Tokyo Disneyland Winter Trip Report – Part 4
Next up was Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. In our “Dreamlights: Disney’s Best Night Parade” post, I gushed about this parade, so I will spare you that. Suffice to say, this is my favorite Disney parade anywhere ever. I love the Walt Disney World Halloween and Christmas Party parades, but I prefer this–by a wide margin.
I’ve seen a few “rumors” circulating that Dreamlights is coming to Walt Disney World. The emphasis on the air quotes there is heavy, as these “rumors” are 100% fabricated. Perhaps ‘wishful thinking’ is a more delicate way of putting it, but either way, it’s not happening.
First, the Oriental Land Company owns Dreamlights. While retired parades/floats from other Tokyo parades have made their way to Disney-owned parks in the past, it’s not nearly as simple as Walt Disney World just “taking” the parade.
Second, Dreamlights has a surplus of floats and a boatload of performers. My guess is that it has at least double the performers of Main Street Electrical Parade or Paint the Night. I cannot envision Walt Disney World wanting to run that labor-intensive of a parade.
Finally, and most telling: the Oriental Land Company has already announced they are adding new floats to Dreamlights this summer. That’s not what happens to a parade that is destined to be retired soon.
Dreamlights is still incredibly popular in Tokyo Disneyland, even long after its debut. This is because the parade is regularly refreshed (its content is dramatically different now as compared to when it premiered), which will probably keep it running for several more years.
My guess is that Dreamlights will be plussed every other year until Tokyo Disneyland’s 40th Anniversary, at which time a new night parade will debut.
If Walt Disney World is still night parade-less in 2023, there’s the chance it might inherit a few Dreamlights floats. With WDW’s 50th Anniversary (something I’d hope is celebrated) coming before then, I think that’s highly unlikely, though.
It was getting pretty cold later in the evening, dipping into the low thirties. We followed our own advice contained in our Winter Disney Packing List, and also packed plenty of hand and body warmers.
Interestingly, we wouldn’t have needed to pack the warmers at all, as they were sold in the parks for less than $1 each–just slightly more than we paid via Amazon when buying them in bulk.
For most guests, the evening ends with Frozen Forever, the seasonal projection show that runs in lieu of Once Upon a Time. Again, no one else was interested in this, but they humored me.
What I didn’t realize going into the show was that it was going to be presented in alternate form due to the wind, which meant we’d have to watch it again, anyway.
I regret nothing. If anything, this means no one in our party will ever complain about “Frozen over-saturation” in the U.S. parks again, as we experienced more Frozen in 4 days than in the aggregate of all our Walt Disney World and Disneyland visits.
I’ll share thoughts on Frozen Forever in a future installment, once we watch the ‘regular’ version of it…
The rest of the night is sort of a blur. I know we did Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and it’s a small world, and I fell asleep on the latter. I think we also did Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, but can’t recall. Jet lag was really getting the best of me that evening (and you know that’s the case since I can’t remember whether I did Hunny Hunt!).
On a normal night, we would’ve done Hunny Hunt a few times before park closing. Its wait times generally drop pretty dramatically in the last hour the park is open, so you can do it with a <15 minute wait most nights.
Wanting to try a different perspective for Frozen Forever, I headed to World Bazaar to capture the show and the Frozen Fantasy decorations. This didn’t work out all that well.
For the first time ever, we decided to leave Tokyo Disneyland before the park closed. I was hoping the brisk air and “excitement” of taking photos would wake me up and give me a jolt of energy, but even that didn’t work. I was just going through the motions taking pictures, so it was pointless to stick around. On the plus side, on the way out of the park, we stopped at Guest Services again, and they had found my flash! So, I guess that provides a happy ending to that ‘disaster.’ Despite calling it a night early (in this case, “early” is 10 minutes before park closing), we had a great day at Tokyo Disneyland.
particularly enjoyed the photos in this installment, which I didn’t expect as I am not Frozen mad. thank you!
You packed warmers? I thought you couldn’t bring them on an airplane (checked luggage or carry on) – or maybe I misunderstood.
Hi, Tom ! Greetings from France, where I read all of your trip reports with joy and great interest 😉
Tokyo Disneyland seems to be such a lovely park that even a Frozen parade seems appealing… i really have to visit them someday !
(and by the way, thanks a lot for your articles about trip planning in WDW, my first trip there is in September and it helps me a lot !)
Loving these posts Tom, especially the photos. Feels like I’m living vicariously through you guys until our next Disney getaway. Was surprised not to see people sitting ten deep from the curb during the parade. That must have been a nice change from DL or DW parade viewing. Thx again.
Great Post
It is incredibly sad how excited I get when one of your trip reports (particularly anything to do with Tokyo Disney) pops up on my newsfeed. Thank you for sharing your adventures (and your wisdom)!
Okay, I’m not getting it. Why the seagulls, please?
The seagulls dance with Olaf a la “Jolly Holiday” style during his song “In Summer” in the movie.
This may sound silly, but do you think it added more authenticity to the whole Frozen Forever theming with the temperatures being so cold? I personally find it hard to get into the spirit when watching the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration at Hollywood Studios in mid August, but seemed to be more into it when visiting in early January with significantly cooler weather.
You’re getting soft in your old age Tom! 😉