Disney's televised christmas parade....ugh!

[anniemae]

I think that proves a lot of things many of us DISer (note I did not say ALL) have been feeling for awhile. It's a shame they have to talk you into going back.

I got the feeling they are talking us all into going to Aulani. Booking must be down there.

 

[matheke]

Well just a couple of observation:

1. I am too old to know who any of the entertainment was, so they did not impress me much.

2. Many people over the years have called for Nick Cannon's head. Well he is gone. Was it any better?

3. I forgot to set the DVR and tuned in about 30 minutes into the show. Subliminal slip of the memory? (Did I really miss anything?)

4. Was there any need not to set up the tree in Town Square until after the "Parade" since they were not televising the parade or using the RR Station for the hosts? (See #3)

5. To a PP, yes there are some parades that are nice to watch on TV, if done well. Macy's Thanksgiving and the Rose parade come to mind.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Having also opened presents during the parade for years, I gotta agree with the "it sucked" camp. Spending 10 minutes on a family sob story and reunion rather than actually showing me Disney fun and magic was lame. Yes Disney, you're generous, yes Disney, you attract generations...but c'mon...show me a parade, a song and dance number, or even just sync up the theme of your event (I think the Tebow stuff could have worked if it was integrated, but the whole parade/show seemed so random and all over - I mean, even musical numbers were sometimes cut off to 20 seconds - the Castaway Cay one was particularly painful)...

I won't be making it a priority to watch next year, although I may give it one more chance in the background (if it still sucks, back to the Yule Log with carols for present opening, it is...

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I enjoyed it and liked that they changed it up. I'm sure it'll be different next year, as well.

 

[kgoodb00]

This is something me and my family look forward to every year. We always watch it while opening gifts and getting ready for the day. It was awful

 

[michelleiada]

Let me plop a big DISAGREE with every one here. I thought the parade show was a lot of fun. While Robin Roberts has always gotten under my skin a little, I thought she did well. Plus, to have Tebow show up....that was awesome. It totally made my Christmas to have him in the parade several times and co-hosting with Robin. Still waiting for his comeback! I thought the Olaf/kid cheerleader bit was incredible. Was it a lot less parade and more show this year? Yes. I would've loved to seen more WDW footage since I haven't been there in two years. But since half the place is boarded up for refurbs, that just couldn't happen. As for the Frozen stuff, this seems like yet another "hate Frozen" thread. Not really sure what that's all about other than "success breeds contempt" theory. I suppose had this site been active 50 years ago, we'd be hearing about how there's too much Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty everywhere. Back to the show. It was the first time ever that all of my kids actually sat and watched the entire parade. Usually they're up and running around 45 minutes into it. Not this time. They liked the music, they loved that WDW and DL and Aulani were all a part of the show. And I really loved the "family reunion" stories - very heartfelt and in good taste. It was all good. BTW, the Disney Christmas Day Parade has always been a commercial. It's on a network they own and they've always talked about how great and "affordable" it is to visit a Disney destination. Nothing changed yesterday, and I liked it. I WANT them to talk me into going back again.

It's not a hate Frozen thread at all! I loved the movie but enough is enough! We love Disney! We are vacation club members and go every year at least once. I hated the show. It was awful! You can disagree and I respect that! We are all entitled to our opinions. But it hasn't always been an infomercial. It used to be a Christmas parade years ago. It has progressed in that infomercial direction every year but this was the worst! I am very disappointed in Disney!

 

[minnie mum]

I enjoyed it and liked that they changed it up. I'm sure it'll be different next year, as well.

Too late.

 

[DisLee]

I agree with OP. We thought it sucked.

GatorChris "Let me plop a big DISAGREE with every one here."


I think PLOP would be a good word for the parade. It makes the same sound as what some of us thought it was.

 

[DizzneyDi]

Well just a couple of observation:

2. Many people over the years have called for Nick Cannon's head. Well he is gone. Was it any better?

Nick Cannon is why I stopped watching. I got so tired of hearing him talk about Walt Didney! Did he never actually hear the man's name pronounced correctly??

Anyway, the parade slipped my mind yesterday and by the time I thought of it, it was nearly over, so I didn't even bother turning the TV on. Kinda glad I didn't. I have no problem with Frozen, and I can always take a bathroom break when the singers I don't know are doing their thing, but on Christmas morning I want to see the actual parade!!! Maybe next year...

 

[RachaelA]

My kids had no interest. My 3 year old even said "why won't they just let us watch the parade!" My 1 year old actually cried because she was sick of just getting a short glimpse of Mickey in the background for a few seconds and nothing else.

I turned it off. I'll show them youtube videos today to make up for it.

I think we are officially done watching this on Christmas.

 

[my3sons77]

I will chime in and agree that it was terrible. My 15 yr old son mentioned how horrible the singers were. That's BAD. He normally doesn't even pay attention but you just couldn't help it. I was hoping to see more of the parks because we were there just last week We all know Aulani is probably wonderful, but I can't even afford to fly to Hawaii, much less do a Disney resort in Hawaii!!

 

[ChimneyJim]

Glad I'm not alone in feeling this was a waste of time. DVRd it and watched maybe 15 minutes. Uggh.

 

[boBQuincy]

I am ok with the show being a two hour commercial for Disney, I am ok with lots of "Frozen" (I like the movie and the songs). The final performance of "Let it Go" was done well and the girl has talent!

What I am not ok with: The only park seen was Magic Kingdom, what happened to the other three that always had segments in the show before? Robin Roberts is very nice but not a lot of fun, compare her hosting with Neil Patrick Harris last year, his first five minutes were better than this years entire show. Tebow, nice guy I suppose but he added nothing, waste of time.

As for Ariana, Disney has always had the current hot but limited talent act in the show. Some of the others were even less memorable. Fortunately some of their songs were shortened.

Overall it was disappointing and not worth watching. Next year will be "record and skip through most of it", if it doesn't get better then the year after that will be "Let it Go".

I emailed a copy of this to Disney Corporate Communications.

 

[stephm0188]

Oh, it was bad!
We're big Frozen fans, so it's not Frozen hate.

It's just... IDK. The parade? Either highlight it or cut it out. My kiddo was frustrated with seeing small glimpses of it but not really getting to enjoy it.

It felt very "Here's a passing glimpse of the really cool coach from the new Cinderella movie but that's it. Let's pan back to you Robin so the viewers at home get to see your talking head instead of the parade!"

 

[morethananyonex]

I don't see how this was a 2 hour commercial for Disney parks.

Aulani? Sure. Frozen? Definitely. Random Disney associated singers I have never heard of? Yup, maybe. But the parks? They barely showed anything, the parade wasn't all that's missing.

It's always said that Disney doesn't aim to please people like us, but who exactly was this "celebration" aimed at? What were they advertising here? Short of drumming up bookings at Aulani, I just can't see how this years "celebration" does a better job at showcasing the parks than years past. To me it seemed like a fail in multiple ways.

 

[Me!Thatswho]

I'll add my vote for it sucked worse than normal. BUT, there is the thing that may account for the lack of the parade this year = the Hub is all torn up for it's expansion. We were there right before Thanksgiving and there were massive construction walls hiding the big holes in front of the Crystal Palace and the Tomorrowland Terrace. My guess is they could not do the parade down Main Street because they could not hide the construction.

 

[cleverclovers]

Thanks for the warning. I recorded the parade with the intention of watching it later. May just fast forward through it so see if ANYTHING looks interesting. Not a fan of Frozen. Watched the movie maybe three times and still can't see anything special about it. Had a Yule Log on TV (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel) with nice music during our gift opening.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Yuck...it was terrible! We were even more disappointed than we were last year. Tebow's acting was as bad as it gets, and lots of blah entertainers. Not interesting at all!

 

[Raenstoirm]

Its gotten worse every year. We couldn't even finish it this year and turned it off so I missed the one part people seem to like at the end. The singers were pretty awful. Dh and I kept joking "thank god for auto-tune". If they are going to totally skip the parade part, fine, but at least have good singers and songs that make you want to watch or at least sound nice as background noise.
Compare it to Macys Thanksgiving. The first half is snippets from current broadway shows. Even if you aren't paying attention, the music is a nice background to other activities going on in your home. And then you get an hour worth of parade. We felt Disney was too cheap to buy performances from real singers and the rights to decent songs.

 

[cleverclovers]

We felt Disney was too cheap to buy performances from real singers and the rights to decent songs. LOL!