MK All-New Nighttime Parade Disney Starlight Set to Debut at Magic Kingdom in 2025

TarzanRocked99-

TarzanRocked99-

Well-Known Member
Having now seen this in person, it’s got a good foundation and a little effort could make it great.

My thoughts/ideas.

Rework the Blue Fairy float: Pull Pinocchio and Gepetto out of there, and use that space for a new logo screen to open the parade similar to SpectroMagic.

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Then cut up the current Whimsey Train to just be the engine and one rail car. Place it behind the Blue Fairy to create a modern version of the opening act of ELP. Keep Goofy, Pluto and Donald & Daisy here and add Chip and Dale on the two remaining Whirly balls that are somewhere on property. This further fleshes out that unit and adds a tribute to SpectroMagic as well. Essentially the new opening act is a mash up of the two parades that came before.

Then for the finale float all you would need to do is create a new lead unit to attach to the back portions of the current Whimsey Train. (Snow White, Rapunzel, Aladdin, Mickey and Minnie). Have Hercules lead the unit with a “Go the Distance inspired theme, then add a smaller segment for Pinocchio and Gepetto. This essentially turns the finale into classic Disney movies ending with Mickey and Minnie.

You can keep the smaller logo unit with Gimini waving goodnight where it is currently to bookend the parade.

Relatively Minor changes that would much improve the parade overall. And the best part for Disney is they only need to create one additional float segment and this change only adds, 1 driver and 3 performers from a staffing standpoint.
 
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drizgirl

Well-Known Member
TheMaxRebo said:
Definitely feels like part of it - though some might also be different guest desires and expectations..

For example, I have seen people comment that they like that Starlight is shorter than past/other parades
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What? You're free to leave a parade any time you want. Nobody makes anyone stay longer than they want.

Are these the same people who say the Barnstormer is their favorite ride?
 
Agent H

Agent H

Well-Known Member
Okay review time! I loved the blue fairy float. Pinocchio is my favorite Disney movie and I was weirdly happy to hear them both talk which is not something I was expecting. Wish is good. It works well with the theme. Encanto was great as well. I want to mention that the performers are all great. They all do a great job portraying their respective characters. Bruno in particular was really hamming it up in the most delightful way. Skipping to the end the train float is the best one. I very much appreciate the use of baroque hoedown. Transitioning into complaints the street performers aren’t the best. Now the performers themselves are doing a good job but their costumes feel too dark with not enough lights. I kinda wish they had ditched the abstract style and just had more actual characters between floats. And to end on a positive note the jimmy cricket cameo is incredibly heartwarming. Overall I’m very glad to have a night parade again. One thing is for sure magic kingdom just got a lot more magical.
 
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TheMaxRebo

TheMaxRebo

Well-Known Member
drizgirl said:
What? You're free to leave a parade any time you want. Nobody makes anyone stay longer than they want.

Are these the same people who say the Barnstormer is their favorite ride?
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Not exactly easy to leave parade if in the middle of the crowd, plus it cuts off the part of the park vs the side you are on.

There are lots of different types of guests and for many voting WDW who only go once in their lifetime or once every price years they want to get done as much as they can, so things that last 20+ minutes (be it a parade, attractions, night time show, etc) have to be factored in

Plus attention spans are lower now

There are just different perspectives on what people want on their WDW trip and what is expressed on these forums isn't the only option/preference
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
jpeden said:
Part of me almost feels like this was forced upon WDW Management and they said "okay we'll do it but what's the absolute cheapest way we can do it?" It's pretty well documented that Park Ops fought this decision tooth and nail and it was forced upon them by Burbank (if I remember the discussion correctly) so for them to end up with this as the final product it shouldn't surprise anyone.
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100% this!
 
R

Ronnie Sanford

Active Member
Howdy buckaroos! It’s been a bit.

President Jeff “Slashin’ It All” Vahle and his team have been at it again.

The reason Starlight looks so lacking can contributed to financial considerations and expense.

Additional characters, dancers and movers were to be included but removed as a direct order.

Feel free to stop by Guest Relations and let them know about the emptiness of the whole thing.
 
Disone

Disone

Well-Known Member
Ayla said:
This current parade has 20? Maybe? What a travesty.
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29 performers in-between the floats:

5 - with butterflies on their heads
4- ice crystals before Elsa
12 - Three pairs of ballroom dancers before and after the Prince and princesses.
7- waves before Moana
1 - tinker bell

add on the floats I think it totals 58 performers

But.... I think your point was it feels sparse and you're absolutely right! Spot on!

It feels sparse because it is sparse.

And then for the second parade one of the females ballroom dancers lights were out completely. And by the time the Elsa crystals got to frontierland only one had remained on.

The ballroom dancers costumes do have one neat effect where they do kind of look like twinkling stars for a moment. Outside of that who decided to put dark Navy costumes in a nighttime parade.... Barring the twinkling star effect, you really you cannot see them:(
 
Stupido

Stupido

Well-Known Member
drew81 said:
Someone call me when Chip and Dale are put back in the parade.

How can they not be in the parade?
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I feel like Chip and Dale's favorability has been kind of falling off in Disney World. They used to be everywhere and on a bunch of merch. Around the 50th, I noticed they started taking a backseat and Daisy came to the forefront. Now Daisy is everywhere, and Clarabelle is starting to pop up more regularly (Cook Kid Summer, Holiday Parties) at the expense of the chipmunks. Daisy's always been my favorite, so i can't say I'm upset by this change, but it is interesting how Disney shifts focus on who gets the limelight.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
FutureCEO said:
I just watched Fantillusion on Youtube. It was really good. Long, had good music, performers everywhere. It reminded me of Spectro without the music.

Then, I watched Dreamlights which is like 10 levels above Orlando. I like villian sequence in parades but you can't have everything. Where they are actually villians and not misunderstood.
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It makes sense since Fantillusion was handled by the same creative team behind Spectromagic. Especially the opening section of Mickey's Flower Garden and the single Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather floats.

To be specific, was it the original Tokyo version or the botched Paris version?
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
They’ve really been blessed with near-ideal weather (for July) for opening weekend. Hot but very little rain allowing them to get 5 performances under their belts and start relearning how to manage a nighttime parade without having to deal with angry guests due to cancellations. We will see how they navigate the predicted stormy weather midweek this week. Looking like another dry, hot weekend on tap next weekend, though!
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
GhostHost1000 said:
That’s what is so frustrating at times with the way they are handling their Orlando park, the one with the most visitors. We know what they are capable of from what we see overseas, but it’s like they just don’t care as much here anymore knowing people are still going to come and spend enormous amounts of money
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WDW fans looking at the overseas Disney Parks' (mainly OLC/Tokyo) handling of live entertainment and parades.
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TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Ronnie Sanford said:
President Jeff “Slashin’ It All” Vahle and his team have been at it again.

The reason Starlight looks so lacking can contributed to financial considerations and expense.
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Why though? Does he get an extra honey baked ham for his Holiday Bonus?

What is the incentive to cut live entertainment? And landscaping? Etc.

Is this an MK management problem? Epcot seems to be doing a great job in comparison.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
jpeden said:
If you remember Ron Logan (who used to lead Disney Live Entertainment when it was its own thing and wasn't just dumped into Park Ops) - he had a bare minimum of performers that he would agree to put in a parade. Just to understand how Disney used to think this was important, Ron's minimum number for a daytime parade?

125

Let that sink in.

That's the mind that gave us Fantasmic, SpectroMagic, IllumiNations: Relflections of Earth, Tapestry of Nations, Sorcery in the Sky, Fantillusion (the TDL version), Tokyo Disney Electrical Parade, and a score of other entertainment options. The gold standard will never be beaten with the management team in 2025, and it's a shame.
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Ayla said:
This current parade has 20? Maybe? What a travesty.
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I miss when Disney treated their parades as a huge priority in live entertainment. Having around 125 performers made previous daytime and electrical parades feel much more alive.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Ronnie Sanford said:
The reason Starlight looks so lacking can contributed to financial considerations and expense.

Additional characters, dancers and movers were to be included but removed as a direct order.

Feel free to stop by Guest Relations and let them know about the emptiness of the whole thing.
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Wait, Disney Starlight originally was going to have more Disney characters and performers?
 

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