Where can I read people experience with watching PTN at DCA?

[isabellea]

Is there a thread somewhere with people experience watching PTN with or without a package? I have WCT package reserved for next week and I'm not enthusiastic about the special menu but before I cancel, I would like to read real experiences watching PTN. Thanks!

 

[BrianL]

I had a pretty easy time of it Monday night. I hung out by the fountain in front of Carthay Circle, so I had the restaurant as my backdrop. The area crowded in slowly over the course of an hour. I wasn't concerned with being in the very front, but I could've been if I had staked out my plot. The view was nice from around there as you could see the floats head on and also as they turned the corner. DCA has lots of room for parade viewing as far as I can tell. I wanted to be close to the park entrance to make a quick escape, but but back by the pier there was room too (at least before I got to my spot).

 

[Albort]

Theres a few reviews posted on this board.
PTN Dining Package: 1, 2
heres mine that i did with Sonoma Terrance PTN reception

 

[isabellea]

I had a pretty easy time of it Monday night. I hung out by the fountain in front of Carthay Circle, so I had the restaurant as my backdrop. The area crowded in slowly over the course of an hour. I wasn't concerned with being in the very front, but I could've been if I had staked out my plot. The view was nice from around there as you could see the floats head on and also as they turned the corner. DCA has lots of room for parade viewing as far as I can tell. I wanted to be close to the park entrance to make a quick escape, but but back by the pier there was room too (at least before I got to my spot).

So if I arrive 1h before the parade we should have a good view?!? We're two adults so first row doesn't matter to me as long as I can see well the street performers and floats.

Theres a few reviews posted on this board.
PTN Dining Package: 1, 2
heres mine that i did with Sonoma Terrance PTN reception

Thank you for the links! I'm more and more tempted to cancel my WTC pkg reservation.

 

[Albort]

Thank you for the links! I'm more and more tempted to cancel my WTC pkg reservation.

depends on when ur going. id avoid any packages until the parade is in full force.

 

[BrianL]

So if I arrive 1h before the parade we should have a good view?!? We're two adults so first row doesn't matter to me as long as I can see well the street performers and floats.

Thank you for the links! I'm more and more tempted to cancel my WTC pkg reservation.

Well, All I can say is that on this past Monday night (April 16, 2018) you could have had a front row space 1 hour in advance, at that location I was at. There was also tons of empty space on the pier as I walked that direction.

On any other given night though that could be different. If it is exceptionally crowded or whatever, then it could fill up earlier. I had a decent view from a few rows behind. The floats are really big, so seeing them isn't too difficult.

 

[agamble]

We haven't seen the parade yet but I will say that having watched the Pixar Play Parade many times at DCA and Soundsational at DL, DCA has an advantage with such a long parade route.

 

[isabellea]

We are going next week. I now have to decide if I should watch PTN or the fireworks on Wednesday (4/25) and Thursday (4/26). We have a F! Pkg on Friday (4/27).

 

[theluckyrabbit]

DCA has the longest parade route of any Disney park in North America (or of any Disney park except Shanghai). That's a lot of viewing spots! So far, it really hasn't been necessary to book a dining package just to view the parade. If you want to dine at WCT or CCR, go ahead and treat yourself to the parade as a bonus. If you just want to see the parade and, as you said, you don't have to be in the very front row, then you should have no trouble finding spots for two adults.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Tonight (a Thursday, one 8:45 parade) the curb/bench spots were gone over 90 minutes before parade time, but there were still front-row spots on flat ground an hour out, and when they made the “30 minute” announcement, there were second-row spots over near the entrances to Bugs Land and Cars Land.

I will say that we walked by the Carthay seating, and that looks pretty appealing! I can see splurging for that for the uniqueness if someone wanted to eat at Carthay. The WCT reserved area isn’t anything special.

Here are the Carthay seats if anyone’s interested:

Also, always try for fireworks early in case they’re cancelled! For what it’s worth, we totally could have seen fireworks tonight - we walked out of DCA at 9:20, and lines for DL were not crazy. We wouldn’t have had a great spot, but we would have been able to see the show. We were nearer to the end of the parade route, too...

 

[BrianL]

Also, always try for fireworks early in case they’re cancelled! For what it’s worth, we totally could have seen fireworks tonight - we walked out of DCA at 9:20, and lines for DL were not crazy. We wouldn’t have had a great spot, but we would have been able to see the show. We were nearer to the end of the parade route, too...

I agree with this. On my recent two days, the first day fireworks went off no problem, but the second day was getting cold and windy and I figured they'd be cancelled. Still, I was able to leave CA after PTN, go over to DL, and enter the gates just before showtime. There were easily decent spots far back on Main Street, which for this show is not bad at all since one of the coolest parts of the show happens on the Main Street buildings. They did scrub the fireworks, but one cool thing about these new shows is that they can just run the projections, which they did, so that's nice.

 

[Jrpbabe2003]

Does anyone have a menu from either place? Is it similar to the world of color menu?

 

[Safari23]

I'm looking for the CC menu to. I swear I had seen it somewhere, and now I can't find it. Specifically the kids menu.

 

[wdwfan22]

I'm also wondering about the Carthay Circle pkg menu. The OP said they were not crazy about the menu, so i'm wondering where they saw it at.

 

[isabellea]

Where I saw the menu for WCT: https://disneylanddaily.com/paint-the-night-parade-dining-package-wine-country-trattoria/

I don't remember where I saw the menu for Carthay Circle... Just that there wasn't much for me on it.

 

[isabellea]

Thank you for the replies. Finally, I decided to cancel my reservation for WCT and I will try to find a decent free spot about 1h before start time on Wednesday. Then we will hurry to Disneyland to watch the fireworks on Main St. We will also try to watch the fireworks at the hub on Thursday and from our seat at F! on Friday. Hopefully they will occur at least one of those night!!!

 

[carnival kid]

We will also try to watch the fireworks at the hub on Thursday and from our seat at F! on Friday. Hopefully they will occur at least one of those night!!!

Strongly suggest you stay for fireworks after fantasmic..... just stay exactly where you are. they put the same projections on the water spray as you would see from main street....