WOC, PTN and F!

[3DisMunchkins]

Looking for some advice or experience. We are going to the parks July 18-21. My daughter and I will have 4 days but my sister is considering joining us for the 1st two days. While we have been many times she has never and I am wondering what is the best way to fit in as much of the nighttime entertainment as possible. We usually do the late shows to cut down on the waiting and really love front row( rail at F! And wet zone rail at WOC). We currently have cafe orleans package for late show or F! On the 18th. We’ve done the dessert party for WOC before but for the cost still prefer the front wet area.
Any ideas on logistics for getting the most in and what would you prioritise for a 1st timer? Any chance of catching more than one in a night? We do have hoppers.
Thanks!!

 

[mdmost]

If she's joining you for the 2 days then I would say do the early Paint the Night parade where you are closer to It's a Small World to watch when it begins. It starts at 8:50. Then head through Fantasyland towards Frontierland which will make it easy for you to be in New Orleans Square to get your seat for Fantasmic at 10:30. When is your Cafe Orleans time? That might switch things around.

I would do WOC on the 2nd night. With a hopper, you could always watch WOC at 9 and then catch the late Paint the Night at 10:50. PTN would start on Main Street and head towards It's a Small World.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

We have a 230 cafe orleans reservation so I think that plan sounds like a good one. I would love to stay at Small world to see the fireworks too but think we’d be hard pressed to get to F! If we did.

 

[LKing]

You have so many options. This is my thought. PTN at Small World will start at 8:50 and clear Fantasy Faire Gifts by about 9:10 pm. If you are watching from the Fantasy Faire Gifts area, you can take the brick pathway behind the trees. If you are sitting on the other side, or farther down, you'll have to wait until the end of the parade reaches the teacups before you can enter Fantasyland. If it takes you 5-25 min to get through Fantasyland to Frontierland, you'll be stuck because the lights around Rivers of America will be dimmed (haha) until Fantasmic is over at 9:32. At 9:35 it gets dark again for fireworks which end around 9:50 pm.

Below is a map of the Small World area. The blue lines indicate how they rope off a walkway in the middle. The red is the brick pathway that I was referring to. If you sit in the teal or yellow areas, you can exit via that pathway.



If you stay to watch fireworks at Small World. At 9:50, you can cut through Fantasyland, and Frontierland should be mostly clear of the first show guests by the time you arrive (although, there will be others like you entering). You will need to get to Harbour Galley to enter your Fantasmic viewing area. If I recall correctly, they start walking guests to the seating area for the second show around 10 pm. Second show is not as crowded as the first so it is likely, but not guaranteed, that you can sit towards the front.

You can also flip it and do the first Fantasmic show and second PTN. For the first Fantasmic show, they start walking guests down to the dining package area around 7:45 pm. A line usually starts to form around 7-7:30pm. If you want to be guaranteed against the rail, I would head over to Harbour Galley early. Watch Fantasmic and fireworks from ROA. At 9:50, you can exit via Adventureland with everyone else and meet up with the crowds on Main Street, then swim upstream against the crowds leaving Small World fireworks. CM will allow those exiting Small World to go straight towards Main Street. They divert those walking towards Small World to the right (towards Tommorrowland) just before the Matterhorn. Granted it was July 4, but we were caught in that mess last night. If you are diverted to the right, you need to walk around Matterhorn and enter the Small World area by Edelweiss Snacks. Or... you might find a place to watch the second PTN on Main Street or on the walk to Small World.

You could leave Fantasmic through Bayou Country, try to catch the 10:15 Shadows of Memory (10 min long) and then leave SWGE via Fantasyland to get to Small World. The second PTN starts at Main Street at 10:50. We were sitting in the Small World queue area (the very end of the parade route) for the second show last night. The parade arrived at that area at 11:15 pm.

 

[LKing]

We watched WOC Happiness from the dining package area last week and got wet enough that I had to take off my glasses. I thought it might have just been the way the air was blowing, but I've read other reviews about it being more wet than other WOC shows. We watched the second WOC from the area next to the Pixar Pier sign and we got misted there as well. WOC Happiness ends at 9:23. If you watch the first show, afterwards, you can walk over to Pixar Pier to watch the fireworks at Disneyland. You don't have music, but it is a nice view. There is seating next to Poultry Palace where Incredicoaster takes off. Alternatively, you can hustle out of DCA and into Disneyland for the second PTN parade.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

You have so many options. This is my thought. PTN at Small World will start at 8:50 and clear Fantasy Faire Gifts by about 9:10 pm. If you are watching from the Fantasy Faire Gifts area, you can take the brick pathway behind the trees. If you are sitting on the other side, or farther down, you'll have to wait until the end of the parade reaches the teacups before you can enter Fantasyland. If it takes you 5-25 min to get through Fantasyland to Frontierland, you'll be stuck because the lights around Rivers of America will be dimmed (haha) until Fantasmic is over at 9:32. At 9:35 it gets dark again for fireworks which end around 9:50 pm.

Below is a map of the Small World area. The blue lines indicate how they rope off a walkway in the middle. The red is the brick pathway that I was referring to. If you sit in the teal or yellow areas, you can exit via that pathway.

View attachment 980861

If you stay to watch fireworks at Small World. At 9:50, you can cut through Fantasyland, and Frontierland should be mostly clear of the first show guests by the time you arrive (although, there will be others like you entering). You will need to get to Harbour Galley to enter your Fantasmic viewing area. If I recall correctly, they start walking guests to the seating area for the second show around 10 pm. Second show is not as crowded as the first so it is likely, but not guaranteed, that you can sit towards the front.

You can also flip it and do the first Fantasmic show and second PTN. For the first Fantasmic show, they start walking guests down to the dining package area around 7:45 pm. A line usually starts to form around 7-7:30pm. If you want to be guaranteed against the rail, I would head over to Harbour Galley early. Watch Fantasmic and fireworks from ROA. At 9:50, you can exit via Adventureland with everyone else and meet up with the crowds on Main Street, then swim upstream against the crowds leaving Small World fireworks. CM will allow those exiting Small World to go straight towards Main Street. They divert those walking towards Small World to the right (towards Tommorrowland) just before the Matterhorn. Granted it was July 4, but we were caught in that mess last night. If you are diverted to the right, you need to walk around Matterhorn and enter the Small World area by Edelweiss Snacks. Or... you might find a place to watch the second PTN on Main Street or on the walk to Small World.

You could leave Fantasmic through Bayou Country, try to catch the 10:15 Shadows of Memory (10 min long) and then leave SWGE via Fantasyland to get to Small World. The second PTN starts at Main Street at 10:50. We were sitting in the Small World queue area (the very end of the parade route) for the second show last night. The parade arrived at that area at 11:15 pm.

Thank you so much for the detail!! I think this will be our plan. If we want to watch the first PTN from this area what time do you think we need to be there? I assume this is just a tape line since there’s no curb on that side? Do they put the rope behind? Just trying to envision the area.
If we make it to the ROA area after the lights are dimmed can we still make our way toward harbour galley? Would it make sense to go through SWGE and come out on that side? Don’t want to ruin the F! Show since my sister has never seen it. Also if we made it there by 930 is there any view of fireworks from the queue for the 2nd show? I may be totally overestimating our ability to wallk
Quickly with the gridlock at that time of night???
Thanks again!!!

 

[LKing]

Thank you so much for the detail!! I think this will be our plan. If we want to watch the first PTN from this area what time do you think we need to be there? I assume this is just a tape line since there’s no curb on that side? Do they put the rope behind? Just trying to envision the area.

Here is a picture of the brick walkway behind Fantasy Faire Gifts.



No tape, they use the brick on the ground as the line. In the picture below, I'm standing in the area where you are talking about watching from. The yellow arrow points to the lighter bricks that create the line for the front of the parade viewing area. CM will walk by and tell the front row that they need to be 100% on the bricks. This photo was taken as they set up for the cavalcade so you can see ropes on the right side where there is a path for cross traffic. If you want to duck out quickly, I would sit on the Fantasy Faire Gifts side of the walkway ropes (near that first tree on the right). The red arrow points to where the brick pathway in the above image is located.



The picture below was taken from Fantasy Faire Gifts (around where the red arrow is in the pic above). The tree on the right is the first tree that I referenced above. You can see the walkway ropes on the left. It is a relatively small area so fills up early. I would get there 2.5 hours in advance and check out the crowds. If it isn't bad, you can go on Small World or visit Toontown, then come back. Realistically, they don't let people line up on the bricks until 2 hrs in advance. When the clock strikes 6:50, it fills up quickly. Two hours sounds like a long time, but people are often tired by the end of the day. Your group can split up and have some go on rides and others wait. Sunset is at 8 pm and the parade route starts to get crowded so the last hour most people are pretty much settled in their viewing area.

Is your CO reservation for lunch or dinner? I'll warn you, there isn't much food near the SW viewing area. Troubadour Tavern closes at 6 pm so you have either Cafe Daisy in Toontown (which closes at 8 pm) or the Edelweiss Snacks cart near the Matterhorn.

If we make it to the ROA area after the lights are dimmed can we still make our way toward harbour galley? Would it make sense to go through SWGE and come out on that side? Don’t want to ruin the F! Show since my sister has never seen it. Also if we made it there by 930 is there any view of fireworks from the queue for the 2nd show? I may be totally overestimating our ability to wallk
Quickly with the gridlock at that time of night???

It will be difficult to get from Frontierland to Harbour Galley without seeing Fantasmic. You might consider watching fireworks from SWGE. You don't need to be next to the Milineum Falcon to see the fireworks. After fireworks in SWGE, you can exit with the masses via the Frontierland exit (near Big Thunder) and make your way to Harbour Galley. You'll need to walk quickly and with purpose to get to HG before they start walking people down around 10 pm. Again, the second show is not as crowded, so you should be fine even if you aren't there by 10. But, if front row is a priority.... getting their early is your best bet. Alternatively, you could skip fireworks and take the long way around, through SWGE and Bayou Country to get to Harbour Galley.

Below is what it would look like if you watched PTN at Small World, walked to SWGE for fireworks and then to Harbour Galley for Fantasmic. To see the view of fireworks from the area I circled on this map, go to this thread. If you scroll down, you'll see another pic and map.