Disney Starlight Parade Begins July 20 at Disney World

Ladies and gents, it’s time to stake out your space: the Starlight Parade will roll down Main Street U.S.A. nightly beginning on July 20, 2025. We expect that “Disney Starlight: Dream The Night Away” will have two nightly showings in the Magic Kingdom: one before and one after the fireworks. Once the parade opens, it should run every night (weather permitting), except when the Magic Kingdom closes early for a special event.

The Blue Fairy leads off the parade, with the “first star you’ll see tonight” at the tip of her wand. Guests will be invited to wish upon this star, as she brings your favorite characters to life with lights that dance from float to float. Floats themed to characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Pixar films will highlight “Wish”, “Encanto”, “Disney Princesses”, “Coco”, and “Moana”. Tap into the gallery below to see the previously released concept art up close.

The debut announcement was accompanied by concept art for the newly disclosed finale float. Closing out the parade will be a train-inspired float bearing Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck, along with other characters, and with Mickey and Minnie riding in pride of place at the end of the float.

‍The full list of floats and characters in Disney Starlight Parade is:

1. Lead Float: The Blue Fairy
2. Peter Pan Float: Peter Pan & Wendy
3. Wish Float: Asha, Valentino, and Star.
4. Encanto Float: La Familia Madrigal (Mirabel, Isabela, Bruno)
5. Elsa
6. Ballroom (Princess) Float: Aurora and Prince Phillip, Tiana and Prince Naveen, Belle and the Beast, Cinderella and Prince Charming
7. Coco Float: Miguel and Pepita
8. Moana Float: Moana, Hei, and Pua. Gramma Tala is represented as a manta ray.
9. Finale Float: Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck, Snow White and Dopey, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, Aladdin and Jasmine, and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.

The parade’s music is an original theme written just for the parade, with some Disney Parks favorites “woven into the score.” Between the floats, dancers and other performers tie the parade together, with choreography by Cindy Wilson. Royal court dancers will precede and follow the Princess unit, a reference to the “Main Street Electrical Parade”.

Starlight Parade Merchandise

As you wait for the parade to start, you can snack on a new popcorn mix, available exclusively at the Main Street Confectionary in Magic Kingdom, beginning on the first night of the new parade. It’s a mix of Bubble Gum and Blue Raspberry Candy Corn popcorn, M&M’s, mini-marshmallows, and white chocolatey drizzle.

Starlight-themed merchandise was also announced. Perhaps you’d like to watch the parade from your Starlight-themed parade blanket, with your Starlight Mickey Ears on, holding a Starlight bubble wand? If so, you’re in luck as all those items and more are in the merch collection. The light-up bubble wand will also interact with the parade as it passes by.

Starlight Parade Touring Notes

As mentioned, we expect the parade to run twice nightly once it debuts, except on nights where Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are held. It’s likely that the parade will make the current Magic Kingdom crowding on non-party days worse. That’s because in-the-know guests who have visited before may have been willing to give up seeing Happily Ever After for the low crowds on party days. But they’re less likely to give up the chance to see a brand new parade.

To address crowd management in the Magic Kingdom, Disney is making some changes to the park reservation requirements for Annual Passholders. Currently, passholders can enter any park without a reservation after 2 pm, except for the Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays. Beginning July 20, Passholders will need a reservation to visit the Magic Kingdom on any day, even after 2 pm. Disney has announced that this change will be limited in time, although they didn’t specify how limited.

Are you excited for Disney Starlight Parade to begin? Will you see it this summer? Let us know in the comments!