A Festival of Fantasy is the Magic Kingdom Parade that takes places every afternoon inside the famous Disney Park. A must-see parade for guests of all ages that features elaborate floats and a large variety of Disney Characters along with classic Disney music too.
In this article we will take you through everything a Festival of Fantasy related so that you know what to expect during your Disney World Vacation.
History of A Festival of Fantasy Parade
The parade started back in March 2014 with the theme of bringing the stories that feature in the new Fantasyland into to the whole of the park. The parade celebrates these Disney movies and stories.
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What Time Does the Parade Start?
The Magic Kingdom Parade usually starts at either 2 pm or 3 pm in the afternoon. Prior to the Parade starting Cast Members will start marking tape on the floor and putting up ropes in certain areas of Magic Kingdom to indicate where guests must stand (or sit) to watch the Parade.
You can find up to date times on the Disney World Website here.
Up to an hour before the Parade you will find that park guests start taking their places to watch the parade. Usually guests will start to take up places along Main Street USA, Frontierland and the Hub. Depending on crowd levels you can usually get a decent spot 20 to 30 minutes before the parade starts.
Festival of Fantasy Parade Route
The Parade starts from Frontierland next to Splash Mountain making its way to Liberty Square, onto the hub and then through Main Street USA where it concludes by passing through the gates beside the Town Square Firehouse.
Parade Floats and Characters
A Festival of Fantasy is made up of the following floats:
Princess Garden
The Princess Garden Float Features:
- Cinderella and Prince Charming
- Tiana and Naveen
- Belle and the Beast
- Anna and Elsa
Tangled Float
This Tangled themed float features:
- Rapunzel
- Flynn Rider
- A host of dastardly thugs also feature
- Ulf le mime also makes an appearance (and dancers)
The Little Mermaid Float
- Ariel and some animatronic friends from under the sea
Peter Pan Float
The Peter Pan Float is a Pirate Ship and features:
- Peter Pan
- Wendy Darling
- Captain Hook
- Tinkerbell
- The Lost Boys accompany the float
- Tick Tock the crocodile also appears
Brave Float
This float is shaped like a large bagpipe and features:
- Merida
- Scottish dancers accompany the float
Sleeping Beauty Float
The sleeping beauty float is a steampunk inspired Maleficent in dragon form.
- Prince Phillip battles the dragon
- Flora, Fauna and Merryweather float through the parade route too
- Stilt performers and raven dancers also appear with the dragon
The dragon is articulated and can raise its head to breathe fire. The dragon actually caught fire in May 2018 but has since been redesigned and returned to the parade early in 2019.
Magical Caravan of Characters Float
A host of characters take part in the final part of the parade including:
- Pinocchio
- Jiminy Cricket
- Alice
- The Mad Hatter
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Pluto
- Donald Duck
- Daisy Duck
- Goofy
- Bubbles girls with cotton candy hair also appear with the characters.
Mickey’s Airship
Mickey’s airship is the final float which is an elaborate air balloon theme and you will never guess who features:
- Minnie Mouse
- Mickey Mouse
This then concludes the parade once it has finished in Main Street Square and it enters the backstage area.
A Festival of Fantasy Music
Various songs feature throughout the Magic Kingdom Parade including the theme song for the parade “Festival of Fantasy”.
Other songs that feature are:
Princess Garden
- Beauty and the Beast
- A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
- For the First Time in Forever
- Let it Go
Tangled
- I’ve Got a Dream
- When Will My Life Begin?
The Little Mermaid
- Kiss the Girl
- Part of Your World
- Under the Sea
Peter Pan
- A Pirate’s Life
- You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!
- The Elegant Captain Hook
- The Second Star to the Right
- Following the Leader
Brave
- Remember to Smile
- Fate and Destiny
- Touch the Sky
Sleeping Beauty
- A Cottage in the Woods
- Battle with the Forces of Evil
- Hail the Princess Aurora
- Once Upon a Dream
Magical Caravan of Characters and Mickey’s Airship
- Mickey Mouse Club March
- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
- When You Wish Upon a Star
- I’ve Got No Strings
- Whistle While You Work
- When I see an Elephant Fly
What Happens on a Rainy Day?
If the weather is too wet for the full A Festival of Fantasy Parade, it will be replaced by the Rainy Day Cavalcade. A lot less elaborate than the full parade but this is one that doesn’t get seen too often. A smaller selection of characters will appear in the covered Main Street vehicles and usually in a gazebo type float too. You will get to see a lot of characters that don’t usually appear in the normal parade. I have never been fortunate enough to see the Rainy Day Cavalcade but I would like to even if it does means I need to be in Magic Kingdom during a wet day.
You can read more about a Rainy at Disney World here or by clicking the image below.
Where to Watch the Parade
It can often be good to watch the parade from where it begins in Frontierland as you can move on sooner to enjoy the park compared to the rest of the crowds. We often watch from outside City Hall on Main Street Square as we will watch the parade and then park hop to another park. City Hall has some step you can watch from too if you arrive a little late. You stand a little further back, but you get a good view of the parade.
Festival of Fantasy Parade Dining Package
A dining package is available at Tony’s Town Square restaurant which as part of the package allows you to watch the parade from the middle of Main Street Town Square in a reserved area. I personally would just try to find your own spot as it isn’t usually too difficult. We have tried it and all I will say is that there are lot better places to enjoy a meal at Magic Kingdom or even at one of the resorts on the Monorail resort loop.
You can read more about the Monorail resort loop here.
Take a look at our Magic Kingdom Disney Genie Plus Guide
What to Do if You’re Not Watching the Parade
If you are in Magic Kingdom in the afternoon and choose not to watch the parade (you may have already seen it quite recently during your vacation) then you have a few options to take advantage of when the crowds are watching it.
You could head towards areas of the park away from the parade route to hopefully get on some attractions a little quicker. A good bet would be to head towards Tomorrowland and Fantasyland which are both a little distance away from the parade compared to Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square. Good rides to target might be Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, Tomorrowland Speedway and Dumbo.
You could also use this time to get something to eat and drink or a snack as most restaurants and kiosks away from the parade should be reasonably quiet. Again, I would head for Fantasyland or Tomorrowland away from the Magic Kingdom Parade route.
Do be aware that anywhere on the parade route will be busy and areas like Main Street USA won’t be quite as easy to make your way through.
I hope you found this article helpful and you get to see the Festival of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom as it is a lot of fun. If you would like to share this post to support our work and help us reach others planning a Disney World Vacation, please pin the image below (sharing is caring).
Thanks for stopping by.
Darren
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