Guest Column - The Main Street Electrical Parade-One Last Time…
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The Main Street Electrical Parade-One Last Time...

I had never really shaken the sadness that I felt after seeing the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland during that final summer in 1996. As one grows older, one clings to the last bits of childhood, hoping to forestall the passage of time. I couldn’t believe that the parade was really and truly going away. On that night, I felt an ominous foreboding, unaware of the coming debacle called Light Magic, and the overall decline in quality, which has only recently begun to be turned around. On that night, I wondered how Disneyland was going to top this parade.

Nothing has yet.

Flash forward to 1999…in May of that year, my girlfriend and I were married, and we headed off to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon. Upon our arrival, I was glancing through the guidebooks, looking for fun things to do, when something I saw made me freeze.

"New at the Magic Kingdom, the world famous Main Street Electrical Parade, direct from Disneyland…" the exact words escape me, but that’s a close approximation. I grabbed my wife’s hand, looked in her eyes, and said, "we’re going…tonight!"

That night, I proudly wore a tank top with the word DISNEYLAND emblazoned across the front…I wanted everyone in Florida to know where we were from.

After getting to the park, I got immediate reaction to my top. A lot of the cast members noticed, and asked if I was aware that this was the same parade that had been at Disneyland all those years. I responded jokingly that we had come all the way from California for that very reason. I then told them that I was here to take our floats back because we missed them, and "how dare you, this is OUR parade!" It was nice to discover that the cast members in Florida were just as nice (and had a good sense of humor) as the ones here. With giddy glee, I searched for the viewing location that would most resemble Disneyland (their parade route is pretty different.) I wanted to pretend for just a little while that I was still at Disneyland, and that the parade had never left…

My wife and I found a place at the Hub, and proceeded to wait. The anticipation began to grow as I realized that I had been given one more chance to see my beloved parade. Then I felt a little sad, because I realized that this was probably it…the cast members that I had talked to had told me that the parade was not going to be there long, and would soon be retired for good. We live in California, hadn’t been to WDW in years, and didn’t know when we would be back…I decided that if this was going to be truly the last time, I was going to savor every second.

The anticipation kept building, as my wife and I talked to the people around us, and found out that some were seeing it for the very first time. They had seen Spectro Magic and had liked it, but they knew that The Main Street Electrical Parade was legendary, and they wanted to experience it before it was truly gone. I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they experienced MY parade (as I was selfishly calling it). Soon the crowds lining the parade route were overwhelming, with row after row of people lined up, cameras at the ready.

Off in the distance, I could hear the heartbreakingly familiar music.

And then the lights went out, and the roar of the crowd began.

I can’t fully describe the feeling that washed over me when the lights lowered…an electrical shock perhaps? The introduction began ("Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…") the music kicked in, and The Blue Fairy appeared in all of her glory. This was it! This was our (my) parade!

I watched entranced as I re-lived my childhood again…I listened to the cheering crowd as, once again, the spinning bees delighted the kids, Elliot spewed smoke, and Alice looked down from atop her giant mushroom. I was transported…and it was wonderful.

One of my favorite Main Street Electrical Parade memories is from my childhood…I was about ten, and for the first time, had been given permission from my parents to roam around Disneyland by myself. As I passed the backside of The Matterhorn, I noticed the parade was passing by. Everyone must have been gathered on Main Street, because the area was very sparsely populated (if you can believe that...this was around 1975). I had found myself watching the parade pass by virtually by myself, with only a smattering of people around me. Cinderella's carriage came by, and I shyly waved to her. Cinderella stopped waving, locked eyes with me, and blew me a kiss…I knew it was for me, because I was practically the only kid around! I fell instantly in love, and I’ll never forget how beautiful she was, and how nice she was to notice a ten-year-old goofy looking Asian kid waving at her.

I hadn’t thought about that in years…I was thinking back to that night long ago, when her carriage came by again. I started to wave, and I was shocked when again, she stopped waving looked at me, and blew me a kiss…OK, maybe it was for the million or so people around me, but a kid can dream, can’t he? I kind of liked feeling like a ten-year-old kid again.

Then came the Peter Pan float. Then Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and every other float from my memories. One after the other, they came and went, reminding me one more time how truly special this parade was…maybe my judgement was clouded by memories, but I could sense almost a feeling of reverence in the crowd…the oohs and ahhs and the cheering were almost overwhelming.

The only thing that was slightly jarring that I remember was the train engine that Goofy drives…instead of the familiar "Disneyland Presents…The Main Street Electrical Parade" it said "Walt Disney World Presents…" I did my best to ignore that part.

In the distance, I could see the Eagle float, which meant the end of the parade. I felt myself trying to will the floats to slow down, so I could enjoy them a little longer.

Finally, the last float passed…and for me, the parade had truly "faded away" one last time. The people around me, especially the first-timers were exhilarated. They had finally seen the world famous Main Street Electrical Parade, and it had lived up to every one of their expectations.

I felt sad but grateful…I wondered how many other of my fellow "Disneylanders" had been given the same chance that I had…the chance to say good bye one more time.

I looked over to my right, and five or six yards away, I noticed a woman in tears….she looked over, and saw me looking at her. I pointed to the "Disneyland" on my chest…through her tears, she smiled and nodded.

Giving her a small wave, I took my wife’s hand, and we joined the crowd following the parade route. The magical parade route. I gave my wife a kiss and we followed the eagle, basking in the warm glow from the lights, and thinking…

"What ride shall we go on next?"

Related Articles

• The final Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade (from Doobie's Disneyland Home Page)
• WDW's Main Street Electrical Parade (from our Magic Kingdom Attraction Guide)
• Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade (from Yesterland)

-- Stuart Kuramoto (March 28, 2000)