Fast pass for parades?

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Is it worth it??

[Beckers 1,136]

In TCD's latest trip report he said the FP spot for fof was in direct sun.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Since you only get 3 FP+'s, in my opinion, it's not worth it to use one for a parade.

 

There are plenty of places to sit for the parades, and a lot of them are in the shade. The FP+ parade viewing area is in direct sunlight.  Of course, that's not an issue for the MSEP.

 

But, if you really, really want to see the parade, and not wait 45 minutes to an hour in order to claim prime seats, then go for it.

 

TCD

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Hmm... I was actually thinking of the night/electrical parade.

 

Thoughts on that one?

 

We've seen it several times, but each time we've camped out about an hour before hand so the kids can sit in the front row.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hmm... I was actually thinking of the night/electrical parade.

 

Thoughts on that one?

 

We've seen it several times, but each time we've camped out about an hour before hand so the kids can sit in the front row.

 

I like the seating area for the night parade.  You are right across from the castle, right on the hub, and it's neat to see the floats pass by in front of it.

 

But, it costs you a FP+, and with the new deal allowing a 4th FP+ after you use your first three for the day, you're going to loose that perk since you won't have used your third FP+ until the parade is over.

 

If your family loves the parade, then this is a great way to see it.  But, if your park days are limited,  you will have given up a FP+ for a ride to do it.

 

TCD

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I like the seating area for the night parade.  You are right across from the castle, right on the hub, and it's neat to see the floats pass by in front of it.

 

But, it costs you a FP+, and with the new deal allowing a 4th FP+ after you use your first three for the day, you're going to loose that perk since you won't have used your third FP+ until the parade is over.

 

If your family loves the parade, then this is a great way to see it.  But, if your park days are limited,  you will have given up a FP+ for a ride to do it.

 

TCD

 

Thank you.  We have annual passes and the trip next week, will be our second of three for this year so... I think we might spend one of those FPs on the parade as sitting there for an hour plus is well... a pain, especially for DH who has had 3 back surgeries (although he usually walks around with the kids and I'm left to defend our small blanket on my own :) )

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thank you.  We have annual passes and the trip next week, will be our second of three for this year so... I think we might spend one of those FPs on the parade as sitting there for an hour plus is well... a pain, especially for DH who has had 3 back surgeries (although he usually walks around with the kids and I'm left to defend our small blanket on my own :) )

 

OK, then go for it.

 

I've "wasted" a FP+ for the parade before, and I'll probably do it again.  I have to admit that it's fun to be admitted to the roped off area and sit there with plenty of room and watch the CM's chase away people who try to sneak in.  You won't have to defend your blanket!

 

Makes you feel like a VIP.  And the view is really good there.

I found a post from a prior TR where I reported on the FP+ viewing area for the MSEP:

Alright, so we are still looking at photos from the TCD gang Monday of Thanksgiving week day trip. They will be finished in this update. Then we will head back to the December trip.

We left off with us heading to ride Ariel.

The stand-by wait time is posted as 110 minutes:

110 minutes?

No wonder she's smirking:

props to the Beast's castle for the photobomb in that last photo!

As we headed in via the FP line, I looked over to the standby line- that is not a 110 minute line. More wait time exaggeration:

The TCD twins have watched the special Christmas castle lighting ceremony a few times, but I've never seen it.

Today, we agreed we would stay at the MK to watch them light up the Dreamlights, then would bounce to DHS to see the Osborne Lights, and then get back here for the MSEP reserved seats we had acquired.

The lighting ceremony is cute.

Here is how things look before:

And after:

Then we hopped.

Just this past week, they have started running a bus right from the MK bus stop to DHS. But, the deal used to be you had to go to the Transportation and Ticket Center to catch the bus. We've done that before, and it's not so easy. So, tonight we tried using Wilderness Lodge as our way to get to DHS. We headed out at 6:27 pm:

And it wasn't until 7:32 pm that we made it here:

Not so great.

But, it could have been worse.

As you can see from the tip board, there would be no attraction riding for us tonight here at DHS. We tried to see if our MB's would work here. They worked, but there were no FP+'s available for anything. But, our MK FP+'s showed, so that was cool.

Anyway, we came here for two things, and we could still do them despite the crowds.

The first was to get Twin #2 her meatballs in a cone from the Dockside Diner.

Whoops, they closed at 6.

I told her we would get back here soon. I wanted to get a pretzel dog anyway. As we now know, we did make it back, but the meatball cones are gone.

Since we couldn't eat at Dockside Diner, we went to Fairfax Fair, and had the mac and cheese dogs. With Truffle Oil, thank you very much:

FYI the TCD chip trick works here too.

And we got 20% off merchandise coupons printed on our receipts.

Then it was time for the Osborne Lights.

I forgot about the stupid crowd control they do on busy nights, though.

They weren't letting people in by the book store- they were making you walk around the back of the street, and all the way down toward the other end, and only allowing guests to enter that way. That's a lot of extra walking.

But not if you know the TCD Sci-Fi Trick.

Pay attention. You walk in the Sci Fi restaurant. Walk past the hostess stand, and look for a door on the left. That door takes you in to the book store. You can walk through the book store, and exit out to the Streets of American right there. No walking around. My Christmas gift to you. See? Aren't you glad that you read the text, and not just look at the blurry photos?

So, here we are with our first look at the lights:

Down the side street:

The canopy:

A classic TCD selfie:

A kind person saw the old guy trying to take a selfie, and offered to take a group shot:

The TCD twins:

Do you know about the Osborne Lights Cat?

The story goes something like this: back when Mr. Osborne used to put up the display back in Arkansas, he one time included a light-up cat, which was really a forgotten/misplaced Halloween decoration. It became a tradition to include the cat each year, and Disney has continued that tradition. The cat is hidden in a new place each year. For many years, we could never find that Darned Cat. But we found in last year, and now that we know what it looks like, it's easier to find. Here he is in this year's hiding place:

The Holy Family is in a less prominent place than it used to be, but at least Jesus is still here. Can't say that about a lot of other places:

I love this part of the display with the big globe and all the angels:

That's all I have of the lights.

From here, we headed back to the MK.

And here we are after cashing in those SM FP's:

We hadn't seen the holiday additions to the Magic, the Memories and You projection show, so we headed to the hub to take a look.

The dreamlights work in pink too:

They had some Frozen scenes in the show. We tried not to pay attention, as the movie had not yet come out, and we didn't want to see any spoilers:

Now that we've seen the movie, we need to go back.

I love the part where Walt appears and speaks:

Here's some of the holiday scenes- I think these are the same as last year:

After the castle show, it was time for us to check in to the parade viewing area. The FP+ reserved parade seating is right here at the hub, right across the street from the castle. Pretty nice. They had a large area roped off, and CM's were at the entrance to it to scan MB's:

Naturally, other guests tried to sneak in here. But there were CM's everywhere throwing them out. That was pretty awesome. Way better than the cramped and crowded viewing area for Illuminations.

And, the view of the castle from here is pretty sweet:

Having the castle in the background made for some interesting parade photos:

I think these photos of Pete and Elliot came out pretty good:

After the parade, we could have stayed and used some more of our FP's, but we decided that we had better hit the road.

So we did.

That was it for that day trip.

Next up, we will continue on with the December trip.

Remember, we left off being rained out of Fantasmic and The Osborne Lights, and heading back to the Fort early.

TCD

 

TCD

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

 

OK, then go for it.

 

I've "wasted" a FP+ for the parade before, and I'll probably do it again.  I have to admit that it's fun to be admitted to the roped off area and sit there with plenty of room and watch the CM's chase away people who try to sneak in.  You won't have to defend your blanket!

 

Makes you feel like a VIP.  And the view is really good there.

I found a post from a prior TR where I reported on the FP+ viewing area for the MSEP:

 

TCD

 

Thank you.

 

Love your comment about Jesus and the nativity... I too wish it was more prominent, but am thankful that at least it was still there.

 

Also...pictures of the castle, super pretty.  Was that during Mickey's Christmas party?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

Also...pictures of the castle, super pretty.  Was that during Mickey's Christmas party?

 

Nope- just a regular night while the Christmas decorations are up.  I love the Dreamlights.

 

That post reminded me that you can watch the projection show on the castle before you enter the FP+ seating area for the MSEP.  Make sure that you arrive in time for that.

 

TCD

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

 

 

That post reminded me that you can watch the projection show on the castle before you enter the FP+ seating area for the MSEP.  Make sure that you arrive in time for that.

 

TCD

 

Thank you :)

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

Do they still have a reserved area for handicapped watching the MK parades, with or without FP+?  If so, is it still as hectic as it used to be to get in and get the kids to the front?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Do they still have a reserved area for handicapped watching the MK parades, with or without FP+?  If so, is it still as hectic as it used to be to get in and get the kids to the front?

 

I don't know.  Where is the reserved area?  I'll look the next time I have a chance.

 

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

A few weeks ago, during the new 3PM parade (forget the name), there were handicapped areas set up. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I don't know.  Where is the reserved area?  I'll look the next time I have a chance.

 

TCD

 

I'm pretty sure it was in the hub. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm pretty sure it was in the hub. 

 

I didn't notice a handicap area around where the FP+ area is.

 

I hope they didn't take the handicap area and make it into the FP+ area.

 

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

I didn't notice a handicap area around where the FP+ area is.

 

I hope they didn't take the handicap area and make it into the FP+ area.

 

TCD

It was at the Town Square a few weeks ago.

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

Seems like i have seen one just below the castle (is this the Hub?) one in Liberty Square, and maybe one over near Pecos Bills.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Seems like i have seen one just below the castle (is this the Hub?) one in Liberty Square, and maybe one over near Pecos Bills.

 

Ken- I saw a large wheelchair seating are for the afternoon parade this past Sunday located directly across from the Hall of Presidents.  I didn't notice one near Pecos Bills, and didn't walk around the hub- so there could still be one there.

 

TCD