It’s going to be a quiet couple of years for Walt Disney World, with one brilliant spot: Starlight Evening Parade. We’re already anxiously awaiting its arrival, and questioning when the brand new gentle parade will make its Magic Kingdom debut and as soon as once more illuminate evenings alongside Important Road. (Up to date November 9, 2024.)
For many who are unfamiliar with Disney Starlight Evening Parade, it’s the non secular successor to SpectroMagic and Important Road Electrical Parade and is slated to debut in Summer season 2025. The brand new nighttime leisure was first introduced in the course of the Parks Panel presentation on the 2024 D23 Expo.
Disney Starlight will use the newest know-how to inform new tales concerning the characters you’re keen on, in keeping with Walt Disney World. All of this is dropped at life by the magic of the Blue Fairy, along with beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios movies “Peter Pan,” “Encanto,” “Frozen,” and extra. That’s all the corporate has formally revealed about Disney Starlight Evening Parade…
The primary bit of excellent information is that Disney has already posted casting calls that embody Starlight Evening Parade. Auditions for the primary (probably of a number of) casting calls have been held in New York Metropolis at Pearl Studios in early October. This was not a casting name completely for Disney Starlight Evening Parade–so it in all probability just isn’t be indicative of when the parade will debut. However what if it have been? What would that imply for the goal debut date of the brand new nighttime parade coming to Magic Kingdom? I used to be curious, so I did some digging.
On common, the primary casting calls seem 5-7 months earlier than new leisure debuts. This has been the case with stage reveals at each Disneyland and Walt Disney World, together with Rogers: The Musical and all the returning productions at Walt Disney World. With the latter, the timeframes have usually been barely condensed, presumably as a result of they’re not brand-new.
Alternatively, casting requires “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey” have been first posted simply over 7 months in the past, and Walt Disney World nonetheless hasn’t introduced a gap date. There’s loads of time for it to make its late 2024 opening timeframe, however we anticipated it nearer to October 1, so the radio silence is…fascinating. However that’s one other matter for an additional day.
The final new home parade we’ve got for mileposting is Magic Occurs at Disneyland. The primary casting name was posted on August 30, 2019 and the parade debuted on February 28, 2020. That’s virtually 6 months. I’d count on one thing comparable for Disney Starlight Evening Parade as soon as wider casting does start. However once more, that’s not what this primary casting name is.
Earlier than we dig into additional opening date hypothesis, let’s check out a brand new piece of idea artwork shared by Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro in the course of the Disney Experiences panel at D23 Brazil on November 9, 2024. The float encompasses a base of waves with Moana aboard her outrigger canoe atop the crest:
In the event you’re shocked that Moana has a presence on this parade, you in all probability haven’t been taking note of leisure in the previous couple of years. It’d as nicely be Florida and California regulation that something new should embody Moana. I’d’ve been shocked if this didn’t, so actually the one factor value saying right here is that the float appears to be like cool, formidable, and enormous scale.
Turning our consideration again to the potential debut date for Starlight, the opposite large latest growth is that Common Orlando has introduced that Epic Universe will open on Could 22, 2025. This grand opening within the lead-in to Memorial Day weekend units the almost definitely timeline for Disney Starlight Parade, which is basically Walt Disney World’s counterprogramming to the park.
It’s additionally value noting that the brand new park can have prolonged previews previous to that. Epic Universe is not only going to do a chilly open on Could 22, 2025. Common has already previews for Annual Passholders and staff. In all chance, there can be over a month of previews, maybe nearer to 2 months, for a variety of company.
It’s solely potential that Walt Disney World will wish to capitalize on this, and even get out forward of Epic Universe’s official opening, by debuting Disney Starlight Evening Parade even earlier. In such a situation, rolling out the brand new nighttime leisure providing across the someday in April or earlier in Could may additionally make sense.
After all, it’s additionally potential that Walt Disney World marches to the beat of its personal drummer, recognizing the truth {that a} night time parade can’t compete with a model new theme park. Wherein case, Epic Universe would don’t have any bearing on Disney Starlight Evening Parade. Disney would possibly wait till June or past when colleges are totally out of periods and summer time vacationer season arrives in full pressure.
Assuming Walt Disney World does disregard Epic Universe in figuring out the debut date of Starlight Evening Parade, let’s look to previous precedent for summer season choices. Most lately, Walt Disney World has debuted the next additions in the course of the summer time months:
- Tiana’s Bayou Journey: June 28, 2024
- Disney Goals That Soar Drone Present: Could 24, 2024
- Encanto Sing-Alongside: June 10, 2024
- Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind: Could 27, 2022
- Toy Story Land: June 30, 2018
- Pandora – World of Avatar: Could 27, 2017
- Frozen Ever After: June 21, 2016
Listed here are {the summertime} debut dates for previous parades:
- Fantasmic Return at Disneyland (Dragon Hearth): Could 24, 2024
- Fantasmic Return at Disneyland (Put up-Reopening): Could 28, 2022
- Important Road Electrical Parade at Disneyland (sixtieth Anniversary): April 22, 2022
- Paint the Evening Parade at DCA (Pixar Fest): April 12, 2018
- Paint the Evening Parade at Disneyland (Diamond Celebration): Could 22, 2015
- Important Road Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom (Summer season Nightastic): June 6, 2010
As you possibly can see, these dates are in all places.
You may make much more sense of the openings by contrasting what was completed forward of schedule or on-time with what was a race in opposition to the clock or delayed for no matter purpose. In virtually all the June debut dates, development or different hang-ups have been an element.
The Could 24 or 27 opening dates replicate openings within the respective years that have been the Friday earlier than Memorial Day. That is Disney’s conventional summer time kickoff, so for those who needed to merely guess on a begin date for Disney Starlight Evening Parade with none additional information, the most secure guess could be Could 23, 2025.
Previous to the Epic Universe announcement, we thought the only almost definitely date for Disney Starlight Evening Parade to debut could be Could 23, 2025. Now I’m not so certain that that is the odds-on favourite. Having the parade debut within the shadow of Epic Universe would probably end in it being, nicely, overshadowed.
The a lot savvier transfer could be to debut Disney Starlight Evening Parade per week earlier or later. Could 16 or 30 would make sense, as that gives a little bit of respiratory room. Clearly, we’ve supplied a reasonably big selection of dates–however the level is that there are a whole lot of variables, and Epic Universe is one other complicating issue. (There’s additionally the truth that After Hours at Magic Kingdom has its final date on Could 19–I’d hope Magic Kingdom would have a full slate of late closings for Starlight, however truthfully, who is aware of.)
Nonetheless, let’s speak ranges. Personally, I believe the earliest the Disney Starlight may debut–assuming the date is being purposefully chosen and there aren’t any hiring/fabrication impediments to choosing an earlier date–is April 25, 2025. That’s the Friday after Easter, and that week can be when spring break crowds fall off a cliff.
If Disney have been savvy, they may goal a date in late April or early Could so as to pull ahead demand into the shoulder season. This provides extra time earlier than the summer time vacationer season begins, to no matter extent that’s nonetheless a factor. It may seize locals and diehard followers, leaving summer time open to common ole vacationers. In the event you take a look at the above leisure debuts, that is exactly what Disneyland has finished with Pixar Fest and the final time Important Road Electrical Parade returns.
I’d guess in opposition to that. Whereas it’s a sensible strategy, it’s additionally one we’ve by no means seen from Walt Disney World–simply Disneyland. The Florida parks are extra reactive or typical–it’s arduous to think about them debuting one thing big throughout shoulder season. Extra probably, they’ll provide ticket offers and name it a day. In equity, Disneyland has completely different demographics, to not point out summer time climate.
On the opposite finish of the vary, the top of June is the newest that Disney Starlight Evening Parade is prone to debut. Whereas there have been openings round then in recent times, these have all been attributable to development. Assuming no points with growth or casting or rehearsals, it’s arduous to see Walt Disney World voluntarily choosing a date that late.
Once more, debuting later is a nasty concept as a result of then it “competes” with Common’s model new theme park. It might be loopy to place Starlight in opposition to Epic Universe. Walt Disney World could be a lot better off transferring the parade ahead and making an attempt to seize as many vacationers and achieve momentum by doing the other–not competing head-to-head in opposition to a model new theme park in an unwinnable battle. I’ve gotta assume Walt Disney World realizes this, and would see the chance in grabbing attendance and occupancy earlier than Epic Universe hits and causes no matter injury its opening goes to inflict upon Disney.
My private hope is that Disney Starlight Evening Parade debuts at the least per week or two earlier than Memorial Day and as half of a bigger package deal of leisure. They’ve already introduced the brand new Villains stage present at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, now we simply want a contemporary competition at EPCOT and a drone present at Animal Kingdom to spherical out such a theoretical celebration.
I’ve already laid out all of this when making the case for a return of Summer season Nightastic, so I’m not going to rehash that right here. The animating concept is popping 2025 right into a summer time/season of spectaculars, anchored round new and reimagined leisure.
Actually, what I’d actually wish to see–that looks like wishful pondering–is a 2-week gentle opening of Disney Starlight as a ‘shock and delight’ kinda deal. Extra importantly, to present Magic Kingdom operations time to seek out its footing with crowd management and scheduling. They’re gonna want it.
By the point Starlight debuts, it’ll have been 9 years since an evening parade final rolled down Important Road. That’s an eternity in Walt Disney World phrases, particularly while you account for every little thing that’s occurred in between–particularly the Forged Member turnover and lack of institutional data. I think that only a few frontline Forged Members working Parade Viewers Management (PAC) are nonetheless round from then. Extra importantly, I concern that only a few Magic Kingdom managers nonetheless are–which means they’ll don’t have any clue find out how to deal with PAC until they fly in a workforce from Anaheim.
No matter when it debuts, I’m past excited for Walt Disney World to lastly get an evening parade once more. Greater than something that’s gone lacking from Walt Disney World within the final decade, I miss the night time parade. Particularly, I miss SpectroMagic, which is the parade at Magic Kingdom that I bear in mind once I was rising up, and which was the parade that was working the primary a number of years Sarah and I visited Walt Disney World collectively.
In all chance, Walt Disney World can have sufficient runway with Disney Starlight Evening Parade that they’ll be capable to announce a debut date that followers can plan round months upfront. Ideally, I’d like to have an announcement in the course of the ABC Christmas Day Parade–that’s when many households begin planning and reserving holidays for the next 12 months.
That is likely to be deemed too early, and prone to minimize into winter and spring break bookings. (I disagree–winter is inherently enticing for climate together with different promoting factors; ditto spring break, which can be a college recess.) Regardless, I’d hope we hear some kind of tease concerning the parade then, together with a gap date announcement no later than February.
Bringing an evening parade to Florida ought to present a desperately wanted goodwill win for Walt Disney World and provide new nostalgia to an entire technology of followers. After all the value will increase, nickel & diming, launch of Lightning Lanes, cuts to issues like Disney’s Magical Categorical, Additional Magic Hours, on and on—followers may use optimistic information and a purpose to really feel much less cynical. Despite the fact that it clearly can’t “compete” with Epic Universe, it’s a extremely large deal for Disney followers…and there are a whole lot of us! We’ll preserve you posted about all the developments relating to Disney Starlight Parade.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your predicted begin date for Starlight? Trying ahead to Walt Disney World’s first brand-new night time parade in many years? Are you excited by Magic Kingdom getting its personal gentle parade in Summer season 2025? Has your Walt Disney World expertise been negatively impacted by the dearth of an evening parade? Any floats, franchises, characters, nods to SpectroMagic or Magic Road Electrical Parade, and many others., that you simply’re hoping to see out of the brand new Disney Starlight night time parade? Another questions or remark? Listening to suggestions about your experiences is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
