We got 4 free passes from friends and so had to purchase 1 extra child ticket (they had them available at the gate despite the 'sold out' banner. It was really similar to last years event, definitely less lighting (the area from Scooby to Wild West basically only had some lights in the tree). There didn't appear to be any 'snow' falling in main street either.

They also still advertise the parade as "Movie World’s BIGGEST parade ever! "

Despite two floats being retired since last year's event and are now static props between SDSC/Midway Games.

Polar express model sitting in the villians area is a real head scratcher, should be in the wild west area .

3 hours ago, Ashley Jeffery said:

Polar express model sitting in the villians area is a real head scratcher, should be in the wild west area .

Probably should just be used in the parade 

On 09/12/2023 at 10:13 PM, themagician said:

Probably should just be used in the parade 

A parade float used in a parade?! That's crazy talk!

On 09/12/2023 at 10:13 PM, themagician said:

Probably should just be used in the parade 

if it's been parked up, I can only assume they're not able to run it for safety reasons - like, why wouldn't you roll it out, if you could?

I appreciate that they've they still got them on display, particularly when they're decent floats. But why say this is the biggest parade ever, when it's got less floats? I guess there's the argument for why say ' the first ride-within-a-ride experience in the Southern Hemisphere' or 'World's most iconic wooden rollercoaster'. Because they can almost say whatever they want for marketing reasons, even if it's not true.

9 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

why wouldn't you roll it out, if you could?

Why not recetify the issues to get them going again then.

Less floats being driven, less staff to pay. 

Regarding the Polar Express model, I agree it's a bit puzzling to see it in the villains area instead of the Wild West area. Maybe there's a specific reason behind it, or it could be a temporary arrangement. And as for the parade, it's true that using a parade float in the parade itself sounds like the logical thing to do! But hey, sometimes things don't always go according to plan.

Always amazes me how many people attend WC each year.    MW could charge $200.00, and people would still go because so many people lose their minds at Christmas.   Out of all the events across all the parks, this event must be the one, village hands are the deepest in your pockets.   Take one step, pay $10.00  //s   The whole night is an upcharge bonanza. 

I believe you’ll find that some of the floats that are being put out on display are slowly being decommissioned as prop pieces. This is part of an ongoing improved safety approach for the parade. Floats like the Polar Express are the old school, wide berth floats with limited turning availability in comparison to the new slim based floats that have steering capabilities within the float unit. 

The top of Main Street and the Stars/Department store corner have always proven to be challenging for the larger, older floats. Certainly has nothing to do with staffing, if anything those that have been retired have been replaced with new units. 

What were they replaced with?

5 minutes ago, New display name said:

What were they replaced with?

apparently

11 minutes ago, Levram__ said:

those that have been retired have been replaced with new units. 

 

New North Pole Float, London Float, Paris Float, Rome Float, Australia Float and New York Float. These were not just an opportunity to freshen up the offering as ‘Joy to the World’ but a long term strategy, operationally and logistically. 

Thank you @Levram__    

 

 

5 hours ago, themagician said:

I appreciate that they've they still got them on display, particularly when they're decent floats. But why say this is the biggest parade ever, when it's got less floats?

It's even bigger than the biggest parade now @themagician😀

34 minutes ago, Levram__ said:

New North Pole Float, London Float, Paris Float, Rome Float, Australia Float and New York Float

I get a north pole thing. it's christmas. but nothing screams 'movie world' like Rome. 

But the park has always had roaming characters 😛

 

I lol'd. touché, sir. touché.

Does the Roman float have Befana?

Edited December 14, 20231 yr by Gazza

I don't know if you will get an answer, we didn't even realise there was a new float.  Maybe a walking character identifies as a Rome float.

Worth noting that for the day parade Joker and Harley as well as The Justice League have been on foot for awhile now (they also were on those old style "wide berth" floats).

I don't doubt there is/was a plan to retire this style of float but they still did have one in operation during the parade (Santa).

Overall as others have said, very similar to last year. No Marilyn or Scrooge character this year although there did appear to be more roaming elves. Crowd cap appears similar to last year too, despite being sold out it felt very manageable.