Looking Back at Magic Kingdom’s “Remember the Magic” Parade from 1996 (Vintage Series #4)
Hi everyone!
This week’s vintage article is on the “Remember the Magic” Parade from Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary. Jeff chose these photos from his archives for our fourth article in the series as we get closer to Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, “The World’s Most Magical Celebration“. The 25th anniversary kicked off in 1996 and included Cinderella as a pink birthday cake with candy embellishments at the Magic Kingdom, which elicited strong reactions on both sides (I wasn’t a fan, but I enjoy looking back on the photos now).
Here is a look at Cinderella Cinderella Castle down Main Street U.S.A.
The “Remember the Magic” Parade is one of my favorite parades ever with also my favorite parade soundtrack.
“Your heart could just take wing
You could live out all your dreams
No matter how, no matter when
You can reach that world again
It’s like a dream come true
That lives inside of you
It’s time to remember the magic!”
The mirror float is still in use today, currently for the Royal Princess Processional at the Magic Kingdom. Here, the float says “Remember the Magic” and includes a variety of characters from Sorcerer Mickey to Chip and Dale, Minnie and more.
Cinderella and Prince Charming also were among the characters on this float.
The Little Mermaid float included fish in front of it.
Ariel holds up her arms. In the background, “Mickey’s Big Break” is promoted for the Main Street Cinema, which still was a cinema as it is at Disneyland to current day.
Belle joins Beast on this float. The film “Beauty and the Beast” was only five years old at this point.
There was an Audio-Animatronic Lumiere as part of the float.
Aladdin and Jasmine were in front of a giant Genie.
Simba, Pumba and Zazu were among the characters on the float for “The Lion King”.
Heading to Liberty Square, the Main Street Philharmonic included at least one member that I still recognize.
The fire engine carries a family across the bridge.
Snow White can be seen on the expansive finale float, with Dopey and in the background, White Rabbit is partially visible. There were many characters on this float.
More of the Seven Dwarfs were behind the float.
Pinocchio, Wendy, Peter Pan and Gepetto are the last characters here, with the end of the parade rope and Cast Members right behind them.
I am glad I was able to see the “Remember the Magic” fairly often back then. The next Magic Kingdom Parade that I really enjoyed watching was Disney “Festival of Fantasy” Parade, which debuted in 2014 but hadn’t returned yet since the parks reopened.
Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary kicks off on October 1st, 2021 for 18 months and will include a new fireworks spectacular called Disney Enchantment.
If you are looking for Walt Disney World 50th books, the ones we look most forward to are:
Disney World at 50: The Stories of How Walt’s Kingdom Became Magic in Orlando
Birnbaum’s 2022 Walt Disney World: The Official Vacation Guide (Birnbaum Guides)