My love for Festival of Fantasy Parade

Some people consider parades and shows to be a waste of valuable park touring time. They’d rather take advantage of shorter lines for popular rides. While I understand the desire to make the best use of time, missing Festival of Fantasy would be missing  important parts of the overall Disney experience.

If you have seen The Festival of Fantasy parade in the Magic Kingdom, you understand why I love it so much. If you haven’t seen it, and it’s been a while since you’ve watched one of the parades, you will be surprised how far they’ve come in the quality of their shows. The music is catchy, the performers have great energy and the costuming is amazing. It’s so visually beautiful it’s a photographers dream.

What really stands out the most is the quality and training of the character performers really exceeds any former parades. They consistently use just a few cast members for the key “face” characters. It’s great for younger kids who can sometimes spot it if suddenly a certain character looks very different from one parade to another. (My son always could) It also lets these cast members really embrace a certain character. I have seen the parade quite a few times and have developed my favorite performers. While they are all good, some just really stand out. I went yesterday and took a ton of pictures of the parade.

Here’s a tip: I started watching the parade in Liberty Square right in front of the Christmas shop. Then once it passed by I cut thru the shop to come out where Tiana does her M&G and headed past Crystal Palace to Main Street to catch back up with the parade and get a few more shot at the end of it. 🙂 You can almost see the whole thing twice if you can move quick enough.

Naveen & Tiana: These two have so much personality! Two of my favorites.

Merida: Can you just see the personality in her? She is my favorite. When she does her little Merida “chase the wind” dance she is feeling it. The bear pose? And her bow and arrow? It’s hard to get a clear shot of her because she is in constant motion. Her energy is perfect.

Anna and Elsa: I know we’re all a little over the Frozen fever. (I know I am.) And nothing against Elsa, but I haven’t been as impressed with her character performances in a while. But Anna is fantastic. Maybe it’s just that she’s an easier character to enjoy, she’s so bubbly and cute. But Anna in these pics above is seriously perfection. Her dimples. I mean, really. And she doesn’t overdo the goofy spastic side of Anna. (which some do. Just saying)

Peter Pan & the Lost Boys: Peter pictured here has quite a large fan following and it’s for good reason. Many YouTube videos of his Meet & Greets are online with people raving about their character experience with him. And these Lost Boys just have way too much fun during the parade choreography. 🙂

Tinkerbell: She really doesn’t need any explanation- the pictures show it all. I think that Tink more than any other character really has to have the right sass and mischievousness. Plus she needs to be very tiny. She is a pixie after all.

What’s your favorite part of Festival of Fantasy? It’s hard to pick just one. Also, check out my Flickr albums to see all of the pictures from the parade. (link at bottom of page)

Serena Lynhttps://livingbydisney.com
Hi there, I'm Serena and I created Living by Disney when I moved next door to Disney World in Orlando Florida. I don't work for Disney and don't represent the company, but after moving here I made it my job to share unbiased tips and strategies to help you get the most out of your Walt Disney World vacation!

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Comments

  1. I always enjoy when the last group of classic characters pass by. I love how Dopey is sitting on Sneezy, Jimminy Cricket leading the dance section, and the Hatter is always a riot. I once heard him tell Alice that the one ride he wants to go on is Tink’s flight path on the Castle from Wishes 😛

  2. Me too! Love that they combined the classic with some new characters. And when they have some characters freely walk up to guests and interact. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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