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. 

Limited Time Magic: Mickey's America Streetbeat

  This weeks offering for Limited Time Magic is a pleasant surprise. Until July 14th, guests can enjoy Mickey's America Streetbeat at the America Gardens Theater in Epcot. It's a cute show staring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and a group of dancers and musicians. It lasts around 25 minutes and showcases dancing, percussion, and acrobatics. Mickey and the gang get in on the action leading to some fun moments. Check out some pictures from the fun:

Goofy on Drums!

Love the expressions the characters can make now!

Donald getting his groove on

If you are in the park this week, definitely check out Mickey's America Streetbeat for a fun, new experience!

24 Hour Disney Day: Evening Fun!

After our fun-filled morning and afternoon at the Disney Parks Blog Monstrous Meet Up, we took a little rest to save up some energy so we could make it till 6am. We arrived back at the Magic Kingdom a little before midnight this time joined by my Mom and Dad. We got there just in time to watch the new summer edition of Celebrate the Magic!

The park was a lot busier in the evening then it was earlier that morning. However, we still managed to enjoy ourselves on some rides. We took another adventure on the Jungle Cruise, rode Dumbo, Haunted Mansion and Pirates, and took in some of the Main Street Electrical Parade before heading over to the Up All Night Dance Party.

                     

 

The Up All Night Dance Party was held in front of Cinderella's Castle at 2am and kept going strong until 5:45am!  This was one of our favorite parts of the day. It was fun to get to dance with Disney characters and fellow Disney fans as we all enjoyed being in the park at these late hours. The Dance Party also helped us keep our energy up. Here's just some of the fun:
  

                   

 

         

 

Stitch is a cutie!

Mom loved dancing with the Characters!

Genie had some great dance moves!

Even though we were loving the dance party there was still so much else we could see and do! We decided to go get our picture taken with Courtney's favorite chipmunks!

By this time we were starting to lose steam so it was time for a ride on the carousel....

 ... and a little pick me up from Gaston's Tavern. We enjoyed a cinnamon roll and a special Sulley cupcake!

Of course we had to get a LeFou's Brew too! 

With our little sugar pick me up we went back to check out the dance party again which was still going strong in its last hour. Then it was time for a ride on our favorite, the People Mover, where we got to see Space Mountain with the lights on!

We then made our way back to Main Street to watch the special Kiss Goodnight to wrap up the 24 Hour Day. Mickey and Minnie came out with the rest of the characters above the train station. After a rendition of the Mickey Mouse Club song, the 24 Hour Monstrous All-Nighter was officially over! Mickey and Minnie then shared a kiss goodnight and waved goodbye from the train station as we made our way out. It was a great ending to a special, magical day.

See you real soon!