Where to Watch Paint the Night Parade in California Adventure

When the Paint the Night Parade was held in Disneyland Park, my family and I had a great spot picked out on a cement bench close to the Matterhorn. This allowed us to see the parade coming long before it was right in front of us.

With the Paint the Night Parade being moved over to California Adventure to help lessen the overcrowding Disneyland is experiencing and will be experiencing at an even greater level once Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens in early summer 2019, I had to go back to the drawing board to find a good viewing spot.

Here are a couple of good things to know: (1) Currently, there is only one nightly showing of the Paint the Night Parade at 8:50 pm (in summer 2018). And (2) The Parade starts at Paradise Gardens Park by the end of the Incredicoaster, and ends in Hollywood Land, between Guardians of the Galaxy and the Hyperion Theater.

I like to be able to see the Parade coming for a while, unobstructed, before it reaches me so that was an important factor in determining where to sit. Also, with a family of 8 including a 4 year old, I wanted to find a spot close to restrooms, just in case. We also like to head back over to Disneyland after the parade so an easy escape route is nice.

I decided on a spot across from Jumpin' Jellyfish, next to/in front of a sunglasses stand which provided a great place to see the parade coming. It was also reasonably close to restrooms which are located behind Goofy's Sky School. It also offered as easy of an escape route as you'll find right after the parade. It took us about 10-15 minutes to get out. We followed the parade for a little bit, then took a left past the Ariel attraction to head toward Grizzly Peak, and out that way. The walkways were still plenty full and difficult to navigate, but we were able to get out of California Adventure before the parade was over, meaning we were able to get into Disneyland before quite a few people at the end of the parade route.

Here's a look down the parade route from where we were sitting. I love to be able to see the parade coming before it gets to me. Restrooms are located just under and beyond the Pixar Pals sign on the right side of the picture.

We sat in this spot both nights we viewed the Paint the Night Parade and will do so again next time we go too!

Here's a look at our spot. You can see the sunglasses hut behind us as well as some enthusiastic and very friendly Cast Members! If you notice, there is a place to sit off the ground just behind and to the right of us. While it may be more comfortable to sit there, people are allowed to sit in front of you, up to the crack in the concrete you can see by the wheels of our stroller.

Here's a look at what the Paint the Night Parade looks like: