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When you’re a kid, Parades are cool. They either have Fire Trucks or Santa Claus, and sometimes, Both! As you get older, you start finding Fire Trucks less interesting and noisier and Santa is always Santa. So, Parades lose something the older you get. That’s not to say a nice Parade every now and then isn’t a good thing, but maybe a parade a year is enough. When you are in Walt Disney World, that’s not the case; when you are in Disney, you have to see as many parades as you can, because they are anything but your typical parade. This is today’s Unknown Magic, The Parades of Walt Disney World.
Three of the four theme parks in Walt Disney World have Parades. Epcot used to have one, but they stopped it a little while back. So, you can see parades in the three other parks, and actually you can see two different parades in the Magic Kingdom, one during the day and one at night.
The Parade in the Hollywood Studios is called Block Party Bash. According to the Disney Website “Block Party Bash is a fun-filled, 35-minute street spectacular for the entire family starring over 20 of your favorite Disney•Pixar friends”. It is a pretty cool Parade and you do get see many of the Disney-Pixar characters. High School Musical 3: Senior Year – Right Here! Right Now! Starts off as a parade and turns into an outdoor show for those fans of High School Musical, it is pretty exciting if you are into HSM. (Whenever it started coming up the street when we were there a few years ago, my nieces stopped to watch and my son made sure we kept walking to our next destination).
Over in the Animal Kingdom, Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade, happens daily. This Parade features more than 50 cast members and Disney Characters, all paying “tribute to the wild spirit of their animal friends”. The Parade lasts about 15 minutes and winds around the Africa, Discovery Island, and Asia, areas of the Animal Kingdom. This Parade features music and colorfully-costumed performers. It also includes huge animal puppets, stilt walkers, drummers and safari vehicles. This is a very neat Parade to see, as it is so high energy.
When you mention a high energy Parade, you have to mention the Main Street Electrical Parade which is just coming back to the Magic Kingdom for a limited run. This parade is a throwback to the parade that was in the Magic Kingdom until it was replaced many years ago by the Spectro Magic Parade. “SpectroMagic Parade is a glittering nighttime procession filled with beloved Disney Characters, joyous music and brilliantly lit floats,” that normally runs at the Magic Kingdom. It is mesmerizing, both in the music that is played and the way the characters are presented. It is a wonderful parade for everyone in the family. The other Magic Kingdom parade is the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade. This parade has just as many characters as
the night time parade, but the floats and characters are presented in a different way. Both of these parades follow a path that leads them around the park.
All the parades in Walt Disney World are fun to watch and exciting to see, because of all the characters and excitement that they bring. They are definitely not your regular parade with marching bands and fire trucks. To watch the little ones and even the older ones watch the parades, you can see that they are creating a Magical Experience for the viewer.
So, now you know, find a seat on the curb, and listen for the music, then laughing and clap as the Magic surrounds you and you find yourself in the Unknown Magic of the Parade.
* This article originally posted in June of 2010. The Parade being presented in Disney Hollywood Studios is now called Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun. and features “vibrant floats inspired by: The Incredibles, A Bug’s Life, Ratatouille, Monsters, Inc., Up and Toy Story.”
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