"..not a hope of getting near it, 237SJ, I was nearby at about 5pm but there were queues several hundred yards long and they weren't moving."
I went to see them on Wednesday. Fortunately I had tickets for the moat (we are members of Historical Royal Palaces and had advance notice of the event and the chance to but tickets before they went on general sale). But I had a look from the surrounds before I went in. The queue for the viewing platform was > 2 hours but you could get some good views if you moved away from the main entrance towards Tower Bridge and down on the riverside walkway.
In fact the display looked better from above than from moat level, but very good nonetheless. The only criticism I have is of the so-called music playing in the moat. Absolutely awful dirge!