July 11, 2025, 10:06 AM ·
Walt Disney Imagineering’s Disney Live Entertainment is sharing its first live look at the floats in Walt Disney World’s new nighttime parade.Disney Starlight – the first new nighttime at Walt Disney World in a generation – debuts July 20 at the Magic Kingdom. But you can get a preview of the new show in the latest episode of WDI’s YouTube series, We Call It Imagineering.The look at Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away begins around the 15-minute mark. It includes live looks at several of the parade’s floats, including the finale unit that features Starlight’s new character, a cartoon locomotive named Whimsy.
Photo courtesy Walt Disney ImagineeringI noticed in the preview how much more modern Starlight’s lighting design looks than previous WDW nighttime parades, which were designed using 20th century technology. Modern LED lighting allows for animated pinpoints of light that truly look like “starlight” rather than a parade of passing light bulbs.The episode also offers insight into the costume and music design for the parade. But don’t overlook the first 15 minutes of the show. Those include backstage looks at Disneyland Paris’ new Disney Tales of Magic nighttime spectacular, as well as at the new 20th anniversary Friendtastic! parade from Hong Kong Disneyland.Planning a Disney visit?For assistance in planning a Walt Disney World vacation, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.To see what is available at the Walt Disney World theme parks, please check out our one-page visitors guides, which include our reader rankings as well as on-ride videos and links to reviews:Remember that whenever you buy tickets or book vacations through our partners, a small portion of that goes to support Theme Park Insider. So you can support independent media while getting a great deal at the same time.Finally, to keep up with more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekly newsletter.
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