Strategy to watch 2nd viewing of night shows AND fireworks

[elaine amj]

I am there for 5 park days in mid-July. My crew have no issues staying up late. My thoughts have been to watch the 2nd viewing of Fantasmic!, WOC, and Paint the Night. We love the night shows and ideally want to watch them a couple of times each. I'm trying to figure out how we can do this and having a lot of trouble with logistics because of the way things are timed. We also like to be front and center and don't mind putting in the time to ensure a great spot. I really much prefer not to have people in front of us (e.g. in WDW, we have watched Wishes from several spots now but our favorite is in the Hub behind the statue).

Do my current plans sound doable? I haven't been able to find a whole lot of info about watching the 2nd shows. or am I just stressing too much lol?

Thurs, July 16
6:00pm Get a spot - west side of the Hub (will see PTN from a slight distance)
9:30pm Fireworks from the Hub
11pm Paint the Night (move up to the curb)

Fri, July 17
Get second Fantasmic FP
9:30/10pm: Get a spot for F! after fireworks (any chance of watching fireworks before second F!?)
10:45pm: 2nd Fantasmic!

Sat, July 18
REST DAY - sleep in, swim

Sun, July 19
Get WOC FPs (2nd show) at the Grizzly River Run FP machines (edit: when they start distributing 2nd show)
8:45pm Hang around WOC (first show starts at 9pm)
9:15pm line up for WoC (60 mins early)
10:15pm World of Color (26 mins)

Mon, July 20
9pm: Early bed OR WOC repeat

Tues, July 21
NOTE: parade starts 8:50pm from IASW - what time to get a spot for fireworks??
9:30pm Fireworks from IASW
11pm Paint the Night from IASW (arrives 11:20pm)

 

[mom2rtk]

I'll be curious to hear what others say, but I'm guessing the hub will be pretty packed by 6 already. I've seen it packed 3 hours before fireworks on a regular (non-60th) night.

Given that 7/17 is the actual anniversary date, I would expect the park to be more packed than usual.

 

[SMD]

If you're going to start waiting at 6pm, why not just try a half hour or so earlier and watch the first parade. You'll invest a lot less time. They don't kick people out of the F! area for the fireworks, so I don't see how you'd really get in there if your FP is for the second show. A better strategy might be, FP for first F!, watch fireworks from F!, and see second PTN on one night, then do just fireworks on the other night.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree with mom2rtk that the park is likely to be packed on July 17th because that's the actually anniversary date. If your main goal is to see the nighttime shows, I would actually consider aiming to see WoC on the 17th and then using one of the other nights to see F!/Fireworks. My guess is that DL is going to be more popular on the 17th, so the viewing areas for PtN, fireworks, and F! are going to fill up faster than normal (normal considering how popular the shows are).

If you really want a front-and-center view of F!, you'll should look into the Blue Bayou or River Belle Terrace dining packages. Those viewing areas are front-and-center and you don't have to wait nearly as long as to get a prime spot within the viewing area (from most reports, all spots within those viewing areas are "prime"). Otherwise, with a regular FP, you're going to have to be in the general area as early as possible and certainly heading into the viewing area as soon as they open it. My guess is that you'll have to watch fireworks from where you're waiting to get into the F! viewing area if you want a shot at one of the "better" locations within the F! viewing area.

In terms of the WoC FPs, I don't know how long after opening they start distributing FPs for the second show. Unless things have changed, they distribute the FPs for the first show first, then the FPs for the second show. So if you go right at opening, you're likely to get a FP for the first show.

 

[elaine amj]

This has been super helpful.

I would really like to be in DL on July 17th (all depends on what they announce I guess). My thoughts were that F! might be better since more people would be focused on the new parade and fireworks. I figure if things get too crazy, we can always give it a miss. Given that we are there 5 nights, I'd like to see if we can manage with the F! package as it is over $200 for our family. I figure since we have the available time to invest and are willing to put up with the hassle, we could save the $$.

If you're going to start waiting at 6pm, why not just try a half hour or so earlier and watch the first parade. You'll invest a lot less time. They don't kick people out of the F! area for the fireworks, so I don't see how you'd really get in there if your FP is for the second show. A better strategy might be, FP for first F!, watch fireworks from F!, and see second PTN on one night, then do just fireworks on the other night.

When i started plotting out the timing, that was the conclusion I was coming to. Everybody says that the 2nd show is easier to do if you can stay up late, but it's not really sounding like it's going to work out logistically for what we want.

I like the suggestion of doing this on one night:
FP for first F! and just get there as early as possible to secure a good spot.
Fireworks from F!
2nd PTN from wherever (probably near IASW)

For my fireworks night, what time would you suggest is best to get to the Hub for fireworks? I was thinking if I get a spot on the west side of the hub (without a good view of the parade), it might be a little easier. Or if I am already putting in all that time, should I just go a little earlier and get a spot with a good view of the 1st parade as well?

As for WOC 2nd show, does my timing to get in line sound about right?
Sun, July 19
Get WOC FPs (2nd show) at the Grizzly River Run FP machines (edit: when they start distributing 2nd show)
8:45pm Hang around WOC (first show starts at 9pm)
9:15pm line up for WoC (60 mins early)
10:15pm World of Color (26 mins)

 

[SMD]

I think your instinct to do F! on the 17th is right as most attention will be on the castle that day. On the 50th the crowds dissipated by mid afternoon. Now, with these big events there seem to be more people willing to camp out and power through the whole operating day, so I expect it will stay packed, but would hope it will thin out. And with more days to go in your trip you'd have another shot to do everything.

The new parade has really thrown off all my fireworks strategies. One good thing is that with the new projections there is less emphasis on the actual fireworks and you still get a good overall show with a partial view of them so long as you can also see the projections and likewise with a limited view of the projections you can still enjoy the fireworks. If you're thinking of trying for the west side of the hub near Frontierland I think the trees can be an issue, but it's been awhile. Also, the traffic flow is enter Frontierland, exit Adventureland. I think your best strategy is going to be to either cross from Tomorrowland to the west side as the parade passes, or approach from the Matterhorn as the parade passes and rush in as the parade route fills in. Harder to do with kids, but I'm usually with 1-2 adults when I've waited at the hub, so it's easier to squeeze in. My preferred spot is the far end of Main St for a quick exit and the direction of the first parade has basically killed that.