I'm not saying that there should not be a Christmas Parade, but this parade has been around almost the same for over 20 years. If nothing else they have got to change the music!!!
Yes, I am old school and love both A Christmas Fantasy and Believe. I would not mind a change of music but, on the other hand; I am afraid they would make it all techno and I would hate that.
It's not my favorite. It's been around long enough that it's really dated, but hasn't quite been around long enough to be a "classic" like MSEP became (a status that no entertainment should stick around long enough to achieve, IMO). For me, one of the worst things about the parade is the music. While I don't hate the tune itself (and actually think it's clever how the lyrics change for each portion of the parade), I really dislike how each verse builds to a finale followed by a gap of silence, and then a big fanfare intro for the repeat. If the music looped more seamlessly, or even incorporated other tunes into the mix, I think it would be a huge improvement, but as it stands it feels very tedious and repetitive Another issue I have is the inconsistency of the updates through the years. The original 1994 parade was cobbled together from existing floats from other parades from the previous 5-10+ years that were redressed in a mostly-consistent aesthetic. Since then, various elements have been removed, added, replaced, or otherwise changed in a wide variety of styles that just makes it an overall mishmash. Both the toy factory float (one of my personal favorites, though the old one was great too) and Santa finale (one of my least favorites) especially stand out against the pack. Any of the styles would be fine on their own, but it just doesn't create a unified whole. It's not an awful parade, but it's also not one I need to see again. I'm ready for a full replacement, but I'm not sure I trust the current decision makers to replace it with something of equal scale.
That is my fear as well. I certainly detested them replacing Minnie and Mickey ice skating with Frozen!! #letletitgogo
Since we only average a trip to DLR about once every two years now, I'm happy to see ANY parade they have to offer. I'd get bored with it all, I suppose, if I went several times over the season.
I haven't seen the Christmas parade yet, but we will be venturing to DLR the first part of December and will cast my vote when I return.
Actually, as parade soundtracks go, I've always liked "Christmas Fantasy" Right up there with the "2017 encore" MSEP soundtrack; better than "America On Parade" or "Light Magic," and FAR better than "Pain in the Night," albeit not quite as good as the Don Dorsey MSEP soundtrack, or Spectro.
By now you have seen the video and pictures of the Santa Clause float falling apart and almost hurting someone. This goes back to my original feelings of this parade feels old and IS OLD.
Surprisingly I had not heard. Seems my daughters would have let me know. Seriously, has anyone head of maintenance?
Kind of spoils the magic....A lot of stuff at DL is old and needs constant maintenance. At least one attraction or another breaks down every time we visit.
We only got to see part of the parade because of the deluge the characters were in the Main Street vehicles to stay dry. Kinda' funny to see everybody jammed into the double decker bus...hehe!
Who was almost injured? Santa? As with all parade performers who are in a position that could even be vaguely precarious, he was harnessed in and the harness did its job That said, I was surprised to see that the gifts on the back of the sleigh weren't secured better. Especially considering that the sleigh rocks back and forth on a float that also moves, it really seems like all that should be attached more permanently. Obviously nobody is getting hurt by a falling teddy bear, but it made the incident more dramatic than it needed to be.
Yep. It was the 6th of December. Anaheim really doesn't know what to do with rainwater when it rains like that. Puddles everywhere (especially inside the park) not a dry shoe to be found because of it. It was the one trip that we didn't bring a spare pair of shoes.
I finally found the video of what happen. Santa is fine. His seat-belt prevented him from falling too far. He was helped down and was able to walk in front of the broken float. As for maintenance I think that considering the ware and tear of all the crowds they do a fairly good job. A lot of what people calls "breaks down" when a ride comes to a stop is not a true break down. I remember a few years back I was about to board Indy when the ride came to a stop and they had a evacuate everyone. I got talking to the cast member and he told me about the safety features of the attractions. How there are special cameras what watch the track and if they see something has fallen into the track it will cause a shut down. If you were in the back of the line many people would refer to the ride stopping as a break down, when in fact it was just the park being careful.
