DestinationDisney said:
Why isn't there a parade in Epcot? This would be a really nice addition to their "festivities" especially being that they've recently eliminated quite a few performers.
Well...as someone who was in the parks during Dec 2000 (during the millenium celebrations), I can say this:
While the Tapestry of Nations/Tapestry of Dreams parade was beautiful (!), it caused a LOT of congestion throughout World Showcase!
When you are in MK, you can plan to be in Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Toontown or Tomorrowland and have access to all four of these lands during a parade (the train shuts down during parades). You can effectively be trapped in Frontierland or Adventureland by a parade.
Now imagine this increased in Epcot: you can walk freely throughout Future World, but you are trapped in whatever country you are in while the parade is going on in WS. Depending on where you are/were at the time, you may have enough to occupy your time with shopping/movies/rides...but depending on your interest in a particular country you may NOT.
That was the only trip I'd say I couldn't enjoy Epcot to it's fullest 'cause three times a day we'd have to worry about where we were when the parade was about to start 'cause we'd be trapped there. ('cause really after watching it once, there would be no sense in watching it again when there was so much more to do!). This was made worse, 'cause we also had to avoid/squeeze past the two (dinner package and standby) lines for the Candlelight processional (which could both stretch back to Germany and Morocco respectively). At one point, while trying to get through, we actually had a mini-adventure when we took a wrong turn trying to avoid being run over by the candle-holding choir making their entrance and ended up wandering BACKSTAGE where they made their entrance from (I think it may have been in Italy, but I'm not sure now).