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Credit: DisneyThe Main Street Electrical Parade has had many renditions at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Park, and Disneyland Paris over the years, but has not made an appearance since September 2019.
Now, however, fans of the nighttime spectacular can get excited as Disney Parks just confirmed the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade, with changes!
In October, Disneyland teased the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade in a TikTok video, where viewers heard the iconic music to the Main Street Electrical Parade just seconds before the snail parade float comes into picture.
Now, months later, Disney has finally announced the return of the fan-favorite parade, along with changes coming as well!
According to Disney Parks Blog, the Main Street Electrical Parade will return to Disneyland Park on April 22, 2022. However, because the parade will be celebrating its 50th anniversary, there will include an “an all-new, enchanted grand finale that celebrates the theme of togetherness.”
Per Disney Parks Blog:
Upon its return to Disneyland park, the “Main Street Electrical Parade” will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, the Disney Live Entertainment team will introduce exciting new elements to the “Main Street Electrical Parade” that will continue to evolve this beloved spectacular.
Over the past five decades, the “Main Street Electrical Parade” has brought families together to delight in its many whimsical stories and featured characters. And soon, that will continue for a whole new generation of dreamers. In honor of the parade’s 50th anniversary, this nighttime spectacular will return with an all-new, enchanted grand finale that celebrates the theme of togetherness.
This universal theme is reflected in the creative concept of the grand finale sequence. Inspired by both the original design of classic “Main Street Electrical Parade” floats and Disney Legend Mary Blair’s iconic art style on “it’s a small world,” the new grand finale brings to life more than a dozen Disney Animation and Pixar stories. These stories will be interpreted in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sound, with unique representations of beloved characters as animated dolls.
Guests will be able to catch a glimpse of iconic films such as The Jungle Book, Aladdin, Coco, Mulan, and Disney’s newest animated film, Encanto! Disney Parks Blog stated:
As the new grand finale passes by, guests along each side of the parade route will see a different set of stylized scenes from classic and contemporary favorite stories such as “Encanto,” “The Jungle Book,” “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Aladdin,” “Coco,” “Mulan,” “Brave,” “The Princess and the Frog” and more. Check out one of the early pieces of concept art, featuring Mirabel and Antonio from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award-nominated film, “Encanto.”
The Main Street Electrical Parade will return to Disneyland Park on April 22, 2022 and will be available for a limited time. Disneyland Forever will also return to Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park on April 22, along with World of Color at Disney California Adventure.
Fantasmic! is preparing for its return as well, which will return on May 28, 2022.
More on the Main Street Electrical Parade
D23 explains the Main Street Electrical Parade and its history as:
Main Street Electrical Parade Parade in summers at Disneyland beginning on June 17, 1972, and ending Nov. 25, 1996. The parade, featuring half a million tiny lights on floats themed primarily to Disney movies, became one of the most beloved traditions at Disneyland. The park’s lights were dimmed and the illuminated parade snaked from a gate next to “it’s a small world, ” past the Matterhorn, skirted the hub, and then continued down Main Street to conclude at Town Square. The parade’s synthesizer music was based on a piece called “Baroque Hoedown, ” with themes from Disney songs worked in.
The parade did not run in 1975 and 1976 because of America on Parade for the Bicentennial, but it returned in 1977 with a whole new edition. A 108-foot-long “Honor America” finale unit was added in 1979. During 1980 there was a special unit reproducing Sleeping Beauty Castle in honor of the park’s 25th anniversary. The parade did not run during the summers of 1983 or 1984.
A duplicate version of the Main Street Electrical Parade ran at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World beginning on June 11, 1977, and ending on September 14, 1991, when it was replaced by Spectromagic. The Walt Disney World parade was moved to Disneyland Paris in April 1992. A version of the parade, called the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade, ran at Tokyo Disneyland from March 9, 1985, to June 21, 1995, being replaced by Disney’s Fantillusion.
The Disneyland parade floats were completely refurbished for a move of the parade to Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Park from May 28, 1999, to April 1, 2001. Then, on July 4, 2001, they made a return to California, this time as Disney’s Electrical Parade at Disney California Adventure. The Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dream Lights returned on June 1, 2001. The Disneyland Paris Main Street Electrical Parade ended on Mar. 23, 2003.
A new Tinker Bell float was created to lead the parade at Disney California Adventure, along with other updates, beginning June 12, 2009. The parade concluded on Aug. 23, 2009, to henceforth operate seasonally until Apr. 18, 2010. The parade then moved back to Walt Disney World, where it ran at the Magic Kingdom from June 5, 2010, until Oct. 9, 2016, returning to Disneyland Park for a limited engagement from Jan. 20 to Aug. 20, 2017.
The parade ended its run at Walt Disney World on October 9, 2016, returning to Disneyland for limited engagements between January 20 and August 20, 2017, and again between August 2 and September 30, 2019.
Are you excited for the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade? How do you feel about the new additions? Let us know in the comments below.