Parades in
Disneyland are usually around 3pm and 6pm. The first parade starts at Its a Small World and ends on Main Street. The second parade starts on Main Street and ends at Small World. If you are used to watching fireworks from the terraced area at Small World, that is also a good place to watch the parade. It is a pretty big space and is above the people that are sitting on the ground. It looks like you might be a party of adults, so it isn't like you have a 5 year old who needs to be front row, waiving at the characters. How far in advance you get there depends on how close to the front you want to be. The first days will be more crowded but, again, you will have 10 opportunities during your five day trip to watch it.
Small World is a good place to view the fireworks and projections, but it isn't my favorite because they are off to the side. I've done Main Street which is crowded but can be really pretty with the holiday decorations. If you are willing to get there an hour (or more depending on the day) in advance, you might try to watch near the castle. That is my favorite place to watch the fireworks and projections. It is also the place where people start lining up the earliest. A very different view would be from Rivers of America (see Fantasmic below)
For Fantasmic, I strongly recommend that you purchase a dining package. If you are planning on eating in Blue Bayou, they offer a Fantasmic dining package for $89. River Belle Terrace has one for $55 and Rancho del Zocalo has one for $35. You can find the menus on the Disneyland website.
For all three dining packages, you will be sitting on the ground (bring a blanket or sweatshirt to sit on). The first Fantasmic show starts at 9 pm. Seating is first come, first served. If you want to sit in the front or towards the center, I would arrive an hour in advance. If you don't mind sitting 4-5 rows back, or sitting on the side, you'll get good seats 30 min before the show. Personally, I wouldn't push it to arriving 15 min before the show, but some people in the
Fantasmic thread did and were satisfied with their view.
Immediately after Fantasmic (3 min), the fireworks start and you can watch them from where you watched Fantasmic. They do, however, ask for everyone to stand. Once those with dining packages stand, they open the area to other guests.
The second Fantasmic show is at 10:30 pm. It is much less crowded than the first show. If you have a dining package, they don't start seating people until closer to 10 pm. I've watched Fire of the Rising Moon fireworks (in SWGE) at 9:30 pm and hustled to get to Fantasmic and was able to get a decent standby view for the 10:30 show. I was, however, waiting about 40 min for the show. I know my way around the parks in the dark and I know the better viewing locations so it might be more difficult for someone who isn't as familiar with the park. If you are interested in something like this, I can talk you through how to do it.
I'm a picture person. Here are some fireworks pictures to give you an idea of the views from different locations.
Fireworks from River Belle Terrace dining package (front row, close to center stage).
Fireworks from Rancho del Zocalo dining package (front row, close to center stage). Note, this was July 4 so it was a different fireworks show.
View of fireworks from the terraced area near Small World.
View of projections and fireworks from the castle.
