Will Disneyland Ever Bring Back the Main Street Electrical Parade?

There’s A LOT going on at the Disneyland Resort this year, including a couple of fan-favorite shows returning to the parks. That’s got us wondering what else could eventually return.

Main Street Electrical Parade when it returned for its anniversary at Disneyland

Beginning May 16th, Disneyland will start its year-long celebration honoring its 70th anniversary, which will run into the summer of 2026. The anniversary will see some new offerings like shows and ride overlays arrive at the resort, as well as the return of some fan-favorite shows. This had me thinking — could we ever see the uber-popular Main Street Electrical Parade come back to Disneyland?

The Main Street Electrical Parade is/was a nighttime parade that first premiered in Disneyland Park in 1972 and eventually made its way to Disney Parks worldwide. The parade featured luminous floats and live performers that were adorned with over 600,000 electronically controlled LED lights, while the joyous Baroque Hoedown played as the background soundtrack.

Such a fun parade!

The original parade at Disneyland ran from 1972 to 1996, but would later return in 2017, 2019, and 2022. Disney California Adventure also hosted the parade between 2001 and 2010, while Magic Kingdom had its own version from 1977 to 1991 and again from 1999 to 2001 and 2010 to 2016.

Main Street Electrical Parade

At Disneyland, Paint the Night Parade became the Main Street Electrical Parade’s successor, running from 2015 to 2017 and then again at California Adventure in 2018. This parade utilizes over 1.5 million LED lights in addition to several special effects, live performances, and a musical arrangement featuring Baroque Hoedown and Owl City’s When Can I See You Again?. Best of all, IT’S BACK AT DISNEYLAND STARTING MAY 16TH AS PART OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY.

©Disney

I’m so excited to see Paint the Night come back, as it is a worthy successor to the Main Street Electrical Parade, but I can’t help asking, “When Can I See You (The Main Street Electrical Parade) Again?”

The answer is complicated. Disneyland brought it back for its 60th anniversary, so it would’ve made sense to bring it back again, but it also makes sense to bring back Paint the Night, which won over tons of fans during its run.

The Main Street Electrical Parade

However, it’s more than likely Paint the Night’s run will once again come to an end eventually, leaving Disneyland without a nighttime parade. So could we see the Main Street Electrical Parade eventually take its place?

Probably, but that’s speculation at this point. From my local perspective, I have to express how beloved the parade is here among Disneylanders (and myself). Demand has elongated its run before, and whenever it comes back, Disney uses it as its main selling point during commercials. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the commercial where Disney shows a large warehouse with sitting floats from the parade and, then all of a sudden, the lights turn on and the parade’s return is hyped up.

A pirate ship is coming!

Disneyland summers and the Main Street Electrical Parade were synonymous for quite some time. The Main Street Electrical Parade is one of my earliest memories and Disney fans both young and old take the time to check out the parade, whether or not they’re regular parade-watchers. The demand is ALWAYS there, so I’d venture to predict that Disneyland likely brings it back in a limited-run capacity at some point in the future.

Hello there!

When could it return? We might have to wait for another anniversary or special celebration — or there’s a chance they just pick a random summer. At this point, we think it’s coming back eventually in some capacity, but when and where (it could be at California Adventure) remains to be seen.

Main Street Electrical Parade Finale

If and when the parade returns, you can count on us at DFB to fill you in and keep you updated! In the meantime, stay tuned right here at DFB for all the latest Disneyland news, tips, reviews, and more!