We skip MSEP after seeing it once now, but always watch Spectro. When we were there in April, the second viewing of MSEP did not have many spectators. (Although I know one night does not make a pattern, just my observation.) MSEP feels too small in the MK -- I think the scale fits better in DisneyLand and the grandness of Spectro fits better into the larger scale of the Magic Kingdom.
To be fair though, the same was true for Spectro, on "peak" nights with 2 parades a night, for a total of 14 parades a week. That's a trick I've been using since childhood for both parades - do attractions during the 9 PM parade while almost everyone in the park is packed in like sardines for the first parade (and staking out their spot an hour early).
Then, after the mass exudus after Wishes, you have much more room for a more personal, intimate viewing of the 11 PM parade and can get a GREAT spot right before it starts.
When I first moved to Orlando part-time in 2006, I began using this "strategy" on a regular basis for Spectro. Even on peak season days, some of which I didn't always do a full day at a park, I could always count on a nice evening visit with a great viewing of Spectro, often having an entire block in Frontierland (near CBJ) almost to myself! Nearly ALL the characters interacting with me, high-fives, the fish winking, etc. And then walk-ons on most attractions after that, on nights with a midnight or 1 AM closing.
So these 11 PM second parades have always been my best experiences with the night parades in MK, for both MSEP and Spectro. Ironically, during the so-called slow season with the regular 8 PM closings and just 3 or 4 showings of the parade a WEEK, the parade is ALWAYS more crowded than the 11 PM second parades are during a peak season like Spring Break or summer. Because even though there are less people at the resort during a "slow season" there is more "demand" for each parade time, due to there being radically fewer of them per week, with it only performing once a night on select nights only.
