Disneyland Teases the Return of the Main Street Electrical Parade

Disneyland’s perennial Main Street Electrical Parade could soon be lighting up the night for the first time since its limited summer run in 2019. Disney teased a return of MSEP on their social media accounts this morning but very little information has been released. Keep reading for what we know and some of our speculation about its return.

Disney Parks Big Electrical Parade Tease

Disney posted new social media posts on the Disney Parks Tik-Tok and Instagram that featured some behind-the-scenes action of MSEP. The video includes a snippet of the spinning snail vehicle moving through a warehouse towards a moving truck, which is supposedly headed towards Disneyland. Take a look at the video below:

@disneyparks

Thousands of sparkling lights ✨ #ToBeContinued #Disney #DisneyParks #Disneyland #Magic #Lights

♬ original sound – Disney Parks

The Main Street Electrical Parade was switched on for the first time at Disneyland in 1972 and ran until 1996 when it was marketed as “Glowing away forever.” After that, the parade operated in limited engagements at Walt Disney World before returning to Disneyland once again. There have been other versions of the parade that have run over the years in Disney Parks all over the world, including Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney. 

The parade includes floats and characters from older Disney movies that have been fully dressed in dazzling lights. There are over 600,000 bulbs used for the parade, and it remains a staple in Disney entertainment. 

 

After a summer of lowered attendance in 2019, the Electrical Parade was brought back and described as Disneyland’s “perennial parade.” The return of the classic parade packed Disneyland every night during its limited run. This was our coverage at the time…

The Main Street Electrical Parade Returns to Disneyland

Disney has yet to confirm a date or which park the parade would run. Though a case for either park could be made. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary for the Electrical Parade, which might make a compelling case for it to return to its Main Street roots. However, Disneyland has both parades and fireworks for this Holiday season and Fantasmic could be returning within a few months as well… that makes Disney California Adventure a prime candidate as it currently has no nighttime entertainment.

The return of this sparkly parade would be a major step toward the normalization of entertainment for the Disneyland Resort. Although, Disneyland is currently running the Frightfully Fun Parade to Oogie Boogie Bash guests and the iconic A Christmas Fantasy Parade will return on November 12.

Other parades in flux at the Disneyland Resort are the short-lived Magic Happens Parade which opened just a couple of weeks before the park shutdowns of 2020, and the big budget Paint the Night Parade which has been conspicuously missing from the calendar since November of 2018 (and had runs at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure).  

Be sure to check back as we will update this article as more information comes in!

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Tell us what you think: Are you glad to see the Main Street Electrical Parade return to Disneyland or would you rather have the newer Paint the Night (or perhaps see one return to each of Disneyland Resort’s parks)? And what do you think is the right time for the parade to return, and to which park? Share your thoughts below.

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