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jazzysmom
01-06-2006, 09:57 AM
We will be in the parks Jan 26-28. Here is my question...

We of course want to see the fireworks & fantasmic. Can you tell me when will be the least busy and how early we should arrive?

Fireworks: Will Friday or Saturday be less busy? If we want to sit in front of the castle, what time do we need to get there?

Fantasmic: Same question, of course we have to throw in the late show on Saturday as an option. OF the 3 which will be the least busy? And how early do we need to get there to sit in the 5 rows of seated (or has that changed)?

Thanks, you guys are the best!!!

3894
01-07-2006, 12:21 AM
Who can help?

Elways way
01-07-2006, 08:43 AM
Is that Saturday open to all AP holders? Sometimes a Saturday can be better if it closed to Southern California AP holders. The second show always seems to be a little less crowded.

jazzysmom
01-07-2006, 04:02 PM
So no ideas out there??

PLLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEE???

potzbie
01-07-2006, 06:58 PM
Fireworks: Will Friday or Saturday be less busy? If we want to sit in front of the castle, what time do we need to get there?

Fantasmic: Same question, of course we have to throw in the late show on Saturday as an option. OF the 3 which will be the least busy? And how early do we need to get there to sit in the 5 rows of seated (or has that changed)?


1. The later FANTASMIC (10:30) is ALWAYS less crowed than the first show (9:00).
You still have to be super-prompt.
But you best shot is either (a.) very very early for the 9:30 show; (b.) very prompt after show #1 to stake a claim for the best square footage for show #2.
If money is no object, you KNOW where the desserts are ... you KNOW how high above the Rivers of America you would sit ... (hint hint).
Saturdays are black-out days for Annual Passholders (except the Premium), but I have never seen a "light" Saturday, despite the restriction on that population subgroup.
(I have a hunch a Friday night will always be better than a Saturday night, due to fewer people hopping from work, grabbing the babies, and driving to Anaheim, on a late Friday afternoon, after 8-10 long hours at work.)

2. I don't have a solution for the view from the castle on Main Street, since people stake out spots two hours beforehand.
I have NOT YET found a good compromise location.
The best location is right smack dab in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, of course.
(I have not had the patience of two deadly boring hours to just sit, sit, sit, sit, and sit, to await the fireworks. -- But that's just my preference.)
I've tried the Railroad station on Main Street, so that I was elevated 20 feet higher than the Main Street walkers/standers/sitters.
That has a lot of advantages, due to the extra height.
I've tried sitting at the Carnation Plaza Gardens, but trees obstructed key view points.
But, for the Carnation Plaza Gardens, I saw TINKERBALL very very clearly, plus TINK's guy wires. -- So what I lost in one view was compensated with a close-up view of some specific aspect.
(You gotta see TINKERBELL do her thing -- That is still amazing, each time I see it.)
Yesterday (Friday), thanks to a tip I read from a post in MOUSEPLANET, I exerimented and shunned the castle view completely, and tried the Fantasyland ITS A SMALL WORLD location, and I was very pleased!
There are disadvantages, but:
(a.) the closeness to the exploding fireworks; and
(b.) the nice projection displays on the face of IASW
... made the viewpoint a good one.
If you cannot camp out hours ahead of time, then a less-dense crowd and an unobstructed view is (almost) guaranteed in front of ITS A SMALL WORLD.
And better, IASW is down for holiday maintenance now, so I was very lucky to have picked that particular viewpoint early January (no queue lines, i.e., less competition for good viewing locations.)
Excellent position to "catch" the falling "snow" which follows the show.

momuvseven
01-08-2006, 06:51 AM
Our recent experience was on a Thursday night 12/29. We found the first Fantasmic show to be very crowded, everyone was seated and we had approached from FantasyLand. What we found was no waiting for Splash Mountain, Pooh, Haunted Mansion and Pirates. We went on each ride twice and Pooh a few more times with the toddler. By this time the crowd had thinned and we went and watched the second show of Fantasmic from the dock area. Kids were tired so we stayed put and watched the 1130 show as well. There were very few people for the last few shows and again no waiting for the rides. When Fantastic ended we jumped into line for POTC seconds before they closed it. By the time we came out the people were gone.

hlbtimes2
01-08-2006, 07:33 AM
I would try to do fireworks on Friday. Why? Because there have been lots of weather cancelations lately. If they cancel on Friday, you can see them Saturday as a back up plan. If you wait until Saturday, and they are canceled, you have lost our chance. There is only one showing of F! on Friday, at 9. You wont be able to watch that and the 9:25 fireworks. So, do the F! on Saturday. There are two showings that night. As the others have said, the second with be less crowded.

Bring a blanket to hold a spot for the fireworks. Have at least one person in your party stay with it. The rest can go ride a ride or two, get a snack, and use the bathroom. Be back an hour or so before they start or it will be super hard to get through the crowds. By bringing a blanket to hold your spot people wont crowd in on your space as much. I would stake out a spot 2-3 hours in advance.