Parades and fireworks...

[surgefest]

How early should you get a spot for each of the parades and fireworks at DL and DCA??? Also any spots that are better than others or tips??? Thanks!

 

[northshoremama]

i think 45min to an hour before the fireworks is a good rule of thumb. you may be able to get away with finding a spot in front of the castle about 30 minutes before the show, too. in december, we got a bench in front of the castle around 8:45pm or so (for the 9:25pm show)...got some hot cocoas and some treats for me, dh, and dd. we've only seen the fireworks show twice and both were in front of the castle, so i can't speak to viewing it from any other place. as for parades, we've only seen 1 parade and at the last-minute, swooped into an empty section in the roped off area on main street about 20 minutes before the parade started.

hopefully, others will chime in, too!

 

[AmericanItGirl]

It depends on the crowds and what time you're seeing the parade (later can be less crowded than the earlier one). I can't give a good answer for the fireworks, because I'm a little crazy when it comes to fireworks viewing (I prefer a view that's as unobstructed as I could possibly have it [not accounting for people (many with children on their shoulders) walking in front of the castle who decide to stop and stare even when the CMs keep telling them to "keep moving"]) and I stake out a spot right smack-dab in the middle in front of the castle two hours beforehand. But for the parade, 45 minutes for pretty much any spot is a good bet (Main Street is usually the most crowded because of the close proximity to places where you can buy food and bathrooms). You could opt to take a late lunch/early dinner/snack break and settle down for an hour before the start.