The Festival of Fantasy Parade Preview At Walt Disney World

When the Magic Kingdom’s new Festival Fantasy parade debuts in March, audiences young and old will be awestruck by the costumery, the pageantry and the addition of Disney’s newest Princesses. 

Yes, let’s get that out of the way first — for all parents of Frozen-obsessed children like mine, Frozen’s Anna and Elsa will join the 3 o’clock parade in the Princess Garden float which leads the Festival of Fantasy. (I can hear your kids screaming as loudly as mine!) 

This week I had the privilege of attending the high-fashion, red-carpet debut of a sampling of the new parade costumes, and they are Fab-u-lous! Seriously folks, I know my Disney parades and the level of detail that has gone into this parade is exquisite. 

My pictures are just not going to do this parade justice because wouldn’t you know, when I arrived for this beautiful event I realized that my memory card was in my computer — at home. So we are strictly looking at camera phone pics here people. Oiy!

Seven new floats will parade down Main Street USA featuring a cast of more than 100 classic Disney characters (and an additional 40 characters presented in animated or sculptural form).

While Disney won’t giveaway all of the secrets, I can tell you that my girls were delighted to hear that Rapunzel, Merida, Ariel and Aurora will each have their own floats. (My oldest is a Sleeping Beauty fan and my youngest a The Little Mermaid fan — how perfect is that.) 

We got a peek at three of the characters from Ariel’s entourage including Sea Shell girl. 

Not only is she gorgeous, but I am in awe of her headdress which was built in a 3D printer. How cool and high tech is that. (I so badly wanted to touch it!) 

More 3D printing – the Raven’s headpiece from the Sleeping Beauty unit was also created in a 3D printer. Seriously awesome, right? (And watch out for his wings — the Raven has a wing span of 12 feet!)

If you think the Raven is menacing, check out this Thorn guy (also from the Sleeping Beauty unit). Prince Phillip has his work cut out for him fighting off these guys.

The centerpiece for our sneak preview was the Peter Pan float, which includes a rocking Jolly Roger that sits atop a shimmering rainbow 28 feet above the parade route.

The Captain himself will swing from the anchor below fighting off a band of feisty Lost Boys. They boys were nice enough to allow a “girl” to join their pack for a moment (only if I promised them a story).

There is so much to love about the Festival of Fantasy parade, and it hasn’t even hit the street yet. The official launch date is still unknown, but it is expected to be sometime in March. I can’t wait to see the rest of the surprises Disney has in store.

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