Tips to tackle the evening crowds

[KeBen]

Hi! A friend and I are going to be in Disneyland for our first trip over the Labour Day long weekend. We each have an 8yo daughter. As far as planning goes we have been able to settle on a very flexible day plan, but we are struggling a bit when it comes to the evenings.

We know that the crowds will be heavy, and that the girls could get a bit overwhelmed. I am really looking for help in working out whether the best strategy would be to do either parade, fireworks or Fantasmic on separate nights (we will be there for Fri, Sat [probably spend at CA], Sun and Mon) or would we be better off doubling up?

Also, are all evenings of that weekend expected to be crowded? I had been thinking that we might be able to wait until the Monday night for Fantasmic.

Am I right in assuming that we should be lining up at least an hour beforehand for the parade and fireworks? And up to two for Fantasmic?

Any help (reassurance!) would be greatly appreciated!

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi! A friend and I are going to be in Disneyland for our first trip over the Labour Day long weekend. We each have an 8yo daughter. As far as planning goes we have been able to settle on a very flexible day plan, but we are struggling a bit when it comes to the evenings.

We know that the crowds will be heavy, and that the girls could get a bit overwhelmed. I am really looking for help in working out whether the best strategy would be to do either parade, fireworks or Fantasmic on separate nights (we will be there for Fri, Sat [probably spend at CA], Sun and Mon) or would we be better off doubling up?

Also, are all evenings of that weekend expected to be crowded? I had been thinking that we might be able to wait until the Monday night for Fantasmic.

Am I right in assuming that we should be lining up at least an hour beforehand for the parade and fireworks? And up to two for Fantasmic?

Any help (reassurance!) would be greatly appreciated!

That weekend there are two Fantasmic! shows each evening. It is well known that the second one (at 10:30PM) is much less crowded. When we went in early August, we did the Fireworks in the hub at 9:25, and then made our way over to the 10:30 Fantasmic and got really good seats at 9:55PM. If you can make this work, I would recommend doing both on the same night. In addition, if you want to see the fireworks in the hub, which is the best spot because of the laser show on the castle, see Day 2 of my trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=886607 ). We got to the hub about an hour early, but everyone stands up during the show which can block the views of children if you do not take this into account. Our spot allowed our kids to see.

You can still get a good spot for the Parade 30 minutes before. We got there an hour before the 7PM. See Day 3 of my trip report for where we sat. It worked out well for us.

I would be careful about putting off anything until the last night, as sometimes things get cancelled. The fireworks were cancelled several times this summer due to winds.

In general, if you are not seeing the fireworks, avoid the hub from 9-10PM each night during the fireworks. If you need to get across the park, use the FantasyLand to Frontierland walkway behind Big Thunder Mtn. And remember that the lines for rides shorten up during the parade, fireworks and Fantasmic so get on rides during those times.

 

[KeBen]

HydroGuy, prior to posting this question I had read, reread and printed out all of your major previous posts (inc Trip report). Thankyou so much for all the detail, they helped more in my planning than reading our purchased Guide and Ridemax (also subscribed) put together.

I loved the way you structured the days for your boys (unfortunately I have to leave my three - 11,9 and 2 - at home for this Girl trip!)

We are planning to implement the fastpass running and activating entry suggestions that you gave - they were great tips.

I also read about how your family got stuck behind crowds on re-entry to DL in the evening. This will probably happen to us as we are doing CA on the Saturday, and then there may be the odd over-sleep for the girls (I took note of your afternoon away time of approx 5hrs). So I was wondering what your opinion would be of catching the monorail from DTD back into the park? Would that help to get around the crowd at all and get access to the rides? I know that when the parade is on you cannot cross the park, so this may no work well.

Great advice about leaving shows until the Monday - I was getting tempted, but I can see now that that could have just been a road to disappointment!

Thanks again for your time and obvious enthusiasm for your subject!

 

[craftylady]

We just got back yesterday and since we were traveling with young children the 10:30 fantasmic show was not an option. We found a pretty good spot to watch the 9pm show about 45 minutes in advance. A cast member told us to go near the towers as they get raised up and you can see past the post pretty nicely. She was right. After the Fantasmic show we found it pretty much impossible to get to Mainstreet for the fireworks but the show from where we were was pretty nice. there were features you don't see from the castle around the rivers of America so that was nice. I know we didn't get an ideal location for the fireworks but it was still very nice.

Another thing to note. Disney California adventure has the Electric parade at 8:45. I have heard that you can catch that and still get into Disney in time for the fire works if you want. We found we were able to get an excellent spot where we were able to sit and watch the parade(near the entry to the park) an hour before the start. So you could manage all 3 the same night if you chose to do the late showing of Fantasmic. We did Fantasmic and fireworks and then the Electric parade the next day.

Hope this helps some.

Craftylady

 

[HydroGuy]

I also read about how your family got stuck behind crowds on re-entry to DL in the evening. This will probably happen to us as we are doing CA on the Saturday, and then there may be the odd over-sleep for the girls (I took note of your afternoon away time of approx 5hrs). So I was wondering what your opinion would be of catching the monorail from DTD back into the park? Would that help to get around the crowd at all and get access to the rides? I know that when the parade is on you cannot cross the park, so this may no work well.

Really glad you are finding my thesis/trip report helpful! We never exited the Monorail at DTD, and so I do not have a good feel for how that would work. As long as the line to get on the Monorail is short, it is a good option for re-entry and avoiding parades and such. Maybe others here can help with what the lines are like.

 

[KeBen]

We found a pretty good spot to watch the 9pm show about 45 minutes in advance. A cast member told us to go near the towers as they get raised up and you can see past the post pretty nicely.

Thanks for the info - would you be able to tell me where we should be looking for the 'towers'?

Thanks again!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We found a pretty good spot to watch the 9pm show about 45 minutes in advance. A cast member told us to go near the towers as they get raised up and you can see past the post pretty nicely.

Thanks for the info - would you be able to tell me where we should be looking for the 'towers'?

Thanks again!

There are three light towers that are underground during the day, but around 5pm or so (maybe even earlier), they come up out of the ground. The middle one goes up, then comes down to rest on the ground, blocking the view. Right before the show starts it goes up again, giving a nice view of the Fantasmic show.

 

[HydroGuy]

There are three light towers that are underground during the day, but around 5pm or so (maybe even earlier), they come up out of the ground. The middle one goes up, then comes down to rest on the ground, blocking the view. Right before the show starts it goes up again, giving a nice view of the Fantasmic show.

In our early August trip we were going to use this trick, but found a better spot. I thought there would be nobody behind the towers, but apparently some people do know about it, because they were there ahead of time.