Together Forever from Riverbelle Terrace?

[heathpack]

We live about an hour from DL and in Jan bought a 3 day SoCal hopper. We used 2 days in conjunction with a DVC stay at Grand Californian (where we own). We had planned to use all three days on that trip but we were a little tired by day 3 and there were no fireworks at the time we were there. I went online and found a single night Grand Californian stay for May 12, so booked that night and saved the one remaining hopper day so that we could come back and see fireworks then. The hopper expires late May.

Little did we know, May 12 is a Grad Night and we hate crowds. So I booked the premium seating for Riverbelle Terrace so that we could have a little space to eat and I figured we could see the fireworks to some extent from our seats on the terrace. Not ideal, but it seemed a worthwhile compromise given that it will probably be a tiring day (we will leave our house around 5:45am to get to the Grand, drop off our luggage, park the car, and get the DL EMH 8am opening).

But the new fireworks show seems to be better from Main Street? Should we ditch the Fantasmic package in favor of just plunking ourselves down on Main Street somewhere? Sitting around for an hour guarding a fireworks viewing spot is NOT our idea of fun though... We could maybe suck it up and do it.

BTW, we saw Fantasmic during our Jan trip and definitely would be ok with missing it this trip.

Input? Keep the Fantasmic Package or cancel and try for Main Street?

 

[shooting4life]

I just did the standing around on main street thing for the fireworks. It depends on how important seeing the projection on the castle is. Personally I am more worried about the fireworks than the projection so finding a spot off of Main Street would have been better for us than standing for the better part of an hour. Standing is much more tiring to me then walking from attraction to attraction so it really wore us down.

Since you have a long day planned and have seating and meal combined it sounds worth it to me, as long as seeing the projections on the castle isn’t the biggest priority of the event for you.

 

[figment_jii]

I guess that as long as you can see BTMRR from where you are seated, you should be able to see some of the fireworks. Personally, I don't think it's a very good view because you'll have to look one direction to see the fireworks and another direction to see the projections (I felt like it really detracts from the show).

I'm not sure I would wait 1.5 hours on Main Street, but I do think that's one of the best spots to watch the new show. As long as you can see one of the big flat building areas (e.g., to the left or right of the Penny Arcade sign), you'll be able to see the projections and other special effects.

 

[Mariacol]

We were there on April 10,11,and 13th. Our plan was we will just watch the new fireworks at the river belle fantasmic premium package. April 10th, when we were about to leave the park after a long day, we heard the announcement that there is a preview of the new fireworks and we decided to take a peek of the fireworks at the end of Main Street near the gate. We were glad we watch it because the Main Street in my opinion is the best view of the fireworks. It’s like a party in the entire street because of the projections to the building. Our kids enjoyed it so much!
As for the river belle Fantasmic premium package, we enjoyed the food, the comfortable seating, and the show as we are close to the rail. Plus the bonus of new fireworks. The view is not as good as what you will get in Main Street but it’s better than nothing.
That being said, Here are the videos that I created for both the fantasmic package and the fireworks at Main Street to help you In deciding which one is the best for you. Enjoy!

New Pixar Fest fireworks at Main st...

River belle fantasmic premium with bonus new fireworks ...

 

[heathpack]

Does anyone have a feel for how far ahead we’d have to wait on Main Street to get a good viewing spot on a crowded Saturday?

One other option we’d have is moving our visit to Tuesday May 1. I happen to be off work that day. I can’t move the VGC reservation but I could maybe book something with Marriott or Starwood points off property and then try to rent the VCG night. Worst case scenario, we head down and spend the day at the resort, have dinner at Napa Rose and just spend a relaxing day at the resort on our original May 12 date.

On Tuesday, they have fireworks and both parades. No Fantasmic but as I mentioned we are ok with that.

Hmmm. Worth considering.

 

[heathpack]

Well, I think we’re going to head down to Disneyland this coming Tuesday. It should be a mellow day and there is some chance of rain, which may further keep crowds down.

I’ll try to rent out my Saturday VGC night and if I can’t, we’ll just spend the night at the Grand without heading into the parks. Bonus: I snagged a reservation at Napa Rose Chefs Counter. Very nice plan B.

 

[gardenrooms]

Mariacol, thank you for sharing your videos. And how fun, you had a birthday to celebrate, too. It looks like your children enjoyed themselves, which is the most important thing. How did you manage to get the rail seating? I have heard different thoughts on how the seating is assigned. Back in the old days of balcony seating it was in the order reserved but apparently that is no longer the case.

 

[Mariacol]

Mariacol, thank you for sharing your videos. And how fun, you had a birthday to celebrate, too. It looks like your children enjoyed themselves, which is the most important thing. How did you manage to get the rail seating? I have heard different thoughts on how the seating is assigned. Back in the old days of balcony seating it was in the order reserved but apparently that is no longer the case.

Yeah our kids really enjoyed our disney trip. It was well planned and this board helped me in gathering information to make the best choice.
I’m not exactly sure how did we get the rail seating but here’s how I did it. I hope it can help...
- I booked the package (i.e., river belle fantasmic package upgraded option) on the first day they open the bookings (Normally 60 days before the date you plan to dine. However, in our case, it was probably around 50 days before April 13th, due to the busyness of Pixar fest). I booked it by calling (714) 781-DINE (3463). During the booking, I requested to put a note that it’s for our twins birthday celebration.
- I read somewhere in this thread that one of the best view is at the far left of the terrace close to the rail so i sent an email to the customer service to put a note on my reservation that we want the far left close to the rail but they replied saying table request should be done on the dining location
- On the day of the reservation, we intentionally came in early (around 730pm) to request the spot we want but the reception told us that the table are already pre-arranged. However she checked on her computer our assigned seats and she confirmed that we actually got one of the best seats.

So, i believe we got that spot close to the rail because we were one of the first who booked it but I will suggest 2 things... 1. Try to reserve the package right on the 60 day mark, 2. Request the seating location you want when you call to reserve the package... I noticed during the fantasmic show that nobody attempted to move from their seats to get a good view. It seems all tables have a nice and comfortable view of the show. Hope this helps!

 

[heathpack]

So we did go down to DLR yesterday for the day. We arrived around 11am and left at close. Rode everything.

Paint the Night was at 8:50pm and Together Forever was 9:30. Once we were there, we got greedy, wondering if we could see both...

Talked to a few cast members and came up with a game plan of snagging a parade spot near the Little Mermaid ride (parade started near Paradise Garden), then trying to hightail it over to DL after the last float passed us. Parade started 10 min late so we had to walk *really* fast... but... we made it and saw both.

We waited an hour for the parade but zero time for the fireworks, we literally stopped moving 1 min before the fireworks started.

We though parade was ok but the fireworks were pretty magic. Glad we got to see both.