ok thanks for your help
On this map the photo shop is just at the end of Main St on the right, kind of where the bright yellow line ends, it will be impossible to make your way towards castle after the Parade as no one will move. Our spot is more like where the orange and red lines intersect to the right of the castle. Red is the parade route in DL. Once the parade goes by, move as far left as you can to get the view we had in my pictures.
Fantastic. Very helpful. I had no idea the photo shop was so far down. Agreed thatâs too far. I will aim for parade viewing at the top orange/red intersection and shuffle left as able for fireworks once the parade clears. 7:45pm is just over an hour ahead. Enough time?
We saw the 2nd parade last year (they only time we have done a party since they added a parade) so I donât know if an hour is generous or cutting it close. I do know that the hub spots will be among the first to go, so I would plan for 1 hr minimum & be pleasantly surprised if I had my pick of spots once I got there.
I just checked my timestamps on pictures, first one was at 7:26pm from that spot. You might want to shoot for a bit earlier as you will want front row if possible, although everyone remained seated in this area for the parade. I watched the second parade as well, but from back by IASW which is much easier parade viewing (alasâŚno castle view). Parade and fireworks viewing require a lot of planning/time commitment, but that was my priority during the party so I didnât mind.
The parade I do have experience with along that route is when PTN ran there for the Diamond Celebration & 3-4 hours was needed to get Main Street/hub spots. I doubt that the Halloween parade will get that crazy, but you can check in at 2 hrs before to see if itâs necessary to take your seat or if you still have time to party & come back.
3-4 hours, yikes! Only thing worse is when Lisa sat on the bench for the 4th of July fireworks all day long!
I will be there 9/28 so can report back on how full the area was at 7:30 on. All Halloween parties sell out at Disneyland, which is very different than at WDW, so crowds are generally the same from party to party. We went to MNSSHP in WDW 3 times last year, and I was shocked how easy it was to find a good parade spot just before the parade, and to get excellent fireworks viewing with very little wait. This is not the experience in Disneyland at all.
We only sat through Main St that long on the final day of the Diamond Celebration & it was worth it. Most other nights we either watched the 1st parade from Alice bathrooms & then high-tailed it super speed to FWs viewing by going through Fantasyland, looping around behind Big Thunder on the trail there to the Frontierland entrance & then walking down Main St until there was a place to slide under a rope & watch from the middle of the street. This strategy usually resulted in us being back by Carnation Cafe & we got to know where all trees block you, so it wasnât ideal, but it was the best we found to do Main St FWs and first PTN.
Our other favorite strategy was during the 1st parade linger somewhere in Main St shops/somewhere we wouldnât get shooed along during the 1st parade (or get a Star Tours or Buzz FP that synced up with the 2nd half of the first parade) then once the first parade passed, be with the mob to the middle of the street/hub for FWs viewing & then go sit at the Alice bathrooms for 2nd PTN. We tried many times to get decent hub viewing & most of the times it was just uncomfortable/inconvenience/not worth the view so we like Main Street where we arenât as trapped as the hub & we can still see the bursts well & the castle spires (I donât photograph the fireworks though & if I did, I would probably be in the stand in front of Partners Statue camp). Although, the worst I have been blocked is when we stood near the front of the hub on the left-side. That large tree there just completely obliterates any view of the big bursts at all.
Sorry you had a bad time with Carson! The damn trees I can deal with, they donât suddenly grow an extra 1-3 extra after I have been patiently waiting 30 min for the show. It those kids on shoulders that drive me bonkers! I regularly hold my kids up for the show. Itâs not that long & itâs so fun to have their reaction going on right next to my face but they stay on my hip at my same eye/head level so as not to destroy anyone elseâs view. X is now tall enough that he can get just about the same view I can by standing up on the stroller so we just have to hold E & the baby who is easy.
We did the same during PTN and fireworks during the 60th and it worked okay. I have plenty of pics of the many different fireworks shows and parades from many different angles, so I think I may just leave the camera behind and not stress about locations anymore. It really does take a lot of time and effort just to see.
Agree! This summer we had a great spot behind a planter where a bunch of small children and their Moms had secured a great spot. They could see perfectly. So imagine my surprise when they put the kids, who already had perfect views with noone in front of them, on their shoulders blocking C, me, and everyone else. It was so unnecessary. Not sure why they staked out a great spot where the kids could see well standing, to just pick them up. Then there was a lady behind me who kept pushing me. I finally turned around and told her to back up and stop touching me. She was like âwell it is very crowdedâ. I was like lady, pushing me is not going to get you a better view. Back off. And she did, thankfully. It just was not worth it, especially for the Pixar FW which just werenât that good. I am glad Remember is back. When are you guys going again?
I liked parts of it very much but as a whole show I felt very âehâ. My kids are THRILLED about Remember. I would prefer Diamond 60th: Disneyland Forever (how can you beat Peter Pan saying "All of this of his is yours! Forever!) or Magical (Baby Dumbo flying over the hub just resonates much more with me than Tink), but I will take Remember, itâs a beautiful show & I do love most of it and my kids think itâs the greatest one ever because itâs the one they remember the most
And, in answer to your question:
Weâll see ya guys for Fall Ball 4 (we just barely booked a room night before last as we decided to use points we had previously been saving up towards a WDW trip next year, but the rewards program we have had recently changed & itâs as beneficial so we will just burn through these & find a different one to earn up to help fund a WDW trip).
Yay! I will be there Thursday around lunchtime and leave Sunday morning. Quick trip for you guys?
Haha, how did you know it would be quick? Arrive Friday by lunchtime, maybe shortly after RD depending on our first stop (of course itâs a pin release first thing that AM). Weâll be there all day Sat & then leave Sun noon-ish.
Having kiddos in school really limits the weekend time away. I couldnât bring my kids even if I wanted, their schedules are so packed with school work, sports and such. Enjoy it while they are little and have flexible schedules!
Aye! Well, they are doing lots of great things that are not Disney & they wonât have the opportunity to do those things forever, so itâs a good trade-off!
Iâm already missing their pre-school days when I just went when work could be taken off & I didnât need to check 1 (or 2) district school calendars. This year they are in 2 different schools with 2 different break schedules. Next year they will be the same and I am so looking forward to it so I can actually have some dates where we could go to WDW not at a time when we would just melt right onto the walkway.
We wanted to go during Spring Break next year but their dates donât line up at all. Iâm not completely opposed to pulling them out for a few days, but when I looked to see what dates would work where neither kid would miss more than 4 days, the only possible dates I came up with are the same days Eâs school is doing their state testing (she would miss 4 days and it would be the entire time of testing & I am opposed to having her miss that kind of a week) so I gave up (and my budget certainly thanks me for waiting another year).