Paint the Night parade is back as part of the Disneyland 70th Anniversary celebration, and is drawing massive crowds to Main Street and the rest of the route as locals and tourists alike camp out ~2 hours in advance to prime locations. Our viewing guide helps you beat the crowds, with our field-tested tips & tricks so you can show up 30 minutes or less and still score a spectacular spot for PtN.
The first thing we cannot overstate is just how busy Disneyland is in the evenings for Paint the Night and the rest of the 70th Anniversary entertainment. My original intent was to publish this viewing guide after opening weekend, but I decided to hold off given the crowd dynamics. I also wanted to see and photograph it a few more times for illustrative views.
It’s now a few weeks later, and things have slowed down a bit, but not dramatically so. Paint the Night is still immensely popular, and it can be difficult to see. For the best view, guests are camping out approximately two hours in advance. Technically, ~2 hours is the maximum. We’ve seen guests stake out spots earlier than that, and be told by Cast Members that it’s too early to reserve spots. This has led to this little song and dance ‘game’ of sorts…
In the lead-up to the 2-hour mark, guests will start hovering over the prime locations that they intend on staking out as a way of unofficially marking their territory, I guess you could say. At least on the days we’ve visited since summer has started, this has become less common, but it’s still a thing. On one occasion, we even saw security getting involved.
This is not meant to scare you out of watching Paint the Night. The parade is absolutely worth it, and as we mentioned above, you do not need to show up 2+ hours in advance to pre-claim and then camp out. Great spots can be easier to get if you know what you’re doing, which is the whole point of this guide.
Before we dig into viewing tips, let’s start with the basics. Paint the Night is presented twice nightly, and currently rolls down the parade route at 8:50 pm and 10:50 pm at Disneyland. These times do shift throughout the year based on sunset and park ops, so be sure to check the daily Disneyland entertainment schedule if you’re visiting long after this is published. The rest of the tips should remain more or less accurate–timing is the big one that’s subject to change.
Paint the Night is currently presented at Disneyland, and not at Disney California Adventure. If you see a guide that says it’s at DCA, that’s out of date by about 7 years. For the Disneyland 70th Anniversary in 2025-2026, Paint the Night is at Disneyland.
Paint the Night runs along the Disneyland parade route from near “it’s a small world” to Main Street. The two performances go in opposite directions, with the parade reversing between the two. This means that it starts at “it’s a small world” and comes down Main Street for the first performance; the second performance starts where the first ended on Main Street and travels up to “it’s a small world,” ending where the first performance began.
The first performance of Paint the Night is always busier than the second performance. Always. And it’s not even a remotely close call.
If you only take away one thing from this Paint the Night viewing guide, it’s that you should absolutely watch the second Paint the Night if at all possible, as that is the single easiest and biggest tip for spending less time camping out. I wouldn’t say that crowds for the first parade are twice as large, but they do arrive twice as early and the parade route hits capacity for the first parade, whereas that does not happen for the second Paint the Night. So I would say that demand is at least twice as high for the first performance, and it’s often unsatisfied.
Whereas many guests arrive 90 to 120 minutes before the first performance of Paint the Night, that isn’t even possible for the second performance. There isn’t that much time on the clock once the first Paint the Night ends, and there’s the Wondrous Journeys fireworks in between. This means that the ‘dust settles’ on the parade route shortly after 10 pm, which is about the earliest people will start camping out for the second showing.
Most people don’t even stake out spots that early. The parade route starts filling in about 45 minutes in advance, but there are often a scattering of front row spots after that, sometimes up until 20 minutes before the second parade steps off.
Hence being able to secure a good spot inside 30 minutes. In fact, I was able to find a spectacular location ~10 minutes before the parade started on a recent evening. This is not abnormal, especially if you’re willing to stand. You can walk up to a good view fairly last minute on many nights for the second performances, whereas you’ll be several rows deep and have your view obstructed if you try that with the first performance.
To give you an idea of what to expect, here’s a look at crowds ~30 minutes before the first Paint the Night on a random weekday in June 2025, before peak summer tourist season started:
This last photo pictures the viewing areas for the Plaza Inn Dining Package for Paint the Night Parade, as well as the 70th Anniversary Tour (left, facing the Train Station).
Note that this is a viewing area and not a seating area. Disneyland promises reserved viewing, as opposed to seating. Meaning there are no chairs here. Also, you might have to stand if you arrive late or if the people in front of you are standing. There’s generally more breathing room than the other sections.
This isn’t my favorite view of Paint the Night, but I don’t dislike it. If your main goal is not having to stake out a spot long in advance or wanting a bit of elbow room and less stress, this works. Just keep in mind that front row spots will still require arriving early. (See our Review: Paint the Night Parade Plaza Dining Package.)
My all-time #1 spot for Paint the Night–or pretty much any parade—is right behind the flagpole with a view up Main Street. This is hardly a secret, and is the preferred vantage of 9 out of 10 photographers. And there are a lot of Disneyland fan photogs out there.
My ‘secret’ hack for securing this spot has long been to camp out off to the side where a rope will go up at some point to create a viewing area on the street. This happens because Paint the Night continues towards the Emporium side so it can loop around Town Square, meaning the opposite side is fine for viewing. This hack works well at tourist-centric Walt Disney World, but locals are well aware of this trick at Disneyland, and the street section fills up early, too.
I actually prefer being in the street. It puts you slightly off-center, which is actually perfect for composing photos. It also means the parades are turning away from you, and if you’re using a telephoto lens (as you should), you can shoot past the closest float to ground-level performers and floats in subsequent units. By contrast, if you’re in line with the flagpole and Sleeping Beauty Castle, the nearest float largely blocks your view.
The downside of the off-center, in-street spot is that staking it out can be awkward. You still need to camp out early, but you’re basically in a spot that does not exist. In both locations, you’re also in the way of the 70th Anniversary photo op, and guests like to get photos with that. F
inally, the biggest downside of all is that this is the most competitive spot. Plan to stake this out 2 hours in advance, or don’t even bother. Unless you get lucky with weather or abnormally low crowds, that’s the only way you have a shot at this. It doesn’t help that this spot only exists for the first parade.
Its mirror image for the second parade is behind Partners, and that spot isn’t nearly as competitive. It’s also not nearly as good, as Sleeping Beauty Castle is behind you, instead of in the background of your photos. (Since the parade changes directions between the first and second performance.)
My photos here are archival. Now that we have a toddler, camping out ~2 hours is just a non-starter for me. I scoped this spot out on a couple of different nights ~60 minutes in advance in Summer 2025, and it was a no-go. I’m still hoping to be in the park for a “weather event” or luck into it, but I’m guessing that’s not going to happen.
While this is the single most competitive spot for watching Paint the Night, the entirety of Main Street is a close second. And honestly, outside of that one spot, Main Street is a bit overrated for viewing Paint the Night.
It’s the first section to fill up and even if you put in the hard ‘work’ for a front row spot, you still might have your view obstructed. This is because the parade is not coming straight towards you on Main Street. Yes, it’s obviously coming down Main Street, that’s technically true. But if you face forward in your spot, you’re looking at the other side of Main Street.
The parade is coming towards you if you turn sideways, in which case you’re looking past other guests who are in line with you. This creates a potentially awkward dynamic where guests reaching out with their phones or cameras, or even just leaning out, can partially block your view. For this reason, if you must watch from the Main Street curb, we recommend putting an obstacle (e.g. trash can) between you and Sleeping Beauty Castle. It’s an imperfect solution, but gives you a bit of a buffer. (Obviously, it also means sitting next to a trash can, and all that entails.)
Another overrated spot that I dislike is the “it’s a small world” mall.
I swear that I’m not trying to be the contrarian here (again, my #1 spot is everyone’s #1 spot!), but “it’s a small world” is overrated and overcrowded. That’s seemingly a direct byproduct of so many sites like this one recommending it for the tiered view, proximity to the start of the parade route, and nearby restrooms.
The tiered viewing areas near “it’s a small world” can be an asset if you’re showing up late and they’re somehow open, but they often aren’t. Moreover, front row spots can be a challenge and they’re often set aside. Finally, I just don’t like the angles here–you don’t really get a good ‘long shot’ of Paint the Night floats approaching and then passing you.
You can probably surmise my favorite Paint the Night spots for the first performance based on all of the foregoing.
I favor locations where the curvature of the parade route is such that the floats are heading directing towards you. The path winds quite a bit during this long middle stretch, so there are several spots like this. As an added bonus, this middle stretch tends to be the least popular portion of the route–less busy than both “it’s a small world” and Main Street.
There are also a few sections of this route that only allow 1-2 rows of viewing. This is perfect for not getting crowded out of your personal space. Just be sure to confirm with Cast Members that the area you’ve chosen is, in fact, parade viewing. Some sections are not, and other people sitting there doesn’t make it so.
Most of this same sentiment applies equally to the second performance, adjusted for Paint the Night traveling up Main Street.
It’s difficult to offer specific recommendations because there are great and only okay spots right next to one another–you should judge for yourself by standing in a spot and seeing whether, if looking straight forward, the parade will be coming towards you.
My favorite spots for the second performance of Paint the Night are in Town Square along the entrances to the park. There’s one of these in front of Disneyana and another in front of City Hall. In both cases, you should be in a spot where the parade is coming towards you.
Getting very specific, I recently staked out a curb spot 23 minutes in advance that checked literally all of my boxes–parade coming towards me, garbage can to my right, and great background of Disney Showcase and the rest of Town Square. To my surprise, the spot to my left went unfilled until ~10 minutes before the parade stepped off.
This was, I assume, because it’s flat ground–the area of Main Street that’s the accessible entry point to strollers and ECVs. Finally, a family of 5 swooped in and claimed this prize real estate. I wouldn’t expect this every night, but it’s worth mentioning because this section may not seem like a viewing area, but it is.
Below is my view of Paint the Night from this spot on the curb. In addition to seeing the floats as they rounded the corner and came towards me (providing side and front angles of the floats from a distance), I also like this spot because I could see another ‘layer’ of floats as they made their way up Main Street USA.
If you plan on leaving the park immediately after the second showing of Paint the Night, this location is perfect. You will outlast the post-fireworks exodus but beat literally everyone else watching the second showing of Paint the Night. You’ll literally be in your car at Mickey & Friends by the time Paint the Night gets to “it’s a small world.”
If you plan on staying in the park and getting a last ride in, this is still a fine spot. You’ll have to follow the parade up Main Street (which can be a neat thing–and one that’ll help you realize just how slowly these parades move), though. Alternatively, the backside of Partners is a good play.
That offers an easy escape to Adventureland or Frontierland, allowing for a late night ride on Indiana Jones Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, etc. I’d also choose this spot if I planned on ending up in Tomorrowland, even though that does require waiting for the parade to cross.
Finally, I’ll make a plug for catching both performances–or at least multiple across your days in Disneyland–of Paint the Night. Speaking from my own personal experience, this is not the parade that was love at first sight for me. Paint the Night has grown on me with each viewing, with its unique quirks and ear worm soundtrack becoming firmly embedded in my brain and making me ask “when can we do this again?”
Now it’s easy to see understand why so many people love Paint the Night. The music is catchy, the floats are impressive, and there’s a palpable, downright fun energy to it. It’s the kind of parade that hypes you up and puts a smile on your face. While I could quibble over some of the choices in execution, I cannot discount the fact that it’s a ton of fun, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what Disneyland is all about?
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts?
Have you tried watching Paint the Night Parade during Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary? Do you have favorite and least favorite viewing spots? Like or dislike the ones we’ve recommended? First versus second showing of PtN? Done the Plaza Inn Dining Package? Think this is a good or poor value? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment on crowds and the hassle of saving spots for the parade? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
