Mickey's Soundsational Parade is the new daytime parade at Disneyland.
The parade begins with drummers. They are fantastic. I have always loved drum and bugle corp type shows, and while there is just one line of drummers there precision is great.
Mickey and Minnie follow the drummers. Now, the parade is called Mickey's SOUNDsational parade. So you would think that with the start it would sound wonderful. Not so.
Each float has its own musical soundtrack. You hear one float until the next appears and it can be a while in some cases. This causes a disjointed feeling with no musical interlude.
There are a few questionable floats in the parade. In the Aladdin float, where is Jasmine? While the bulk of Disney Princesses are in the parade, Jasmine is nowhere to be found. Even Abu is present here, but no Princess.
The Princess and the Frog float. Why? I initially thought this float was chosen for the music, but no, the music wasn't great. So why did she get her own float? Why not give the float to Rapunzel - Disney's newest Princess who really deserves her own float.
And who was it that thought of putting Mary Poppins in the parade? How many young kids actually know who she is, or what a chimney sweep is, or anything about the movie. Yes, I love Mary Poppins, but it just didn't seem to end the parade on a good note.
Once during the trip they switched the last two floats, Tiana and Mary, but that didn't work either.
After discussing the parade Andy and I came to the conclusion that the best end to the parade would be the Princess float. Since there are Princesses in the back it just makes sense.
Also, Disney really needs to fix the music. It was so far off in some places that you didn't hear it until the float had passed.
And do we really need to see the Lion King float again? I am so tired of that being in every parade. Give us something new.
The biggest plus for the parade was the Three Caballero's float. It was great that Donald got his own float with his singing friends.
Those are my complaints. But the parade was not ALL bad.
The floats were well done. Tall, and easy to see even if you were not in the front row. They are bright and colorful but not even to outshine the characters.
Mickey and Minnie wore beautiful outfits, with Minnie in a piano key skirt that was shiny and glitzy.
Pluto, Chip and Dale and Goofy were also in the parade.
Peter Pan had a float with Captain Hook and Smee. Tinker Bell was on the float. But where was Wendy?
The Princesses were out to shine. Aurora, Rapunzel, Snow White, Belle and Cinderella adorned the Princess float in grand style.
Tiana looked beautiful, but should have been with the other Princesses.
Ariel had her own float, but being a mermaid it would be a bit tough for her to stand on the Princess float.
I complained about the Mary Poppins float but of the whole selection to choose from, this is my favorite part of the parade. And the biggest. Mary and Bert are riding the Merry Go Round horses from the movie. The chimney sweeps do a routine with their brooms, and the float follows. It is beautiful.
Overall I liked the parade but found it a bit disjointed. Things did not flow well and the music was not what I expected at all. I really thought the music would be something to write about but that is not the case. This parade is worth watching for the floats and the characters. But don't expect music worth a Disney CD because it just doesn't cut it - especially when you compare this music to music from other parades.
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Website: Mickey's SoundSational Parade Review, June 2011