Parade Questions

[BriLam]

Hi all,

A couple questions for you fine, fine people for our trip at the end of August/beginning of September:

• We are looking for a shady spot to watch FoF as we have a 2 year old. I found a couple older threads suggesting spots near Country Bear Jamboree, the crossover from the Tiki Bird/Magic Carpet area, the wall by the shooting gallery, the DVC porch, all in Frontierland, and plan to check those out and hopefully snag one. Curious if anyone has some other great ideas?
• The last time we visited, we watched the MSEP from Main Street and then Wishes from the FP+ area which worked out wonderfully for us with the little guy. Obviously they don't offer FP+ for Wishes anymore, so I was just curious how that area is now for Wishes? Do a ton of people cram in there? Still a good opportunity to grab a spot closer to the fireworks as opposed to staking one out for a while? It was so worth it for us to book a FP for that area as we were able to occupy the little guy for a bit and knew we'd have some space there. Hoping that won't be an issue without FP now.

Thanks in advance.

 

[katt789]

We usually watch FoF from the spots you mentioned. It's a good spot, don't have to wait as long for the parade to come! You could also do the 1 side of Main St on the curb, get to sit and be in the shade, but you'd have to claim those spots pretty early.

The Hub grass I *believe* is now linked in with the dessert party, so I'm not sure if they open it up to day guests if there's more room, or maybe the side closer to caseys does, but I haven't been since it changed. The hub in general is still going to be pretty packed. IF you're okay with it, there are plenty of other places in the park to watch Wishes, we usually grab a spot in Fantasyland, or over near Be Our Guest and there's practically no one!

 

[TravelingTotMom]

Our DS is 2 and LOVES FoF. The area that you mentioned in Frontierland is our go-to. We usually get there around half an hour before and have never had trouble finding a front row spot (if you can't find one, just keep walking deeper into Frontierland). There is also usually plenty of space across from where you are talking about, but it will usually be in the sun.

It's become tradition for our DS to get a Mickey ice cream bar while we wait for the parade and occupies him for a good deal of the wait.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

If you can time it right, there's a crossover from the Tiki Bird/Magic Carpet area to Country Bear Hall. Last summer, we were able to slip through the crossover and into the Country Bear stroller parking area just as the 3 pm parade was approaching.

The kids got front row with a less than 30 second wait. Not too bad.

 

[BriLam]

Appreciate all the replies, everyone. I'm making note of these locations and we'll be sure to grab one.

Thanks again.

 

[kj2mom]

We were able to get in a shady spot at the beginning of the afternoon parade in Frontierland last week. We only got there about 15 minutes before the parade.

We sat in the old Wishes FP area (the Plaza side) for the first MSEP (we knew we would not see much but we were planning on seeing the second one from Main Street), CTM and Wishes (9:00, 9:45, 10:00 with another parade at 11:00). We had dinner at Casey's and were heading out to find a spot at 8:00 to discover the streets were all lined. I headed into the Casey's FP side and it was not crowded but had some people, I wasn't too thrilled with the light posts so I went over to the Plaza side. There was a small section roped off as reserved (assuming dessert party) but the rest was almost empty. There were still some lights posts (which really didn't end up being a big issue) but there was tons of space to sit and relax during the parade. We continued sitting there after Wishes was over and it was great because the railings are still there making it a safe spot during the mass exodus. Once that was over we spent a few minutes shopping on Main Street then went and stood on the sidewalk to see the second parade closer.

We had a Wishes FP last year for the same day and I think the area was less crowded this year.