Disney’s Parade of Dreams premiered on May 5, 2005 as part of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Celebration; The Happiest Homecoming on Earth. As the parade begins, you hear a recorded message as Julie Andrews welcomes "all who come to this happy place”. Along the parade route, the parade will stop either two or three times, depending on weather, and the floats will “come alive” as the song “Welcome” from Brother Bear is played.
As the parade starts down Main Street, the first thing you see is a golden train engine driven by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell sitting on top to introduce the parade. Just in front of the train, The Fairy Godmother (Cinderella), The Blue Fairy (Pinocchio), Flora, Merryweather and Fauna (Sleeping Beauty) dance their way down Main Street and lead the parade.
Just as the train passes, you see a ballroom scene covered with roses as Beauty and Beast dance and wave to their adoring fans as you hear an audio-animatronic Lumiere sing “Be Our Guest”. You can also see Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip entertain the crowd as forks, spoons, knives, salt & pepper shakers and plates dance around the float. On the back of the float it is complete with the “cursed” rose as it sparkles under glass.
As you catch that last glimpse of a beautiful love story, Pinocchio, Honest John, Gideon and lots of other toys dancing and laughing about then greet you. Just behind them, a gigantic Gepetto is controlling two dancing marionettes from the movie. As the float passes by, you can occasionally see Jiminy Cricket sitting next to Gepetto’s goldfish, Cleo. On the back of the float, you see three gymnasts on bungee cords spinning, bouncing and entertaining guests and it passes by.
Once you can prey your eyes away from the gymnasts, you spot Ariel sitting high above the rest on a seashell and all her underwater friends greet you as you hear the music to “Part of your World”. As you admire Ariel and her audio-animatronic friends, Sebastian and Flounder, you also notice bubbles floating around Ariel and the rest of the colorful sea creatures.
Just behind Ariel, you can see the evil glowing yellow eyes of Flotsam and Jetsam lurking around. When you see those two evil eels, you know that Ursula is not far behind. Ursula is a huge animatronic balloon puppet that cackles to “Poor Unfortunate Souls” as she makes her way down Main Street.
Next you see what appears to be an un-birthday party making it way down Main Street. The Alice in Wonderland float is lead by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in teacups, the White Rabbit on roller blades, the Queen of Hearts and jumping flowers and cards. The float itself is themed to the Mad Tea Party as the Mad Hatter and Alice occasionally jump on the giant trampoline in the middle of the float. A giant animatronic caterpillar towers high above the float as it passes you by.
If you are one for the great outdoors and wildlife of Africa you are sure to like the next float. Towering high above on Pride Rock you see an animatronic Simba and Nala as a real Rafiki dances on the front of the float. Dancing in front of this jungle themed float are many animals that you will find if on an African safari complete with a rhinoceros! In the middle of the float, you see an animatronic Zazu and Pumba swinging in a hammock.
As the parade comes to a close, a smile will come to your face as the 7 Dwarfs, Pluto, Goofy, the rest of the princesses along with their prince’s, Mickey and Minnie makes their appearance. This float is a replica of Sleeping Beauty Castle with the characters dressed up as royalty. You will often times also see Chip N Dale and Donald Duck make an appearance on this final float.
The Parade of Dreams is one parade that you will not want to miss. No matter where you are on the parade route, you are in for a good show. The magic of Disney really comes to life when the parade makes a stop and that characters start to dance around, come alive, and welcome you to this happy place.
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