DISNEY WORLD FESTIVAL OF FANTASY PARADE – As a Disney park goer, I have changed over the years. The first time I went to Disney World with my wife for our honeymoon, I was there to not only enjoy our new life together, but take in the park as much as possible. After all, it was my first time as an adult visiting the park. As we added kids to our family, I began to see the parks through their eyes.
Now, I get the biggest kick out of little things. One of my favorite memories everytime we go to Disney is that moment in a parade where a character, typically a Princess, connects with one of our boys, waves, and smiles. Their eyes light up, knowing they have been touched by the beauty of a Disney Princess.
During this recent visit to Disney, when my wife went off with friends and our oldest son to ride Splash Mountain, I had the baby (1) and our middle son (3). It also just so happen to be the start of the Festival of Fantasy parade, which starts adjacent to Splash Mountain.
Seeing as we had not scoped out the perfect spot an hour ahead of time, I was not sure of what to expect since it was starting within a matter of moments.
As I crossed the Splash Mountain bridge, the area was crowded with anticipation of the parade. Little did I know, the cast members were about to close down the crosswalk for the parade to begin. Fortunately, that meant the rope was ran across the path and it gave the boys and I a front row viewing, though set back a little.
Prime spot for the beginning of the parade.
Beauty and the Beast Float
Frozen Float
The new parade features gorgeous floats with all the latest characters. Of course Anna and Elsa currently the lead in the most popular category. So when they appeared on the back of the first float, guests went wild with excitement.
Tangled Float
Little Mermaid Float
Peter Pan Float
Tick Tock Float
Brave Float
During our first parade viewing, we were fortunate to see the dragon breathe fire. During my second parade viewing a week later with the rest of my family, the dragon was not breathing fire.
Dragon Float
Pinocchio Float
When we visited the Magic Kingdom a week later with the rest of our family, we were fortunate to have a little bit of lead time until the parade started. Somewhere between a half hour and hour, we decided to snag the very corner of the parade route near Splash Mountain.
My earlier visit taught me where the path would be closed off and how there would be no one in front of us. With know one lined up on the path, it gave us a perfect vantage point to keep an eye out for those daddy moments that would stick with me and make the entire trip worth it.
You can watch our full video of the parade on the InACents YouTube channel.
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Source: InACents