November 25, 2023, 8:25 PM ·
With Thanksgiving weekend coming to a close, we’re just a little over four week from Christmas. So in the spirit of the season, for our vote this week, I would like to ask you to pick your favorite theme park holiday parade.
Disney offers holiday parades on both coasts, but only Disneyland’s A Christmas Fantasy Parade plays throughout the holiday season. At Walt Disney World, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade plays during the after-hours Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, with regular Magic Kingdom park guests getting to see the parade only during Christmas week.(There’s the Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party at Disney California Adventure, too, but if the park is going to call it a “street party” instead of a parade, I am going to DQ it for this vote on that technicality. Same for the Candlelight Processional.)Universal does not have parades at its Hollywood park, so only Universal Orlando runs a holiday parade, with Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s stepping through Universal Studios Florida.Knott’s Berry Farm does not have parades, either, but some of its Cedar Fair siblings offer a WinterFest Wonderland Parade.Elsewhere, SeaWorld turns to its Sesame Street characters for a Sesame Street Christmas Parade, which runs in Orlando, San Antonio and at Sesame Place in San Diego.
Finally, Silver Dollar City turns to another beloved character for its annual holiday parade, Rudolph’s Holly Jolly Christmas Lights Parade.I didn’t see that Dollywood was running a parade during its Smoky Mountain Christmas event this year. And since I have zero confidence that I did not forget another major park holiday parade, I left “another parade” as an option in the vote for anyone who wants to vote for a parade that I (regretfully) missed.In the comments, I would love to hear from your take on what makes a great holiday parade.For our round-up of this year’s theme park holiday events in the U.S. – including links to discounted tickets, please see What’s happening for the holidays at America’s theme parks?And to keep up to date with more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekly newsletter.
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