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View Full Version : Traffic Flow Friday Nights (DCA Electrical Parade to Fantasmic?)



MauiMickey
08-20-2007, 07:10 PM
We are heading to DL next week, and are going to try and see the Electrical Parade at DCA at 8:45 and the 10:30 show of Fantasmic! on Friday, Aug. 31. Does anyone have any advice as to how we should time this? Is is better to wait on Main St. USA until after the fireworks have finished to try and make our way over to the Fantasmic! viewing area, or should we try and get from DCA to the general area of RoA before the fireworks start (is that even possible with the crowds)?

It's been two years since we've been to DL and don't know the current traffic flow/patterns and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

vfire
08-20-2007, 08:02 PM
Last night, Sunday, I did exactly that. Watched Electrical Parade in DCA near the entrance so I could make a quick exit as the last float approached. Made it easily into DL and got a spot in the hub to watch the fireworks. Then made it over to Fantasmic! for the 10:30 with a good spot on the bridge near Tarzan's tree. The park was crowded but I was able to make it with my wife and two young sons in a relatively leisurely pace, so it's certainly doable.

annieb727
08-20-2007, 11:52 PM
Last night, Sunday, I did exactly that. Watched Electrical Parade in DCA near the entrance so I could make a quick exit as the last float approached. Made it easily into DL and got a spot in the hub to watch the fireworks. Then made it over to Fantasmic! for the 10:30 with a good spot on the bridge near Tarzan's tree. The park was crowded but I was able to make it with my wife and two young sons in a relatively leisurely pace, so it's certainly doable.

Wow!! That sounds EXHAUSTING!

MauiMickey
08-21-2007, 08:39 AM
Wow!! That sounds EXHAUSTING!

Exhausting or not, that evening is the only night that the EP and Fantasmic! are showing during our trip. We don't want to miss either, so we'll do what we can to get to both. :)

Back to my original question...which direction does traffic flow these days? Do you enter the RoA area through Frontierland and out through Adventureland? We don't want to be stuck in an area where "you can't get there from here...one way only" so any insight would be appreciated.

DangerMouse
08-21-2007, 12:26 PM
Last night, Sunday, I did exactly that. Watched Electrical Parade in DCA near the entrance so I could make a quick exit as the last float approached. Made it easily into DL and got a spot in the hub to watch the fireworks. Then made it over to Fantasmic! for the 10:30 with a good spot on the bridge near Tarzan's tree. The park was crowded but I was able to make it with my wife and two young sons in a relatively leisurely pace, so it's certainly doable.

Wow! The ultimate entertainment trifecta! I really want to try to accomplish this someday. Glad to hear someone else has done this, and that it wasn't super difficult! :)

vfire
08-21-2007, 02:17 PM
Back to my original question...which direction does traffic flow these days? Do you enter the RoA area through Frontierland and out through Adventureland? We don't want to be stuck in an area where "you can't get there from here...one way only" so any insight would be appreciated.

That's the way it was Sunday night, enter ROA through Frontierland. I'm originally from New York City so navigating through heavy crowds at fast speed comes natural. :)
I was curious to see if the trifecta could be done and it was easier than I thought it would be.

MauiMickey
08-21-2007, 03:53 PM
That's the way it was Sunday night, enter ROA through Frontierland. I'm originally from New York City so navigating through heavy crowds at fast speed comes natural. :)
I was curious to see if the trifecta could be done and it was easier than I thought it would be.

Thanks so much for the info.

Ultimate Entertainment Trifecta...I love that term! Hopefully we're able to accomplish this next Friday, as it would be the perfect way to end our Disney vacation! :D

Leap for Joy
08-21-2007, 08:16 PM
If you watch the Electrical Parade from a spot in front of the Golden Dreams Theatre, you can see the end of the parade and walk toward Grizzly River Run to get to the gates just before the parade ends in Sunshine Plaza. That will give you a bit of an advantage getting out of the park.

On Main Street they will probably be directing foot traffic counter-clockwise around the hub during the fireworks. So veer right, wind around, and exit through Frontierland.

Have a great trip!

danyoung
08-22-2007, 08:20 AM
I've done the trifecta more than once, and while it can work there are a couple of drawbacks for me. The first is that I have to leave DCA before the actual end of the DEP. I'm always one who sits in the theater all the way through the credits, so leaving before something is over is strange for me. But it's either this or get bogged down in a line of hundreds of others trying to do the same thing.

The other problem is the HUGE mass of people that are shuffling from the central plaza into Frontierland. It's really shoulder to shoulder all the way, and depending on the crowd you might have to settle for a less than optimum viewing location.

Good luck!

Malcon10t
08-22-2007, 12:30 PM
Also, when you enter Disneyland, stay to the right down Main Street. They will then keep you moving around the hub and into Frontierland. If you try to fight thru traffic on the other side, they will reroute you anyway and you will lose time. Also, remember that Frontierland gets closed after the fireworks to clear people out to let you in, so just relax and wait. Too many start pushing or trying to find another way in.

pisces
08-23-2007, 08:54 AM
I have to leave DCA before the actual end of the DEP.

No you don't. If you sit up closer to Sunshine Plaza, or perhaps midway, near the waterfalls---(I like the combination of lights and water).....one of the great things about DCA is how easy it is to exit, even in crowds.

You simply follow the last float (Spirit of America?) up to Sunshine. DCA aisles are wide enough for you to bypass the standing crowds---- and then veer left out the DCA Gates, and in through the Maingates just in time for the Fireworks! Will there be a line at the Maingate? There could be, but it doesn't matter as the Fireworks don't usually start on time, and if you are content with not having to have the very best seats.



The other problem is the HUGE mass of people that are shuffling from the central plaza into Frontierland. It's really shoulder to shoulder all the way, and depending on the crowd you might have to settle for a less than optimum viewing location.


Here's my suggestion: If you are content to watch the fireworks at the front of Mainstreet near Emporium....when they are over, simply hop the Railroad into NOS and come in that way. You might even catch some of the first Fantasmic, but definitely have more than enough time to scope out a place for the 10:30 showing, assuming some of the 9:30 people leave......which they sometimes don't. But still.....it can be done.

Believe me...during Holiday time...it's not just a Trifecta....it's a Quartet, with me starting out on the second Christmas Parade, to the EP, then heading to the Fireworks, and managing to take in almost 2 Fantasmics. And it's really crowded when I do it in late December!

It can be done.

Malcon10t
08-23-2007, 10:04 AM
Here's my suggestion: If you are content to watch the fireworks at the front of Mainstreet near Emporium....when they are over, simply hop the Railroad into NOS and come in that way. You might even catch some of the first Fantasmic, but definitely have more than enough time to scope out a place for the 10:30 showing, assuming some of the 9:30 people leave......which they sometimes don't. But still.....it can be done.

Believe me...during Holiday time...it's not just a Trifecta....it's a Quartet, with me starting out on the second Christmas Parade, to the EP, then heading to the Fireworks, and managing to take in almost 2 Fantasmics. And it's really crowded when I do it in late December!

It can be done.Just to clarify, the first Fantasmic! is at 9pm and lasts til 9:23. Fireworks begin at 925pm and last til 9:42 (about.) Trains start running 5 mins later. Next Fantasmic! starts at 1030pm and ends at 10:53pm. Unless there are 3 Fantasmic! (3rd one usually starts at 1130pm) you cannot view fireworks from the train station and see the end of the first Fantasmic!

Be aware, a lot of people have this same idea. The train station was PACKED in July after the fireworks.

MauiMickey
08-23-2007, 11:40 AM
Be aware, a lot of people have this same idea. The train station was PACKED in July after the fireworks.

OK, so which would be the easiest...waiting with the crowds at the train station to go to NOS, or walking down Mainstreet, through Frontierland to RoA?

I don't think we'll be so concerned with seeing the fireworks from the "best" vantage point, as we're hoping to see them every night of our trip, but the EP and Fantasmic! are on our definite "to do" lists next Friday evening. It would be fun to accomplish seeing the trifecta, though... :geek:

Malcon10t
08-23-2007, 11:50 AM
OK, so which would be the easiest...waiting with the crowds at the train station to go to NOS, or walking down Mainstreet, through Frontierland to RoA?

I don't think we'll be so concerned with seeing the fireworks from the "best" vantage point, as we're hoping to see them every night of our trip, but the EP and Fantasmic! are on our definite "to do" lists next Friday evening. It would be fun to accomplish seeing the trifecta, though... :geek:If you don't care about the fireworks that night, walk. You can get to the Fantasmic! area while fireworks are still going off. Now, depending on where you want to be, you will have to find a spot to "pull over" and wait for the spot to open. There is no going backwards! They will "Keep on moving folks" and it is one way traffic. So when you think you are where you want to be, find a place where they will let you stop so you can wait there.