Soft Opening of Disney’s New Starlight Nighttime Parade
Watch the full video HERE!
Day two of my family’s most recent Disney World trip was incredible. We spent our morning and early afternoon at Hollywood Studios, getting to see the new ‘Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After’ show, grabbed dinner at my favorite resort (spoiler alert: it’s the Polynesian), and ended our night by being among the first people ever to see the new nighttime parade at Magic Kingdom, ‘Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away’.
The first ride we went on in Hollywood Studios was Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster! This was Micah’s first time ever at Hollywood Studios (hear abut his first day in Magic Kingdom here!) so he had no idea what to expect with this ride. He says, “Very surprising. No one gave me spoilers, but you are not going through a museum, like I thought we were, of the band’s history. So get ready to go 0-100 in 0 seconds because it’s quick!” Imagine his surprise after thinking it was a museum walkthrough and it ended up being a rollercoaster with two loops and a corkscrew!
After our first ride, we went over to Ronto Roasters in Star War’s Galaxy’s Edge for some breakfast. I had the Triple Suns Breakfast Wrap and the Surly Sarlaac drink which was delicious. We ran into Rey who spoke with us for a while before getting on Star Tours. Very magical morning in Batuu!
We made our way back over to Sunset Boulevard to ride Tower of Terror. My lovely friend Bella who is a bellhop at the Hollywood Tower Hotel let us ride twice! Tower is one of my absolute favorite rides so I was thrilled to go twice in a row. After Tower, we rode Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and I had to grab one of my favorite park meals - the vegan grilled cheese sandwich at Woody’s Lunchbox. Micah also tried the Adult’s Lemonade there which according to him is dangerous because it just “tastes like juice”.
We made our way back over to Galaxy’s Edge to get on Rise of the Resistance! Easily one of the most immersive and best themed rides at Disney World. And a must-do for any Star Wars fan. We met up with my parents, my sister Amelia and her boyfriend Jack to get drinks and snacks at Oga’s Cantina. I had the Batuu Bits which are crispy, spiced snacks with a vegan and gluten free dip.
But my favorite part of Hollywood Studios that day? Villains: Unfairly Ever After. This is a new stage show that opened on May 27th of this year, and this was my first time seeing it. The show features Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook, and Maleficent. The audience decides though applause which of the three villains is the most misunderstood, so a different villain wins every time. When I saw the show, Maleficent won, which is who I was most rooting for. Though all three of these villains are top-tier. I believe Disney is using this show to test which villains guests like the most. I’ve also heard rumors that they might change out the three villains to test some other characters. I would love to see Ursula, Dr. Facilier, or even Scar in upcoming versions of this show. But overall, the show was a 10/10 and I’ve been playing “Magic Mirror” on loop since I got home from this trip. See footage from the show here!
After the show, we went over to Disney’s Polynesian Resort. This is, without a doubt, my favorite place on Disney property. I know my way around here better than I know my way around my hometown. Micah and I again met up with my parents, Amelia, and Jack. We all got our leis (it’s mandatory) and I got a couple of things in the gift shop - an Island Tower pin and an Island Tower magnet.
We all had dinner at Ohana which is delicious as always. If you go, please try the POG juice. At dinner, my friend Brandon texted me that there were rumors of a soft opening of the new Starlight Parade that night. It was July 18th and the parade’s original opening date was scheduled for July 20th, so I was not expecting to be able to see the parade that soon.
Once we finished dinner, we took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom just in time for the parade. We left the Polynesian around 8:40 and made it to Main Street before the parade started, which was scheduled for 9pm. And I am so glad we did! The floats were BEAUTIFUL. They had an Encanto float, a Moana float, a princess float and so many others. And seeing the castle blue and purple with all the trees on Main Street lit up was stunning. They actually turned the lights off so guests were able to better see the parade floats. Watch the parade here!
After the parade ended, Micah tried three more times to get Galactic Hero on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and actually came so close! His top score was 928,200. He’ll get it one of these days.
For full videos on the new Starlight parade and Villains: Unfairly Ever After, be sure to watch our vlog from day two of our trip! Day three was well spent at Universal. More on that coming soon. ;)
