Time Saver #6: Ride During Parades & Fireworks

No one does parades and firework displays better than Disney! Seeing parades and fireworks is one of my priorities, so I check the schedules and make it a point to see my favorites as early in my vacation as possible.

Over the years, I discovered that there’s a benefit of seeing these special events early. When I go back to the same park later in my vacation, I have time to enjoy the attractions while most other guests are enjoying the parade or fireworks.

Let’s look at the afternoon parade at the Magic Kingdom as an example.

The parade route starts every afternoon at 3:00 PM. The route starts near Splash Mountain, goes through Frontierland, circles around the plaza in front of Cinderella’s Castle, goes down Main Street and ends near the train station.

Around 2:00 PM every day, guests start claiming their space along the parade route. They stay there for more than an hour, waiting and watching. Every person who is sitting there waiting and watching is one less person in line or riding the attractions!

You can take advantage of that by finding the attractions with shorter lines. The most popular attractions — like Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain and Peter Pan’s Flight — will probably still have long lines. But most other attractions will probably have much shorter wait times.

One warning: Walking near the parade route will be limited. I prefer to stick with the attractions in Tomorrowland, Mickey’s Toontown Fair and Fantasyland because it’s easier to get around.

Suggestions for Each Park

Each park is unique, and this tip works best at the Magic Kingdom because it has the most parades and fireworks shows. Here are specific suggestions.

Magic Kingdom

As I said, I prefer the areas of the park away from the parade route during the afternoon parade. During the evening parades and Wishes fireworks display, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain are frequently walk-ons — No wait time!

Epcot

The only show at Epcot is Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, which is presented nightly at 9:00 PM. Since most attractions in Future World close at 7:00 PM, try the Maelstrom at the Norway Pavilion and the Gran Fiesta Tour Featuring the Three Caballeros in the Mexico Pavilion.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

During the afternoon parade and the evening showings of Fantasmic, I’ve found the best wait times on Star Tours and the Backlot Tour.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Honestly, this strategy doesn’t work very well at the Animal Kingdom. The parade route circles almost the entire park so it doesn’t tend to concentrate the crowds as much and people don’t camp out for viewing locations….

After the Parade

Time for a warning! As soon as the parade passes by, guests immediately head for the nearest attractions. If you’re not already in line at an attraction, find something else to do for the next 30-45 minutes. Perhaps that’s a good time to visit the less popular attractions … like the Hall of Presidents.