Paint the Night Parade and Disneyland Forever Fireworks Strategy

[Skyegirl1999]

I'm new to the boards but a long-time DL visitor. From reading a few pages here, I'm confused by all the blanket discussion. 23 years ago, for my 10th birthday, we went to DL and wanted to see the new Fantasmic! show. My 8-month-pregnant mom happily sat on the floor, reading a book on a beach towel, for like 3 hours to save our spot while my dad, sister, and I joined her maybe 30 minutes before the show. This has always been a thing!

I have personally never (literally never) seen unattended stuff like you see at a pool resort, but sure, 90 minutes before the parade, there are lots of moms lining the curbs, sitting on a blanket, saving a few spots... Which is how it's been as long as I can remember at DL.

There is still plenty of good viewing to be found 30 minutes before the the parade - we just watched it (and the fireworks) again last week, got into the park maybe 25 minutes before the parade, had great spots behind a bench for the three of us and our stroller.

 

[wareagle57]

I've tried reading through 6-7 pages and just haven't heard much in terms of strategies or spot suggestions. Mostly just talking about blankets and waits for a Main Street spot. What I'd really like to know is how much easier it is to get spots in the other viewing spots and is it worth it. For instance, I know at WDW it's much easier just to grab a spot for the Electrical Parade in Fromtierland or Liberty Square. I also assume it's pretty easy if you are missing the parade, to just show up at the end of it near Main Street and just step out into the street when the parade ends for a Disneyland Forever spot. Can you see the Main Street projections and the Matterhorn projections somewhere?

 

[vellamint]

Here now and PLenty of blanket seat saving is going on!!!!!!!! 2 hours before the parade..... For instance........ One person saving two blankets worth plus a sideways stroller and the blanket she was on.

 

[seashell7290]

People aren't kidding about the blanket saving. I sat next to someone saving a spot for 20 people tonight with multiple blankets. Crazy stuff! People were leaving their blankets unattended which was weird to me. Cast members seemed to be questioning people with empty blankets as it got closer to parade time. I found a nice Main Street curb spot around 7ish. I was tired and didn't mind siting for a while. I moved right in the street up to carnation cafe for the fireworks. What a show!

 

[mom2rtk]

Here now and PLenty of blanket seat saving is going on!!!!!!!! 2 hours before the parade..... For instance........ One person saving two blankets worth plus a sideways stroller and the blanket she was on.

That is really annoying. It really puts a bad taste in my mouth as I plan a trip and have put a high priority in finding a good spot to watch PTN. If I show up and find all the spot occupied, that's one thing. But if I show up and find a bunch of empty blankets keeping me from getting a good spot, I'm going to be really unhappy with that.

Maybe I could just put one down on my way into the park in the morning.

 

[Kiwigirls]

We were there last week and got a good view of fireworks and the later parade. We went into Coke Corner and got hot chocolates and sat outside drinking them while the parade was going on. Then, when it was just about finished we moved inside the shop, and we're able to follow the crowds out onto the street after the parade. We were right at the castle/hub end of Main St - pretty much in the middle but slightly to the right. We had a great view of the castle, fireworks, projections on main St and Tink/Nemo. If anything I would probably have moved a little bit further back to be a bit more 'in' Main St for a slightly better view.

Absolutely loved the fireworks show! Totally magical.

Afterwards we walked around the hub, and up the path to the Matterhorn and found a bench there with very little effort, that we could sit on to wait for and watch the later parade.

Great views, very little waiting. And a wonderful evening!

 

[mom2rtk]

We were there last week and got a good view of fireworks and the later parade. We went into Coke Corner and got hot chocolates and sat outside drinking them while the parade was going on. Then, when it was just about finished we moved inside the shop, and we're able to follow the crowds out onto the street after the parade. We were right at the castle/hub end of Main St - pretty much in the middle but slightly to the right. We had a great view of the castle, fireworks, projections on main St and Tink/Nemo. If anything I would probably have moved a little bit further back to be a bit more 'in' Main St for a slightly better view.

Absolutely loved the fireworks show! Totally magical.

Afterwards we walked around the hub, and up the path to the Matterhorn and found a bench there with very little effort, that we could sit on to wait for and watch the later parade.

Great views, very little waiting. And a wonderful evening!

That really sounds awesome!

 

[monorailrabbit]

That is really annoying. It really puts a bad taste in my mouth as I plan a trip and have put a high priority in finding a good spot to watch PTN. If I show up and find all the spot occupied, that's one thing. But if I show up and find a bunch of empty blankets keeping me from getting a good spot, I'm going to be really unhappy with that.

Maybe I could just put one down on my way into the park in the morning.

Haha this is my thought process too! I feel like in WDW this would never fly. I feel like if we are wanting a seat on a curb we need to show up and wait it out. I would not be happy if I am standing/sitting for hours while bunches of others are living it up elsewhere and have a blanket doing the waiting... It is a high priority for us to get good seats as we will only be there 2 days, if I get second priority to a blanket it might ruin my night...

 

[ten6mom]

A few weeks ago we were in the "side street" where Starbucks is and happened to find a couple empty chairs (from the little tables outside) so we parked it on those for the parade (which we were able to see most of over the tops of the heads of the people standing on the sidewalk. Immediately after the parade ended we walked out into the middle of Main Street for a fantastic fireworks view!

 

[tdhickey]

We watched the parade near The Matterhorn entrance (across from Storybook Land), managed to ride the Matterhorn, and then walked to Main Street and found a decent spot near the middle. Honestly, it's best to watch right smack in the middle of Main Street (as opposed to the castle), there's usually enough space to stand and quite frankly you don't need to be curbside to enjoy the parade as everything is eye level. You may have to hold a child up though.

 

[snowybelle]

I saw the fireworks this past Monday and Tuesday nights, and PTN parade on Tuesday night as well.

On Monday we skipped the parade in order to ride Hyperspace Mountain on standby. A few minutes before the park lights dimmed, we headed toward Main Street and had no problem just sliding into an open space. It was crowded, but we could see everything just fine. The view from Main Street (with the projections on either side, and the castle, Tinkerbell and Nemo in the middle) was unbelievable and felt totally immersive. Loved the "snow" too.

On Tuesday night we placed more of a priority on seeing PTN, so we put a towel down and camped out in a space midway along the walkway between Small World and Alice at about 7:20pm. (Parade start time was 8:45). This worked out GREAT. My traveling buddy and I took turns holding down the fort and getting up to shop/go to the bathroom/people watch, etc (could have easily gotten on some rides solo if we'd wanted to). The mood was festive and we had some nice chats with the people who were camped out nearby. We were able to enjoy PTN seated from the "front row" with nothing obstructing our view. (A family with with 3 little ones scooted in very close to us shortly before the parade started, but they were very respectful of our space and we invited the "littles" to share our towel space.)

Once the parade finished, we transitioned our towel up to Small World where we sat and watched the fireworks from there. We felt like we had a "front row" seat to the projections (minus a few folks standing up in front of us, trying to film it, etc. but we could still see very well for the most part) and we didn't feel a need to stand. We loved seeing the IASW projection show and the fireworks behind it, and it still "snowed" — it was a great experience! However, I still slightly preferred the Main Street view. You feel more surrounded, and it really is special to see the castle as the centerpiece, especially in the last few moments of the show.

There's my two cents in terms of "strategy" and experience. I'll add that this was my first visit to Disneyland (WDW vet), and I was worried this would be a stressful undertaking but it really was not.

FWIW, we had considered a PTN dining package (Aladdin's Oasis since BB was closed this week) and I'm glad we skipped it. We camped out a teensy bit longer than people with the dining package, but it was very pleasant and there still seemed to be plenty of viewing space available as parade time got closer.

 

[SCRAPBOOKQUEEN]

So from what I've been reading, you should see the show from the Castle side and then also from It's a Small World side. Different projections????