I am a bit of a sucker for Disney Parades so I was pretty excited to see the new Festival of Fantasy parade during my trip to Walt Disney World in November 2014. The Parade debuted March 9, 2014, just AFTER I had returned home from a Walt Disney World Trip / Disney Cruise! But, thankfully I went back to Walt Disney World in November and was able to see it. My first full day was to be spent in Magic Kingdom (by myself while waiting for another agent I was traveling with to get out of a conference) and I was looking forward to seeing the parade since I had heard so many good things about it. Unfortunately, the Florida weather had other plans. Around 11:00am the rain started. The parade wasn't supposed to start until 3:00pm so I held out hope the rain would stop in time for the parade. I dodged the rain by whipping out my poncho and trying to get on every ride possible that kept me dry. If you have a poncho and you don't mind rain and having "crazy Florida humidity rain hair" then you can ride a lot of rides with minimal wait time after everyone starts leaving the park...I am serious about the hair though. I entered the park that day with straight hair that had no body to it and I left with a perm. Anyways, around 2:00pm I made my way over to Frontierland to get a nice viewing area of the parade. Since it was still raining I didn't actually need to get there that early because so many people had left the park. I was still hopeful that they would have it because they were roping off areas for the parade. I made the mistake of standing near Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. The smell of burgers and fries was hypnotizing. Next thing I know I was accidentally eating a huge serving of french fries...with melted cheese sauce...Oh...my...gosh...give me more! After pigging out on fries the rain never did let up and they ended up canceling the parade. Boooo! I rode a few more rides then decided I needed to go back to my resort and get dry before my dinner plans. It wasn't until the end of my trip that I was able to see the parade. It was worth the wait. Disney did an amazing job on this parade! It is worth seeing while you are there in my opinion.
The first float in the parade is the Princess Garden. You get to see Belle and Beast, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Tiana and Naveen, and the crowd favorite Elsa and Anna!
The first float in the parade is the Princess Garden. You get to see Belle and Beast, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Tiana and Naveen, and the crowd favorite Elsa and Anna!
Next up is the Tangled float which is a ship that has Rapunzel waving at the crowd with her hair intertwined throughout the whole ship, swaying pendulums carrying patrons of the Snuggly Duckling, and Flynn Rider.
The Little Mermaid float is next carrying Ariel and her friends Sebastian and Flounder. Dancers dressed as seashells, coral reef, lion fish, and sea horses dance around this float...I'm not gonna lie, I totally want to be one of the coral reef dancers. That costume is too cool!
The Peter Pan float follows Ariel and it starts with the Lost Boys dancing around it, then it has the float that holds Peter Pan and Wendy, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell followed by Smee and Tick Tock Croc
The Brave Movie float is next which features Celtic couples dancing around a giant bagpipe that carries Merida.
Next up is the Sleeping Beauty unit that features all the major characters...except Aurora?? Walking in front are the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, then you have Prince Phillip battling Maleficents dragon and also stilt performers and raven dancers. Maleficents dragon actually breathes fire which is really cool and draws lots of claps from the crowd.
Next in the parade are characters from Alice and Wonderland and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, followed by a float carrying Pinocchio, Dumbo, Donald, Daisy and Pluto.
The parade ends with Goofy, Chip and Dale, Minnie, and everyones favorite, the mouse himself, Mickey Mouse!!!
If you haven't gotten a chance to see this parade be sure to check it out on your next trip to Walt Disney World!!