Are Nighttime Parades at Walt Disney World Gone Forever?

Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - 00:42

The comeback kid gets a budgeted legacy

Image: Disney

The Main Street Electrical Parade has hopped between Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort since its debut in Disneyland Park in 1972, and its most recent return was in 2010 after the aforementioned retirement of SpectroMagic. Interestingly, the LED effects guests have seen in the final run of the parade were added during a 2009 refurbishment. Where the original incarnation of the parade was led by the Blue Fairy from Pinnocchio, the last version of this parade had Tinkerbell leading the parade through to its final stroll down Main Street in October 2016.

Image: Brittany DiCologero

As early as the beginning to mid-2016, the Main Street Electrical Parade saw shortened hours in the Magic Kingdom, with the rumored reason being budget cuts caused by the high cost of getting Shanghai Disneyland up and running. Unfortunately, this caused some fans to speculate that the end was indeed near for this attraction, as once a Disney attraction begins to operate under limited hours or seasonally, it typically means the end is in sight. And unfortunately in this case, this trend turned out to be true as it was confirmed in fall 2016 that the parade would be leaving the Magic Kingdom forever before the end of the year, and then run a special "farewell tour" at Disneyland park before being retired forever.

The Main Street Electrical Parade has many adoring fans from around the globe, as evidenced by the number of guests who actually planned a trip to the parks at the last minute once they found out that the parade was going to be leaving the Magic Kingdom for good. Even with so many adoring fans, many do also believe that the parade has run its course and it’s time for something new. But that’s just the problem that so many fans are conflicted with when any Disney attraction ultimately comes to an end.

Image: Disney

There's no denying that the dynamic of spending an evening in the Magic Kingdom will be visibly different now that there is no nighttime parade at this park. Not only will guests miss out on an additional evening offering at this park, but Cast Members will also have to deal with increasing traffic out of the park after Wishes, as guests won't have a reason to stick aorund after the park's nightly fireworks display anymore.

For fans of the parade, the end of the final Walt Disney World run certainly means a lot more than the logistical nightmare of exiting the park post-Wishes. The parade may be gone, but the guests who have visited Walt Disney World during one of its runs will always have the treasured memories of seeing those “thousands of sparkling lights” shine in the Main Street Electrical Parade.