des1954
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Messages
- 7,329
Last night the Electric Light Parade and Nightastic made its debut at the Magic Kingdom. The park attendance was not as bad as I thought it would be, but it was wicked hot & humid (sweat was pouring off of me just standing there).
We arrived at the MK about 7:30pm and staked a spot on the upper level of the train depot so DH could video the parade. At 9:00pm sharp, the lights dimmed, the vocoder announcement introduced the parade....
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Walt Disney World proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!"
Then..... that wonderful music began!! The whole place cheered, and clapped, and you could see the whole crowd bouncing in time to the music!! As only the Disney magic can do, I was transported back 30 some years to the first time I saw this parade!! What a glorious sight it was! Of course, the old c-7 style Christmas light bulbs have been replaced by LED's, but that only added to the magnificence of the show. As far as I can remember, the floats are all the same. What was especially poignant was the end float. If you've never seen this parade the end float is an American flag positioned like it is laying flat and fluttering. The front of the float has "To Honor America". There is a HUGE eagle at the rear of the float. When that float came by....EVERYBODY was on their feet, clapping and cheering for.... AMERICA...even the people standing next to me who were visiting from England were yelling "we love America"!!! I'm tearing up just thinking about it!
After the show the train station cleared out as did the Main Street Circle. Apparently, people either left the park or made their way to the Castle to view the fireworks. We didn't. We went into the train depot for some much needed sitting time and, more importantly, air-conditioning!!
About 9:55pm we made our way down to Main Street Circle to view the fireworks. I stopped to talk to a CM and inquire if he knew anything special about the Nightastic show. He advised me that the "new" fireworks show was really the old "Princess & Pirate Party" fireworks. WHAT? Weren't those peripheral?? Yes indeed, they were, and they are!! What a terrific show!! My only "complaint" is, if we had known the fireworks were peripheral, we probably would have boogied to one of the resort beaches to watch them instead of staying in the park. Peripheral fireworks are best viewed from a distance in my opinion.
All in all, I am so glad we went for the grand "re-opening" of the parade. If any of you Fort Fiends are planning a trip to the Fort this summer, you will be so happy you did! The Electric Light Parade is a piece of Disney history that you don't get to see that often.
I'm going to try & convince the DH to post some of his video on YouTube. When and if he does, I'll post a link.
We arrived at the MK about 7:30pm and staked a spot on the upper level of the train depot so DH could video the parade. At 9:00pm sharp, the lights dimmed, the vocoder announcement introduced the parade....
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Walt Disney World proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!"
Then..... that wonderful music began!! The whole place cheered, and clapped, and you could see the whole crowd bouncing in time to the music!! As only the Disney magic can do, I was transported back 30 some years to the first time I saw this parade!! What a glorious sight it was! Of course, the old c-7 style Christmas light bulbs have been replaced by LED's, but that only added to the magnificence of the show. As far as I can remember, the floats are all the same. What was especially poignant was the end float. If you've never seen this parade the end float is an American flag positioned like it is laying flat and fluttering. The front of the float has "To Honor America". There is a HUGE eagle at the rear of the float. When that float came by....EVERYBODY was on their feet, clapping and cheering for.... AMERICA...even the people standing next to me who were visiting from England were yelling "we love America"!!! I'm tearing up just thinking about it!
After the show the train station cleared out as did the Main Street Circle. Apparently, people either left the park or made their way to the Castle to view the fireworks. We didn't. We went into the train depot for some much needed sitting time and, more importantly, air-conditioning!!
About 9:55pm we made our way down to Main Street Circle to view the fireworks. I stopped to talk to a CM and inquire if he knew anything special about the Nightastic show. He advised me that the "new" fireworks show was really the old "Princess & Pirate Party" fireworks. WHAT? Weren't those peripheral?? Yes indeed, they were, and they are!! What a terrific show!! My only "complaint" is, if we had known the fireworks were peripheral, we probably would have boogied to one of the resort beaches to watch them instead of staying in the park. Peripheral fireworks are best viewed from a distance in my opinion.
All in all, I am so glad we went for the grand "re-opening" of the parade. If any of you Fort Fiends are planning a trip to the Fort this summer, you will be so happy you did! The Electric Light Parade is a piece of Disney history that you don't get to see that often.
I'm going to try & convince the DH to post some of his video on YouTube. When and if he does, I'll post a link.
I'm at work right now so when I get home, I'll read in detail the info on the fireworks and let you know.
