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My name is Dave Drumheller, owner and tour guide at WDW Guided Tours. I help my guests enjoy their time at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios while minimizing their wait times and maximizing their fun.
As someone who is at the parks on a regular basis (it’s my job!), I am here to pass along useful and timely information to help you make the most out of your visits.
Starting today, each weekly Tour Guide Tuesday will feature tips including everything from the best ways to utilize the FastPass system to current construction issues to tips on navigating the parks, based on what’s new and changed that week.
This first topic is the Hub expansion project at the Magic Kingdom and how it has temporarily changed parade and fireworks viewing in the area in front of Cinderella Castle. The main focus of the project is the new Main Street Plaza Gardens areas that have been under construction for quite a while.
They are scheduled to open within a few weeks and will provide more walking paths as well as fireworks viewing areas. Since these two sections are essentially being added over parts of the moat, they haven’t caused additional congestion on Main Street. However, the recent closure of the Hub for repaving the section facing Cinderella Castle has severely limited crowd movement during the busy parade and fireworks times. They even have the Partners Statue in a “box” at this point, for protection.
Based on these temporary changes in the park, I have a couple of tips for anyone visiting the Magic Kingdom in the near future.
First, try to avoid the area around the Hub any time after about 2:30p until the parade is over. Since space has become limited, it is nearly impossible to walk around the hub while the parade is passing by. The walkways leading from Adventureland and Tomorrowland get backed up to the point where guests trying to pass are forced to watch the parade, whether they want to or not.
The section of the Hub that has recently been walled off is the FastPass+ parade viewing area, which has been temporarily relocated to Town Square. This leads me to my next tip: It doesn’t matter where the designated viewing areas are located, you should never waste a FastPass on the parade or fireworks. There are several reasons for this.
You can almost always find excellent parade viewing spots in Town Square without having to get there too far in advance.
The vast majority of guests line the streets of Frontierland, Liberty Square and Main Street USA without realizing that there are much less crowded areas near the park entrance in Town Square.
Secondly, if you are using a FastPass for the parade that late in the day, you are limiting your ability to get additional FastPasses, since you have to use your pre-selected three reservations first. If you are using it for the fireworks, you are basically giving up the chance to get any more FastPasses at all.
I will go into greater detail on FastPass utilization in future posts. For now, stay away from the Hub during parade and fireworks times, and don’t waste FastPasses on either one.
I hope you enjoy “Tour Guide Tuesday,” and I look forward to helping you make the most out of your next visit to the parks! If you want additional tips while you’re in the parks, WDW Guided Tours is happy to help.
