ABC Christmas Day Parade - 'Disney Parks Unforgettable Christmas Celebration' taping schedule

dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Interestingly enough, the company that usually supplies the dancers for the parade still has the dates listed as 12/3-12/6. Wonder if that means they are giving up on having hoards of dancers in the parade, or if someone has their dates wrong.
 
PhilharMagician

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
Been there quite a few times during the taping when it was the first weekend in December. The first week of December was typically very quite throughout the parks with one exception. MK on taping days was completely insane. Some of the most crowded days I have seen in the parks were on the Saturday that taping was in progress.

This year may be different with the November date, but I would beware of the taping days.

As already mentioned, the castle Forecourt and MSUSA can and will be very busy and you may be routed around. Expect the backstage exit to be open when the parade is being taped. They will route you through there.

I am curious why the date was moved? maybe not enough production/editing time?
 
Y

YodaMan

Well-Known Member
I know decorations usually start to go up November 1st anyway (well, I assume November 2nd this year since the last MNSSHP is the 1st), but the giant Christmas tree usually didn't go up until right before the parade taping. Does this mean the tree will also go up that much sooner?
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Geeze I went during Nov last year from 10th - 24th...And I got to say it was just rediculously crowded. With the ending of F&W and mix it with Veterans day guests....It was just insane through out the days I was there..My only days of relief was either in my hotel room...or When I went to Universal..
 
Z

zaniac

New Member
We will be going to MVMCP on the 10th and had reservations at Tony's at 5:20. We had planned on spending all day Thursday at the Park. My questions are: are there specific times when the tapings be going on? Will we be able to access main street to get to Tony's if main street is roped off?
 
FOH Jim

FOH Jim

Member
ndtechie05 said:
We arrive on the 9th! This is so exciting! I've been wanting to see this in person for years!
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Keep in mind that this is not a "parade" as such. When we went a couple years ago, (not knowing this) we thought it would be fun to see the "parade". We were in for a surprise, this is kind of how it works (at least that year):
They roll each float to a spot in the middle of main street, they have all the cameras and lights set up in this section. They record the float moving into position and the "Show" that each float has with it. They will back up the float 3 or 4 times and do multiple takes of that float. Then that float is rolled off and the next one is staged and the process starts over again. they will do this till about 4 or 5 o'clock when they start to lose the light. They will do as many floats a day as they can. For the most part the Crowd along main street is by invitation only. Sometimes (rarely) if they don't have enough of a crowd, they will allow walk-ons, but you need to be dressed in Christmas garb to be selected. The stage shows in front of the castle are usually done in the morning before the floats. They will have 1 artist per day and do multiple takes of their song. They will do takes of just crowd shots and takes of the stage from different angles. We managed to get into the taping of Justin Bieber without an invitation due to our own cluelessness and the cluelessness of a couple cast members that didn't seem well informed as to why they were directing traffic a certain way. They are also doing host shots in various parts of the park, we got to see Mario Lopez interviewing Kermit the Frog in the now historical rose garden. That was interesting. The rest of the park can be a bit of a zoo, because the people that would normally be wandering main street are now in other parts of the park. But once shooting is done for the day it is pretty much back to normal. But this year, normal crowd levels are not the same as past years.

As a tech guy it was fun to see the process, but as a "watching a parade" it was kind of a bust.
 
PhilharMagician

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
No tickets are required.
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Did this change when they changed production companies a few years ago? People who wanted to be part of the parade had to apply with Harborlight Entertainment on their website. You were given free admission for the day to MK, but had were not dismissed to enjoy the park until taping was done for the day. Now I think it is Filmsignal producing the Parade.
 
wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
PhilharMagician said:
Did this change when they changed production companies a few years ago? People who wanted to be part of the parade had to apply with Harborlight Entertainment on their website. You were given free admission for the day to MK, but had were not dismissed to enjoy the park until taping was done for the day. Now I think it is Filmsignal producing the Parade.
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I think now they use off-duty cast members for some of the more critical crowd roles - and they do require tickets. The regular park guests are then used as fillers in less important roles, and don't need tickets.

So it has changed in recent years compared to the old system.
 
halltd

halltd

Well-Known Member
Last year wasn't even a parade. So I'm hoping this year returns to a more parade format...on TV at least.

But if the title of the special is any indication, its not gonna be a parade again.

:cry: I miss the days of Regis and Ryan and even NPH when they hosted an actual parade.
 
cinderellafan6

cinderellafan6

Well-Known Member
Ugh, I will be there that Saturday. It sucks when they tape the parade. It is crowded and brings more congestion then there already is on a Saturday.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
rtiller said:
Wait, so they are going to have all of the Christmas decorations up in the park by November 10 then(other than the tree and garland that would be in the way of the taping)? I thought the Fall/Halloween decor was up until mid/late November usually.
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They would have to because the first MVMCP is 11/8.
 

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