Inspiration

The predecessor to the 1972 Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade was the Electrical Water Pageant, a show consisting of fourteen 25-foot-tall (7.6 m) screens decorated with electrical lights and presented on Walt Disney World's Seven Seas Lagoon from 1971 to the present. Not long after the Electrical Water Pageant debuted, Card Walker commissioned the development of what became the Main Street Electrical Parade to provide Disneyland with a similar nighttime visual spectacle.^[11] The parade's design used nickel–cadmium batteries, which the Disney movie studio had recently started using, and Italian-made miniature bulbs that Disneyland staff had seen in light displays along Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Disney arranged for the parade's original floats to be constructed by Silvestri, the Chicago-based company responsible for those holiday displays.^[11]

Two months to deadline, Disney discovered the float contractor was far behind schedule and decided to finish the floats themselves in a backstage area at Disneyland. Disney brought on welders, electricians and other temporary workers to assemble the floats and hand-tint and install 500,000 bulbs.^[11] The engineers who helped create the parade also created the first automated parade show-control program. This allowed the 2,000-foot (610 m) long parade route to contain multiple radio-activated "trigger zones". Using radio-activated triggers as each float entered a zone, the audience would hear float-specific music through the park's audio system. Each zone was between 70 and 100 feet (21 and 30 m) long, and the zoned system meant that every person watching the parade would experience the same show, no matter where they stood along the parade route.^[12]

Early years

The first rehearsal was a "disaster";^[13] a float crashed into a building on Main Street, U.S.A., and some performers' costumes emitted sparks. Despite these obstacles, the parade successfully debuted on schedule on June 17, 1972.^[11] The original parade floats featured the Blue Fairy, a large drum pulled by the Casey Jr. Engine, Cinderella, a Chinese dragon, and a circus calliope. Until 1977, some of the floats, such as the elephant train and the American flag finale, were flat screens on manually-pushed rolling platforms similar to the Electrical Water Pageant.

The Main Street Electrical Parade had counterparts of the same name and layout at Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, which ran from June 11, 1977, to September 14, 1991. It was replaced by a similar parade called SpectroMagic, which ran from October 1, 1991, to May 20, 1999, reopened on April 2, 2001, and ended on June 4, 2010. On April 12, 1992, the version from Magic Kingdom went to Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris and ran there until March 23, 2003. It was then replaced by Fantillusion, a nighttime parade from Tokyo Disneyland that had earlier replaced the Tokyo version of the Main Street Electrical Parade, which ran from March 9, 1985, to June 21, 1995.

On June 14, 1997, a presentation of the Electrical Parade called the "Hercules Electrical Parade", ran on Broadway, Manhattan, New York City for the opening of Disney's New Amsterdam Theater and the film Hercules. Disney arranged for the lights to be all turned off on about eight blocks of Broadway up to the theater. All businesses complied, with the exception of Disney rival Warner Brothers. It was led by a custom Hercules title unit made for this one time only use. It was shown on national television on a one-hour promotional program featuring the music and making of Hercules.^[14]

Later years

The Main Street Electrical Parade closed at Disneyland on November 25, 1996, after a 24-year run. Light bulbs certified as having been part of the show were sold to collectors. The show's replacement, the Light Magic parade, opened in 1997 to disappointing results.^[15] Disney quickly cancelled Light Magic but held off in bringing back the popular Main Street Electrical Parade. However, the parade was refurbished and appeared at Magic Kingdom on May 21, 1999, for a limited engagement, just in time for Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration. The parade ended its run at Magic Kingdom on April 1, 2001, and SpectroMagic was brought back the following day.

The Main Street Electrical Parade floats were then sent back to California for the parade's return to Disneyland. These plans changed after Anaheim management saw the poor attendance figures for the spring break season at Disney California Adventure and feared that the park would fail to attract large crowds during the crucial summer season unless they had a big draw. So Disney announced that the popular Main Street Electrical Parade would be coming to Disney California Adventure Park on July 2, 2001, in honor of the park's first summer. The name of the show was changed from the Main Street Electrical Parade to Disney's Electrical Parade, as Disney California Adventure has no Main Street. Most of the 1996 parade floats returned.

On the 2008 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade special, Disney announced that the first new float in 20 years would be added to the classic parade. It was announced in 2009 that two units would be returning as well.^[16]

Disney's Electrical Parade at Disney California Adventure ended its run on April 18, 2010, and was sent to Magic Kingdom as part of the Walt Disney World 2010 promotional package "Summer Nightastic!" The parade was not modified from its Disney California Adventure run, with the drum still saying "Disney's Electrical Parade", but the name of the parade itself was changed back to The Main Street Electrical Parade. The parade returned to Magic Kingdom on June 5, 2010. While it was initially announced that the parade would stay just through the summer, Disney later announced that the parade was on an "open-ended" run.

The parade ended its run at Magic Kingdom on October 9, 2016, in preparation for a limited-time return to Disneyland Park in California, which was scheduled to run from January 20 to June 18, 2017,^[3][7] before being extended to August 20, 2017. A special ticketed premiere event, costing US$95, occurred on January 19, 2017.^[17] Disneyland restored the drum float to once again read "Main Street Electrical Parade" as well as "Disneyland Presents". Tinker Bell's float, added in 2009, was moved back to the Peter Pan unit and was altered for the 2017 run, making Casey Junior the new leader of the parade. On February 24, 2017, the pixie dust swooshes added to the floats in 2009 were removed, except on Tinker Bell's float, since Tinker Bell was no longer the parade's leader. On June 28, 2019, Disney announced that the Main Street Electrical Parade would return to Disneyland for a third run on August 2, 2019, and would run through September 30, 2019.^[8] On July 22, 2019, to advertise the parade's new run, the official Disneyland Resort YouTube channel posted a slightly edited version of a commercial from two years prior.^[18] The parade ran at Disneyland from August 2 through September 30 for its 2019 seasonal run. On September 28, 2020, one of the spinning snails of the Alice In Wonderland unit made a special live appearance for Tyra Banks' opening entrance for the 2020 Disney Night of Dancing With The Stars.

50th anniversary and beyond

One year later, on October 26, 2021, the Disney Parks TikTok released a video teasing the parade's return to Disneyland again, which was confirmed at Destination D23 on November 20, 2021. A return date for the parade was announced on February 22, 2022, to be April 22, 2022, and it would be another limited return engagement in honor of the parade's 50th anniversary. Disney also revealed that the "To Honor America" finale had been redesigned to be more inclusive and now features dolls from "it's a small world" that represent movies such as: Brave, Hercules, Mulan, Coco, The Princess and the Frog, Moana, Pocahontas, Frozen, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and Encanto, as well as the return of the Blue Fairy. The parade soft opened on April 20, 2022, and finished its 50th anniversary limited time run on September 1, 2022. On July 14, 2022, when Disney announced the parade's end date, the Disneyland website updated the parade's info to include “leaving for the season after September 1”, suggesting the parade will likely return again in the future.

US versions

Over the years and numerous iterations of the parade, the roster of floats has changed. The version of the parade that has appeared in Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, and Disneyland Paris has maintained a continuous set of units. These include The Casey Jr. train from Dumbo carrying Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy and subsequent floats based on Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Pete's Dragon and a patriotic American float titled "To Honor America". Previous units included the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, a circus float connected to Dumbo, an "It's a Small World" unit (returned in 2022) and a promotional float for Return to Oz in 1985, but it was destroyed by a fire.^[19] In 2022, Disney revealed that the "To Honor America" finale had been redesigned to be more inclusive and now features dolls as seen from the returning "it's a small world" that represent movies such as Brave, Hercules, Mulan, Coco, The Princess and the Frog, Moana, Pocahontas, Frozen, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Jungle Book, Aladdin and Encanto, as well as the return of the Blue Fairy. The new float also features color changing lights, and the end portion of the unit being removed from the rest of the unit to create a new singular float.

DreamLights

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights features a number of floats featured in the western incarnation, though they are upgraded or alternate models. As of the 2023 renewal, the floats are Blue Fairy, Knights of Light, Mickey's Dreamlights Train, Alice in Wonderland, Disney Fairies, Pete's Dragon, Peter Pan, The Lion King, The Incredibles, Toy Story, Lilo & Stitch, Cars, Aladdin, Tangled, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and It's a Small World (see below).

Like the current finale in the US versions, the finale here features movies such as: Pinocchio, The Three Caballeros, Encanto, The Three Little Pigs and etc.

Original Disneyland version

The original Disneyland parade was built in 1972. This version ran at Disneyland Park (in Anaheim) from June 17, 1972, until 1974. It was replaced by America on Parade for two years.

Redesigned Disneyland version

In 1977, the floats were redesigned and updated by designer Bob Jani, based on his original 1972 designs, and built by Troy Barrett. The updated version premiered at Disneyland on June 11, 1977. It then continued with one more major break during 1982–1985 until November 25, 1996. It then ran through Times Square in New York as the "Hercules Electrical Parade" for one night only on June 14, 1997.

After this, both Pinocchio floats and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Mine float were sent to Paris. The parade then went on hiatus for two years before being moved to Magic Kingdom (in Orlando), where it lasted from May 21, 1999, until April 1, 2001. After that, it moved to the struggling Disney's California Adventure Park (in Anaheim), where it ran from July 2, 2001, until April 18, 2010. In 2009, the parade's soundtrack was updated to match Tokyo's, while the Dumbo's Circus unit was removed from the parade and the Blue Fairy was replaced with a new TinkerBell float. When it ended there, it moved back to the Magic Kingdom (in Orlando), where it lasted from June 5, 2010, until October 9, 2016^[3][7]

It then left Magic Kingdom (in Orlando) to move back to its home park, Disneyland (in Anaheim), where it ran from January 19, 2017^[17] until August 20 of the same year. Disney later announced on June 28, 2019, that it would return to Disneyland for a third run which began on August 2, 2019, and ended on September 30, 2019. One year later, one of the spinning snails from the Alice in Wonderland unit made a live TV appearance on Dancing with the Stars on September 28, 2020, confirming the parade is on another hiatus. A year later on October 26, 2021, the Disney Parks TikTok released a video teasing the parade's return yet again, with the same snail being loaded onto a truck bound for Disneyland. The parade returned again for its 50th anniversary on April 20, 2022, and ran until September 1, 2022. Also for its 2022 return, Disney revealed that the "To Honor America" finale float had been redesigned to be more inclusive and now featured dolls from "it's a small world" that represent movies such as Brave, Hercules, Mulan, Coco, The Princess and the Frog, Moana, Pocahontas, Frozen, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and Encanto, as well as the return of the Blue Fairy. The new float also features color changing lights, and the end portion of the unit being removed from the rest of the unit to create a new singular float. The opening logo unit also saw an update to the parade's logo similar to the text used at DCA and the 2010–2016 run at Walt Disney World, as well as a 50th anniversary logo for the 2022 return.^[20] A new inclusive opening fanfare that honor's the parade's legacy and Walt Disney's dedication of Disneyland in 1955 was also introduced for the 2022 return.

Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris version

The Walt Disney World version was built in 1977 and premiered in Magic Kingdom (in Orlando) on June 11, 1977. It was a clone of the one that was running in Anaheim, with slightly wider floats due to Magic Kingdom's wider parade route.

It ran there until September 14, 1991, but actually had one last performance on September 30, 1991, during a private media event. It was then moved across the Atlantic to Disneyland Park (Paris). The Swans from Tokyo Disneyland was added in 1997, whilst the Snow White and the Pinocchio units from Disneyland were added in 1998. It lasted from April 12, 1992, up until March 23, 2003, where it was sent to Hong Kong Disneyland, but never appeared there. The Snow White and the Pinocchio units were sent back to Disneyland in 2009.

On October 7, 2023, Disneyland Paris announced that a new show called Disney Electrical Sky Parade, inspired by Disneyland Paris version of Main Street Electrical Parade, which will be premiere on January 8, 2024, as part of Disney Symphony of Colours celebration.^[21][22]

Tokyo Disneyland/DreamLights version

The Tokyo Disneyland version was built in 1985. It premiered on March 9, 1985, and closed on June 21, 1995. When it closed, it was refurbished into "Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights". DreamLights premiered at Tokyo Disneyland on June 17, 2001.

In 1997, the Swan Lake Unit was sent to Disneyland Paris.

This version of the parade went on an unscheduled hiatus from February 28, 2020, to October 31, 2021 (Halloween), due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parade returned on November 1, 2021, with physical dancers removed and some characters omitted due to Japan's physical distancing guidelines, as well as a new inclusive opening fanfare.

In 2023, all physical dancers and some characters that were removed returned as part of the Disney100 Years Of Wonder and the 40th Dream-Go-Round