Parades and Fireworks and Rides Oh My!

[can'twait]

Everyone raves about the parades and fireworks so I want to see them, but the one night we will be able to see Wishes we had planned to spend the day at MGM. After reading all the horror stories on the "have you ever had a shock" thread about people pushing right up to the front to watch, I'm realizing we will have to leave MGM at 4:00 to travel back to the MK to stake out a good spot. We will be with kids - 5 and 7 - and I'm wondering if it's REALLY worth it to spend that much time hopping and staking out (ie BORING to kids) to see these things, when we could be at MGM, or anywhere else, for that matter going on rides, especially since the lines thin out when everyone else is watching the parades. Of course, if we leave MGM early that day we will have to hop to MGM another night to see Fantasmic. Again, this will involve the same traveling and waiting.

Here's the thing. This is the kids' first trip to WDW. There is a LOT to see and do, and only so much time to do it all in, but, I have no idea when we will be able to afford to come back, so I'd like to squeeze in as much as possible.

So, given this situation, what would you do? Go on rides or travel and sit and wait with kids to see the parades/fireworks???

Help?!

 

[ScoJo15]

In my opinion, I'd rather keep the kids occupied by riding rides, eating, etc. There are plenty of spots along parade routes and many places to see the fireworks. I'd rather ride rides and see the fireworks from somewhere other than directly in front of the castle. That's what we've done with our DD7 and have never had any complaints or issues.

Browse thru the threads to find tips on where to stand for the parades & fireworks to give you some ideas that will not force you to sit around and wait for a couple of hours.

 

[DisneyMom5]

Do you mean Spectromagic, the night time parade at MK? I did get a bit claustrophobic at that one. You do have to get there early on the day they have this.
If you mean Wishes, the fireworks, you can see them from all around the park and they should be on every night and getting there as early is not as important.
Have a great time!

 

[Honeybehr1]

Ask the kids if they want to watch it. Sometimes mine dont care and they would rather go on rides than sit for an hour and watch a parade. It all depends.
We have never set up camp for hours before a parade. Just take out chances on seeing it. If we do, we do and if we dont - oh well.

I always make a list of 3 things each person MUST do while on a vacation. And we will do everything to make those 3 things happen. For me its riding Buzz with my kids. Other than that everything else is a bonus.
But not once was a parade or fireworks in the top 3 for anyone.

 

[familyfirsttimer]

This might not be a good idea for your family and I might even get flamed but maybe your family could split up (depending on how many adults there are) and save spots for the rest. When we were there in May, we got a spot in front of the castle right at the front of the Spectromagic parade route @1 hour before it started. My DH and DD3 stayed there and ate at hotdog dinner while my DD6 and I rode Space Mountain. We came back @10 min before it started. Of couse we hade to work our way through the crowd about 20 people deep, but we moved right back to the front and sat down with the rest of our family.

This worked great for us because all my DD wanted to do all day was ride Space Mtn and time just kept getting away from us. She said whe would rather miss the parade and ride the ride so we went that way. It just happened to work out that she got to do both.

BTW then we moved right over to the bridge to Tomorrowland and waited for Wishes. My DH went and got the girls ice cream. Never underestimate the power of a good snack to keep them occupied!!!!!

Good luck! I have to say that this was not a plan we had until 8:00 that night!!! It just worked out that way.

 

[jeankeri]

It is tough to stay in any park from opening to closing to see Spectromagic/Fantasmic/Illuminations. If you are going to MGM on an EMH day you might want to leave when it starts clogging up with people and head over to MK. You could get an early PS for dinner then claim a spot for the parade. There are good threads on this board about great overlooked spots. If it is a Spectromagic night I would definately see it. When is your vacation? Is it when there are shorter or longer park hours?
Splitting up is also good- nothing wrong with saving a spot. If the people around you are aware of it, and you can plunk down a nice big backpack to reserve the space, I don't see a problem.

 

[StephMK]

I second the opinion of Spectromagic!!! Parades are usually take 'em or leave 'em imo, but this is NOT to be missed. One of my top events to see when we go back. The time of day & lights is just beautiful.

 

[Windy City Heather]

SpectroMagic is a do not miss for my family. It is my #1 thing at MK. I would truely feel like something was missing from my trip if I missed it.

I don't think staking out your spot with half the family is wrong. What I think is wrong is the people who infringe on your space.

 

[shoots]

I agree that Spectomagic shouldn't be missed. It's magical to see the characters all lit up both on floats and walking the parade route. I say you could split up, or, if you don't mind standing or putting your smallest child on your shoulder, you should be fine getting there 30 minutes ahead. We were there on a busy night a week ago , and we knew the curb spots were all gone, but we stood behind the "sitters" and could see fine. My daughter went to the back and was on my husband's shoulders for the 20 minutes or so the parade lasted.

As for the fireworks, we moved closer to the exit and saw them fine. It's better right at the castle, but we were hot and tired that day and wanted a quick exit. We watched the finale from the ramp to the Monorail and found it was a great location!!! Then we sped out quickly!

Enjoy!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I've had the best two Spectromagic parades in my last two trips. We didn't plan on watching the parade and just wandered up on it (near Sleepy Hollow right next to the store that sells the American stuff) while it was going through that area. No front row seat and no confrontations. Made it a very nice parade. We were behind a lot of people and didn't mind at all. Every time I tried to get a front row spot, it was a disaster.

The parade is really rather tall, so you can see it from behind. If you are at the back of the crowd, you can put your kids up on your shoulders.

We watch Wishes from over near the Tiki birds. There are some stone benches there and we get there about 10 minutes before the fireworks start. Your kids can even ride Aladdin's Flying Carpets while you wait on the stone bench. The line about this time is usually short. Don't try to get that perfect spot at the train station if your kids want to have fun.

You can do both, but you won't have the prime real estate for watching the parade or fireworks, just a pretty good substitute.

 

[can'twait]

We are going the first week in October.

 

[figment family]

It's worth waiting some time for Spectromagic. In 2000, the evening parade was only performing one night weekly.We arrived@ Mk about 1/2 hour before and were routed through a back parking lot into Tomorrowland. Main Street was closed. We had to run to Frontierland (while navigating through a crowd) with 2 double strollers. We made it, and we even made it back to the castle for Tinkerbell before the fireworks . But we were exhausted and the next morning was shot. Have been to Spectro twice since, got there early, had snacks to entertain kids, didn't regret time "wasted."

 

[jeankeri]

can'twait- Have you looked at the park hours posted for October yet? The first week seems to have no really late MK nights. When you start planning your itinerary (sp?) post it. I'm sure you'll get some great feedback.

 

[can'twait]

jeankeri:

Here it is!

Wednesday is the only night we can see Wishes. We are having dinner elsewhere other nights. We had to make dinner plans before the park hours were released, so we are kind of bound to our reservations first. I know we can blow them off, but I worked so hard to plan it all out I don't want to just blow the whole plan off, especially since the park hours can still change, making new plans mute anyway.

October 1-8

Saturday - arrive at 4:00 , go grocery shopping, check out the pool, hit the hay early
Sunday - MK: lunch at CRT, nap, Halloween Party - YAY!
Monday - EPCOT: lunch at Rose & Crown, dinner at Teppanyaki
Tuesday - MK: followed by Spirit of Aloha
Wednesday - MGM: lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe, milkshakes at Sci Fi at 4:00, hop to MK for SpectroMagic and Wishes?
Thursday - MK: lunch at LTT followed by Hoop Dee Doo Review
Friday - AK in the am, followed by hop to either EPCOT or MGM, depending on what we did earlier in the week
Saturday - late breakfast at Crystal Palace, mid-afternoon flight home

 

[jeankeri]

We have gone to the MK just for Spectro & Wishes. Plan to be entering the park 1 hour before it starts, leaving MGM 2 hours before to make your travel time less hectic. Try to sit in Liberty Square/ Fronteirland. You should still be able to find good spots there. My first trip to MK we sat in Main Street. Not an enjoyable spot to watch the parade IMHO. Have a magical time

 

[can'twait]

Thank you so much!

 

[can'twait]

On a related note - we were planning on doing a counter service meal for dinner that night. We will be having milkshakes at Sci Fi at 4:00 for a snack, so we will not be starving on our trek to the MK, but can we make it to Pecos Bill's for 7:00 and eat while we stake out our spot? How long is the parade? Can we watch it and then eat at 8:30 before Wishes? I don't want to wait until after Wishes to eat. Geeze, this is complicated!

 

[jeankeri]

The parade lasts about 20 minutes (and takes about 20 minutes to get from the beginning at Main St to Fronteirland/Liberty Square). You can stake a spot and send someone to Pecos Bill for the food. Eating is a great time killer! There is a 10-15 minute break between the end of the parade and Wishes. I would make sure I had a good view; don't know if you'd have time to grab food then.

 

[SammieG]

wow.. I hope youre hungry!!!

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

Good luck!
I see you're going during the week, I hope it's better at that time.
We tried to see it in Nov on a Sat. night. BIG mistake. They only had it two times that week. I wish we went to the one earlier in the week. People started sitting around the castle 2 HOURS before the parade. We never saw this parade before and it was only our 2nd trip. We had dinner in the castle and decided to go on the Carousel and then the Hanted Mansion. Then it was close to time for Spectromagic. What a nightmare! There were so many people that we literally could not get through to even leave the park! I could not believe it. We wound up working our way to the exit and left. We already saw Wishes the first night we were there. We caught some of Spectromagic on the way down main street. It looked pretty nice, but not worth the hassle. I can't imagine sitting there that long with little ones. I have three of my own, so I know it's hard to keep them happy while they wait. I hope you have someone who can sit and stake it out.
Maybe if you go near Frontierland like someone else suggested it should be better.
Don't miss Fantasmic either, it really is a great show! Maybe you're AK day you can hop back to MGM and see it.