We Wish Disney Would Bring these Insane Parade Floats Out of Retirement

If there’s one thing Disney knows how to do, it’s put on a show. We will happily line up to watch the daily parade at the Magic Kingdom to appreciate the showmanship and ingenuity that goes into making the parade floats.

While we’re happy to see Disney mix it up every so often with new themes, we’re taking a look back at some parade floats that we think should make a victory lap. It’s time to grab that Mickey Pretzel and find the perfect spot along Main Street, U.S.A.

Here are the parade floats we wish Disney would bring back for one last show!

Villains Float–Dreams Come True Parades

Disney went all out for their 100 Years of Magic celebration in 2001 and debuted a brand new parade to honor Walt Disney’s birthday. One of the highlights of Share A Dream Come True was the float encapsulating all of the Disney villains.

The parade proved to be so popular that it would go on to form what we like to call “The Disney Parade Trilogy”. The rest of the Dreams Come True Parades would feature variations on the same floats, but the villains would lose their own float after the second iteration. We would love to see the bad guys win one for a change and for this float to show back up in another show.

Shan Yu Float–Mulan Parade

During the 90s, Disney began running several movie tie-in parades to promote their upcoming theatrical films. The parade designed for Mulan featured several impressive parade elements, like a larger-than-life Matchmaker float and a dragon dance that’s formed from the Great Wall of China, but the biggest had to be the Shan Yu float.

Disney decided what better way to represent the villain of the movie than by showing his demise at the hands of a rocket.  It makes sense considering that the parade is actually a celebration of the story of Mulan and her victory, and it gave us this absolutely humongous parade float.

Dream of Laughter Float–Parade of Dreams

For Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, Disney unveiled the Parade of Dreams to honor the park with floats dedicated to the dreams that we all share. One of these was the Dream of Laughter inspired by Pinocchio.

Accompanied by the wooden puppet, Foulfellow, and Gideon, the float featured Geppetto controlling two of his “puppet” creations while acrobats twirled around on strings on the back.

Pixie Forest Float–Light Magic

Say what you will about Light Magic, but the float was truly unique for a Disneyland parade. Designed to look like a forest of the pixies, the float would light up the night from the tops of the trees to the webbing and windowsills.

During the show, portions of the floats would open up where projected scenes from classic Disney films and new favorites would play on a screen, something you usually see in big fireworks spectaculars. While the design may hamper it from appearing in a general parade, we think this float deserves a new lease on life (maybe without the pixie characters).

Mickey’s SpectroMagic Float–SpectroMagic!

Speaking of replacements to the Main Street Electrical Parade, SpectroMagic! is often looked back on as a worthy successor for the time with some impressive lighting and fiber optic effects. The night kicked off with the Spectromen and Mickey Mouse conducting SpectroMagic! from his float.

The float certainly sets the tone for the parade with its boundless lights and low fog blowing out into the night. There were rumors that once the parade ended quite suddenly that the floats had been destroyed, but we hope this is one rumor that’s fake and this float can one day return.

What parade floats do you hope Disney brings back some day? Let us know in the comments below!

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