wait for the parade and at that point on a Friday night, there weren't that many people sitting on the curb yet in the hub. By 7, it was packed, but people still slipped in until about 8PM, at which time there was no more space on Main Street but plenty at IASM still.

After seeing the fireworks from every possible location, I definitely vote for Main Street near the hub. It was definitely the best experience of the 3 and worth getting my son to sit there and wait for 3 hours.

 

[JeriLee]

If I am going to do the Main Street Shopping / Fire Works / PTN plan:

1) What time should we start shopping and do we have to worry about not being able to get there?

2) When do we head into the street? I think I read to watch for a Mickey Float – or something like that?

3) It sounds like we should aim for MS near the Hub for the fireworks and as soon as they are over, grab a curb to sit on – Yes?

What else am I forgetting?

 

[mgd]

Maybe I am in the minority, but I don't think either the fireworks or parade are worth the long waits for a good spot and the cattle herd during and after. I was there recently and saw them a few times from off-prime spots incidentally while walking by (or getting stuck in the crowd). The parade has some cool digital light effects and video features, but not much different than the pixar or soundsational parade to me. Fireworks were fine, and I didn't see most of the projections, but really crowded and loud. At one point when trying to just walk around it, I got stuck in the tomorrow land entrance area near main street. There was no way to go backwards or through it since the designated walkways were crammed to a halt. I would not recommend bringing small children anywhere near the first show for risk of getting trampled. 2nd show was less crowded, but hard to keep your children awake that late.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I was wondering if anyone made Carnation Cafè reservations for a late dinner with the intention of finishing dinner after the first parade, then getting a good spot for the fireworks and second parade.

 

[::danielle::]

I'm curious to know if anyone who watched the parade and fireworks from the hub felt it wasn't worth it? That's where we were and we all enjoyed it. However, I have not tracked the responses to see if most people enjoyed it at that location or not.

 

[Sjwillia]

I was wondering if anyone made Carnation Cafè reservations for a late dinner with the intention of finishing dinner after the first parade, then getting a good spot for the fireworks and second parade.

I have not done this yet but have 8:00 dinner reservations for a night in August and hope the leave the Cafe and get a spot for fireworks right after the 8:50 parade passes. I would also be interested to hear from anyone that has already tried this.

 

[apple9117]

Going on a trip this coming weekend, this thread has been super helpful!

 

[rwu]

I was wondering if anyone made Carnation Cafè reservations for a late dinner with the intention of finishing dinner after the first parade, then getting a good spot for the fireworks and second parade.

That's exactly what we did. I made an 8:20pm reservation at Carnation Cafe last Thursday.

We ended up running a bit late and didn't get to Carnation Cafe until 8:25pm, but they were able to seat us right away. Service was quick, and we didn't get dessert (not counting the chocolate cherry shake... mmmm!) so we were done and paid up around 9:20pm.

We watched the top half of PtN, and as the Mickey float went by, we walked out and into the street. We headed towards the castle, ending up near the Penny Arcade. We couldn't see the Matterhorn, but had a good view of the MS projections, fireworks, Tink, etc.

After the fireworks, we staked out a curb spot near the watch store. We stood for about 10 minutes, and once the crowds and/or trample potential went down a bit, we sat down. There were plenty of curb spots, and they gradually filled in over the next half hour or so.

My DH and I (and my backpack) spread out while my DD and DS rode BTM and JC. They had no problems rejoining us around 10:50pm. Shortly after that, the CMs told the people behind us to stand up.

All in all, everything went pretty smoothly, and I was pretty happy with the whole experience.

 

[jina]

is there any way to see the parade from Carnation Cafe? Or just the top of the floats?