PTN Parade during MHP?

[SeattleSuz]

So, I just found out that a good friend who I haven't seen in years recently moved down to So Cal with her son and wants to meet us at DLR for the Halloween party. I am hoping to do lots of rides with her and her son during the party and as much as I want to see the parade, I dunno if I can convince DH to sit still for that. When does the parade typically start? And what is the parade route? Does it start in Frontierland or somewhere else?
And will the fireworks start immediately afterwards? I def don't want to miss those, as I have yet to be able to watch a Halloween fireworks show at a park.

If we wanted to do lots of rides during the parade, is that a good plan? Or will we screw ourselves for having a good viewing point for the fireworks show?

 

[figment_jii]

So, I just found out that a good friend who I haven't seen in years recently moved down to So Cal with her son and wants to meet us at DLR for the Halloween party. I am hoping to do lots of rides with her and her son during the party and as much as I want to see the parade, I dunno if I can convince DH to sit still for that. When does the parade typically start? And what is the parade route? Does it start in Frontierland or somewhere else? And will the fireworks start immediately afterwards? I def don't want to miss those, as I have yet to be able to watch a Halloween fireworks show at a park.

PtN typically starts near It's A Small World and then heads to Main Street. It's slated to start at 8:50 pm. The fireworks are slated to start at 9:30 pm, which is about 5 minutes after the parade exits Main Street.

If we wanted to do lots of rides during the parade, is that a good plan? Or will we screw ourselves for having a good viewing point for the fireworks show?

It's hard to say how crowded the parties will be this year (Disney doesn't announce how many tickets they sell, nor do they say whether they sell the same number of tickets for each party). My general sense is that if you opt to do rides during the parade and then hope to find a good viewing spot right before the fireworks start, you'll have a tough time. I suspect Main Street will fill up with parade watchers as soon as the parade passes by (although, you might be able to find a spot further down Main Street). I don't know how easy it will be getting there...

 

[SeattleSuz]

Darn. OK, this is something I will mention to DH and remind him to keep in mind if he wants to see the fireworks show. Thanks for the info!

 

[figment_jii]

The fireworks are unique to the Halloween Party, but PtN will be presented on non-party nights. So, unless this is your only night at DL, I would prioritize MHP fireworks over PtN. Halloween Screams is a really good fireworks show and features Zero!

 

[SeattleSuz]

The fireworks are unique to the Halloween Party, but PtN will be presented on non-party nights. So, unless this is your only night at DL, I would prioritize MHP fireworks over PtN. Halloween Screams is a really good fireworks show and features Zero!

We are going on 9.29 as well, but not sure if DH will want to stay late enough to watch the PTN parade or not.

 

[Geemo]

During the MHP watch the WIND in the evening.
We have yet to see the Halloween fireworks, due to wind canceling the show.

We're hoping this year the Santa Anna Winds aren't an issue.

Have fun

Geemo

 

[figment_jii]

As Geemo mentioned, fireworks can be cancelled at Disneyland due to weather. The most common weather issue is winds at higher elevations. So even if it's calm on ground level, if the winds are strong enough higher up, they may cancel fireworks. They can be cancelled before and even during a show. That's why the general advice is to watch fireworks as early in your trip as possible so you have "fallback" nights in case they get cancelled. Hopefully, that won't be an issue during your MHP (they had to abort the show part way through last year when I was at MHP).

In terms of watching the parade or not...that's a tougher question. At this point, no one know how busy the parade will be on a MHP night. During the regular nights, PtN remains very popular, so having to arrive early (>1 hour) to stake out a front row viewing spot is pretty common. I'd hope it would be easier to find a spot on a MHP night, but given that you're going to the second party, it's probably too early in the season to really know what PtN's attendance is at a MHP.

 

[GenGen22]

We watched the Halloween parade last year and it had a lot less people than the regular parades on a non party night. So, it probably will have less people. Still a lot of people but not like a regular park day. If you want to get on space mountain or haunted mansion I'd make that a definite priority as the lines are crazy but we'll worth it.

 

[figment_jii]

If you want to get on space mountain or haunted mansion I'd make that a definite priority as the lines are crazy but we'll worth it.

I would actually probably opt to skip HM and Space during MHP unless that is the only time you have to ride them. They're the same during the day as during the party (i.e., they don't do anything special for the party), but during the regular operating day, they do issue FPs for both HM and Space (no FP during the party in past years). So you can probably ride them with less wait during the day if you use FPs.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

While not the same as viewing in front of the castle or from MS, you can see HS from IASW. Last year there were projections on the IASW facade and the whole area was much less crowded than the Hub and MS. So that might be an option for you. But if viewing from in front of the castle is really important to you, then I would invest the time to hold a good spot. Even on a non-sold out night, that can require over an hour wait, but it can be worth it if that's the view you want. Lines for rides usually get shorter later in the evening, so you might fit in more rides then.

 

[GenGen22]

I would actually probably opt to skip HM and Space during MHP unless that is the only time you have to ride them. They're the same during the day as during the party (i.e., they don't do anything special for the party), but during the regular operating day, they do issue FPs for both HM and Space (no FP during the party in past years). So you can probably ride them with less wait during the day if you use FPs.

This is true but last year we went for the party & the day after & either the lines for SM were like a 70-80 minute wait or out of FP so, we kept putting it off & never got to go on it so, what I'm pretty much saying is don't put it off or you might miss your chance.

 

[SeattleSuz]

That's kind of what our plan was, to try and hit some of our favorites during the party, since it will be less busy