Yesterday I talked about the great customer service that got us to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. So of course today we get to my 11th favorite thing at Disney World…. the Main Street Electrical Parade.
What did you think I was going to say, The Swiss Family Treehouse? (Although that is tremendously underrated and actually kind of cool to see.)
No, of course the Main Street Electrical Parade is what I wanted to talk about today. Now I know Parades are boring and long-winded pains of just waiting and waving, and normally I would agree with you. Heck, I really don’t have much patience for a Disney Parade during the day.
However there is something about the Main Street Electrical Parade. It has that magic and artistry that I love about a Disney attraction. The parade has been running on and off since 1977, and just started back in 2010 after a 9 year absence.
When my wife and I saw it last year, of course we had prime seats, which added to the experience but to be honest I could have been crammed in a crowd stomping on my feet and I still would have seen the magic that delighted me this time around.
What was it that captured my imagination so much? I really can’t figure out. I think I would liken the parade to being in your car on Christmas Eve and driving down that neighborhood where EVERY house is the Christmas house, and just radiates joy and Christmas spirit.
You think you have that child like gaze when green Christmas lights illuminate the back seat of your dad’s Volvo? Imagine if those decorated houses were driving past you, and they had people dancing around them in lighted costumes, dressed as Disney characters?
As I watched I just sat with my mouth agape in amazement, it was like I was 5 years old again, seeing my favorite characters go by. Alice, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Pete and Elliot the Dragon…that’s right, there is a Pete’s Dragon Float, in Disney World, in 2012. And really it fits in so well with the Main Street Electrical Parades theme. The lights of the float go out and Elliot disappears, just like in the movie.
Really all the characters they picked to appear in this particular parade are pure genius. You’ve got the Psychedelic vibe of Alice in Wonderland, the sparkle of the Dwarves diamond filled Mine cart, as well as Cinderella’s ball coach, and of course Patriotic Mickey with glowing “rockets” and “fireworks.”
Then there is the music.
That pseudo-techno music is not quite to Small World Levels of repetitive annoyance but it is so catchy that it will be in your head all night, and maybe well into the next day.
One could say that it’s a purely 70’s vibe, that the digitized voices are creepy and that the music and really the whole parade is outdated and cheesy, but damn it, I am a sucker for a good nostalgia pop.
Unfortunately, as I write this, the Parade is a week away from a weeks long rehab, which unfortunately starts 5 days before we get there and ends a week and a half after we leave.
However, we all know this is not going to be my last trip to Disney World, and I really hope I see it before they decided to put it “back in the Disney Vault” as the saying goes.
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