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hbquikcomjamesl
08-28-2001, 12:01 PM
It seems to me that it would be a mistake for the MSEP to actually return to Disneyland. At least for the Parade to return in its present form.

First, there's the irate guest factor. It seems that a lot of people who bought final season bulbs back in 1996 (I have two myself) didn't quite understand what they were buying: it was essentially like obtaining a "game ball" from a baseball, football, or basketball game (or a "game puck" from a hockey game). A significant souvenir, all the more so because (in the case of the bulbs) they ran in the final Disneyland season of what is quite probably the best-loved parade in the history of the world. But none of the bulbs in the entire parade are likely to go all the way back to the 1972 Parade; indeed, only a few of the floats are survivors from that far back, and I suspect that the entire parade has been relamped each of the seasons it's run. So they couldn't understand how the parade could turn up in movie promotions, then find its way to WDW-MK, and felt cheated. Likewise, quite a number of Passholders were rather irate when the November Encore was announced, shortly before the October 17th Passholder Party. I've personally never understood why; after all, (1) a passholder party is a passholder party, and (2) if you're a passholder, then presumably you can come in any evening you're free.

Personally, I was delighted by both the encore and the return to WDW-MK. I wore my October 17th T-shirt to the REAL final performance. I was right in front of the Town Square Mad Hatter, and several CMs noticed the shirt, and singled me out for smiles and waves. I also wore it for two of the five performances I saw last November, on my first visit to WDW (where few people realized the significance of it).

I suspect, however, that a lot of people would feel like they'd been manipulated, if the Parade in its present form were to return to Disneyland. Just bringing it to WDW-MK and DCA probably iritated some.

Napsto
08-28-2001, 12:06 PM
well if they change it siginificantly for a 50th anniersary parade it might work.

hbquikcomjamesl
08-28-2001, 12:48 PM
Second, there's the technology factor: When the MSEP first debuted in 1972, fiber optics were relatively new, LEDs were expensive, and only available in red, and true microprocessors weren't out of the lab. Now, sophisticated animated fiber optic art gets mass-produced, microprocessors are as common as cowpats, and you can get LEDs at any Radio Shack, in white, or any color except a true violet, and under a dollar for most colors. LEDs have found their way into some costumes, but nothing on a large scale. Large scale use of LEDs could reduce the power requirements, since they're more efficient, increase the "sparkle factor," and reduce the relamping costs, since LEDs don't burn out or shatter unless abused, and their colors don't fade.

Third, there's the experience factor: When the MSEP had its debut, Disney had never done a nighttime-only parade, and the WDW Electrical Water Pageant only preceded it by a few weeks. Now, we have Fantalusion, Spectramagic, Light Magic, and now, Dreamlights.

Fourth, there's the inclusion factor: Even though it was in the theatres years before the MSEP's debut, and made it into several other parades, Sleeping Beauty never did turn up in The Parade. Neither did Fantasia. Pete's Dragon made it in, as a late addition, but Pete and Elliot ended up better known from The Parade than from the movie, and nothing since then has shown up as a permanent part of The Parade.

hbquikcomjamesl
08-28-2001, 12:54 PM
What I envision would be a Parade significantly updated to cover the concerns I've raised, but still quite recognizable. It would keep the original analog synth version of Baroque Hoedown, and the same "sparkling" overall look, but it would be improved to use LEDs and fiber optics where appropriate. I'd go for the Dreamlights version of the Blue Fairy in the lead unit, and I'd add new units celebrating additional films, but I'd keep the overwhelming majority of the Parade completely recognizable.

hbquikcomjamesl
08-28-2001, 12:57 PM
I'd also add the butterfly and dragonfly dancers I saw in The Parade at the WDW-MK last November. Were they perhaps borrowed from Spectra?

blusilva
08-28-2001, 01:03 PM
I think its a mistake on so many levels.

They said the parade "glowing away forever". They lied. Pure and simple. No amount of "but this isn't the same parade, look we changed the name and rearranged the floats" or "but it's not at the same park" is going to convince the consumer that they haven't been had. If they were planning on using the parade or even parts of it at other events, in other parks and then eventually bring it back to Disneyland proper, they NEVER should have used that marketing ploy to bring people into the park.

Yes, I feel lied to and manipulated. I bought admission into the park several times to see the Farewell performances. I bought the video. I bought the lightbulbs. I bought the t-shirt. They lied to play my heartstrings and get my money and now act as if they didn't. That makes me angry.

Not only that, they replaced it with something crappy. Something that was utterly soulless and not at all entertaining . Now, instead of trying to come up with another new parade, it's as if they're punishing Disneyland guests for not liking Light Magic. "Well, you hated our new parade, so we'll just give you recycled old stuff and say it's due to your 'demand' that we bring it back. "

And the suits for all their charts and graphs and focus groups will never understand how insulting this is. Never.

Nigel2
08-28-2001, 01:19 PM
It would be a funny ad for the parade if it was like Scary Movie 2, "We Lied", but dont get all bent out of shape about the lightbulbs, rember they were purchased for chairity, it just happend that most people overlooked that point. I wonder if they are going to expand the parade route at DCA, then they probably could have a longer parade, in they got more floats.

blusilva
08-28-2001, 01:35 PM
Originally posted by Nigel2
It would be a funny ad for the parade if it was like Scary Movie 2, "We Lied", but dont get all bent out of shape about the lightbulbs, rember they were purchased for chairity, it just happend that most people overlooked that point.

Well, that really *isn't* the point. I wasn't motivated to buy the lightbulb because of where the money was going. I don't care. If I want to donate money to charity, I'll do it out of my own checkbook, I don't need Disney to do that for me.

I was motivated to buy the lightbulb and other merchandise because Disney was implying it would grow in value due to the fact that they were no longer going to run this parade anywhere under any circumstances. For me, the sentimental value was more important than the monetary value, but for others I'm sure quite the opposite was true.

They are retroactively misrepresenting their claims of the value of the merchandise and the value of the experience of every single guest who paid admission for a special day at Disneyland in 1996 that included a "farewell" to the MSEP.

If they hadn't marketed it the way they did, I wouldn't have a problem with it now. If they weren't bringing it back due to finacial reasons and then saying it was because of "popular demand", I wouldn't have a problem with it now. If they weren't doing the verbal limbo by tossing around corporate weasel-speak like "but this is DISNEY'S Electrical Parade, it's completely different from THE MAIN STREET Electrical Parade" (which basically implies with a wink and a nudge that the consumer is an idiot for pointing out the emperor is naked), I wouldn't have a problem with it. But the way they are handling this is doing the company a lot of damage by eroding their integrity. And for Disney as a company, which relies heavily on the confidence that people have in its integrity and the goodwill they felt towards the man who gave it his name, this is a particularly bad business decision.

Corith
08-28-2001, 02:41 PM
Originally posted by hbquikcomjamesl
Second, there's the technology factor: When the MSEP first debuted in 1972, fiber optics were relatively new, LEDs were expensive, and only available in red, and true microprocessors weren't out of the lab. Now, sophisticated animated fiber optic art gets mass-produced, microprocessors are as common as cowpats, and you can get LEDs at any Radio Shack, in white, or any color except a true violet, and under a dollar for most colors. LEDs have found their way into some costumes, but nothing on a large scale. Large scale use of LEDs could reduce the power requirements, since they're more efficient, increase the "sparkle factor," and reduce the relamping costs, since LEDs don't burn out or shatter unless abused, and their colors don't fade.

Even if ELP returns, I don't see them changing anything. That would require a cost expenditure. They will keep the same costumes and floats they have now.

And before a named party comments that I really shouldn't be telling you how Disney executives think, let me tell you a little story about ELP and LEDs and you can draw your own conclusions.

When I was working ELP back in 87, so I do know about the inner workings of ELP. The Cinderella mice had the ELP standard mini bulbs on their costume. The dancers inside were always breaking the bulbs and ripping the sockets on of the cuffs during their performance. I discussed the problem with the electrical department. We came up using clear LEDs in flush mounted lens. Together, we replaced the sockets on one mouse with these flush mounted LED. That night, our new mouse ws the only one with all the cuff lights working through out the entire performance.

Costuming managers blew their top. The story told to me and electrical was that the original artist didn't think the new lights fit his vision. We returned to using the bulbs.

As a side note; each one cuffs goes through, or rather went though, about 3 bulbs a night, and at least a socket needs rewiring. LED don't burn out, they didn't get ripped.

Nigel2
08-28-2001, 02:46 PM
I could have sworn that they said "Back by popular demand", but yeah it was just to draw people in. Why would the parade being at DCA really have any effect on the bulbs sentimental value, you rember how it was the thousands of people packed onto mainstreet during the final performances, all watching the parade go off into Disneyland history. Plus only a fool would think that the bulbs would have any monetary value, if I rember correctly they really had no limit to how many were sold. Hey they might not even be from the floats themselves, they could have been replacement bulbs. I was wondering if anyone has opened their box, I was wondering if it was just a bulb or did it have the wire attached? The only things that would go up in value from that would be ones in noted limited quantities. Unless someone went arround smashing everyone they could get their hands on.:D

Corith
08-28-2001, 02:46 PM
Originally posted by blusilva
it's as if they're punishing Disneyland guests for not liking Light Magic. "Well, you hated our new parade, so we'll just give you recycled old stuff and say it's due to your 'demand' that we bring it back.

I wonder if this punsihment mentality is why we haven't seen a new major park additions in a long while.

hbquikcomjamesl
08-28-2001, 03:03 PM
This is the biggest reason why The Parade has to be significantly different and significantly improved, if and when it does return to DL.

You chose to take offense, at the idea that the bulb you bought doesn't represent the irrevocable demise of The Parade. Just as some passholders chose to take offense when the November Encore was added, and the October 17th Passholder Party was no longer the last appearance in Disneyland. Such an attitude reminds me of one of the stories in Steve Martin's Cruel Shoes, in which a building wrecker, having completed his assignment to demolish a certain historic building (which he'd never seen before, until the day he destroyed it), takes pleasure in the fact that he'd had a chance to see it before it was destroyed.

I, on the other hand, chose to rejoice in the fact that, in November of 1996, I could see The Parade about a dozen more times, and could wear my October 17th T-shirt to the last night of the Encore. I also chose to make the trip to Walt Disney World last November, firmly convinced that if The Parade lasted that long, it would be my last chance to see it in my natural life, other than on the official videotape, and on about 200 feet of standard-8 silent film I shot over several years, and I chose to rejoice in the fact that I got to see it five times on that trip. (The first time, I was constantly having to remove my glasses, because the tears were blinding me.)

This summer, I chose to rejoice in the fact that, far from being destroyed at the end of its WDW-MK run for some obscure legal reason (as my Backstage Magic tour guide had said would happen), The Parade would be spending at least one summer in DCA. I was there on July 3rd, and I was also there, in my October 17th T-shirt, the following evening. (It was a bit hectic, getting out to my car to change shirts between dinner and The Parade, and still somehow getting a semi-good seat.)

If and when it returns to Disneyland, I will choose to rejoice in its survival, and its return, and if it is a new and improved version, I will rejoice doubly. If and when it is destroyed, I will grieve for it.

Nigel2
08-28-2001, 03:20 PM
See someone doesnt mind that the parade is back, the reason I comented that the bulbs might not be from the floats was based on the fact that the parade was on again only a short time later for Hercules, so they might have been bad bulbs, or replacement bulbs. At least it went for a good cause. Also thats a good attitude to have about the parade since you still got to see it, who cares if its not the very very very... last showing, to you it will be. Also I dont think of it as punnishment perse since there was little revanue generated from Light Magic meaning there wasn't as much in the new attraction budget due to the failure of the parade. Also I truly hope they don't do a buyback of the bulbs, which I have heard some people rumor about, becuase what would they do with them?

blusilva
08-28-2001, 03:48 PM
Ooooh, my opinion rates "ranting" status? Cool. I wasn't even frothing at the mouth yet. :)

I used to keep a paperweight on my desk that I got at Disneyland. It had a quote from Walt Disney on it that said "Happiness is a state of mind, it's all in how you look at things". Why did I keep that where I could see it? Because I'm a pessimistic cynic by nature. Or a realist, depending on which side of the bed I wake up on. How'd I get to be that way? I dunno, I suppose it's because I was born naive and trusting and happy and people lied to me and hurt me and made me world weary and suspicious.

You are 100% right, I choose to be offended. Because I had the naive hope that the company bearing Walt Disney's name would be more interested in sticking to its word than considering it just another marketing campaign that meant nothing to people. It meant something to me because I believed them. I forked over money I worked hard for. I'm far less likely to be suckered by them from now on. I choose to be wary about anything they say.

Morrigoon
08-28-2001, 03:58 PM
I agree that Disney has violated our trust.

However, I'm so glad to have the MSEP back that I choose not to complain - this time. Doesn't mean I will trust a word they say (haven't for years anyway). But in this instance, my joy at the return of the parade outweight my offense at being lied to.

I think a bulb buyback would be silly, but a good PR gesture. And for those who don't return them... a good way to reduce the supply. It would be better though, if they promised never to sell MSEP bulbs again.

zapppop
08-28-2001, 07:56 PM
Oh, where to begin.

GLOWING AWAY FOREVER

MSEP coming back after Disney said it was going away forever is typical.
Look at the Disney video releases; Fantasia was never supposed to be release in another format beside Laserdisc and VHS, yet the DVD edition came out last November.
In 1993, Pinocchio was released for " the last time this century " yet in October 1999 Pinocchio was re-released on VHS and debuted on DVD; plus the VHS edition was named the " 60th Anniversary Edition " even though the movie came out in 1940 and was only 59 years old at the time.
Disney frequently goes back on their word so I couldn't give a rat's patoot about them breaking their word on MSEP's absence.
Besides, if you really wanna get techincal, if it was supposed to go away forever, it shouldn't've reappeared in January 1997 as the Hercules Electrical Parade, or appear on May 28, 1999 in Walt Disney World either.

MERCHANDISE

So you're upset over going away forever merchandise losing it's value. The truth is, it hasn't really lost much value. People bought it because they love the parade. So, if there's another person out there that loves the parade too, they'll buy your MSEP merchandise. The going away forever merchandise represents the time when Disney tried to retire it. Look at the pins in DCA. One in particular that will go up in value is the drum with Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Why ? It says " DISNEY'S ELECTRICAL PARADE ". When it comes back to Disneyland next spring, it will once again be called " MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE ". They're not gonna make anymore pins that say " DISNEY'S " when it becomes " MAIN STREET " again. This is the same reason why the going away buttons and such are valuable. Disney learned their lesson and they're not gonna try to retire the parade again. You could say the merchandise represents a time in Disney history, which does give it value as a period piece.

TECHNOLOGY

Spectro Magic is about Technology. Fantillusion is about technology. The Main Street Electrical Parade is not about technology. After seeing Dream Lights, I was greatly disappointed. Elliot looks weird, the snails and turtles are ugly, the Dumbo Circus section was gone, the Beauty And The Beast section is just a rip off of the Cinderella section ( are both really necessary ? ), and the music lacks the warmth, spirit, energy and heart of the original mix, not to mention it's in a different key ( Dream Lights is in the key of C and MSEP is in the key of A flat ). Fiber optic lights, updated sound, new floats; gee why didn't they do that......oh wait ! They did ! It was called Light Magic. You remember Light Magic don't you ;) ? MSEP lasted 24 years; LM lasted 24 weeks.
What good is technology if it's unappealing ?
Just because something is not new doesn't mean it's inferrior.
Sounding dated is underrated. :cool:

EXPERIENCE FACTOR

MSEP inspired all of the other night time parades and who says only Disneyland is the only park that can have a night time parade ? Lots of different ones to chose from is good. After all, not everyone is gonna like the same thing.

INCLUSION FACTOR

Disney didn't add anymore floats to the parade because the new additions like RETURN TO OZ, THE FOX AND THE HOUND, ELLIOT, DISNEYLAND'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY and MICKEY'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY were only supposed to be in the parade for promotion only. Elliot got lucky. He was very popular with people so Disney kept him.
Another reason why new floats haven't been added; Disney had no idea the parade would go on for so long. MSEP was supposed to be for 1 year only. So when the late 80's came around, Disney began questioning how much longer people would be interested in this parade. If it was gonna fizzle out, then they weren't gonna spend money on new floats.
By the way, I don't recall a Fantasia segment in MSEP. Spectro Magic has the devil as he appeared in Night On Bald Mountain in Fantasia. Perhaps you got the 2 confused ?
By the way, there was also a Chinese Dragon between Maleficent and Elliot; and It's A Small World was in it too.

CONCLUSION

Canceling the MSEP and bringing it back 5 year later hurt people because they loved it so dearly. It's like hearing a loved one is dying and then you discover they're still alive years later. Sure, you're glad to see them again, but you feel upset because you went through the upset of parting with them for no reason.
It is unfair for Disney to jerk everybody's chain but don't take your anger out on the parade and say Disney should keep their promise and never bring it back. I doubt anyone who truly loves the parade means it.

Disney messed with something good and now they're paying for it. If you've got something good going, don't mess with it.

Let's just leave it alone.

Besides wouldn't you rather see Disneyland spend $25 million towards a new ride or install a working audio system for Space Mountain or just repaint the whole park ? There's better use for that money. Let's put it to better use, shall we ;) ?

The only mistake Disney could make is messing with the parade again.

Leave it alone and focus on new projects.

tabacco
08-28-2001, 09:48 PM
Here's my comment to everyone who seems to feel betrayed by Disney over the return of the parade to DCA or eventually to DL: How selfish can you get?

What about little kids or people my age or even older who never got a chance to see the parade during its original run as MSEP? I know I never did. The first time I ever saw MSEP was after a month of working for the resort on the day it first ran at DCA. If you hadn't been "betrayed" by Disney, I would have never gotten the chance to see it, and neither would the 6 year old kid who sat next to me at the premiere performance over at DCA.

If you really liked the parade that much during its original run, what on earth makes you all so dead set on keeping anyone else from seeing it? Okay, so maybe you bought a lightbulb or a t-shirt or whatever because you were "promised" (which you weren't, really. you were just told.) that the parade would "glow away forever." So what? If it offends you, leave the park before it runs, and you can pretend it never happened. But please stop the negativity and let those of us who are seeing it for the first time sit back and enjoy it in peace.

hbquikcomjamesl
08-29-2001, 08:28 AM
By the way, I don't recall a Fantasia segment in MSEP. Spectro Magic has the devil as he appeared in Night On Bald Mountain in Fantasia. Perhaps you got the 2 confused ?
By the way, there was also a Chinese Dragon between Maleficent and Elliot; and It's A Small World was in it too.


Uh, "zapppop," you might want to re-read what I said yesterday:

I said that neither Sleeping Beauty nor Fantasia had ever appeared in the MSEP, nor had anything since Pete's Dragon (and I've got some 8mm film of the present dragon before it was officially identified as Elliot: the resemblence was there, but there was no seat for Pete, the dorsal fins were red instead of pink, and I don't think it originally had Elliot's distinct underbite.

Maleficent never appeared in the MSEP; the original dragon of the 1972 Parade was the Chinese dragon.

I have a few slides of the pre-America-on-Parade version, and I have 8mm film dating back to the "Disney characters in neon" end float. (In fact, I remember once borrowing the darkroom at the old camera shop, to un-jam my old spring-driven 8mm camera!)

"tabacco" said:


What about little kids or people my age or even older who never got a chance to see the parade during its original run as MSEP? I know I never did. The first time I ever saw MSEP was after a month of working for the resort on the day it first ran at DCA. If you hadn't been "betrayed" by Disney, I would have never gotten the chance to see it, and neither would the 6 year old kid who sat next to me at the premiere performance over at DCA.


Very well said. Last November, in WDW-MK, and again this summer at DCA, I looked around with wonder at all the kids who hadn't been born the last time The Parade had been seen in Anaheim.

Remarkable longevity for something that was originally only expected to last a year or two, and originally intended as a way to keep people in Disneyland through the dinner hour, in an era when theme park guests usually went home, or to an outside restaurant, by dinner time.

Cadaverous Pallor
08-29-2001, 08:53 AM
Originally posted by zapppop
When it comes back to Disneyland next spring, it will once again be called " MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE ". They're not gonna make anymore pins that say " DISNEY'S " when it becomes " MAIN STREET " again.
I highly doubt that this is true. I think they'll stick to the "Disney's Electrical Parade" title so that they can move it whenever or wherever they want and not have to change all the merchandise.

Perhaps the MAIN STREET part is what "glowed away forever".

BTW, Disney does everything in (at the longest) 7 year cycles, and when my boyfriend and I went to see it for the "last" time, we knew it'd be back within 7 years. Bringing it to DCA as an attendance booster angered us, but seeing the parade again (along with all of the kids in the crowd) pretty much soothed us again. What do you want, we're all slaves to the Disney product anyway.;)

PirateoftheCaribbean
08-29-2001, 01:26 PM
zappop, the demon from Fantasia is called Chernabog.

zapppop
08-29-2001, 01:48 PM
Thanks. I knew his name but couldn't remember it when I posted.

Nigel2
08-29-2001, 02:17 PM
DEP leaving is nothing like a dead realitive coming back. Its more like a friend moving away, you can see them again, but the distance makes it a little hard, so you dont see them as often, now its like they moved to the house across the street. Also, is there a press statement saying that it is coming back to main street? I was just wondering.

CTB21
08-29-2001, 06:25 PM
I'm surprised Disney is not having a farewell season at DCA selling all the Bulbs and farewell merchandise and then move it next door to Disneyland and sell all the premiere merchandise and move it back and forth every year.Opps..... I think I just gave a Disney executive a great idea .

zapppop
08-29-2001, 07:37 PM
Originally posted by CTB21
I'm surprised Disney is not having a farewell season at DCA selling all the Bulbs and farewell merchandise and then move it next door to Disneyland and sell all the premiere merchandise and move it back and forth every year.Opps..... I think I just gave a Disney executive a great idea .

Don't worry. I doubt Eisner or Pressler visit MousePlanet.

hbquikcomjamesl
08-30-2001, 10:59 AM
Disney messed with something good and now they're paying for it. If you've got something good going, don't mess with it.

Let's just leave it alone.
. . .
The only mistake Disney could make is messing with the parade again.


"Don't mess with it"? "Leave it alone?" You make it sound like it not only didn't change during 1990s, but didn't change during the 1970s or the 1980s, either!

The whole notion of the Main Street Electrical Parade as being "unchanging" is downright absurd. In fact, it's been evolving steadily, and it's been quite rare to see The Parade go from one season to the next without a noticeable change. Just consider:

The Blue Fairy: Originally, instead of the present "coathanger" cape with two bearers, the Blue Fairy's gown had two "ribbons" or "Streamers" trailing from it, held up on poles by two bearers each. Personally, I liked that version better.

The Bass Drum: Originally, it didn't flash back and forth between two different signs; it only said "Main Street Electrical Parade." Then it was changed to switch back and forth between that and a sign that said "Disneyland Presents." Then that was replaced in the 1990s (for no apparent reason; a two-decade-old parade hardly needs a high-visibility sponsorship) by a rather disgusting one that said "Presented by GE," with a General Electric logo. Then, if I remember right, it was back to "Disneyland Presents" for the final season, then "The Magic Kingdom Presents" during the WDW-MK run.

Alice in Wonderland: The caterpillar wasn't there until sometime in the 1980s; I'm not even sure if Alice was there back in the early 1970s. While the could "speak," and the centipede made "marching" sounds, since probably the late 1970s, it wasn't until either during or after the Farewell Season that the fireflies had their own fragments of counterpoint to the music. In Florida, they had butterfly and dragonfly dancers (borrowed from Spectra?).

The Cinderella ballroom scene didn't originally have the stepsisters, or the big float in the middle; originally, the clock tower was in the middle, and a staircase with the Prince and the Slipper was at the end.

The Dumbo/Circus unit was originally quite a bit smaller, without the two "stage" floats. At one time, the rabbit-in-the-hat was sculpted in white lights, but it wasn't terribly recognizable. The CO2 on the lion/calliope float was controlled manually up until the Parade went to Florida; now it appears to be automated (a mistake, as I see it).

There was originally a Small World unit, with floats and pushcarts, followed by an undersea unit with schools of fish and a whale. Then the whale became Monstro, with Pinocchio sitting in its mouth. Then those units were retired to make room for (and may indeed have been recycled into) the huge 2-float Pinocchio Pleasure Island unit (with cigar-smoking friends of Lampwick, who eventually got donkey ears and tails). It's long gone; I understand it went to Japan, and was eventually demolished.

The Peter Pan unit was a late 1980s addition.

The Snow White unit started out with just the Dwarves marching along with headlamps. Then came the mine train, then came the mine itself (apparently a redress of a "promotional" Return to Oz float that ran for one summer). Then Snow White herself finally showed up for the first time, either the year before or the year after the mine went bye-bye.

The Dragon: The original Parade had a Chinese dragon. Then came the early version of Elliot (which may or may not have been originally intended as Elliot): no seat for Pete, no "disappear" switch, red fins instead of pink, and maybe even no underbite. That evolved into the Elliot we all know and love.

The End Float: In the original Parade, this was just a United States Flag on a staff. I have a slide of it. Then, in the post-America-on-Parade MSEP, the Flag was gone, replaced with the Disney Characters in Neon unit (and its disco Disney medley). Then, after a few years (and a one- or two-year hiatus, if I remember right), came the present Flag Float. But originally, the young women accompanying it wore red skirts, white blouses, and stars-and-stripes vests. Then a male version of the costume was needed, for one season. Then came a year or two with red lame tailcoats and blue lame hot pants (and back to only women), dancing alongside the float. Then came the present costmes. Then, for the Florida run, Disney characters in Liberty Square costumes.

The Rope: Originally, a gold rope. Then, for a year, perhaps less, braided red, white, and blue rope-lights (heavy and cumbersome). Then, during the GE sponsorship, a GE billboard on wheels. Then back to the gold rope.

The "Tail": To the best of my recollection, there was never so much as a single occasion when the "tail" of guests following The Parade wasn't permitted to follow it all the way from one gate to the other, for the Parade's entire tenure in Disneyland. At WDW-MK, last November, they were amputating the "tail" at the entrance to Liberty Square (what a place to infringe upon guests' liberty!). In DCA, they made a futile attempt to amputate the tail on July 3, but relented out of respect for the tradition. That lasted one night. (Can anybody give me so much as one logical reason for such a ludicrous idea?)

The additions and the one-season promotional floats didn't really stop until the 1990s, and only stopped then because of the same bean counters (and I'm not especially hostile to Disney management) who gave us the GE billboards. Moreover, as battery technology improved, dancers who were originally leashed to their floats could instead wear their power sources, and the recharge time between parades shortened considerably. And as to a Cinderella mouse being redone in LEDs, I was under the impression that true white LEDs didn't even exist back in 1987 (and blue ones, if they existed at all, were barely out of the laboratory). If I were the artist, and saw MY mouse's light colors changed to accommodate the sort of LEDs that were available in 1987, I'd probably have kittens myself over it. Now, we have white LED flashlights!

The whole point here is that the MSEP was never a static thing, even in the 1990s, when changes appeared to be economic, rather than artistic in nature. So why shouldn't Disneyland apply some of what was learned from Fantalusion, Spectramagic, Light Magic, and Dreamlights (note, not just knowledge of what works, but also knowledge of what doesn't) to develop an improved MSEP?