Walt Disney World has seen fresh details about the new night parade coming to the Magic Kingdom theme park. “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away” will be off for the first time on July 20th.
Parade times will be 9pm and 11pm, starting from Main Street and returning to Frontierland, a reversal of the regular course of Magic Kingdom Parade. According to the official Disney Parks blog, this “enables better guest flow at the end of the night.”
Not only is it close to the park’s closing time, but some Disney fans have the habit of walking behind the parade’s final float, so a change of direction may separate the crowd from those leaving Magic Kingdom at night.
Disney also said “Starlight” doesn’t happen on the night of Mickey’s less sensible Halloween party events. Not-So-Scary will take place on select nights from August 15th to October 31st.
Disney Date: When Boneyard gets bored when Epcot’s test track opens again
The company has released the Drib and Drab Parade facts since its launch at the D23 Expo in August.
The parade features a blue fairy as a through line and guide light, while the final float features Mickey and Minnie mice. Among the other characters seen in “Starlight” are Peter Pan, Wendy, Asha, Mirabelle, Isabella, Bruno, Elsa, Aurora, Tiana, Cinderella, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Bell, and Beast.
Social media posts show that work has been carried out in parade floats in New York and California, new music has been recorded in London and performers have begun rehearsals in Florida.
“Starlight” is the first night parade at Magic Kingdom since 2016, when the main street electric parade was last unfolded.
The expected demand for the new parade has led Disney World to change its pass holder reservation requirements. As of July 20th, annual pass holders must be making park-specific reservations at Magic Kingdom every day. This is a limited time only, Disney says, and pass holders can go to Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom just after 2pm without a park reservation.
Disney: New Goofy Call brings cool kids energy, Epcot dance party
Please email dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Bluesky: @themeparksdb. Thread account: @dbevil. X Account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.
Original issue: June 20, 2025, 11:47am EDT
