We've Got Bad News (but also VERY GOOD News) About the Magic Kingdom Parade This November

Do you hear sleigh bells? That’s the sound of the holidays coming to Disney World SO very soon! Now, one of the BEST parts of the holiday season is seeing the Magical Christmas Day Parade in Magic Kingdom on our TVs on Christmas Day, but if you’re lucky, you may even get to see it IN PERSON, if you know when they film it (no, it’s not on Christmas).

Julianne Hough in 2023 filming the parade

Well, we might just have an idea of when that parade will be filmed based on a huge schedule change we just noticed on the Disney World website.

So we were looking at the Disney World website and checking times for the Festival of Fantasy parade, which is the regular daytime parade in Magic Kingdom. Except we noticed that there were no parades listed for two dates: November 8th and 9th. Yes, that’s peculiar.

©Disney

Or maybe it’s not so peculiar. This is happening around the time of year when we generally see filming for the Christmas Parade you end up seeing on TV on December 25th. Now, we don’t have confirmation that these dates will be when that parade is filmed, but we think this is a good explanation for why the regular parade seems to be canceled on those dates.

Filming preparation in 2024

So if you’re visiting Magic Kingdom on one of those two dates, you might be in for a real treat. That means you might see some celebrities in Magic Kingdom, and you’ll get to see Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime parade, along with some extra entertainment during filming.

Once Upon a Christmastime Parade

We will warn you, though, that you may not be able to see the filmed parade from Main Street on those dates — last year, Main Street was blocked off for Cast Members who had signed up to be part of the filming. That could change this year, but you might not get to see the parade coming up the street with Cinderella Castle behind it. However, you should be able to view it along the rest of the normal parade route.

Elsa in Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade

So keep that in mind if you’ll be visiting during those dates. Again, Disney has not confirmed that this is when the Christmas parade will be filmed, but it’s something to keep an eye out for. You KNOW we’ll be there to check things out.

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

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