Parade Starts in the Magic Kingdom

[Phil from PA]

I am finalizing some plans and looking for places to watch the parade and the one article I was reading stated to watch at the Sleepy Hollow Snack and beverage shop and "You will have a perfect view of the parade as it crosses Liberty Square Bridge, but only when the parade begins on Main Street."

Stupid question but how do you know where the parades begin?

Is it written in the program that you pick up at the park with the days events?

Thanks and I am 10 days and counting.

 

[BrianL]

Well, you can ask here:

Festival of Fantasy runs from Frontierland to Mainstreet.
Main Street Electrical Parade runs from Mainstreet to Frontierland.
Any Halloween Party or Christmas Party parades run Frontierland to Mainstreet.

This is consistent and never changes. Honestly, the Sleepy Hollow/Hall of PResidents ares is great for viewing parades in either direction if you ask me.

 

[Phil from PA]

Well, you can ask here:

Festival of Fantasy runs from Frontierland to Mainstreet.
Main Street Electrical Parade runs from Mainstreet to Frontierland.
Any Halloween Party or Christmas Party parades run Frontierland to Mainstreet.

This is consistent and never changes. Honestly, the Sleepy Hollow/Hall of PResidents ares is great for viewing parades in either direction if you ask me.

Since you bring it up, here are the recommended places for Parade and Fireworks (for my purposes I am looking at MSEP & Wishes). What is your favorite?

SleepyHollow
Pathway on Liberty Square Side of the moat from SleepyHollow Snack Bar
Covered walkway between Liberty Tree Tavern and Diamond Horseshoe Saloon
Elevated wood platform at Frontierland Shootin' Arcade
Benches on perimeter of Central Plaza (a little far away they say) between Liberty Square and Adventureland
Liberty Square and Frontierland Dockside areas
Elevated Porch at Tony's Town Square Restaurant

We will be viewing on Wednesday night the 9th with Parade at 9 and Fireworks at 10

 

[Robo]

Since you bring it up,

here are the recommended places for Parade and Fireworks (for my purposes I am looking at MSEP & Wishes). What is your favorite?

SleepyHollow
Pathway on Liberty Square Side of the moat from SleepyHollow Snack Bar
Covered walkway between Liberty Tree Tavern and Diamond Horseshoe Saloon
Elevated wood platform at Frontierland Shootin' Arcade
Benches on perimeter of Central Plaza (a little far away they say) between Liberty Square and Adventureland
Liberty Square and Frontierland Dockside areas
Elevated Porch at Tony's Town Square Restaurant

Who is making those recommendations?

Many (most) of those spots are decent for viewing the parade (some, better than others,)
but many are really poor locations for viewing Wishes. (Some offer no view of Wishes at all)

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, I gotta agree with Robo. Some of those are indeed great parade viewing spots, but usually good viewing for the parade is not the same as good viewing for Wishes. You would not be able to see much of the fireworks form Tony's because of the angle. That far back on Main Street is not great viewing.

The absolute best spot for Wishes will be toward the back of the hub, where the FP+ locations were placed for a reason. There are still good spots near there that are outside of the FP+ areas, but they will fill up early. If you are near the curb this can be a good place to watch both the parade and fireworks, if you don't want to move.

 

[Jannephotog]

I'm going to share this just because I like you guys...if a parade ends in Frontierland, I highly suggest viewing the parades right at the end of the route, near Splash. It's a great place to get interactions from the characters. (But maybe don't do this during the castle being lit because if you can get that background, it's killer, especially for the Electrical parade). But those are just some of my preferences.=)

 

[epcotty]

Usually there's dots on the map to tell you the parade route

 

[Robo]

Usually there's dots on the map to tell you the parade route

Correct.
But, the parade route doesn't change and the dots don't tell you the FORWARD DIRECTION that
the parade will be headed.

The MK route for all parades is seen below.