Did you have to stand up with it being crowded like that or could you have sat to see the fireworks?
We did the party the Monday before Thanksgiving. We had several CL 10 days but that evening in MK was the only one that really felt like it. Not only did we sit through the fireworks but we laid down in the grass to wait for them. We tried doing HEA several days earlier without the party (on a CL 7 day). It was such a cluster**** that we just left about the time the fireworks started. I don't think we'll ever do HEA without the party unless something major changes.