Editor's Report
Page 1 of 2
The author and friends at the final Main Street Electrical Parade.
That's "M S E P" written on their foreheads.
The following was written shortly after the November 25, 1996 final Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland.
December 3, 1996
As I sit here writing this I'm thinking of where I was exactly 192 hours ago. Sitting on Main Street right in front of the Emporium waiting for the final two public performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade. That's me above on the right. John Frost (second from the right) arrived at the park at opening just in case. Turns out we didn't need to grab our spot until about noon. We parked it near the corner of Town Square and Main Street right in front of the Hunchback displays at the Emporium. And we waited, and we waited, and we waited. Actually the time passed pretty quickly between Uno, Gin and taking turns. A reporter from the Arizona Republic also came by a few times to interview us. There weren't too many special things in the park for the final parade. About the only things we noticed were a photo spot at each of the parade's entrance/exit doors, face painters on Main Street (mostly members of the Festival of Fools cast), and a lot of media. Finally the time for the first parade drew near and the real festivities began.
First came a small parade of characters and some of the Main Street vehicles carrying some of the children who are benefactors of the light bulb sales. Then Paul Pressler gave a speech, presented a check for over $700,000 to the charities and he and the kids threw the switch to start the first of the night's parades. The children were given a perfect seat right in front and Chip and Dale accompanied them as they watched the parade. Of course all the performers saw them there and gave them special performances. From what I hear Mickey was there at the exit door to wave goodbye as they went off, but I didn't see that part.
Then the first parade ended and the realization came that there was only one more left. A special announcement with Mickey and Paul Pressler announced it then the MSEP made its way back up Main Street for the final time. As it passed us we grad our stuff and got behind it, along with hundreds of others, and walked up and out the door.