Magic Happens: An Honest Review

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Given some of the other huge, worldwide events that have been happening lately, it seems like the premiere of Magic Happens, the new parade at Disneyland, got a little overshadowed. But honestly, for Disney, that might not be such a bad thing. Squirt and I saw the parade for the first time last Friday, which was a week after the premiere date, and suffice to say, they are still having some issues. Two floats broke down during the course of our viewing, which meant the entire parade was halted for about twenty minutes. The poor performers kept up a brave face, and luckily, it was stuck for us with the fantastic five so we got to watch some stellar interactions, but it was a rough go of it. And after all that waiting, I can’t say I was blown away by any of it. But here are my thoughts and some images I captured during our viewing.

Okay, as soon as I saw these first performers come around the corner, I was like, is this the Hunger Games parade? These guys look like they walked straight out of the Capital and onto Main Street. It’s a weird way to start off a Disneyland parade, but okay. Mickey is on the first float, and this at least makes some sense. He looks like a modern Sorcerer Mickey, which goes with the whole magic theme. And the other characters look cute, and I dig the color scheme.

These lovely Moana dancers were stuck in front of us during their twenty minute wait. For the first five, they kept up with their choreography until they got the go ahead to take a break. They seemed like they were having fun, freestyling and interacting with the crowd. It could have been worse. I was excited to see Moana in the parade, and I loved her and her float. Her dancers and the Maui dancers were some of my favorites.

Another recent movie favorite, Coco, was on the following float. The bridge is so pretty, and the colors of Dia de los Muertos are so captivating that this was one of my favorite floats.

However, this very large spirit animal was an odd choice, mostly because the puppeteers are so visible. I didn’t understand why they didn’t make it a mini float. By far my favorite costumes of the parade are on the Frozen dancers. They look like they’re in a woodland sprite ballet and I was here for it. The Frozen float was one of the ones that broke down, hence it being towed by this lovely jeep.

The Frozen float itself is pretty breathtaking. I like that it’s more 2 than original. Kristoff runs around with his cart and snow bubbles being adorable. He went over to a group on the opposite side of the street and showed them his ring for Anna, which is maybe the best character interaction in a parade ever.

Then we got a really random mishmash of characters. Aladdin, Genie, Pinocchio, Blue Fairy, and the Fairy Godmother walked in front of the next string of floats, which yeah, I get it, magic theme, but it felt a little weird. Cinderella is a staple in parades so she wasn’t a surprise, but the totally random Sword in the Stone float was. Yes, again, I get it, magic, but no one under the age of forty has ever seen this movie (yes, that’s an exaggeration and no, I don’t care). I always love seeing Tiana, so I was happy she got her own float.

My favorite float was the finale, which is one of my favorite Disney movies, Sleeping Beauty. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I was so obsessed with these dancers, and then I realized it’s because these ladies are rocking very male-centric costumes, and I am here for it. I love a lady in a suit, and these gals looked hot. I am also very into Aurora’s pink and blue dress here.

Overall, I think the parade looks great. The song is obnoxious AF and I have it stuck in my head just from writing this post. And since the parade for us was stuck at the beginning, we got to hear it on loop for those entire twenty minutes. Clearly with the breakdowns (the Sleeping Beauty float was also being towed) the parade still needs some work (hopefully they’re taking advantage of these rainy days and working on the mechanical side of things). I liked it, but I don’t think it’s one we’ll sit and watch too often.

Also, totally random gripe here, but I can’t be the only who’s noticed this. The Disney princesses are always gorgeous. The Disney princes are…not. How hard is it to find some hot college guys to play these roles? I don’t get it.

Also, I miss Paint the Night.

Have you watched Magic Happens yet? What did you think?

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