Credit: Inside the MagicWhen Disney announced the debut of Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away—Magic Kingdom’s first nighttime parade in nearly a decade—it wasn’t exactly surprising that they also decided to make some changes to how Annual Passholders (APs) could access the park.
Starting July 20, 2025, APs would need a park reservation to enter Magic Kingdom at any time of day, even after 2 p.m., which marks a major shift from recent flexibility on “good-to-go” days.
At the time, it felt like Disney was bracing for chaos.
And who could blame them? A brand-new nighttime parade packed with beloved characters from Coco, Wish, Encanto, Frozen, and even Peter Pan, all parading down Main Street U.S.A. under glowing lights and cutting-edge tech… of course, that sounds like it would draw crowds the size of a holiday weekend.
Disney even unveiled exclusive merchandise, a specialty popcorn mix, and new costumes for Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. This wasn’t just a parade—it was an event.
But here’s the thing: it’s now June 2, and those feared Magic Kingdom reservation slots? Still wide open.
The Reservations Are Still There—For Now
As of today, Magic Kingdom park reservations for APs are still available for July 20 and the week following—the opening stretch of the parade’s debut. This is despite Disney’s efforts to limit access and prevent overcrowding from the start. It raises a fair question: is the hype not as big as expected?
The reality might be a little more nuanced.
We’re still a bit more than a month away, and if you’ve followed Disney crowd trends before, you know that APs often book reservations much closer to the actual date. Many locals wait until the forecast looks good or their personal schedule settles before locking in park days. So it’s entirely possible those reservations start vanishing once we get within a two-week window.
Still, Disney clearly expected demand to be off the charts—and that’s not exactly what we’re seeing yet.
What This Could Mean for Your Parade Viewing
There are two ways to look at this situation.
The first is the optimistic one: maybe the crowds won’t be as overwhelming as feared. Sure, it’ll be busy (this is Disney, after all), but perhaps the early panic about it being “too much” was just that—panic.
Maybe with so much to do across Walt Disney World this summer and not much of a new ride debuting alongside the parade, guests are spreading out their time across the parks rather than rushing into Magic Kingdom all at once.
The second possibility is that the crowds are coming… just not yet. Passholders are notoriously last-minute planners, especially locals. So we could still see those reservations dry up quickly as we get closer to parade day.
Either way, the current availability tells us something. The reservation calendar isn’t flashing red, and that’s worth noting.
It Could Still Get Wild—Just Not Yet
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s likely that July 20 and the week following will still be a madhouse at Magic Kingdom once the Starlight parade finally hits the streets. New nighttime parades are a rare treat, and fans have been waiting for something like this since Main Street Electrical Parade last dazzled in Florida.
But Disney’s decision to preemptively restrict access makes it clear they were bracing for the kind of crowd surge we usually associate with the opening of a new E-ticket attraction. So far, though, that tidal wave of demand hasn’t arrived.
Whether that changes in the next few weeks remains to be seen. Maybe we’re in for a surprise crush of crowds. Maybe not. But for now, Disney’s fears over reservation demand? They haven’t quite come to fruition.
And if you’re an AP looking to be part of that opening night magic? You’ve still got your shot.