best strategy for viewing Happily Ever After?

[Disfan25]

In the past we always did the dessert party for wishes. This year we decided kinda late to plan an August trip (dessert party is sold out) Is there a fastpass for HEA? If not where is the best viewing? How early do we need to get there? All tips and advice greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[GADisneyDad14]

In the past we always did the dessert party for wishes. This year we decided kinda late to plan an August trip (dessert party is sold out) Is there a fastpass for HEA? If not where is the best viewing? How early do we need to get there? All tips and advice greatly appreciated. thanks

I’ll let others chime in on viewing tips and advice, but just FYI, the August dessert party isn’t sold out - it’s not bookable past 5/27 at the moment (for unknown reasons). August dates should be added at some point (although hard to say exactly when).

BTW, to the DIS!

 

[Klayfish]

There are so many places to watch it from, it really depends what you're after. If you want the prime viewing, seeing the castle, fireworks, etc...then in the hub in front of the castle is the place to be. But yeah, you need to be there really early...probably at least 90 minutes. If you want a bit less than "ideal" spot, then lots of places in the hub are good. You'd want to be there 60 minutes early. An example would be the "grass" areas. You can go down Main St toward the exit...the view of the castle gets less and less, but in our experience, so does the need to be extra early.

There are also far less crowded options outside of MK itself, if you want. The boat launch of the TTC is a great spot, we've done it several times. Or even on the ferry itself. Poly beach is spectacular, we did it twice over Christmas week and fell in love with that location.

 

[Disfan25]

I’ll let others chime in on viewing tips and advice, but just FYI, the August dessert party isn’t sold out - it’s not bookable past 5/27 at the moment (for unknown reasons). August dates should be added at some point (although hard to say exactly when).

BTW, to the DIS!

Ok I did not know they weren’t available yet. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[nikmasteed]

If you want a bit less than "ideal" spot, then lots of places in the hub are good. You'd want to be there 60 minutes early. An example would be the "grass" areas.

Are the "grass" areas referring to something like the fenced-in area in front of Casey's? Haven't been to MK in ages and looking at the new Google street view in the parks. Not willing to camp out more than an hour myself.

 

[mousehockey37]

It's a fireworks and projection show. It's much simpler than you're making it out to be. Do what you would normally do. I don't know if it's been this way lately, but at some point, I could've sworn seeing that the FP areas were actually packed tighter than areas that weren't FP. Maybe someone could give an update to that. It may potentially be better to NOT have a FP for it.

In any event, fireworks are in the sky and the castle is pretty big. There's a lot of great places to see the show from.

 

[CAS239]

Are the "grass" areas referring to something like the fenced-in area in front of Casey's? Haven't been to MK in ages and looking at the new Google street view in the parks. Not willing to camp out more than an hour myself.

The right grass area is for the dessert party and I believe it just recently started that the left side is reserved for the new club level guests that pay the $50 per person per day for extra FP's.

 

[CAS239]

There are no FP's for the show. Use to be but it ended about 2 years ago.

If you have a specific spot you want, then I'd recommend getting there 60 min or so ahead of the show. If you just want a great view but don't have a specific spot, which is what we do, we grab a spot about 20-30 min before. There's a ton of room in the hub and on main Street

 

[mousehockey37]

There are no FP's for the show. Use to be but it ended about 2 years ago.

If you have a specific spot you want, then I'd recommend getting there 60 min or so ahead of the show. If you just want a great view but don't have a specific spot, which is what we do, we grab a spot about 20-30 min before. There's a ton of room in the hub and on main Street

It's always fun to view the show from somewhere different. Sometimes you find that "perfect spot" when someone else is in your normal spot, lol.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

My favorite spot is near the Partners statue, on the Adventureland side. This is the perfect spot but you have to stake it out really early. Keep in mind that right before the show, the CMs will let people fill in previously roped off areas and will sometimes have people shift around a little bit.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

We were there last night and Wednesday night. Wednesday was dessert party, great spot on the grassy area in front of The Plaza restaurant. That was an excellent spot.
Last night we staked out an area behind and to the right of the founder's statue. Everyone was sitting quietly and really quite calmly, when we were all rousted by CMs, and made to stand and push waaaaay forward, making for an uncomfortable viewing situation. (We found that not everyone wears deodorant...) But besides that it was not as enjoyable AND our original spot was no longer "our" spot.
I understand why they would do this, so that everyone could see. But, when we were sitting, I actually had a better view. The young lady a bit in front of me that was 6' tall with Mickey ears made it difficult to see the castle projections.
So plan accordingly...

 

[fbarker]

There are no FP's for the show. Use to be but it ended about 2 years ago.

If you have a specific spot you want, then I'd recommend getting there 60 min or so ahead of the show. If you just want a great view but don't have a specific spot, which is what we do, we grab a spot about 20-30 min before. There's a ton of room in the hub and on main Street

And then if you are one of those rude people you can wait until 10mins before it starts, push your way in and then put your kids on your shoulders!!

 

[CAS239]

And then if you are one of those rude people you can wait until 10mins before it starts, push your way in and then put your kids on your shoulders!!

Those are the worst. After those would be the iPad filmers

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

You know, it's funny, I expected the kid on shoulders, and the iPad filming and no one did that near us. We were near a great group of people who very diligently staked out early, and were incredibly mannerly. What made me kind of crazy was the CMs pushing us closer and closer. To the point of being very uncomfortable.
Our 2nd night at MK we arranged a FP for BTMRR during the show and that was REALLY cool. (Thanks to a Disboards member's great idea!).
So, my takaway is, if you can afford it, do the dessert party.

 

[appleorchard]

Totally agree with being pushed uncomfortably close. The older I get, the more claustrophobic I am, and the worse my balance is. Standing so close to people with no place to even shift your footing was impossible for me. I had to leave my family group and go stand over by the bathrooms, where I had some breathing space. I can't believe that no one has passed out from being so tightly packed and not able to move.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

It helps if you try to stand directly behind something, like a trash can or fencing, so at least no one will be able to stand in front of you. I think from here on out, my family will be splurging for the dessert party each trip. It’s expensive, but IMO it’s worth it to not wait for over an hour only to be jammed against strangers.

 

[BK2014]

If you arrive just before HEA starts, and find what appears to be an open and great spot, it probably isn't. We did the garden dessert party in January. We sat by the back fence. Behind that were some stone benches that would have made for great viewing. The castmembers were doing their best to keep those benches clear as they were part of the walking path. But every 30 seconds, another group of people would come and exclaim how lucky they were to find these open spots, climb on the benches only to be ushered away in disgust shortly thereafter.

 

[odd man out]

We were on the sidewalk going toward the hub outside Casey's. The view of the Castle is obscured by trees a bit (you can see the top), but the fireworks view is good. This spot was almost empty right up to the last minute. Half the walk is taped off as a viewing area and the other half is kept clear for walking. Then after the show, you can take a short cut through a backstage area for a quick exit, or go into Casey's and exit out their back door and go through the main store all the way to the other end of Main Street.

 

[Haley R]

We were to the left of the castle, right in the front. There is a small fenced area and we were the first ones to line up there. Lots of people filled in behind us but we never felt squished or anything. We had an obstructed view of fireworks but we really didn’t care because we had already seen the fireworks. We were there for the projections.

 

[MermaidMommy]

The right grass area is for the dessert party and I believe it just recently started that the left side is reserved for the new club level guests that pay the $50 per person per day for extra FP's.

We were there on Wednesday night, and only about a quarter (or a little less) of the grassy area in front of Casey’s was roped off. The rest of the area was still available. We’re going to watch HEA again tonight, and hoping that it’s still the case.