It’s been a big couple of months for Walt Disney World news. Following a flurry of announcements at the D23 Expo and the subsequent fallout, fans have tried to make sense and come to terms with where additions will go–and what they’ll replace–at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.
I’m excited about a lot of this. But honestly, what I’m mostly thinking about right now is the nearer term and saying my goodbyes. Cringing as I walk through Frontierland along the peaceful promenade, trying to imagine what the vibe will be like with Cars whizzing around. Savoring showings of MuppetVision 3D (and appreciating just how much it still holds up!) just in case it’s on the chopping block. I have also entered and exited Dino-Rama during this time.
Then there are the near-term substantive additions–things that’ll open within the next calendar year. I’ve forgotten there’s a Little Mermaid show coming (back) to Animation Courtyard at least a half-dozen times since it was announced almost a year ago. And judging by their radio silence, so has Walt Disney World. Even though it was announced just last month, I feel the same way about the Villains Magic Mirror show. (I can’t be the only one, right?!) But there’s one near-term addition about which I can’t stop thinking…
As I’ve said before, Disney Starlight Night Parade was our #1 announcement at the D23 Expo. I know it’s not as ‘big’ as Villains Land or Cars Land or any other new land. But it’s also more immediately tangible, without any downside, and will definitely happen. As much as I want to believe the Villains Land news, that strikes me as a ‘phase two’ project–and longtime fans know the fate that frequently befalls those.
I think about Starlight Parade on a near daily basis, and am genuinely excited about it. And this isn’t just feigned enthusiasm, like when influencers claim they’re “obsessed” with some random thing only to never mention it again. I’m indifferent towards plenty of Disney things, but am genuinely and anxiously awaiting Starlight–or even nuggets of news about it.
Disney Starlight Parade is one of the few things on the horizon with which I’m preoccupied, and I’m honestly surprised there isn’t more buzz about it among fans. Part of that is probably because Walt Disney World itself hasn’t really said a whole lot. With that in mind, there are several questions on my mind about Magic Kingdom’s new nighttime offering that I’d love to see Disney answer or hint at when starting to pull back the curtain on it, so please indulge me with a bit of ‘thinking aloud’ about Disney Starlight Night Parade…
Is Starlight a Spiritual Successor to…? – Some fans want to see Starlight be the modern Main Street Electrical Parade. Others expect it to be a Dreamlights duplicate. Millennials like me are hoping for a SpectroMagic spiritual successor. Foolhardy fanatics want to see Fantillusion resurrected. The hip youngsters want Paint the Night 2.0. A mighty minority are clamoring for a Light Magic redux, those silly scoundrels!
What people want from Starlight is informed largely by their own nostalgia. Or, as the case may be since Magic Kingdom has had a night parade drought for the last decade, what they’ve seen on YouTube. As intimated above, my sentimental allegiances lie with SpectroMagic. Even though I’ve experienced several other night parades, SpectroMagic was the formative one in my fandom–the only one I remember experiencing as both a kid and fledgling Disney Adult.
With that said, I’m not simply hoping for SpectroMagic 2.0. I wouldn’t necessarily be against that, but what I’ve learned from other night parades is that the concept can–and should–evolve. There’s no single formula for greatness–but at the same time, few things benefit from legacy than night parades. The best ones have drawn liberal inspiration from their predecessors, and I hope that’s true of Starlight, too. Nothing would please me more than for it to innovate and iterate on the concept while also being an amalgamation of past Disney night parades. Old and new all at once.
How Long Will Disney Starlight Night Parade Be? – Walt Disney World seemingly has an aversion to live performers. Simultaneously, there’s possibly a penchant for spending a lot of money on entertainment, but only on the worst conceivable ideas. So my fear is that Disney Starlight Night Parade won’t have a large cast, but inexplicably might have a Harmonious-style Stargate or something stupid. (Kidding…sort of.)
My hope is that Disney Starlight Night Parade is meaty, with an ample number of units and floats on par with the current parades at Magic Kingdom. My fear is that it’ll be like the nighttime version of this summer’s Pixar parade at DCA, a lack of ground-level dancers, or will have simplistic floats.
I’m not expecting something on par with Dreamlights, but this Starlight shouldn’t feel like a glorified cavalcade, either. If Disney is worried about cost, simply cut the budget of one of the $200+ million Disney+ shows that no one watches by like 1%.
What Kind of Music Can We Expect in Starlight? – I won’t pretend to be a music expert or terminology knower. Even without any expertise, I think it’s fair to say that SpectroMagic, Main Street Electrical Parade, Dreamlights, and Paint the Night all have had different soundtrack styles.
From my perspective, SpectroMagic has the best music. Then again, I was a child in the 1990s. I’d describe SpectroMagic’s score as a triumphant waltz, a term I just made up. I don’t know how else to describe the regal trumpet fanfare, dreamlike melodies, joyous lyrics, and lifting orchestral score. It was and is a timeless soundtrack–but also, clearly a product of its time.
Main Street Electrical Parade needs no explanation; “Baroque Hoedown” and its electro-synthe-magnetic sound are famous even beyond Disney fans. Dreamlights is like that, but modernized. Paint the Night also draws inspiration from what came before, but has much more of a high-energy pop sound. Not so coincidentally, it is my least favorite night parade soundtrack.
As it turns out, least favorite night parade soundtrack is still really good! “When Can I See You Again” is an earworm, and Paint the Night is memorable as a result. I’ve also learned that a great parade can take an only-okay soundtrack and make you fall in love with it. There have been several Tokyo parade songs I’ve started out with a “meh” attitude towards, but came to love (and still listen to!) because the parades they accompanied were so good. That’s the power of Disney magic (or nostalgia, as the case may be).
Is Starlight Using the Finale Float from Dreaming Up? – Not to ruin the illusion or anything, but it is not uncommon for “new” parades at Disneyland and Walt Disney World to be partially recycled from the international parks, especially Tokyo Disneyland.
The same thing happens with songs. I can’t count the number of times when a “brand-new” song for a celebration or whatever was actually a 5-year old song that was used for some random thing in Hong Kong or Japan.
This does seem to be happening less and less, probably because this thing called “social media” is keeping Disney honest. Perhaps they fear the backlash of trying to pass Tokyo’s hand-me-downs as something new in an era when the walls have been broken down on international travel. I sure hope not!
The fact of the matter is that OLC spends big on Tokyo’s parades, takes great care of them, and often retires them quickly. It’s like buying lightly used quality vintage clothing from a consignment shop versus something brand new at a fast fashion retailer–I’m taking the former every time.
In this case, there’s a specific float in the concept art for Starlight featuring Peter Pan and Wendy flying around a crescent moon that looks strikingly similar to the climactic float in Dreaming Up (above), the now-defunct 35th Anniversary parade at Tokyo Disneyland. That would be awesome to see converted to a night parade float!
It also comes with an attached Mary Poppins flying over London segment. It’s possible this is being imported from Japan, but it’s equally likely that this was/is such a good concept that Disney Live Entertainment is recycling the idea and not the actual float.
Will it Get Other Floats from Tokyo Disneyland? – Assuming for the sake of argument that Walt Disney World is going to all the trouble of importing a literal float from Tokyo Disneyland, I wouldn’t be surprised if they purchased more than just one. I know less about shipping logistics than I do music, but I assume the container ships or whatever they use could hold multiple floats–and that it’s cost-effective to ship more than just one. (Maybe???)
In that case, I’d think that anything from the recently-retired Dreaming Up is in play, and it had great units for Mickey Mouse, Big Hero 6, Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, and princesses. It was a daytime parade, so I’m not sure how well any/all of these would work as a night parade, but I wouldn’t be upset about any of those floats in Disney Starlight Night Parade.
Another possibility that has me salivating is that Walt Disney World could inherit outgoing floats from Dreamlights. It used to be the case that OLC quietly refreshed this parade unit-by-unit every few years, and the last time that happened (to the best of my recollection) was in 2018 or 2019. Not only is it overdue, but Blue Fairy is in the Starlight concept art and that looks like a dead ringer for the opening of Dreamlights (above).
Which Movies and Characters Will it Showcase? – Nothing would kill my buzz faster than Walt Disney World releasing the character and movie lineup for Starlight, and it turning out to be yet another thinly-veiled Disney+ sizzle reel. I hope by now Iger and co. realize that Walt Disney World is the crown jewel and financial powerhouse, and streaming is second-fiddle (at best).
Point being, the only Disney movies since 2019 that should be represented are Frozen 2, Encanto, and Inside Out 2. Stop trying to make fetch happen with the box office busts. I liked some of them, to be sure, but they aren’t modern classics. On the other hand, Coco, Moana, Zootopia, Tangled, and Big Hero are–and are worthy of representation.
Personally, my hope is that they don’t go too heavy on the newer stuff and instead focus on the Walt-era classics and Disney Renaissance films that are underrepresented in the parks. Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Lilo & Stitch–and maybe a couple more deep cuts. (Ones that stand the test of time–not weird stuff like Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, or Meet the Robinsons.)
Is Jiminy Cricket Involved? – Back during the heyday of SpectroMagic, there was just something special about the anticipation that built when Jiminy Cricket’s voice started coming over the loudspeakers. He was the voice for a generation of nighttime entertainment at Walt Disney World, and made those evenings exciting.
Silly as it might sound, Jiminy Cricket being the host of Starlight is the easiest way to tap into fan nostalgia for that special time in the 1990s and early aughts. It’s an easy nostalgia play that would also be awesome.
Will it Feature an Opening Drum Float? – Casey Jr. pulling Mickey Mouse’s drum float is the iconic visual for Disney night parades. Reprising this after such a long hiatus for Magic Kingdom is a slam-dunk, no-brainer decision for which fans of all ages will go wild. So naturally, they probably won’t do it. (Kidding–I think they know this and will do it; it’s so obvious.)
Personally, I’d like to see the opening unit be a grabbag of nostalgia. Steal the Blue Fairy from Japan. Put the big cheese in his SpectroMickey costume. Bring those creepy clowns back from the dead. Okay, not that last one.
What Other Nods to Past Parades Will Starlight Have? – Disney Live Entertainment will understandably want to create something original, rather than just ‘playing the hits’ from the past. They’ll also undoubtedly have mandates to include movies and characters from the past 20 years. (Again, hopefully nothing aside from Encanto in the last 5.)
Nevertheless, I hope they realize two things. First, that Walt Disney World has an ever-growing fanbase, with a legion of locals and veritable army of DVC members. It’s not just tourists anymore. Second, that they absolutely screwed the pooch with Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, and this is their chance to make amends. Nothing has the power to resonate with the fandom like entertainment, and including Easter Eggs and nods to the past is mandatory.
I’m not saying Starlight should feature Figment and Dreamfinder (although…) or even the Country Bears (hmm…). But some of the above would be great. Same goes for an Elliot and Pete’s Dragon float or the chance to somehow incorporate music from the parks in the parade. For the most part, Walt Disney World fans do not care about Strange World. We do love “it’s a small world,” though. That would make the perfect finale.
When and How Many Times Will Starlight Perform Nightly?
It’s been a long time since Walt Disney World has had a new night parade. The closest is during Summer Nightastic back in 2010, which was actually the return of Main Street Electrical Parade.
Another one of my fears is that Walt Disney World has lost so much institutional knowledge since then that they don’t know how to handle operational logistics for a night parade. That was 15 years and a pandemic ago, which resulted in a lot of early retirements among the old guard who knew how things worked.
On a positive note, the current Magic Kingdom team does have relevant experience thanks to the Halloween and Christmas parties. And in fact, they made an underrated (and honestly brilliant) adjustment this year, moving forward the first Boo to You Parade by a full hour.
Distilling all of that precedent along with expectations for Summer 2025 crowds, my best guess for the schedule is as follows:
- Starlight Parade: 9 pm
- Happily Ever After: 10 pm
- Starlight Parade: 11 pm
- Park Closing: 11 pm
The above schedule isn’t far-fetched–those are the exact showtimes from Summer 2010. There weren’t be the option to move forward those times much due to sunset, but they could be condensed slightly. If Walt Disney World doesn’t want to do 11 pm closings of Magic Kingdom, it’s possible the park could close at 10:30 pm while still maintaining the 9/10/11 cadence for nighttime entertainment. Disney’s Hollywood Studios does this often with Fantasmic.
I really hope Walt Disney World knows better than to run Starlight only once per night.
When Will We Know More? – In the past, Disney used its holiday specials–the prime time one over Thanksgiving weekend and the iconic ABC Christmas Day Parade–to tease its marketing initiatives for the coming year. Opening dates or timeframes were released, and more was revealed to generate excitement.
It was a smart strategy. The start of the year is huge for new bookings at Walt Disney World and, presumably, people are talking about their vacation plans for the coming year during family gathering. Putting the parks front and center–and giving guests a reason to take trips–was savvy.
Disney still uses these specials as synergy machines, but they’ve gotten away from them being “newsy” events. Personally, I think this is a mistake. I hope they reverse course, and we see the first footage of Disney Starlight Parade–even if it’s just a behind the scenes look at floats in a warehouse–around Thanksgiving or Christmas. But honestly, as many questions as I have, I’m fine not seeing too much. I want to get more hyped up, not spoiled!
When Will Disney’s Starlight Parade Debut? – Since this is bound to come up (since it’s one of the few questions we have been asked repeatedly about this as fans start planning 2025 vacations), just want to plug the post we’ve already written: When Will Starlight Night Parade Debut at Walt Disney World?
The bottom line is that there’s a range of possibilities, but the odds on favorite is Memorial Day weekend. There’s no guarantee of that given Walt Disney World has started summer later–or may want a shot in the arm earlier–but that’s the best guess this far in advance. Hopefully we’ll know more by the time the ABC Thanksgiving special and Christmas Day Parade roll around!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you want to know about Starlight? Looking forward to Walt Disney World’s first brand-new night parade in decades? Has your Walt Disney World experience been negatively impacted by the lack of a night parade? Any floats, franchises, characters, nods to SpectroMagic or Magic Street Electrical Parade, etc., that you’re hoping to see out of the new Disney Starlight night parade? Any other questions or comment? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
