Where is the best place to view afternoon parade?

[Nik's Mom]

Hi,
We plan on watching the afternoon parade this Saturday. I was wondering where is the best place to view (not interested in Main Street crowds). Also, how long in advance should we stake out our spot? Thanks!

 

[Snow Brite]

We found a good spot...
We were there in November and it was the first weekend of the Christmas parade, so VERY crowded. We also wanted to be closer to IASM so that we could leave on the monorail afterwards. We started walking in that direction about 35 minutes before it was supposed to start. I was dismayed to see that almost all the spots were taken already. We stopped to think outside the castle...where the bathrooms are, (almost at Alice) and bought a drink from one of the vendors. I thought to ask her where she thought we should stand and she gave me a great tip!

She said to go across the way and stand where the back pathway from the Matterhorn intersects with the pathway to the hub. About 5 minutes later a "traffic control" CM came over and cordoned off this pathway, creating a front row spot for us. WooHoo! This was great as we ended up with a terrific spot and didnt have to sit and "stake it out" as long as most others had.

The afternoon parade started at IASM so we also were done sooner than if we had waited on Main Street and it was a simple matter to hop over to the monorail and back to the hotel...not fighting any crowds.

Jennifer