wasn't there more than one copy of this parade parade built? I thought there were 2 or 3 floating around. What happened to the others if there are any?
there were 3 complete versions of the EP built. one set for Disneyland, one for WDW & one for Tokyo
DL's ran from '72-'74 mostly in 2D. went on hiatus in '75 & '76. Came back in '77 w/ all floats in 3D. went on hiatus again in Summer of '83 & '84 (had a breif run in Spring of '83 before "Flights Of Fantasy" started. ran again at DL from returned in '85 w/ Peter Pan & Pinocchio Floats as well as the current ballroom float for Cinderella we see today - the Pixie dust lights) as well as a Return to Oz section which was pulled out on both coasts halfway through the summer. Disneyland's "Oz" fkloats caught fire backsatage that fall while WDW's were simply dismantled and used for other things. '88 saw a Birthday Cake float for Mickey's 60th (that is believed to be the only year Mickey was not on the train in the Disneyland version (Donald took his place) Parade ran at DL until '96 at which point they were stored until the Hercules premeire in NY then sent to WDW (Pinocchio & Dwarf Mine to Disneyland Paris
WDW debuted it's version in '77 as a result the soundtrack to the Electrical Water Pageant was updated that year. WDW's parade mirrored the DL version in it's first year then became different in '78 when the Neon Finale was removed from the Florida version while it ran for a second year in California. it is believed that the Florida version continued to run during the same time period the Anaheim version was on hiatus. in '85 the Florida version's only addition was the breif run of "Return To Oz" the parade ran at WDW until September 14th 1991. This was also the first time the Electrical Parade was seen outside a Disney park when the Alice & Pete's Dragon sections were used in the half-time show of the '78 Orange Bowl. this was also the first time the "Closing Fanfare" was heard. a float for Mickey's 60th was added in '78 and while I saw a video of it somewhere it was hard to tell if he was riding on that float or the train (the birthday float preceeded the Alice section). in '86 a 15th anniversary float preceeded the Alice section.
When the Parade returned in '99 utilizing the bulk of Disneyland's floats from, it's final season, the Peter Pan & 7 dwars section was seen for the first time in Florida as well as an expanded Dumbo's Circus section (WDW previously did not have Dumbo or the 2 3 ring circus units in their original version. it's latest run is the first timethe Tinkerbell, Pinocchio & Dwarf Mine floats are seen in Florida. this is also the first time the Patriotic Dancers have been used in Florida. the '99-'01 run was also the first time that Christmas music was heard in the U.S. version
Tokyo Disneyland also had a version of the parade that debuted in 1985. Due to the fact that Tokyo has no Main Street, the parade's title was changed to the "Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade. This version is somewhat different from the U.S. version as for instance, the Blue Fairy's royal pages did not carry the back of her dress but rather rode on horses behind her. There was also the addition of a section consisting of a mother swan and 3 babies. "swan Lake" was used as the music for this section. the Ballroom float was morizied rather than carried by wires and had a design similar to the design used in '77The Peter Pan section was added utilizing only the Pirate ship. The 7 dwarfs were represented in Tokyo's version only by their Mine float. The Small World section was the Finale for this version and had the biggest difference any of the 3 versions in that there were 6 floats, 3 of which were identical to the U.S. Version the 4th and 5th featured the pushcart dolls on motor driven floats while the finale to that section. a large ferris wheel was unique to Tokyo's Parade. w/ the exception of a "Sayonara" float that was added in '95 for the parade's final season the Tokyo version remained unchanged from year to year. During the Holiday season, 2 loops of Christmas music were added to the soundtrack. (i THINK they added that element in '93 (of the MANY facts i8 know about the parade this is one idk for certain)
Disneyland Paris
This version is not a carbon copy of the 3 previous versions, but more of a hodge-podge of floats from each version. The Parade opened in '92 w/ floats entirely from Florida (- the "To Honor America" unit) Small World was used as the finale for this parade in it's first year, then was misteriously absent the remaining 10 years. The Swan units from Tokyo were added in '97 and Pinnochio & the Dwarf Mine sections from Disneyland were added in '98. after the parade left Disneyland Paris the floats were returned to their respective parks. when the WDW floats returned they sat around Cwntral Shops for a couple years while being refurbed for relocation to Hong Kong where 3 years on, they reside to this day still in their crates. during the parade's 11 year run the presentation of the parade was like a revolving door w/ 1 or 2 sections absent each night. Some nights the back of the Blue Fairy's dress was not used. also the train from Florida was apparently wide enough to allow for 4 characters on it (occasionally Donald or Pluto would ride on the tender behind Goofy. This was also the first park to incorporate Christmas music into the soundtrack
Disney's California Adventure:
same basic parade as DL from '96 but re-titled "Disney's Electrical Parade" w/ Pinnocchio & Dwarf Mine added and Blue Fairy & Dumbo removed all in '09 Sylvania began sponsorship in '05 and "a California Classic" was replaced on the drum by "Presented By Sylvania"
I thionk that about covers everything (not including the enhancements to the parade today speaking of those while the bulk of the updated music was performed by Gregory Smith the floats that are unique to the U.S. had there music done by Bruce Healey of "Fantasmic"."Fantillusion" and "Light Tragic" fame
OK I THINK that about does it. if there are any ?'s let me know. hope all this info was helpful
(Taking out the calliope is like taking Hook's canon out of Spectro!) Pinocchio and Snow White take Dumbo's place.
