As you know, the classic Main Street Electrical Parade made it’s final run this past weekend at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. When we first announced this news, there was mixed reviews to say the least. People on the West coast were happy to hear that the parade was coming back home to Disneyland. Some WDW goers were sad that it was leaving. Others….. well, they said it’s about time, and they were looking forward to something new. Me? Well, I didn’t think about it too much… until I was actually watching it for the last time.
With Hurricane Matthew in our area last weekend, I wasn’t sure when or if we’d get to see the Electrical Parade before it left. Disney World closing was a huge deal, that never happens. Luckily, the weather moved past and WDW was open for business again on Saturday. The last night for the parade was Sunday, but as a mom with kids in school, I knew going on a “school night” wasn’t going to happen, so Saturday night was my chance. We got to the park a little earlier, so we could watch Festival of Fantasy and go on some rides. When it got near time for the 9:00 parade, the entire parade route was incredibly crowded. More so than I’d ever seen. We couldn’t find a decent spot on the route, so we made the decision to wait till the 11:00 parade, to ensure that we’d be able to see. Now, normally, the 11:00 Main Street Electrical Parade is pretty bare, you can find a great place to see the parade, always! Not on Saturday night. So many people were waiting to get just one more look. One more piece of nostalgia…..
We waited over an hour, and when I heard the parade music I grabbed my phone and did a live feed on The Main Street Mouse’s Facebook page. I have seen the Main Street Electrical Parade more times than I could count, but knowing that was possibly my last time seeing it, well, it hurt a pinch. I had a lump in my throat the entire time. I was trying to watch the parade, hold my camera still, watch Main Streeter comments…. multi tasking at it’s best. When anything that I’m doing means something to me, I always take a mental note, and try to take it all in. Granted, the parade is going to Disneyland, and I “could” see it there, but lets face it, WDW is much closer for us. As the parade went by, and I saw the final float coming, out came the tears. What in the world? It surprised me a little, I guess it’s like how the old saying goes, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, or just about gone. When we do live feeds, I try to turn the camera around to talk to our viewers, just to give it a personal touch. But… I was crying. Scott looked at me, and asked “are you going to flip it?” meaning the camera, and I paused. He’s like, “do it,” so I did. So if you were watching, then you all got to see me cry, but hey, that’s me, what you see is what you get. I’m a true Disney geek down to my core, and those emotions that Disney continues to stir up in my heart can’t be denied. No shame in that. It is what it is… and yes, my dear Main Street Electrical Parade, I shall miss you.
I know Disney is always changing, always growing, just as Walt wanted. Granted, I don’t do change well, but that’s part of loving Disney, you have to learn to adjust and be open to new things. As of now, there isn’t a new parade replacing the old one, nothing new ready to go. MSEP is going back to Disneyland where it came from, and we are left to wait and see what’s next. People thought Paint the Night was coming here, but that’s not the case, that’s staying at Disneyland too. What about the beloved and now retired Spectromagic? Nope, the floats were taken apart, so they’d have to rebuild it. It’s going to be strange at night over at the Magic Kingdom, with no evening parade. Sure it’s an adjustment, but we have to put our faith in the amazing people at Disney to bring us the next best thing when they’re ready to. So Disneyland, it’s your turn to get dazzled with this magical production in the evenings. For us here at Walt Disney World… it’s been great. The Main Street Electrical Parade leaves behind a footprint in all our hearts. Thank you for the memories MSEP, we hope to see ya real soon.
*You can watch the replay of the live footage from Saturday night on our Facebook page!
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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