Main Street Electrical Parade Parade in summers at Disneyland beginning on June 17, 1972, and ending Nov. 25, 1996. The parade, featuring half a million tiny lights on floats themed primarily to Disney movies, became one of the most beloved traditions at Disneyland. The park’s lights were dimmed and the illuminated parade snaked from a gate next to “it’s a small world, ” past the Matterhorn, skirted the hub, and then continued down Main Street to conclude at Town Square. The parade’s synthesizer music was based on a piece called “Baroque Hoedown, ” with themes from Disney songs worked in. The parade did not run in 1975 and 1976 because of America on Parade for the Bicentennial, but it returned in 1977 with a whole new edition. A 108-foot-long “Honor America” finale unit was added in 1979. During 1980 there was a special unit reproducing Sleeping Beauty Castle in honor of the park’s 25th anniversary. The parade did not run during the summers of 1983 or 1984. A duplicate version of the Main Street Electrical Parade ran at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World beginning on June 11, 1977, and ending on September 14, 1991, when it was replaced by Spectromagic. The Walt Disney World parade was moved to Disneyland Paris in April 1992. A version of the parade, called the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade, ran at Tokyo Disneyland from March 9, 1985, to June 21, 1995, being replaced by Disney’s Fantillusion. The Disneyland parade floats were completely refurbished for a move of the parade to Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Park from May 28, 1999, to April 1, 2001. Then, on July 4, 2001, they made a return to California, this time as Disney’s Electrical Parade at Disney California Adventure. The Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dream Lights returned on June 1, 2001. The Disneyland Paris Main Street Electrical Parade ended on Mar. 23, 2003. A new Tinker Bell float was created to lead the parade at Disney California Adventure, along with other updates, beginning June 12, 2009. The parade concluded on Aug. 23, 2009, to henceforth operate seasonally until Apr. 18, 2010. The parade then moved back to Walt Disney World, where it ran at the Magic Kingdom from June 5, 2010, until Oct. 9, 2016, returning to Disneyland Park for a limited engagement from Jan. 20 to Aug. 20, 2017. The parade ended its run at Walt Disney World on October 9, 2016, returning to Disneyland for limited engagements between January 20 and August 20, 2017, and again between August 2 and September 30, 2019.
