Main Street Electrical Parade On-The-Go Package Review

Is the Aladdin’s Oasis Dining Package Worth it?

Visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, Paris Disneyland or Shanghai Disneyland and you’ll have no problem finding a spot to view parades or nightly fireworks mere minutes before showtime – but if you’re expecting to do the same at Disneyland, you’re in for a rude awakening.

Disneyland Parade Viewing

Unlike other parks, Disneyland has limited viewing areas for shows. The streets of the park are much narrower, leaving less standing room for guests. Factor in the height of the castle, and surrounding trees, and you have a very limited amount of space for viewing. As a result, guests line up for parades and fireworks shows up to four hours before an event. That’s practically half a day at the park waiting around for a parade. These hardcore fans make it almost impossible for other guests to find standing room to view a show.

And if you are one of the “lucky” ones to show up minutes before an event and find a spot, expect the glares and harassment of angry guests who made the decision to devote their day to securing a spot.

All this effort to take in a show can at best take up several hours of your visit, and at worst suck out all the joy of the event itself.

Disneyland Preferred Viewing

The park’s answer to this ever growing problem was to offer preferred viewing dining packages. Guests who purchase a “preferred viewing” dining package secure a place to view parades, and the peace of mind that comes with it.

The Main Street Electrical Parade as returned to the park for the first time in over twenty years. Rumor has it, that this is the last leg of the parade, and it will be retired after its run at the Anaheim park. As a result, crowds are swarming into the park, and lining up early to take in one of two nightly shows.

There are two Main Street Electrical Parade preferred viewing dining packages offered at the park. The Blue Bayou three course dinner and the Main Street Electrical Parade On-the-Go Package from Aladdin’s Oasis.

Main Street Electrical Parade On-the-Go Package

We decided to purchase the Main Street Electrical Parade On-the-Go package after dealing with crowds all morning. We feared we wouldn’t be able to find a viewing location, and weren’t ready to dedicate several hours to securing a spot. The dining package ended up costing us $50 for two.

The restaurant offers three options for adults: beef lasagna, vegetable lasagna and a marinated chicken dish. We both chose the beef lasagna option. Each meal comes with a piece of lasagna, dinner role, small salad, dessert and bottled drink. Bottled drink options are coke, diet coke and water.

The lasagna was okay tasting, but cold. The salad was tiny, but the dressing was tasty. The dessert was a cheesecake with Oreo cookie crust. On-the-Go package guests can opt to dine inside Aladdin’s Oasis or take their meal on-the-go to enjoy anywhere in the park. I suggest dining inside Aladdin’s Oasis, because the area is the only Aladdin themed section of the park, and includes a large replica of the mouth of the Cave of Wonders.

Our tickets were for the second showing of the parade, which meant waiting around until 10:30 at night. Our tickets said to report to the viewing area by the “It’s a Small World” attraction between 10:15 pm and 10:30 pm. Worried that 10:15 pm would be too late, we reported to the area at 10:00 pm to find some guests already lined up for the viewing area.

The viewing area reserved for “preferred viewing” guests didn’t feel preferential to me as you’re not right up on the parade path. Preferred viewing doesn’t include chairs or a seat to watch the event. The viewing area is also located at the end of the parade route. The second showing of the parade starts at Main Street U.S.A. so you’ll be located at the very end of the parade. The floats are extremely slow-moving, so we didn’t see the first float until 10:50, 20 minutes after the parade started.

Then the parade broke down. Yes, after waiting hours for this parade in the cold, it broke down and took an additional 20 minutes for a tow to arrive.

Is it Worth it?

The reality is, that $50 isn’t outrageously expensive for a meal for two at Disneyland, so the inclusion of preferred seating is a bonus. However, the food was served in plastic containers, and lukewarm. There were plenty of regular viewing areas available near the preferred viewing area up until about 20 minutes before the show, and we had to arrive 30 minutes before the show to get a good spot in the preferred viewing area.

If you can hold out for the second showing, I don’t think the Main Street Electrical Parade On-the-Go package is worth your money. You can find viewing areas in the back half of the park by showing up 30 minutes before the parade. Especially if you’re visiting on a week day or Sunday. However, if you are visiting with a larger group, on a Saturday evening, and want to catch the first showing, and don’t want to show up early, the dining option may be for you.