The Beauty and the Misery of the Walt Disney World Easter Parade

It was at some point in the early 90s. It had to be the 90s, as all great things happened then. I wasn’t quite a teenager, but I was pretty close. It was probably the second or third time I had ever been to Walt Disney World, and my family was staying at Disney’s Beach Club for the first time ever.

This was before Extra Magic Hours or anything like that, so you got into the Parks at the same time as everyone else. We always went during school vacations, and it was Easter. For years, we would wake up and watch the Walt Disney World Easter Parade on TV, but we had the opportunity to see it for the first time in our lives. But my mother wanted to be a part of the show for some reason. We needed a seat close to where the hosts were sitting, so our spot would be recorded every time a float passed us.

Now, a quick reminder. This was before FastPass or Lightning Lane or anything like that. If you wanted a good seat for a parade or a show, you set up on the street a few hours in advance and waited. We rushed through Magic Kingdom turnstiles and headed for Main Street, U.S.A. This was just as the Park opened. Everyone knows that you always get there when it opens, even now.

And so we found the cameras and sat. We were at the Happiest Place on Earth and could not ride anything. We could not run around the Park. We were at Magic Kingdom, sitting and waiting. The Parade started at one, and we were there at nine in the morning.

This was the 90s, so there were no cell phones to entertain us. There was just us. We watched the people pass, most giving us strange looks for sitting on the curb. We talked about what we would do once the Parade was over. We had some lunch. It was a terrible hamburger, but that’s all they had to offer. Ask your parents about it.

It was so much simpler then. You didn’t have to worry about being on the My Disney Experience App; you didn’t have to worry about posting to Instagram; we just talked for hours.

I honestly don’t remember the Parade that much. We were on TV, but no one we knew cared that much. There were Disney characters, Easter eggs, and Easter baskets, and eventually, the Easter Bunny and Mrs. Easter Bunny came by. We even got to see hosts Regis Philbin and Joan Lunden.

I did get the worst sunburn of my life on my legs from sitting on the curb for so long. And there was no such thing as sunscreen back then. There was, but we just didn’t use it. We lived life dangerously. It was miserable for the rest of the trip, but worth it in retrospect.

From that year on, every Easter Day, we would watch the Easter Parade every year and always remember when we were there. In 1999, Disney stopped televising the Easter Parade. It’s a shame, but time moves on.

So, if you’re lucky enough to be at the Walt Disney World Resort on Easter Day this year, sit down with your family and enjoy one of the Parades. Don’t make a reservation or book a dessert party. Put your phones away and talk for a while and see what you can learn about each other. You’ll thank me for it later. Enjoy.