The Main Street Electrical Parade Returns to Disneyland

Published: January 19, 2017 / Last Updated: January 19, 2017 / By: Arvid Bux

The Main Street Electrical Parade, one of the most popular of all Disney parades, has returned to Disneyland Park with all the lights, sounds, music and fun that have made it a beloved icon. With nightly parades scheduled through Sunday, June 18, guests will have a limited time to enjoy the parade’s encore performance.

The dazzling and colorful after-dark parade premiered in Disneyland in 1972 and has been seen at Disney Parks around the world. Although its last Disneyland Park performance was in November 1996, and at Disney California Adventure Park in 2010, it has continued to shine brightly in the memories of millions of guests.

Accompanied by treasured Disney tunes interwoven with the distinctive “Baroque Hoedown” synthesizer soundtrack, the Main Street Electrical Parade brings a variety of beloved Disney stories to life in parade floats covered in approximately half a million twinkling lights. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy lead the way and Cinderella, Peter Pan, Snow White, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland are among the characters whose stories unfold along the parade route. Tinker Bell now appears with other fairies on the Peter Pan float.

The parade’s return to Disneyland for the first time since 1996 also marks the return of the original Main Street Electrical Parade opening float. The whimsical train pulls a giant drum unit that proclaims “Disneyland Presents … Main Street Electrical Parade” in bright lights.

Some of the parade’s most impressive scenes are the 18½-foot-tall Clock Tower looming over Cinderella’s Ball, attended by elegant ballroom dancers in costumes covered with lights; and the 118-foot-long finale unit, a red-white-and-blue tribute to America. Elliot, the smoke-breathing, tail-wagging “Pete’s Dragon,” weighs more than 5,600 pounds and is 16 feet tall, more than 10 feet wide and 38 feet long. Guests will need to keep an eye out for Elliot, who disappears from time to time along the route.

The Main Street Electrical Parade was performed more than 3,600 times for more than 75 million guests during its original run in Disneyland Park. The enduring popularity of the parade led to creation of Electrical Parades at Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Main Street Electrical Parade returned to the Disneyland Resort with an engagement in Disney California Adventure Park from 2001 to 2010.