Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s I realize these just started on Monday, but if anyone happens to be doing one or wandering around and seeing the location of the viewing area, I'd appreciate the info. The best the DL website can give me is that the BB package viewing is on Main Street and the Aladdin is near Small World. For $62/pp, the BB package is obviously a better spot. I'm much more interested in the Aladdin package due to the price, but I know that the F! location for Aladdin was no different than the regular FP and so this makes me curious how they will do PTN.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Interesting. This sounds like a fill-in for the Fantasmic! dinners while that area is closed. It's a shame that they can't just let the restaurants be available for normal dining in the interim. I guess the couple dollar-per guest upcharge is really making a difference for them
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I haven't tried, but I assume they're similar to the WOC restaurants in DCA. Those have normal lunch, but all reservations after around 3pm are part of the dining packages. You can eat there and not go to the show after, but they're still going to charge you for the ticket (wrapped into the meal price) and make you order from a limited menu I found it relatively easy to find a decent spot for Paint the Night (I mean, it's a friggin' parade route, there's bound to be space somewhere) particularly for the second show of the night, so I just don't see the value in this
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s <<I found it relatively easy to find a decent spot for Paint the Night >> Then your experience is not the same as mine. We've seen the parade three times and each time required 1.5 - 2 hours of curb sitting before the parade. We need to go to the first show since my kids can barely hang on for the fireworks and people begin with their blankets on the curb over 3 hours before the parade. I'm short, my kids are short, so we prefer to not have to spend the entire time craning our necks around people in front of us, which requires a multiple hour curb spot sitting ahead of the parade. I'd like to know if the FP areas would eliminate this need for long sits on the curb. I have the same problem with WOC and F!. I need a rail or else I can't see, which means we are in line before they even open up the FP areas. At least for those, we only eat up about 1 hr 15 min before the show. Back to my question - if anyone does see how these are set up, I'd appreciate the details. I assume Small World will be in that terrace area, but I could be wrong and I am curious if people in that area are sitting, standing or both.
Originally Posted By monorailblue Aladdin's Oasis hasn't operated as a regular restaurant for, what, 15+ years? So there's no loss there.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneygeek.com/disneyland/pictures/2016/01/15/92">http://disneygeek.com/disneyla...01/15/92</a> First two pictures show Blue Bayou Main St spot.
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s My daughter and I did the package at Aladdin's on Saturday, February 13th. The meal was just fine (I had lasagna and DD had mac and cheese), the price is acceptable by Disney standards ($22.99 adults/$13.99 kids and includes dessert/drink), and the location was very nice. It a large area across from Small World in and around the terrace, above the old motor boat landing. We arrived at 7:15 for the 8:00 parade and easily found a front row seat. There was also plenty of seating available on the stairs and quite a few people that stood and leaned against the planters/walls. By 7:30, all the front row seats were taken, but again still plenty of room to stand/lean. This was worth it to me to be able to spend an extra 1-1.5 hours on rides and not parked on a spot for the parade. We walked up the parade route from Main Street to get to our reserved area and at 7:15, there was very little space to be found and all of it was standing only. You can stay in this area for fireworks viewing. We didn't stay as DD was tired and we made out way back to the hotel. That is quite a cluster, as they stopped us just before the hub and then we were stuck for over 5 minutes as there is no way out due to the mass of people in the hub to watch fireworks. I won't kid you that I quickly became a rude person and pushed in between anyone we could fit around and finally made it after much jostling over to Jolly Holiday and were able to take the escape route behind Main Street to the entrance and hit the central plaza just as the parade was heading backstage. My suggestion - make your kid stay for fireworks if you are up at SW. There just isn't anyway out of Fantasyland that doesn't dump you into the hub since the path to Frontierland is closed for construction and the train isn't running.
Originally Posted By doombuggy As far as camping out for the fireworks go There's no need to as we have been able to walk right onto Main Street 15 minutes before showtime. Plus a couple of weeks ago fireworks were canceled for almost a week due to high winds. And all we could think was what a waste of time to camp out hours before fireworks When it could be cancelled And what a complete waste of Park time.
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s We did AO for a second time this past Monday with a party of 8. We had the same good experience with both the meal and the seating. This time we didn't arrive until 7:30 for the 8:00 parade and again had no problem getting a great spot and since it was a slow day at the park due to rain, we could've been OK without a FP. That said, I did notice that a good plan for a parade spot would be to hang out near SW and claim a spot right after they move all the strollers out of the parade route. Those people that did this were able to grab a front row spot only about 20 minutes before the parade. They went quick, but a good plan for another time. On this night we also didn't wait for fireworks and instead went into Tomorrowland and rode Nemo. Fireworks ended up being cancelled due to weather, but we still would've been able to avoid the mad crush at the hub. On Wednesday night we were in Adventureland and had the bad timing of trying to leave during what I thought would be the end of the parade and I assumed the 'escape route' would be open from Coke Corner to the front - and it was not for whatever reason. We actually were stuck at a standstill for almost 10 minutes in front of the Penny Arcade. I could see the poor CMs trying to get people to move who were stopped in the walkway to watch the parade. Anyone know when it is they decide to open the 'escape route'? I thought it was for times just like that, but I'm obviously wrong.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I also assumed that they built the back paths for parade crowds, but DL seems to use them very sparingly. MK also built one recently and it's open for hours each night, while DL's tend to close within minutes of the parade passing. Very strange, considering the work that went into it Do we know for certain whether they even built a corridor on the Coke Corner side? I know that was the original plan, but I've only seen photos of the one on the Plaza Inn side (which was easier to navigate in the first place, since the shops on that side are mostly connected inside)
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s They did build one on the Coke Corner side. I used it a couple of weeks ago, which is why I was so confused when it wasn't open this past week.
Originally Posted By monorailblue They did not build a corridor on the Coke Corner side. They occasionally open the same service access route that has been behind Main Street since 1955 to Guests. The only newly constructed, dedicated Guest pathway is behind the east side of Main Street, although it also is only used in limited circumstances. Unlike the west side route which does nothing to hide backstage elements such as an enormous trash compactor, CM restrooms, etc., the east side route has minimally themed walls that hide all backstage elements. The west-side route is a CM / service area that is only opened to Guests very sparingly.
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s Then I stand corrected in that it wasn't 'built' as a guest escape route, but it certainly can be used as such. I just used it three weeks ago. So when do they decide to use either one? Do you know if the east one is open more frequently than the west one?
Originally Posted By DisneyJen057 Thanks for the 2 great reports Kidz-n-k9s! I reserved a paint the night package at Aladdin's Oasis so I am hoping I have a great experience like you did.
