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A Christmas Fantasy Parade

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"A Christmas Fantasy Parade" is an annual parade presented at Disneyland Park in the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The parade is a holiday parade that runs (usually) from the weekend before Thanksgiving until the Sunday after New Years. It debuted during the 1995 Holiday Season, replacing the "Very Merry Christmas Parade". The name of the parade was inspired by similar name at Tokyo Disneyland.

Earlier versions of the parade included Scrooge McDuck, Roger Rabbit, Max Goof, characters from Lilo & Stitch, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Aladdin, and the elves were played by actual children instead of Cast Members, which likely changed due to child labor laws.

The Parade Units[]

When the parade originally debuted in November 1995, It was vastly different, with all the units arranged in a different order then it went today. It would go from the Opening, Santa's Mail Room, Santa's Toy Factory, A Recipe for Gingerbread Treats, Greetings from a Winter Wonderland, The Candlelight Christmas Ball, and Twas the Night Before Christmas (later changed to Christmas Homecoming). Many of the floats in the original version were reused from the Very Merry Christmas Parade and the characters on the floats would very (such as Pluto pushing Santa's Sleigh in the grand finale for many years).

The current version of the parade used since 2008 described here has seven units, each consisting of at least one float. The following are descriptions of each of the seven units:

  • Opening Unit:
    • Music box float, with a dancing ballerina atop a revolving platform, and a stuffed Teddy bear sitting beside her. (Duffy the Disney Bear in 2011 and 2012) This float was recycled from The World According to Goofy parade
    • Toy soldiers from Babes in Toyland marching that play trumpets and snare drums (in early years, there was also a bass drum and cymbals)
  • Santa's Mail Room Unit:
    • Mailroom float, Mickey, Minnie, and Chip and Dale. greeting park guests. (This float used to have Mrs. Claus, but she was absent from the parada for many years until she returned in 2019 accompanying the mailroom elves.) This float was recycled from the 1987 Very Merry Christmas Parade.
      • In 2018, Chip and Dale were temporarily removed from the parade and replaced by Santa Claus after Santa's float malfunctioned.
    • Donald (Pluto until 2013; Duffy the Disney Bear in 2014) sits atop the roof of the mailroom, trying to place the star on the top of the Christmas tree.
    • 4 Female Mailroom Elves and 2 Male Mailroom Elves perform with mail bags along and atop the float.
  • Welcome to A Winter Wonderland Unit:
    • A open book unit introduces the unit. All the book units we're recycled from The World According to Goofy parade.
    • Tigger and Winnie the Pooh ride on sleighs, while Eeyore pulls a sleigh (removed in 2019). Four skiers swing around them.
    • 8 snowpeople scurry along, 4 male, 4 female.
    • A snowy Christmas Tree rolls down the parade route.
    • 6 skaters skate down the parade route on roller skates.
    • Elsa and Anna stand atop an ice-themed float with an Olaf figure.
  • A Recipe for Gingerbread Treats Unit:
    • Clarabelle Cow and 6 Gingerbread Cookies dance down the street.
    • 6 Candy Bakers (3 Male, 3 Female) help Goofy and Pluto (Max Goof until 2013), who are atop the Gingerbread float, wreak some havoc. This float was recycled from the 1984 Fantasy on Parade.
  • Santa's Toyland Unit:
    • Jessie and a Green Army Man ride in a military hum-dinger (removed at an unknown date).
    • Woody from Toy Story on a rocking horse is atop a Toy Block float.
    • The Green Army Men (formerly Pinocchio and Geppetto) ride on top the giant Toy Factory float making toys.
    • A toy factory float unit from the 1984 Fantasy on Parade. A ferris wheel was added in 1996. (removed in 2007)
    • 6 Toy Factory Elves dance alongside the float.
    • Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story in a spaceship is atop a Toy Block float. After the 2018 Sleigh incident detailed below, this temporarily became the last float of the parade.
    • 2 Toy Block floats featuring characters from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid. In 1999, the Roger Rabbit toy block float was redecorated for Toy Story. (removed in 2006)
  • Santa's Finale Unit:
    • 8 Finale Dancers (4 male, 4 female) dance and sing to Christmas carols in front of a moving Christmas Tree adorned with jewels. In early years, these carolers had live microphones and would lead guests in sing-alongs.
    • Also in early years, Mickey and Minnie would be in this unit, riding in a buggy pulled by one of the horses normally used for the horse-drawn streetcars on Main Street. (removed in 2001)
    • A Christmas village float with Donald conducing live singers and band. (removed in 2000)
    • Santa Claus sits atop his sleigh on the Finale float led by the 8 Reindeer. This float experienced a bizarre malfunction on December 16, 2018, when the sleigh collapsed and leaned forward, leaving Santa dangling on his safety harness. After the incident, Santa displaced Chip and Dale on the mail room float, the Finale float, along with the entire unit except the Rope Carriers, was removed for inspection and repairs.
    • Two Finale Elves dance on the back of the Finale float.
    • Two or Three Rope Carriers end the parade.

Voice Cast[]

See also[]

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