Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is usually exclusive to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, but on November 9 & 10, guests at the Magic Kingdom can catch a rare daytime performance. The parade is being filmed for ABC’s Disney Parks Christmas Special, though details for this year’s special have yet to be announced.
Typically, the parade will also be performed for a limited window after the end of the season for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. The last party is on December 20 this year. In the past, the parade has run for the week of Christmas, but no announcements have been made at this time.
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade travels from Frontierland to the end of Main Street, U.S.A. As we noted in our post about the parade’s nighttime return, the soundtrack has been updated to include music from “The Nutcracker.” Choreography has changed to reflect the new music.
Donald, Daisy, Mary Poppins, Bert, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and more classic Disney characters start the parade. Daisy and Donald are in green and red holiday outfits. The other characters mostly wear scarves.
The first float features giant presents and a tall Christmas tree. Mickey and Minnie, in their own holiday apparel, stand on sparkly platforms.
They are followed by the “Frozen” unit. Kristoff and Anna join dancers in the streets, while Olaf is on a house float and Elsa is on a long snowy float with Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post. This year, Anna and Elsa traded their classic “Frozen” outfits for their blue winter apparel from “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.”
Vanellope Von Schweetz leads the gingerbread unit in a holiday version of her candy racecar. Behind her are Chip and Dale dressed as bakers.
Clarice the chipmunk follows on a colorful gingerbread house float. Clarice was added to the parade last year.
A group of gingerbread men and elves dance behind Clarice’s gingerbread house. Clarabelle Cow dances on a kitchen float featuring giant treats.
Goofy has brought candy to the celebration with his giant candy machine float. This float is reused from Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with extra holiday decorations like a wreath on the front.
The Seven Dwarfs start the unit of Disney royals. Behind them is the gazebo float with Snow White and her Prince. The float has new light-up decorations but they were not illuminated during the day.
Cinderella and Prince Charming are in their horse-drawn carriage. A group of ballroom dancers follow behind.
The other princesses and princes are on the castle float, which gets a large “Happy Holidays” sign for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. The Fairy Godmother is at the back of the float.
Next up is the toy unit, featuring “Toy Story” characters. Green Army Men march with giant crayons and ride in a truck. There are dancing elves and teddy bears. Woody and other characters are in a float resembling stacked blocks.
The parade’s iconic troupe of toy soldiers finish out the toy unit, marching in rows.
Eight reindeer precede Santa Claus aboard his sleigh. This special float resembles snow-covered houses with the sleigh flying over them. For this version of the parade, Santa is joined by Mrs. Claus (who is not present during the party).
Watch our video of the daytime version of the 2024 Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade below, and check out our footage from the nighttime version of the parade as well.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.