Celebrating the Strange: The Weirdest Disney Theme Park Parades

If there’s one thing you can expect to find in many Disney theme parks, it’s parades. Since the first ever Disney daytime parade, the Character Parade, made its debut in 1971, these massive-scale street parties have been almost as iconic to Disney as castles and rides, and add an extra layer of musical magic to these already magical theme parks. Up until recently you could catch a parade at the Disneyland-style parks in California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and in the slightly more distant past, at parks like Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

But while some shows and parades are whimsical, enchanting and full of excitement, there are some that manage to entertain in strange ways no one thought possible. From a show that allowed you to meet Barbie in World Showcase, to one that misinformed guests about world history with the help of Goofy, take your seat or find a spot on Main Street and join me as I explore the weirdest and most eccentric Disney theme park parades!

Character Parade, Magic Kingdom (October-December 1971)

Where best to start this list than with the parade that started it all? Compared to the elaborate parades we have today, Magic Kingdom’s Character Parade may seem a little bland, with just a few antique cars, a marching band and a relatively limited set of characters, but the concept of a parade in a theme park was a completely new one back when the park opened its doors in 1971.

There isn’t a huge amount to talk about with this short but sweet original Disney parade, and it only lasted for a few months before Disney realised that there was real potential for a parade. Soon work began to go bigger and better with the next one, this time featuring floats, more characters and, later on in the parade’s lifespan, a large, quite intimidating dragon. This one didn’t breathe (or catch!) fire however like the Disney parade dragons today!

Cavalcade of Characters gave its first performance three years later in 1974, and along with its predecessor the Character Parade, paved the way for the iconic Disney parades we all know and love today!

Aladdin’s Royal Caravan, Hollywood Studios, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris (December 1992-August 1995)

In a parade themed around a film set in the distant past (or thousands of years in the future if you believe that theory!) it would be a bit weird to see a caravan like the name of this 90s parade suggests. But although an Aladdin-themed caravan would be pretty cool, Aladdin’s Royal Caravan didn’t exactly include any motorhomes, just the genie on every single float in the parade.

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Aladdin was released in cinemas on 25th November 1992, based on the classic tale of Arabian Nights, and follows the adventures of ‘street rat’ Aladdin, wonderlust Princess Jasmine, a sentient flying carpet and their friends as they work to defeat the Sultan’s advisor Jafar as he attempts to take over the kingdom, and as you can imagine from the fact they made a parade, it was extremely popular. Parades themed to just one film or character aren’t as common now as they were back then, but they still exist, however they are a lot less weird today than they were at the height of their popularity.

This genie-fest of a parade started off strong- and gigantic- with the first float being a thirty-two foot genie looking very smug with his arms crossed and a big grin on his face. Performers would dance and hold up banners just in front to the song Prince Ali, making guests feel as if they were really in Agrabah when Aladdin and Genie were giving their Prince Ali parade.

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The next float would introduce you to the “seventy-five golden camels” Aladdin is said to have in the song (‘don’t they look lovely, June?’), though a little disappointingly only two could be seen. After this the Genie seems to be having a little trouble with his body- with his top half being flown on a balloon, and his bottom half walking along the parade route of its own accord. Ah, Disney, the happiest place you can see some of your favourite characters- from Heimlich of A Bug’s Life to Genie from Aladdin- chopped up into a concerning amount of pieces. Soon another one of Aladdin’s seventy five camels strides onto the parade route (though not golden sadly!), carrying Genie sitting for some reason in a bathtub, his body intact this time.

Following behind a range of performers in a range of costumes, came a float containing a regal golden palace…but it wouldn’t be a float in this strange parade without the Genie, and he appears twice this time, once in a snake basket and then spinning around on a pole. From this point there was another string of performers, and of course another Genie, before we actually get a glimpse of both the title character of both the parade and the movie. Here Aladdin can be spotted standing on top of his monkey-turned-elephant Abu, waving down to guests and probably wondering why on earth the Genie had to steal his show. The last thing guests would see before the parade ended was Jafar, pushing around some kind of golden contraption that, judging by the annoyed shouts from inside, contained his bird sidekick Iago. I kinda feel bad for Iago, he’s always getting pushed to the side and having his ideas stolen by Jafar!

Aladdin’s Royal Caravan, although not featuring a caravan or seventy-three of the golden camels mentioned in the song, ran for three years until August 27th 1995, to be replaced by the Toy Story Parade at Hollywood Studios in Florida, and the Lion King Celebration over at Disneyland in California. The Disneyland Paris version only ran for a short while in 1993. While the premise of the parade wasn’t particularly strange, the way it was executed certainly was, and some of this Aladdin craziness can still be found at Walt Disney World today. If you go to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom, you can still spot two of the camels that were used in the parade! It really is amazing how Disney places relics and Easter Eggs to the attractions and shows of the past around the parks, to remind of the magic that once was and still is.

Mickey Mania, Magic Kingdom (June 1994- September 1996) and Tokyo Disneyland (1995)

If there’s any attraction, show or parade at the Disney parks that will convince you that Mickey is more than a little full of himself, it’s this one. The Mickey Mania Parade ran during the mid-1990s in Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, and was a Mickey Mouse superfan’s dream, bombarding you with more of the mouse than you ever expected to see in the space of twelve minutes. Other characters made an appearance too, including Peter Pan, Alice, and Goofy, but, as the soundtrack says, Mickey Mania was essentially just “miles and miles of mouse”.

The versions in Florida and Tokyo were largely the same, and both began with a float stylised as a playground with a spiral slide and a bike ramp, featuring Donald, Pluto, Roger Rabbit and bizarrely not Mickey. But never fear, because it wasn’t too long before Mickey would show up, in the form of an inflatable Mickey inside a wire Mickey head shape on wheels. That’s a lot of Mickey… and at this point we’re only about three or four minutes in! The Mickey-fever continued with six inflatable walking Mickey oval shapes (definitely one of the weirdest looking parts of this parade!), followed by a short break from the mouse, brought to you by performers on space hoppers.

The next float was dominated by what is likely the largest Mickey head any of us have ever seen, displayed by a giant balloon and accompanied by Goofy and his son Max, as well as a few more balloons with Mickey’s face on them. After another wire-Mickey-silhouette-on-wheels, the parade would take a bit of a turn for the random, as if it wasn’t strange enough already. Characters including but not limited to Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Pinnochio, Alice and the Mad Hatter rode by on bikes, before Winnie The Pooh could be spotted waving from another Mickey-centric float. This float was a little more magical and whimsical than the others, decorated with bright spinning turbines and more Mickey teddies than you can possibly imagine.

A few random characters later, a music-themed float would appear, featuring Minnie and of course some more Mickey. The next segment was themed to the magic of time and clocks, featuring some walking analogue clocks just casually strolling along as if they aren’t in the middle of one of the weirdest parades ever to decorate the streets of Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland.

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Soon it was about time (I’m sorry!) for another float, this time full of colourful cogs, Chip and Dale, and a Mickey Mouse with arms that move 360° around in a clock-like manner. After this more characters could be seen, with Jiminy Cricket, Cogsworth, The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, and the Tick-Tock Croc from Peter Pan, before the parade launched into its weirdest and creepiest segment yet. Mickey’s feet and hands would dance along the parade route, while the mouse himself stands on top of a float, probably in disguised horror as his detached body parts move along without him. And on this slightly concerning note, the parade ends, leaving guests to think about what on earth they just watched.

Mickey Mania continued to entertain and confuse guests throughout 1995 in Tokyo, and all the way until Autumn 1996 in Florida, before the mouse-insanity (mousesanity?) gave its final run and was replaced with other parades in the months following. Today, the parade is renowned as one of the strangest parades ever to be performed at a Disney theme park, and although there are some amazing parades at the parks currently, it is unlikely any can ever accomplish the strangeness of Mickey Mania or some of the other parades or shows on this list!

Magical World of Barbie and the LiMOUSEine, Epcot (1993-95)

Of all characters you would expect to find at a park themed to innovation and world travel like Epcot, Barbie is probably near the bottom of your list, especially considering that she’s not actually a Disney character. But just as in Barbie’s world “anything is possible”, any kind of randomness was possible in the early decades of Epcot, and this included the chance to meet Barbie and all her friends in the American Adventure pavilion in World Showcase.

The Barbie takeover began when toy company Mattel began sponsoring It’s A Small World over at the Magic Kingdom, and before long, Barbie was made Disney World’s “Ambassador of Friendship” in 1994. Disney and Mattel did try to market this as being because Barbie has represented so many cultures and nations around the world, but it was much more likely because of the sponsorship. By the end of 1993, a new show had debuted at World Showcase’s American Adventure, encouraging guests to use their imaginations and believe anything is possible, with the help of the characters you have heard of, like Barbie, Ken and Skipper, and the ones you probably haven’t, like Todd, Stacie, Jackie and Midge.

The show, titled Magical World of Barbie, ran until May 1995, and although it stole most of the spotlight, guests had another chance to see Barbie and all her friends, in what was sort of a parade, sort of a character meet-and-greet. In a stunning yet surprising contrast to the sophisticated architecture and theming of World Showcase, Barbie could be spotted near a bright pink life-size toy limo! Creatively named the LiMOUSEine, the car was originally created as part of Mickey’s 60th Birthday celebration in 1989, but was painted pink and quickly became the epitome of Epcot using IPs before it was popular. Hey, at least the ones now are actually owned by Disney!

The Magical World of Barbie celebration lasted until mid-1995, when the LiMOUSEine left Epcot and Barbie went back to just being a toy, and more recently, a movie character. Barbie wasn’t the only non-Disney children’s character to have a show at Disney World at the time however: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could also be found at Disney-MGM Studios! Of all the attractions and shows Walt Disney World has been home to since its opening in 1971, the early 1990s really did have some of the strangest of all.

The World According to Goofy, Disneyland (June-November 1992)

Have you ever wondered how some of the biggest global eras and events would have played out if Goofy had been there? No? Well, even so, you could previously find out at Disneyland in California, with help from a parade titled The World According To Goofy, running from June to November 1992. The parade was created to celebrate Goofy’s 60th birthday, and was designed to feature all things Goofy, which may not sound particularly strange, but during the “Disney Decade” of the 1990s, Disney found ways to make everything a little bit weird and/or random. What made this parade weird however, was that it was essentially a giant misinformation session on world history, and showed guests what various eras would have been like if Goofy had existed during those eras.

The World According To Goofy made its debut on the streets of Disneyland on the 19th June 1992, and began with Professor Ludwig Von Drake from Ducktales greeting guests from a parade float stylised as a pile of history books. Surrounded by students dancing and holding their school books, Professor Von Drake would introduce guests to the theme and theme song of the parade, and prepare you for your history lesson through time.

Soon guests would travel back to the prehistoric times, or, as the parade called it, the “Pre-Hysterical Age”. Here they would encounter a range of cave-people and colourful dinosaurs dancing behind a parade float decorated as a book, but the strangest part of this segment was the giant blue brontosaurus with Goofy’s face on it! Goofy is supposed to be a dog so whether this was intended to be some kind of dog-dino hybrid I’m not sure, but its sure not what you expect to see at Disneyland! Animal Kingdom would be more likely, but as that didn’t exist back when this parade did I guess Disneyland was where you could get your Disney dinosaur fix.

The next part of the parade would take you into the “Egyptian Daze”, which for some bizarre reason was displayed as a giant game of golf. The pharaoh King Putt would appear alongside Clarabel Cow as Cleopatra (there really were some lesser-known Disney characters in this parade!) and of course lots and lots of Goofy, with Goofy as the Sphinx and Goofy as a mummy. For an even more bizarre unknown reason, Goofy could also be seen as a walking golf ball, complete with his signature green hat. I suppose this could be considered the slightly smaller and less iconic equivalent of the Epcot ‘Golf Ball’!

After this strange game of golf had ended, guests would be introduced the “Renais-Sauce”, which unfortunately was not a delicious new type of pasta sauce, but the parade’s representation of the Renaissance era, complete with all the fried chicken and pizza you could ever ask for. Performers would scoot around carrying stacks of what Disney Wiki calls “pizza pies”, and the majestic “Leaning Tower of Pizza” would bring up the rear of this segment of the parade.

The next and final segment, named Goofy Runs for President, as you can imagine shows Goofy blazing the trail for the recent trend in celebrities running for president, demonstrated by a marathon with Goofy his friends, and a few performers. Donald, Pluto, Chip and Dale could be spotted riding Goofy’s Pace Bus, while Mickey and Minnie would ride another float stylised as a finish line, accompanied by, you guessed it, another Goofy, giant this time! Even if Goofy has got some unusual election techniques, he’s got my vote!

The World According to Goofy may have been one of the strangest parades to ever grace the streets of Disneyland (and trust me, that’s saying something!), but it did in fact do what it was supposed to quite well. Attractions like Spaceship Earth over at Epcot (which is actually pretty similar if you think about it!) also aim to teach guests about the evolution of the world and world history, yet this parade achieved this in a bright, colourful format which was easy for younger and older guests alike to comprehend and enjoy.

The World According To Goofy gave its final show on the 15th of November 1992, and although there have been many more parades at Disneyland since then, this one is still remembered for its catchy soundtrack, unique plotline and eccentric scenes, and most likely will be for years to come!

What’s your favourite theme park parade, at Disney, Universal or any other park? Let me know in the comments!

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Photo credits:

@wishesonmain on Instagram Julian (@wishesonmain) • Instagram photos and videos

You are all clear… and outta here! Thanks for reading!

-Lily 🙂