Here's How Early You Should Grab a Spot For Magic Kingdom's New Nighttime Parade

A new nighttime parade is coming to Magic Kingdom on July 20th, and we think it’s going to be very popular, at least for a while after its debut.

The parade is Disney Starlight! It’s promising to light up the night with vibrant floats with lights, music, and some of our favorite characters. We’ve already learned that the parade will have two showtimes (9 PM and 10 PM), but if you want to catch it, here’s when you’ll probably want to grab a spot for it.

For the first few months the parade is running, you’re probably going to want to stake out a spot as early as possible. We’d recommend at LEAST an hour before it begins. Now remember that the parade will happen BEFORE and AFTER Happily Ever After, so you’ll have to contend with those crowds, too. The earlier you can grab your spot, the better.

If you don’t mind standing behind people or standing further away from the parade route, you might be able to get by with grabbing a spot 30 minutes ahead of the parade’s showtime. However, if you can’t manage that, you’re probably not going to get a decent view of the parade at all.

After three months, when the newness of the parade has worn off a bit, you might get a good spot if you grab it around 45 to 60 minutes early (although if you’re visiting during a busy time, you’ll probably want to get that spot an hour early).

If you don’t mind standing behind people or getting a spot where you’ll probably have some kind of restricted view, you could probably get away with getting there 30 minutes early. If you just want a peek at the parade, 15 minutes might do the trick, but you probably won’t get a very good look at it.

One thing to keep in mind is that Disney Starlight will travel in the reverse route of Magic Kingdom’s daytime parade. It will start on Main Street, U.S.A., and travel along the normal parade route towards Frontierland. Disney has done this to assist the flow of traffic at the end of the night. Main Street, U.S.A. will probably be the most crowded and fill up the fastest, so don’t forget to check other spots on the parade route for better viewing.

Check back with AllEars again soon for more.