I promised my daughter years ago that I would take my almost Halloween birthday baby to Disney for MNSSHP for her 16th birthday. Due to her marching band schedule, we will be going on August 12th - the first party. Since we’ve never been and it will be the first party, I would love some advice from you veterans!
She’s not that into fireworks (or as she calls it “prime riding time”). We will be doing MK all day but with a late start and have reservations for lunch and dinner.
We are thinking we will do the later parade - do both parades typically start in Frontierland?
Yes, both start in Frontierland. The second parade has always been the better bet, as far as not having to get your spot super early. Unless you have a bucket list dinner reservation I would not spend party time on a sit-down meal. I’ve regretted it every time I’ve done it during any party.
Not sure how it will impact rides, but the first party is notorious for being stuffed with bloggers/vloggers/“influencers” who have largely gotten comped tickets from Disney. It may work out great for low ride times, but pretty bad for the party-specific treats, fireworks, parades, etc.
I’d expect a LOT of people posting and streaming like crazy.
Thanks - we are doing a 5:30 dinner at Skippers and can hopefully get in and out quickly. We are heading to the parks starting at 11 am for a capture your moment session and thought we would need some sit down air conditioning time to make it to midnight!
Worth noting about the parade is that the beginning of the parade includes a stunt and they very aggressively clear the street along the parade route well before it arrives. Keep that in mind, and don’t plan on crossing the parade route anytime from like 10-15 minutes before the parade until after it’s passed.
Also if it has rained at all close to parade time - even sprinkles - that stunt will not happen because it is too dangerous for the stunt performers AND the guests along the parade route.