Length of Afternoon Magic Kingdom Parade?

[sapsorrow]

Hey all! Just a quick question:

Does anyone know how long it takes from the time the first float in the "Share A Dream Come True" parade appears on Main Street until the last float goes backstage in Frontierland? Forty minutes? Fifty? An hour? Any insight would be much appreciated!

 

[Robo]

Hey all! Just a quick question:

Does anyone know how long it takes from the time the first float in the "Share A Dream Come True" parade appears on Main Street until the last float goes backstage in Frontierland? Forty minutes? Fifty? An hour? Any insight would be much appreciated!

About 40 minutes.

 

[HallGirl]

Just to add a note, the afternoon parade starts in Frontierland and ends on Main Street.

 

[sapsorrow]

Thanks, guys! I'm mostly concerned because I read that the railroad doesn't operate (at least not at the Main Street or Frontierland stations) during the parade. I assume that's because the parade crosses the tracks on its backstage loop. Can anyone confirm this? And do any of you happen to have any idea of what time the train stops operating, and what time it starts back up again (assuming the parade is at 3:00)?

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Thanks, guys! I'm mostly concerned because I read that the railroad doesn't operate (at least not at the Main Street or Frontierland stations) during the parade. I assume that's because the parade crosses the tracks on its backstage loop. Can anyone confirm this? And do any of you happen to have any idea of what time the train stops operating, and what time it starts back up again (assuming the parade is at 3:00)?

This is not true . Fortunately parade route doesn't cross any off the railroads tracks in the main part of the park.

You ARE correct about the backstage area on the West side of the park that crosses the path but they make sure to avoid any issues in timing with the parade and the trains. I believe there is an Engineer posted at the crossing to deal specifically with this very thing.

Red is the parade route, Green is the train route.

 

[sapsorrow]

This is not true. The parade route doesn't cross any off the railroads tracks in the main part of the park. You are correct about the backstage area on the West side of the park that crosses the path but they make sure to avoid any issues in timing with the parade and the trains. I believe there is an Engineer posted at the crossing to deal specifically with this very thing.

Sweet! I got the info from one of the cheat-sheets on UG, but it just seemed unlikely to me. Thanks for your help!

 

[PandyPaws]

I'm a WDW RR Engineer

The parade steps off at 3pm in Frontierland, although the Grand Marshall vehicle precedes by a few minutes. The last train will cross that area between 2:50 and 2:55. If two trains are operating, one will hold at the Main Street station and the other at ToonTown. We will then resume motion again at approximately 3:11 when all floats are safely across the tracks and inside the park.

Depending upon locations of the two trains at the time, actual holding time may vary.....ie; if one train has just departed Frontierland it will spend sometime loading at ToonTown before it moves ahead to Main Street, while the 2nd train pulls into Frontierland and loads, eventually moving to ToonTown when the first train moves up, so we may not always be sitting motionless for a full 21 minutes

If there are 3 trains operating, we'll generally stop at 2:50 and each train will occupy a staion for the full 21 minutes.

The parade itself will reach Main Street somewhere around 3:20pm, well after trains have resumed motion.

 

[sapsorrow]

I'm a WDW RR Engineer

The parade steps off at 3pm in Frontierland, although the Grand Marshall vehicle precedes by a few minutes. The last train will cross that area between 2:50 and 2:55. If two trains are operating, one will hold at the Main Street station and the other at ToonTown. We will then resume motion again at approximately 3:11 when all floats are safely across the tracks and inside the park.

Depending upon locations of the two trains at the time, actual holding time may vary.....ie; if one train has just departed Frontierland it will spend sometime loading at ToonTown before it moves ahead to Main Street, while the 2nd train pulls into Frontierland and loads, eventually moving to ToonTown when the first train moves up, so we may not always be sitting motionless for a full 21 minutes

If there are 3 trains operating, we'll generally stop at 2:50 and each train will occupy a staion for the full 21 minutes.

The parade itself will reach Main Street somewhere around 3:20pm, well after trains have resumed motion.

Hooray for first-hand information! Thank you so much!