Paint the Night

On November 25, 1996, Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade glowed away seemingly forever. It's replacement flopped, and fans and locals were left without their spectacular festival pageant with thousands of sparkling lights they had grown up with. It had traveled to New York and later Orlando, but it was not lost for good. To appease the lackluster crowds for the newly opened Disney's California Adventure, lo and behold Southern California once more got to see the parade returned as a "California Classic." It had a charm, and it had a legacy. But it still left a longing to see it once more travel across the esplanade and make its way through Main Street. We were teased with its soundtrack during its very deserving presence in the 50th anniversary's fireworks, it fended off plans of being sent away yet again to Hong Kong, and it even received most upgrades as part of Disneyland's Summer Nightastic. But in 2010 it was shipped yet again to Orlando, and its return to the original magic kingdom never took place.

On May 22, 2015, Disneyland kicked off its year and a half long Diamond Anniversary celebration in honor of its 60th anniversary. New decorations, new treats and sweets, and new merchandise covered the park from head to toe. But the diamond to dazzle the most would come after dark. Once night fell and the lights began to glow, the speakers along the parade route began to twinkle with the faint murmurs of baroque hoedown. The medley grew until the fanfare blared announcing that, to borrow an expression, for the first time in forever a spectacular festival pageant with millions of colorful lights would again be gracing the original magic kingdom, the Paint the Night Parade.

This was filmed on the opening weekend, beginning with the insanity that was the 24 hour kickoff event. If anything, please appreciate just how crowded it was and that as a personal policy I film handheld without a tripod and do not push anyone trying to enjoy the parade out of the way to get a shot.

Video is not for sale and all relevant content within the footage itself is copyright Disney.