You’ve made it to Magic Kingdom, you’ve checked your times guide, and you know the Festival of Fantasy parade is at three o’clock on the dot. The next, vital question that comes to mind is where do you stand?
There are a lot of options for where to stand for the Festival of Fantasy Parade in Magic Kingdom. The route starts in Frontierland all the way at the back of the park, then eventually makes it way to Main Street where it exits in the front of the park.
Map from: Pixartimes.com
If you’re looking for low crowd levels and a few shady spots I would recommend standing near the start of the parade in Frontierland. It doesn’t have the prettiest backdrop for photos, but the crowd levels there will be significantly lower than those on and around Main Street. Standing here is also optimal if you want to see the parade right at three o’clock (or close to that time if there's a delay).
My personal favorite spot is a little ways down from Frontierland on the border of Liberty Square. While crowd levels here are still lower than Main Street, things can get slightly congested. It does provide a better backdrop for photos and there are a few shady spots. In more crowded seasons I definitely recommend staking out a spot early. Even if crowd levels are low I would recommend getting to these areas a more than fifteen minutes before the parade starts, maybe even thirty minutes before.
A place right near there that I just found is right next to the Liberty Bell enclosure. They start the rope off right at a lamppost on the corner, so you can stand right in that crevice and nobody will be in front of you. Plus, this is the place where the parade turns the corner to go down Main Street. This means the floats are a bit closer to you, so you can get extra good photos as the characters pass you by.
The next place to watch the parade is the Main Street area. This is the most crowd heavy place to watch the parade, and depending on where you’re standing it could be up to a twenty minute wait before the front of the parade reaches you. Most always people stake out their parade spots a whole hour before the parade is set to begin, some even bring picnic blankets to sit on while they wait.
If you want a front row seat on Main Street I would suggest getting a spot at least a half hour before the parade is set to begin. If it's a crowded day I would suggest forty five minutes to an hour to get a spot. The cast members tape off sections of the sidewalk for people to stand, and the other section of the sidewalk closest to the buildings is strictly for walking. While this tape is good for crowd control, it can also make for close quarters when trying to watch the parade, which is why getting there early to get a good spot is optimal for Main Street viewing. But something to keep in mind as well if you want to watch the parade on Main Street is that it will take about twenty minutes to get to you since it starts all the way in Frontierland.
Another place to view the parade is the top of the train station. I’ve never tried this viewing spot myself, but it’s great for the floats that have their characters up high, like Ariel and Peter and Wendy. I think this spot is pretty coveted, so I would say getting there a half hour to forty-five minutes early to stake out the area would be a good bet.
There you go! Your guide to viewing the Festival of Fantasy Parade, one of my personal favorite things to see when I go to Disney World.
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