Best parade and fireworks viewing help needed!

[Sunny37]

This will be my first trip to DL so I need help knowing where to view the following:

Parade of Dreams
Fantasmic
Electrical Parade
Block Party Bash
Dreams Come True fireworks

This may be my only chance to see these, so I would like to get a great spot! I'm not really concerned about exiting the park quickly. Thanks!

 

[crazymomof 4]

Everyone will have different opinions on these things. For our family we like to be up to the water at the Rivers of America for Fantasmic. You will most likely get a little misted this close, but to us it is worth it to have no one in front of the kids. My husband however prefers right in front of the POC. For the Fireworks for the 50th. You will see everything if you are in the hub in front of the castle. Don't miss it! For the parades. My favorite place is wherever a cm is holding a rope. Why? Because they are going to block off these walkways right before itr is time to start. It sure beats sitting there for an hour! Depends on what you want to see the most in the Block Party Blast. We like to sit in front of the Pin Store. Buzz Lightyear stops here. The ELP is something to not miss. I would ask a cm what direction it is going and sit close enough to where it starts so you can make a breakaway ASAP if you have to go somewhere else, because it can be really hard to get back over to DL after this.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree with all of crazymom's advice. Here are a few other tips. A great place to see Remember is back by Its a Small World. Much lighter crowds. You miss Tink flying and the affects on the Matterhorn and castle but they have very cool projections they put on the Small World exterior. Sit as close to the roped off area near Small World as you can, they have some bench areas that are way more comfy than sitting on the ground. It is so uncrowded back there that once the fireworks start you can easily migrate to another nearby area if you need a better view. This is much easier if you have strollers or anyone who can't stand crowds. We always see them from the hub once and back by Small World the rest of the time. My brother and his wife were with us and actually preferred it back there. My favorite spot for the parade at Disneyland is across from the Matterhorn, near the restrooms by the Alice in Wonderland ride. There is a long stone bench that is very comfy to sit on and its always shady. I also like Main Street, if you do that sit on the side that the Blue Ribbon Bakery is on, its the shady side.

 

[mundaremom]

We went last November and sat right under the big Christmas Tree and watched the parade. What a view, we video taped the parade coming straight at us. The pine smell of the Christmas tree really put us in the Christmas spirit. On a funny note about this location, it seemed where my husband was sitting he was in a lot of family pictures being taken in front of the tree. He finally got up and started asking people if they wanted him to take their family pictures with their cameras so their entire family could be in the picture. I told the people that if my husband took their pictures for him they wouldn't have to be explaining to people who that weird guy is sitting in their pictures. Everyone laughed and prior to the parade got nice family photos in front of the tree!

 

[Sunny37]

For our family we like to be up to the water at the Rivers of America for Fantasmic.

Can you tell me how early I will need to get there in order to get up to the water for the second showing?

Thanks

 

[HydroGuy]

Can you tell me how early I will need to get there in order to get up to the water for the second showing?

Thanks

It depends on when you are going and what night of the week it is. Usually 30 minutes is enough for the second showing, but if it is a weekend night or holiday period, etc., 45 minutes might be better.

We saw Remember from the hub area and if you are only planning to see it once I would recommend you see it from there. If you get there an hour early you should be fine. Lots of people say you have to get up close to the castle, but our view from the hub out in front of Carnation Plaza (aka Coke Corner) was excellent. Again, if it is a holiday period or weekend night you might need a little more time. If you choose to see it from the hub, just make sure the spot you choose has a clear view of the castle. If you want to see tink, a view of the Matterhorn is also nice.

The Parade of Dreams is pretty good and shows twice a day during busier periods. You can use some of the other recommended tricks or stake out a spot. 30 minutes early should be fine. We saw it over between the connection between the hub and the Matterhorn because we wanted seats to sit in and found them there. We got there 60 minutes early - not because it was necessary but because we were tired and it is shady there.

Electrical Parade does not seem to get very crowded and you can get a fine spot 15 minutes ahead of time. We saw it from Sunshine Plaza and I suspect that is the most crowded area.

 

[crazymomof 4]

I am the sort of person who likes to play it safe! So for Fantasmic (last December on a Sunday night I think it was the the 11th), Anyway I took a blanket and found a spot all the way up to the railing at the Rivers of America about 2 1/2 hours early. My husband, Mom amd kids went to have Clam Chowder Bowls, Run around etc. Many other people came to do this about an hour later. I actually expected a lot more people to be doing this for as long as I did. But it was worth it to me and my kids were right up front for the show. If you have a stroller or anything you will have to collapse it before it start and also they rope this section off so you shouldn't have people crawling all over you.

 

[Tracie]

We were at the firewors last night. We sat at the front of the hub in front of the partners statue, on a bench. Had to get there at 5:30 to get that bench! The parade at 7:00 turned there, so not a great place unless you stoo at the rope they put across. It was the perfect spot for the firewors though.
got great video of the fireworks.

 

[HydroGuy]

We were at the firewors last night. We sat at the front of the hub in front of the partners statue, on a bench. Had to get there at 5:30 to get that bench! The parade at 7:00 turned there, so not a great place unless you stoo at the rope they put across. It was the perfect spot for the firewors though.
got great video of the fireworks.

For everyone's info, you should be aware that this approach carries some risk. In the two weeks before our Aug 1 trip last summer Remember was cancelled three times due to winds at higher elevations (DL has to send up balloons or something to test the winds beforehand). Even though we had four park days, I was not about to risk multiple hours waiting for something that might get cancelled. We waited for an hour, and I was willing to risk an hour.

A corollary to this is that there is also some risk in saving Remember for your final night. We saw it on night #2 so we had two more shots if it was cancelled for some reason.

 

[crazymomof 4]

Sorry! My info. was for the first showing! I have no experience with the second!