Festival of Fantasy Parade

Earlier this month Magic Kingdom was given a new afternoon parade!  It's been a while since the afternoon parade saw change which is why it never really fell on our itinerary when we hit the park.  However, that will definitely change now!  The new parade is called Festival of Fantasy and is a beautiful display of creativity and magic.  The parade includes characters from many beloved Disney movies, including Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Frozen, The Little Mermaid, and Pinocchio!  The parade floats are full of bright colors, flowers, and little Disney touches. You will definitely need to watch it a few times before you see all the detail that went into these floats.  Not only are the giant floats amazing, but the costumes of the performers are incredible.  My favorite section is Tangled which finds Flynn flying high above the crowds! 

Enjoy some pictures of the parade along with some fun facts!

The parade features a cast of over 100!

Characters from over a dozen Disney classics are represented over the nine floats.

The are forty more characters present in animated or sculptural form. Can you spot them all?

The lead float is over 50 feet long!

It takes 27 different fabrics to make 1 Swing Thug costume.

Some costume pieces were designed, sculpted and then grown to size with a 3D printer!

The socks worn by the Lost Boys are custom designs that were knitted to order in Hong Kong

The Jolly Roger sails 28 feet above the parade route

Performers appear on swings, stilts, and pendulums!

Maleficent stretches 53 feet and reaches 26 feet in the air!

The trio of finale floats span 90 feet along the parade route

Mickey's float is the tallest at 32 feet!

Derek and I enjoyed the new parade and cannot wait to catch it again on our next visit to the park! Make sure you stop to watch when you are at the Magic Kingdom! You will not be disappointed. 

Merida's Coronation

On May 11th Merida became the 11th official Disney Princess.  Her coronation took place in front of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom and we were there to witness it. 

The ceremony was cute, short and sweet. Merida came in riding on a horse followed by a band and dancers. She made her way up to the castle where she joined the rest of the Disney Princesses as well as gymnast Gabby Douglas and her mom. 

The princess oath was read and then Merida's mom, Queen Elinor, showed up to officially crown her. After, Merida then proclaimed "I am Merida, and I am a princess!"

Courtesy of InsidetheMagic.com

Courtesy of InsidetheMagic.com

It was fun to be there for the ceremony even though it was quite crowded and hard to see. But it was definitely worth it to see all the princesses together for the first time!

Courtesy of InsidetheMagic.com

You can watch the whole coronation here courtesy of InsidetheMagic.com:

And for our Ellen DeGeneres fans, Sophia Grace and Rosie were also there to celebrate that morning! You can catch their rap here:

For more pictures from the Coronation visit: Inside the Magic