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

[brb1006]

that’s where I’ve seen a pre-record Santa! Which makes sense with all the interactions during the show stops. The timing would be tricky live.

The best example is this video from the former "Santa Village Parade" taken at Tokyo Disneyland in 2011 which shows Santa performing with Huey, Dewey, and Louie during the parade's show-stop.


Here's a similar video from Mickey's Dazzling Christmas Parade from 2024.


PS: It's been long overdue for a new Christmas Parade at WDW. A simple soundtrack change and a few character swaps doesn't count.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Tokyo/OLC and occasionally Paris proves that Disney is still capable of making high quality shows and parades.

What about Shanghai?! What about Hong Kong?!

 

[Starship824]

Main Street Casey's Corner projectors housing - Photo 2 of 3

Main Street Casey's Corner projectors housing - Photo 2 of 3

www.wdwmagic.com

When they did the castle show they put them on the roofs of main atrret. Windows were done later for the ms projections

Oh I thought you were talking about the MS projections, my bad

 

[DCBaker]

Disney has shared a closer look at the new character costumes:

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Does that look anything like Elsa?

 

[AxolotlTales]

Tinker Bell being the only character walking makes the lack of characters in between floats stand out a bit. That's probably the main area to improve. It has got me thinking, once Peter and Wendy fly, will there be space on the float for Tink to fit too, and that her walking on her own is only a temporary fix until they can fly?
Pre-recorded vs live speaking doesn't effect me much because the character still has to be there for the audio to make sense now. They'd have to edit the soundtrack if they removed a "talking" character.

She'll most likely stay on the ground. When Peter & Wendy do fly, it would have to be only them on the float for safety.

 

[Jedi14]

Does that look anything like Elsa?

Yes

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Does that look anything like Elsa?

Was going to say the same thing about Rapunzel

 

[AxolotlTales]

What about Shanghai?! What about Hong Kong?!

Shanghai's biggest advancement is probably their castle stage show in terms of technology, but that show isn't anything new by now. Hong Kong hasn't really only upped its game till recently either. And that was just by having a daytime parade and an actual nighttime spectacular with similar technology to DLP. Both parks don't really put anything out that hasn't already been seen. Not that their shows are bad, just not anything new.

 

[Squishy]

Does anyone know who the train station view is reserved for?

 

[Ayla]

Does that look anything like Elsa?

That's the problem with face characters. They very rarely look like their cartoon counterparts.

 

[SoFloMagic]

It really does not feel anything like Spectro to me either, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself.

As for the "cell phone video" thing. It's 2025 and some people act like it's still 2005 or even 2015. I would almost literally kill to be able to watch Spectro, the original version of Imagination, Horizons, WoM, and MK's Mr. Toad (to name a few) recorded on an S25 Ultra.

I would agree that folks should be a little more hesitant to criticize how good certain aspects of the parade look until they've seen it for themselves (although even those should not be considered above criticism), but plenty of complaints raised in this thread have nothing to do with that.

I could tell that TBA was lacking in a number of key ways that go beyond how it looks in a video, but that didn't stop people from saying you shouldn't judge it until you've seen it in person. On the other hand, mere cell phone video was enough for me to figure out that Runaway Railway was going to instantly become one of my favorite rides, and it did. Crazy how that works. Of course it's best to experience these things for ourselves, but you can actually tell a lot from a well-made video.

I've also never seen Paint the Night live, but it's always been one of my favorite Disney parades. Consider me a double sinner both for comparing Starlight to PtN and for making quality judgments based on a video.

Besides, even if the only issue with Starlight was that it comes across poorly on a YouTube livestream, that's still a pretty serious failing on its own in the current year.

I agree with you, except that PTN is such a different parade for video. I like PTN way better btw. But its solid lights with route lighting and big plastic lit floats.

This is all black everything with string lights. Having seen it in person and on video, that kind of parade doesn't translate as well. Its not a huge winner for me, but it has (broad strokes) a similar vibe to MSEP/Spectro vs the modern PTN/Magic happens.

 

[TTA94]

For those that might know was there a reason the Blue Fairy turned out different than the concept art? She did look more elegant and her wings were bigger. Was wondering if there was as a design issue or something?

Then there was what looked like a fog effect underneath her. That was speculation though that maybe never was the plan or if it was maybe it got cut?

 

[Disney Analyst]

Disney has shared a closer look at the new character costumes:

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Share photos of the dancers holding sticks

 

[Comped]

Does anyone know who the train station view is reserved for?

Executives I'd guess.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So, looking at the vids and pics, I was a little disappointed by the dearth of filler floats and dancers.

But then looking at the photos that @wdwmagic just shared... holey moley. Those floats are *huge*.

Before I have a final opinion, I need to see it in person to see if the enormity of the floats that be truly make up for the lack of fillers.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Does that look anything like Elsa?

Eh, technically kinda-ish. The problem is that they used her Frozen 2 design (the song attached to her float is also from the sequel). That design far more bland and forgettable than the one from the first movie. The braid and blue dress in Frozen 1 are much more iconic, the design most people remember and associate her with.

I will say however that several of those particular performers faces look more off than usual. Like that's also probably the most adult looking Pan I've seen.

 

[Agent H]

I’m sitting on Main Street right now. There’s a lot of enthusiasm among the cast members in particular. Interestingly some of them are wearing special shirts that seem inspired by the parade. Like they don’t have the logo or any floats or anything but they definitely have a stardust design.

 

[AxolotlTales]

For those that might know was there a reason the Blue Fairy turned out different than the concept art? She did look more elegant and her wings were bigger. Was wondering if there was as a design issue or something?

Then there was what looked like a fog effect underneath her. That was speculation though that maybe never was the plan or if it was maybe it got cut?

Can't speak for the production portion of this, but I can see the look they went for.

The shaping of the dress (apart from the front) do look the same. The swirls are made of a clear material with lighting around the black linings and an array of pixels behind it to create some of those backlit visual effects you see. The shaping of the dress looks better from the side. The wings are undeniably smaller as you stated and I can't see why that was done, but it doesn't take too much away imo. The tassels that you see in the concept that wind down and curve up are still there, but they did make it something that the lights would shape during some light sequences. Not sure why but whatever. I made sure to include that in the image of the actual float. With the waist of the dress on the actual float, it does seem as they widened it so that the performer would be easier to put in the float. That would explain the big gap it has. After seeing the actual float now I do think that's all of it in concept with the back of it cut out of course so that they could keep the Pinocchio and Gepetto effect a surprise. For the fog, all the float concepts that were shown had it. Most likely to immerse the designs into the stars. Not sure how accurate my interpretations are, but it's what I've gathered from the videos and photos.

 

[Comped]

Sitting in my normal parade viewing spot (HOP cripple area), and they just had a special announcement a few minutes ago for the grand opening. Pretty nice.