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Credit: DisneyEven though the holiday festivities have just begun at the Walt Disney World Resort, some of us here at Inside the Magic are already looking to next year and the coming spring. And, we are beginning to wonder what modified entertainment options are waiting for us? Or, more specifically, could we see the return of the Maleficent float at the Magic Kingdom?
While there has been no official word confirming or denying this, it is quite possible that Disney World Guests could see the fire-breathing icon of the Festival of Fantasy parade take to the parade route once again in its own special cavalcade.
An official at Walt Disney World Entertainment recently told Inside the Magic that creating and presenting these modified experiences like cavalcades and socially distanced character sightings, remains an ongoing creative process:
“First and foremost we want to create experiences that are safe for our Guests and safe for our Cast,” she said, “and then it actually becomes a really wonderful challenge to figure out how to do something we’ve always done but do it differently so that it feels new.”
Read More: Expect More New Modified Entertainment at Walt Disney World
Celebrating holidays like Halloween and Christmas have allowed Disney World’s magic makers to almost clip and edit the pre-existing parades and parties into little cavalcades in order to make something they’ve always done feel new. For example, rather than a full holiday parade, Guests have the Santa Claus cavalcade, Mickey’s Holiday Cavalcade, etc.
But, come January, the Christmas decorations will go back into storage and the Entertainment Department gurus will need to come up with new floats. Or rather, re-introduce established and beloved ones that Guests have not seen since before the coronavirus shutdown.
Cue the awe-inspiring steampunk monstrosity and her stilt-walking raven-y minions.
A Maleficent cavalcade could arguably fit into Disney World Entertainment’s new perspective on magic-making. She only needs one driver and she is accompanied by only a few other performers, suggesting that health and safety issues would be at a minimum compared to other cavalcades. But whichever way they choose to reintroduce her, there is little doubt that it will be in a way that feels completely new to Magic Kingdom Guests.
Giving Maleficent her own cavalcade will also open the door for more cavalcades to be created from the Festival of Fantasy parade or even the Castle stage show Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire. Imagine a Rapunzel cavalcade comprised of the Tangled section of Festival of Fantasy, or watching Tiana, Naveen, and Louis strut down the parade route with Mickey, Minnie, and others from the Royal Friendship Faire.
Related: Voices of Liberty Return to EPCOT for 2021 Festival of the Arts
There is still a lot we can’t do at Walt Disney World, but seeing these familiar faces, floats, and songs return to the Magic Kingdom in some way would give Guests something new and fresh. And just like the new castle projections, watching Maleficent breathe fire down Main Street would be another sign that the magic is continuing to return to the parks in new safe ways.
Would you like to see Maleficent return to the Magic Kingdom? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments!
