Disney reveals more floats for new Magic Kingdom parade
Walt Disney World again has shared updates on the nighttime parade slated to debut this summer at Magic Kingdom, so it may be a good time to recap what we know – and don’t know yet – about “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away.”
The parade was announced at a gathering of D23, Disney’s official fan club, last summer. “Starlight” will be the first nighttime parade in the theme park since October 2016, when the Main Street Electrical Parade wrapped its WDW run.
“There’s something so special about a nighttime show inside a Disney park. It’s a tradition that goes back more than 50 years to the Main Street Electrical Parade,” Michael Hundgen, Walt Disney World portfolio executive producer with Walt Disney Imagineering, said at a D23 session in Brazil last year.
“This new show, ‘Disney Starlight,’ will add to that legacy,” he said. “It uses the latest technology to tell all new stories with the characters that everybody absolutely loves.”
Judging from the illustrations of the ‘Starlight’ floats from Disney provided, the parade appears to be populated by old-school princesses and modern animated-movie characters.
On the parade’s recently released “official poster,” there are nine characters, including Elsa from “Frozen,” Cinderella with her Prince Charming, Miguel and the winged Pepita from “Coco,” Moana, Peter Pan with Wendy alongside the Blue Fairy from “Pinocchio.” (The poster will be placed below the railroad station at Magic Kingdom’s entrance, Disney says.)
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The fairy has been announced as the lead of the parade, and her star-tipped wand represents an illuminated through-line of the magic through the procession. A recent Disney Parks Blog post mentioned that it’s the “first star you’ll see tonight,” which easily ties into a song near the beginning of the now-retired “Wishes” spectacular at Magic Kingdom.
The brightly colored “Coco” float will have guitar-strumming Miguel (plus pet/spirit animal Dante) at the marigold bridge to the Land of the Dead, a “larger-than-life” Pepita and Mariachi music.
The rendering for the “Encanto” float spotlights butterflies, an enormous large candle plus characters including Mirabel, Bruno and Isabel who, according to Disney, will “swing on floral vines just like she does in the film.”
We’ll look at the waves and sea life for the “Moana” float as the title character is accompanied by her pet pig and HeiHei.

The artwork for a new princess float shows Tiana and Naveen, Cinderella and Charming, Aurora and Phillip plus Belle and Beast. There’s a centerpiece fountain that Disney says is inspired by artist Mary Blair’s original concept artwork for “Cinderella.” The lineup appears flexible, and Disney says this unit will include “royal court dancers.”
A recent update noted that float construction was happening across the United States, that design and choreography was being done in Florida and music recorded in London.
The debut date of “Disney Starlight” remains secret, although the parade recently was added to the official website and the My Disney Experience app. But no step-off times were available at least through May 10. The park continues to produce the “Festival of Fantasy” parade in daylight hours.
Other Disney attractions coming this summer include “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” and “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” shows at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Their debut dates have not been announced. Epcot watchers are anticipating the reopening of Test Track this year.
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