On February 27th, 2020, the Magic Happens Parade at Disneyland debuted only to be put on hold when Disneyland closed on March 14th, 2020 due to COVID-19. I was supposed to go to Disneyland August 2020 but sadly it was still closed. I wanted to see it for the first time in person so I didn’t watch any videos, tried not to see any pictures, and didn’t read any reviews. Since seeing it in person wasn’t an option, my mom and I watched it on our Disneyland day! It certainly was very different from other parades so I wanted to do a review of it for you all!
Sleeping beauty Castle
*WARNING* There will be spoilers beyond this point!
Basic Overview
This parade is truly unique for many reasons. First off, it is performed at day and night. Let me just say, it is a completely different experience but we’ll talk about that later. The music was written by Todrick Hall and is very different from the classic Disney Parade music. There are about eight different floats: Mickey on his sorcerer hat, Moana on her boat with Maui behind on a mini float (why I said about eight you could argue his isn’t really a float), a Coco float, Anna and Elsa on their float, Cinderella in a golden pumpkin float, a Sword in the Stone float, Tiana and Naveen on a float, and finally, a Sleeping Beauty float. Of course, there are characters or performers in between each float too. Now that we know the facts, let’s dive into the review!
Floats
Overall, the floats are phenomenal. I thought I’ve seen the best from Disney Parades when I saw the Festival of Fantasy in Disney World but in terms of floats, I feel I’ve been proven wrong. The first float is Mickey on this copper and pastel purple sorcerer hat to match his pastel blue and purple robes. It’s relatively simple but has so much detail which I love. Next is Moana’s float which is huge. At the front is her boat where she is standing which looks like it was right out of the film. The actual float looks like it is made out of wood with many carvings and so much small detail. At the very back of the floor, it curves up and has a screen that is used at the nighttime parade. Finally, at the top of the screen is a carving of a manta ray, the spirit animal Moana’s Grandmother Tala turns into. Honestly, all the attention to detail is stunning. Maui has a small float of him and Pua on a rock afterward.
The next float is from the movie Coco. At the front is a little gazebo where Miguel is playing his guitar. There are a bunch of orange flowers like the ones in the movie leading to the gorgeous marigold bridge into the land of the dead. You can see Dante jumping up in the bridge and then a few moments later Dante jumping again as an alebrijes! It is so cool and surprising I loved it. At the back of the bridge is Hector and Mama Imelda on their own stage singing and playing the guitar. Finally, as you are looking at the back of the float, there are small skeleton animals. They aren’t scary looking and I could have just missed the point but I would have thought it would be the ofrenda but maybe I just missed the point. Either way, this float is my favorite by far.
Behind them, we have the frozen float. Specifically, frozen two. The float is again huge at the front we have the Knok from the movie and behind that, Anna and Olaf are in the boat Elsa pushed them away from her with. There is a lot of ice but also fall trees like in the movie. Behind Anna, there is a mountain I presume is North Mountain surrounded by ice and has a giant snowflake on top. Of course, Elsa is up there too. At the back, Sven is there with Kristoph walking right behind. Next, there is a random assortment of characters we will talk about later.
The following three floats are smaller but still very intricate. First, we have Cinderella in her pumpkin which is a beautiful gold and orange and green vines all made out of metal to look like delicate metals wrapping and twisting. It truly is gorgeous. Next are the Sword and the Stone float which has Arthur at the bottom and Merlin at the top of this rock looking float. We can’t forget the sword is there for Arthur to pull out. Then we have Tiana and Naveen on their small float that is filled with greenery that looks like it came out of the Bayou in the movie with them! They have a willow tree draping down and so many flowers. Not to mention a rotating green leafy thing... not quite sure what it is but it looks very pretty.
Finally, there is a Sleeping Beauty float. It is huge- very long and tall. At the front are the three fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether, on what looks like gold crowns that spin in slow circles and move up and down. Behind them up high are Aurora and Prince Phillip. The float itself is very colorful with purple, blue, and pink banners everywhere and a lot of gold decals including three crown looking pillars at the back.
Overall, the floats are utterly mind-blowing and so pretty. There are so many details you just want to look at them forever to take it all in. I am so impressed and wasn’t expecting this level of detail. I honestly think the floats were my favorite part of the whole parade.
Costumes & Characters
Just like the floats, the costumes were amazing in the parade. But before we get to that, let’s talk about the characters. It seemed like there were a lot of unique, rare, and random characters put into this parade. The ones that stood out to me were the Sword in the Stone characters, and this random assortment walking right after the Frozen float. This included Fairy Godmother, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, Pinocchio and the Blue Fairy, and Aladdin and the Genie. They seemed out of place, especially walking together but it is cool getting to see these characters that are rare like the Blue Fairy!
Going back to the start of the parade, there are performers walking in very unique and very avant-garde blue, purple, white, and gold costumes. I personally love them! Mickey and friends are behind them matching that color scheme. Next are the water women before Moana’s float. They have blue wigs and dresses with multiple shades of blues and greens. There are many layers in the dress that are very pretty. They are holding ropes with balls attached they twirl. At the end of the balls is a blue fabric that really does look like water and is so pretty. Behind the Moana float are men dressed in grass skirts with red shorts under them and grassy shoes. They are dancing and jamming out. The best part is they’re holding Kakamoras from the movie!
Next is my personal favorite (closely followed by the water women), the women before the Coco float. They are dressed in a very colorful jumpsuit with colorful wigs and a skirt. This skirt is long and open in the front so they can twirl, twist, and dance with it. But the best part is they can take it off and dance with it more! All of a sudden, they can quickly and seamlessly put it back on again! I can’t do it justice just writing about it, especially cause it is so seamless I can’t even figure out what is happening. Behind the Coco float are people dressed as an alebrijes. They look so cool and the costume is amazing. I wanted to include there is a puppet of Mamma Emelda’s alebrijes here too which is so cool.
The performers before the Frozen float have confusing costumes in my opinion. The women have red skirts that look like leaves and white shirts with a few leaves on them. Then they have a crown thing that has sticks on it. The guys have very layered pants and coats that are all white. I get what they’re trying to do but overall I found the theming confusing. After the Frozen float, all the performers in between the floats are wearing white and are dressed up to look like royal escorts (I don’t know what they are called exactly but that’s how I would describe them). They are all twirling banners and fit in perfectly.
All of the Disney characters have costumes from their movie and the only one that is different and I want to mention is Princess Aurora’s. Instead of her classic pink dress, she has a gorgeous almost tie-dye looking mix of blue and pink like when the fairies are arguing in the movie! It is truly unique and I think it is so so pretty. I wish we could see her in this dress more often. Overall, I truly do love all the costumes. They are so cool and unique, unlike many other parades.
Music
The music for this parade was written by Todrick Hall and is very upbeat and pop styled. At first, I didn’t like the main theme music but as I have listened to it over and over again, I will say it grew on me. I loved how the songs from the movie of each float were integrated. The flowed very smoothly and were pop like the theme so it fits very well. In conclusion, it wasn’t my favorite music but I like it more and more as I listen.
Day Vs Night
One thing I love about this parade is you can watch it during the day, and at night! That is super unique for Disney parades. I can’t think of any that are both day and night we’ve had in the past. Personally, I love the atmosphere at night in the Disney parks but that is not why I think the parade is so much better at night. There are so many cool lighting effects at night which make it so much better. Mickey’s hat float lights up, there are cool screens on Moana’s float that show the water, Coco’s float is much more colorful when lit up, the ice on the frozen float glows, and everything is so much more vibrant lit up.
Honestly, it’s hard to compare the parade during the day and during the night because they are both so different and so unique. Personally, as I mentioned before, I like the parade and night better because of the lighting and the energy. But, I was able to notice more details during the day. So, it is worth seeing the parade at both times because of how different they are.
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Night
In conclusion, I think this is a really good new parade for Disneyland, It is unique, the costumes and floats are so detailed and spectacular, the music is good, and it is a different experience during the day and at night. I can’t wait to see this parade in person one day and I hope this review will help you decide to see it or not and help make your trip as magical as it can be!
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