Disneyland Paint The Night Parade

Disneyland’s newest nightly parade, Paint The Night (Author’s rating 5 stars) is patterned after the processional that debuted at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2014 and was duplicated (with a few new additions) as part of Disneyland’s Diamond Anniversary entertainment additions. Inspired in part by the original Main Street Electrical Parade, these brand-new floats are covered in 1.5 million LEDs. Each float represents a classic Disney or Pixar film, as scenes from Monsters Inc., Cars, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and (wait for it…) Frozen are brought to life by a cast of more than 75 performers, who bounce down the route to the upbeat soundtrack of Wreck-It Ralph’s “When Can I See You Again?” by pop artist Owl City (your kids will know who that is).

Keep an ear out for musical nods to “Baroque Hoedown,” the old Electrical Parade’s synth-tastic theme song. These super-bright displays go far beyond earlier nighttime pageants and include character puppets with digitally animated faces, a tractor trailer full of floating 3-D designs, and a kinetic Sorcerer’s Apprentice sculpture whose twisting motion defies description. In our opinion, Paint the Night is one of Disney’s best nighttime parades ever and is not to be missed.

Paint The Night Viewing Tips

On nights with two scheduled Paint the Night parades, the first performance will start at ‘it’s a small world,’ travel past the west side of the Matterhorn, go clockwise around the Tomorrowland side of Central Plaza, head down Main Street, and then circle Town Square counter-clockwise. The second performance will begin at Town Square and run the route in the opposite direction. Most guests watch from the Central Plaza or from Main Street. The viewing area in front of ‘it’s a small world’ will fill up last, so we recommend checking there if you need a spot. Keep in mind this is a new parade for the 60th Anniversary Celebration and has already proven very popular with guests. On busy days you may need to devote more than 1 hour of time to make sure you secure a good spot for the parade.

For a complete review of the Paint The Night parade and all entertainment offered at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, pick up The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2016. Filled with revolutionary, field-tested touring plans that can save four hours of waiting in line in a single day, The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2016 is the key to planning a perfect vacation.

About the authors: Seth Kubersky is nationally recognized as an authority on theme parks and amusement attractions. He is, together with Bob Sehlinger and Guy Selga Jr., co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2016. Len Testa leads the team at TouringPlans.com, the website and research arm of The Unofficial Guides.