On June 17, 1972 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, something magical began. The original “Main Street Electrical Parade” premiered and was held at Disneyland almost every summer until it “retired” in 1996. “Mainstreet Electrical Parade” is an array of 23 illuminated floats, more than half a million colored lights, synthesizer music, and 80 performers. A different version of the “Main Street Electrical Parade” was created for Magic Kingdom in 1977 and was presented until 1991, when “SpectroMagic” replaced it. The original parade that was held in Disneyland was brought to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom for a limited time from 1996 until 2001 and then premiered at Disney California Adventure in July 2001 as “Disney’s Electrical Parade.” “Mainstreet Electrical Parade” has been peformed at Disneylad Resort in California over 5,000 times. The original floats were a lot less three-dimensional than the floats currently used. Some new floats have been added over the years, just as some floats have retired. Some of the retired floats include the “It’s A Small World” float, Briny Deep float, and special floats for Disneyland’s 25th Anniversary(1980) and Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday (1988). One of the orginial, and biggest, floats near the beginning of the parade was created using a bass drum and was called the Title Drum Unit. Mickey Mouse used to beat the drum with giant drumstricks in the Disneylad parades in the 1960’s. This year, Walt Disney World Resort brought back the parade for the first time since 2001 for Magic Kingdom’s Summer Nightastic!, which started June 6, 2010. It was first expected to continue only for the the Summer Nightastic! event, but due to popular demand, it was extended. Sadly, however, the “Mainstreet Electrical Parade” is coming to a close tomorrow, August 14, 2010, and will hopefully be brought back indefinitely to the Summer Nightastic! event in Walt Disney World Resort.
