Went to party Fri Nov 10, did Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert party, I asked when picking up credential and they said there WAS a reserved area for viewing the parade, but it was back on the grass or something and the view was not good so they recommended seeing the later parade in normal viewing. We skipped the first parade to do rides so I didn't go check out the parade viewing but for anyone wondering ask the CM when you check in.
I felt the party was PACKED. Maybe it's normal but around 8pm Space was a 30 min wait, Buzz was 25, the Tomorrowland side of the park was packed with people. We hopped over to Adventureland for Jingle Cruise and it was MUCH better. 10 min wait there, Big Thunder was a walk on. (And stopped for about 5 mins right as our train reached the peak of the crest, yeah I'm a nervous nellie so that wasn't fun but they got it going again!) That side of the park was what I expected, maybe they checked wrist bands over there and weeded everyone out early but didn't bother doing Tomorrowland? Idk, it was weird though. We raced our way back to the Terrace for the party.
Party was nice, they had gluten and dairy free options for my fam member, we arrived at 9pm and got the last 2 seats together in the middle of the railing, the CM seating us was shocked and had thought the seats were taken because people on either side had put stuff there but they were open and it was perfect. If you want great seats though better get there by 8:30 at least. We were SO lucky. They gave us a package of about 20 ghiradelli chocolates after (1 per reservation, not person.). Beautiful way to see the fireworks in an otherwise jam packed park, no regrets.
We were popsicles by the time it was done so we hit up Starbucks for a drink to keep us warm while we waited on our final ride of the night, Mine Train! Line read 50 mins when we arrived and we were bummed but went in anyway. Were on the train in 20 mins. Idk what's up with that time estimate, it was SO wrong- in a good way though! We were placed in row 1 and it was magical. I rode 7DMT 3 times this trip and row 1 at night was like an experience in itself. Perfect cap off to the night. Or so I thought. We ran into the final parade on our way out...
And this is why I 100% believe reports about non party people filling the parks.... (My wrist band
was checked once, when we were getting dinner at some QS place with bad burgers, and most people were bundled up because it was quite cold so you couldn't easily see wristbands.) But thinking about the crowds this trip vs 2 years ago, I couldn't believe how many more people were there. It was crazy. Now, to our accidental viewing of the parade.... we stumbled on a perfect spot to view the parade right along a walkway that had been made by tape off the parade route in the middle area between the castle and main street, yeah my descriptions are horrible, sorry
Disneyland vet here. So, in the time leading up to the parade the CM kept the area clear and for 5 mins after the parade started going by he kept the area clear. Perfect accidental viewing spot we found. And then people stood on the other side of the white lines and didn't get cleared away, so others followed and the area filled up. I stood, looked around for the CM and saw him SITTING on the curb WATCHING THE PARADE. Did he just go off duty maybe? I looked around and the other CMs were also
watching the parade. My jaw dropped, people were inching over the white lines and the CMs were very busy- watching the parade. Do they all go off the clock 5 mins into the parade maybe? That's the only excuse I can think of for just stopping their crowd management duties.
...And that is when I started thinking thru the other serious crowd issue I'd encountered that night: stuck on the walkway (near the walkway maybe? does the walkway break up a bit, looks like it does from the map in that area, i don't remember much was rather occupied obviously) along the river near Liberty Square area being pinned by people during parade 1 during our attempt to get to the Terrace- if someone had pushed back from the parade route for any reason we would have been in a crowd crush scenario. I'm terrified thinking about it, in retrospect it was SO dangerous. There should have been CMs stationed all along the back of that side of the parade route moving traffic along and not allowing anybody to stop to watch the parade from that area.
Which is why I add this:
Please stay careful and be extra aware in the super crowded areas at MK. We had a report in the hotel hot tub from someone who went to WDW on Veterans Day and tried to see fireworks but decided to leave and got stuck in traffic near the park exit. Like stuck stuck for at least 10 mins. Nobody could move the crush was so bad, people started freaking out he said and said there were actual screams from a couple people who went into panics. I can't even imagine. So, crowd control is horrible right now in MK, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be extra vigilant and think twice before just diving in through the crowds. I wish I'd just waited for the parade to pass by, it would have been much safer, instead I just assumed MK had crowd control down pat like Disneyland so the safety of passing through the crowds didn't even appear on my radar and I stupidly dived in.