Disneyland's Failed Parade: Light Magic

In October of 1996, after decades of wowing guests old and young alike, Disneyland said goodbye to the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was a fan favorite, but the parade was showing signs of age and in an increasingly competitive industry it was time to create something new and exciting in order to keep moving forward. That something would be Disneyland’s Light Magic.

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📰Sources

San Bernadino County Sun
“New #Disneyland parade lacks spark” (May 18 1997)

Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Disneyland show debuts” (May 23 1997)

San Francisco Examiner
“Disney redefines the night with Light Magic” (Jun 01 1997)

Los Angeles Times
“Hotel Rates Up 12%” (Feb 12 1998)
“Disney to Turn Off the Lights on Latest Parade” (Oct 15 1997)
“Viewers Less Than Dazzled by Disneyland’s New Show” (May 15 1997)
“Spin Takes on New Meaning in CD Press Kit” (May 15 1997)
“Disneyland’s Light Magic Show Falls on Dark Days” (Oct 15 1997)
“Hercules Is the New Hero at Disneyland” (Jul 05 1997)
“Fiber Optic Firm Alleges Disney Hurt Reputation” (May 13 1998)
“After a Miss, Hit Parade?” (Jun 19 1998)

[brianhrvey]

Hi rob
As a former cast member I need to tell you
My now husband and I were there on preview night
Not only did the crowd boo...which I was ... as an actor was furious over. You don’t boo the performers...they are working their butts off up there
Anyway...That aside, we were sitting not 3 feet from Michael Eisner
When the show was over he was holding his crushed Coke cup in his hand
Turn to the guide to his left and said
Fix it!
And stormed off stage

[BobsledRider]

It really is a shame because Light Magic's musical score was absolutely beautiful. They should've put this show in the Fantasyland Theatre to be performed on an actual stage; it probably would've done a bit better.

[jordanb]

Hey Rob, have you thought about doing a video on the Disney and McDonald's history? I know they had a fairly lengthy alliance with an abrupt end, but it would be interesting to hear more about what took place.

[racafritz]

The best part of this parade was hearing a child crying while in the distance hearing a red solo cup being kicked at the end. Amazing that the crowd was that quiet you could hear that.

[PepperTreeVilla]

Rob, Light Tragic was a horrible mess. I yawned through the whole performance until close to the end of the parade. It was at that time that we heard The Baroque Hoedown in the soundtrack. It just made everyone mad at that point because it was pouring salt in a wound. We actually mourned the loss of the Main Street Electrical Parade all over again that summer. I still remember all the construction through the Small World Mall. They had to replace the pavement with concrete otherwise the floats/moving stages would have sunk in the pavement due to their weight.

[UmmYeahOk]

The parade’s two stoppage points reminded me of WDW’s Remember the Magic parade. It didn’t stop twice. It stopped several times. Enough for each float to stop by you regardless of where you were on the parade route. When the parade stopped, everyone was encouraged to occupy the street and dance around with the performers from whatever float was there. You were part of the parade, part of the Magic. The interactivity is what made the parade work.

[MarkWurstMagic]

My wife and I were at that Annual Passholder preview event. The parade was riddled with technical glitches. Sometimes the floats were completely dark for several minutes at a time. We complained and ended up receiving a free dinner for 2 at the Blue Bayou. That turned out to be a much better Disney experience.

[jthomas]

They still have an Electrical light parade at Tokyo Disneyland and it's amazing!

[BUH]

Disney greatly overestimated the appeal of Riverdance.

[screwball]

Back in 1997, I lived very close to Disneyland and with my Annual Pass, visited the park almost every Friday night. I remember watching Light Magic and thinking, "That's it? That's supposed to replace Main Street Electrical Parade? What were they thinking?!?!" My attendance to park didn't drop, but I wasn't watching Light Magic on Friday nights either. Great video Rob!

[spinlok]

Those fairy characters were really disturbing looking as well...

[michaeleiniger]

Can you do an episode just on the Main Street Electrical Parade, and maybe discuss why Disney is so continually intent on replacing it?

[limeycp]

Finally someone has talked about Light Magic!!! This is one of my favorite things to bring up to Disney fans cause usually no one knows about it!

[slennon]

I worked on this show. It was a logistical nightmare. Yet part of me misses it.

[lohphat]

It was known by the cast members as “Night Tragic”. The entire project was a mess. They were trying to recreate the success of Party Gras but at night. The professional stage AGVA union had problems with the street show concepts such as Main Street Hop and Party Gras because they claimed the floats were stages and the performers should be paid state union wages.

The park gave in during Main Street Hop and paid the live vocalists union wages. Most parade performers received little over minimum wage at the time -- I think that's still the case but I've been gone 25 years now. Keep in mind that even stage performers at Disney are only paid union wages if their faces are showing. If you’re in a character head and doing the same choreography you are not an AGVA member and are not paid union stage wages for the same work.

[orlandotouristtraps]

Floats approach and just as quickly they're gone. That sums it up. It is what people expect and enjoy. Spontaneous and ever changing for the duration of the experience.

[barbaralong]

This was my FAVORITE parade when I was a kid!

[pepsiaddictgaming]

I was just thinking about this yesterday but couldn't remember the name -- Rob pulls through again.

[kaleighsue]

THIS IS IT!! This was my FAVORITE parade when I was little!! My sister and I have been looking for footage of this parade for YEARS and have never found it until now. We’ve called it the “Fairy Parade” over the years because that was our favorite part of the show. Thank you for posting this!!!! Sad to hear it was a “failure, ” but oh man did it make a lasting impact on me as a child.

[alfredwalters]

I was at the premiere as I was a cast member at the time. Let’s just say people where speechless. Actually it was a lot of silence, murmurs and WTF comments. Cast members immediately called it light tragic.