More Thoughts About the New Disney Starlight Parade! On Friday, I was on hand for the soft preview of Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away. Yesterday I wrote a review, but after seeing the parade two more times yesterday, I have more thoughts. It’s not all positive, but in the spirit of transparency… here we go!
After first run through of Disney Starlight on Friday, I was pretty wowed at its beauty. We have been waiting so long for a new nighttime parade at Magic Kingdom, I was really caught up in the excitement of it all. When Main Street went dark, and you could see the parade floats coming, you really did feel excited for everything.
Last night, we watched the 9 PM parade from Frontierland. We wanted to try different locations to see which one we preferred for a parade viewing. It was much less crowded back there as well. This area has pros and cons, the surroundings are more crowded and less magical I suppose, but you could see the street performers a little better. As I said in my review, which I will post at the bottom of this article, there is so much dead space between the floats. Even with better lighting, it still missed the mark. If you look at old video of the previous two nighttime parades, you see more characters, walking and interacting with the crowd. Disney Starlight simply does not have that. I honestly don’t understand why.
Since we were already there, we stayed to watch the 11:00 parade but we switched locations again. This time, we chose the front of the park and watched by Tony’s restaurant. It was very open up there, plus less crowded because a lot of park goers had already left. The lighting was again a little different in that location, so I was curious to see if it looked better. Out of the three spots, I would say that up near the train station was probably my favorite. The dark spaces of Disney Starlight really couldn’t be fixed, no matter where we viewed it from.
Let me just say, that Magic Kingdom is my favorite park and always has been. SpectroMagic and the Main Street Electrical Parade will always hold a special place in my heart. I cherish those memories. Part of the reason for that, is because the music in those parades was just so memorable. Even to this day, when I hear that music, it tugs on my heart. This leads me to wonder why I didn’t have that same feeling for the music of Disney Starlight. SpectroMagic’s music was majestic and magical. The Main Street Electrical Parade’s score was playful and fun, not to mention quite catchy. Both are memorable. Let’s take it a step further. The Boo to You Parade music is fantastic and will be playing in your mind probably for weeks after seeing it. Same with the Christmas parade! Disney Starlight’s music is so different, it doesn’t flow like the others do. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge if you will, not really memorable in my opinion. The final float is beautiful and they do play music from the electrical parade, so that part I can say did stick in my mind. Just not the rest.
Maybe it’s because I am a lifelong Disney fan and have seen so many different attractions and such come and go. I am quite a sentimental girl and I love and miss things at the parks that are no longer there. Disney Starlight has potential to be majestic just like its predecessors, it just needs a little tweaking. Now granted, I am not an imagineer nor somebody who knows about such technical things. I think that the parade needs more walking character interaction for the fans. Tinker Bell does a great job, but she is the only one, we need more characters. I can’t understand why out of the whole parade, we only have one character walking and interacting.
As for the musical score, I’m sure that’s a done deal and will not be changed. It’s possible that it could grow on me once I see it more often. It just didn’t bring that heart tugging feeling that usually makes me cry at all things Disney. Part of the love of Disney is the feelings that it brings plus memories with your friends and family that last a lifetime. I think we get used to that so if something doesn’t give us that feeling it’s a little disappointing. All that being said, I do think that this parade is visually stunning in certain areas. I think kids will love it! If you are a newer Disney fan and have nothing to compare it to, I think you’re good. The general consensus from my colleagues and fellow Disney diehards is the same as mine. I guess it’s all about perspective, so I do encourage you to make sure to stay for Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away while at Magic Kingdom. It’s worth seeing, you can draw your own conclusion! Also, if you would like to see the full parade ahead of time, I am sharing our link from our YouTube channel that we took on Friday night. Thanks and enjoy!
Honest Review- Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away Parade
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