Making Memories: Its Time to Dream and Celebrate

on September 7, 2021

Each week through the Walt Disney World 50th anniversary, we will be taking a look back at various parades, entertainment, and nighttime spectaculars throughout the history of the resort. Walt Disney World has seen so many different things come and go throughout its 50 year history. So, let’s take a look back at what people remember dearly or forgot quickly.

We are picking up the fourth and final installment of our Magic Kingdom parades series of Making Memories. We last ended with the Magic Kingdom parades of the 1990s. We cap it off with the parades of the 2000s.

We begin today’s journey with ‘Share a Dream Come True Parade’ which ran from October 2001 through August 2006. This parade was part of the Walt Disney World Resort’s 100 Years of Magic Celebration which celebrated Walt Disney’s birth.

The parade was introduced by none other than Julie Andrews, who talked about a little boy born in 1901 named Walt Disney. Share a Dream Come True featured unique snow globe floats with Disney characters inside. The parade included Disney classics with more than 100 cast members and characters throughout. During its initial run, the parade featured show stops where confetti inside the snow globes would simulate snow. In 2004, the confetti aspect stopped and the big princess section was changed.

The title float for the parade was pulled by two cast members and featured Walt Disney sitting on a platform animating Mickey Mouse. This was followed by It Was All Started by a Mouse which featured none other than the mouse himself! Up next was Wish Upon a Star, which featured some of the original Disney animated characters from Pinocchio and Snow White. A Hundred Thousands Dreams to See included Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Mary Poppins, and more. Face Your Darkest Fears was the villains themed float which included Cruella, Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, and Chernabog. As Long as There is Imagination Left in the World featured Peter Pan, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald, and other character favorites. A Dream is a Which Your Heart Makes was the multi-tiered princess float which included all of your favorite Disney princesses. Rounding it off was Once Upon a Dream which was the infamous mirrored castle float which included many different characters over the years.

Disney Dreams Come True was next up for Disney parades and this debuted in August 2006 running through January 2009. This parade was mainly Share a Dream Come True with some minor changes. This era of parades brought a lot of reuse in terms of floats and themes. With this parade the snow globe enclosures were removed and some characters were changed.

That brings us to the 2010s which brought us Celebrate a Dream Come True from January 2009 through January 2014. The premise of this parade was what will you celebrate? The parade featured some colorful redos of previous parade floats and many of the same characters guests had come to love from the past couple parades at Magic Kingdom. The infamous mirrored castle float was once again used as the Celebrate Today float. Clouds and Mickey balloons were added to the float for this parade.

That brings us to the most recent and final parade of this journey. Debuting in March 2014 was an all new once of a kind parade called Festival of Fantasy. This parade coincided with the New Fantasyland expansion opening and included many of the characters you will find in Fantasyland. The parade included a brand new soundtrack created by Mark Hammond who previously worked on World of Color at Disney California Adventure among other things. Over 100 cast members and nine floats make up this parade with some of the most elaborate costumes Disney has done.

Beginning this parade is the Princess Garden float which is a 50+ long float with topiaries, wooden creatures, and more. The float includes Disney royalty such as Belle and Beast, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Anna and Elsa, and Princess Tiana and Naveen. Next, we have the Tangled unit which features Rapunzel and three large swinging pendulums swinging throughout the parade. The Little Mermaid unit features Ariel and her sea creature friends. The Peter Pan unit is another large float which includes Peter, Wendy, Hook and See. The main float is followed by a large Tick-Tock Crock float. That brings us to the Brave unit which is shaped like a set of bag pipes. Scottish dancers dance to the music along with this float.

The Sleeping Beauty unit is arguable the most popular. This steampunk Maleficent dragon rises to the sky and breathes actual fire right in front of guests as it cruises down Main Street. Cast members in intricate costumes make this unit one of the most unique. The three fairies follow behind as well. That brings us to the finale unit which is made up of a massive 90-foot long float which features Monster the whale with Pinocchio on top, along with Donald and Daisy, Dumbo, Alice and Wonderland, Snow White characters and more. There are also more cast members in intricate costumes that add to this massive celebrate that is this unit. It’s topped off by Mickey’s Airship, a giant hot air balloon and the tallest float in the parade at 32 feet high.

Festival of Fantasy was designed by Richard Improta, Steve Davison, and Kris Brunner. The parade ran until the parks closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic and has yet to return. The dragon float has made appearances for Halloween events since.

What memories from this set of parades do you have and which is your favorite?

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