All The World Loves A Parade

All the world loves a parade, especially those visiting the Walt Disney World Resort.  Though, guests visiting this summer will notice that there is one less parade.  Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade at Disney's Animal Kingdom, will go dark in June.  We were in this parade once--click here to read more.

Reasons include making room for Disney's Animal Kingdom's largest expansion to date with the addition of Avatar Land.  The construction will block much of the parade's route.  Also, Disney's Animal Kingdom will be adding nighttime entertainment to its list of activities in the future.

At one time, all four theme parks hosted parades.  EPCOT's Parade of  Nations, while we never experienced it, seemed to be a guest favorite.  We saw Disney's Hollywood Studios through two renditions of their afternoon parade--Block Party Bash (click here to read more) and Pixar's Countdown to Fun (click here to read more), though I understand there were other versions of afternoon parades previously.  Disney's Animal Kingdom had two version of Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade--the regular version and the holiday version--Mickey's Jingle Jammin' Jungle Parade.  With this parade going dark, the only park left with parades is the Magic Kingdom.

Changes are coming to Magic Kingdom in the parade realm as well with the addition of the Festival of Fantasy Parade during the afternoon.  The evening parade still exists and has had various versions as well.

Disney uses parades as both a celebration and an opportunity for crowd control.  When parks get busy and full in the afternoons, what better way to pull guests from long lines than a parade?  In the evening, when a full park is going to close in a few hours, what better way to get guests near the center of the park than to have a parade?  Just think about it.  How many guests leave the park when the parade and fireworks are over?  Disney uses roaming entertainment in the same way--musical acts, street performers, etc.

Seasoned visitors know this and plan on accessing more popular attractions during parade times.