Alright, level with us Disney. We need answers. How could you do these things that are so TOTALLY unforgivable?!
EPCOT Monorail
Disney World is constantly changing and sometimes that means that some of our FAVORITE things at the parks are affected. We get it, it happens. We love us some Disney World and we’ll recover, but WHY did Disney have to make THESE changes!?
1. Retiring the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights
RIP The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Disney’s Hollywood Studios just isn’t the same at Christmastime! The park used to be home to some absolutely spectacular Christmas lights. Literal MILES of lights were strung around the Streets of America section of Hollywood Studios from 1995 allllll the way to 2016. Oh, and the lights? They DANCED. TO. MUSIC.
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights
Unfortunately, the lights had to end just prior to the Streets of America section closing for the development of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Yeah, we get it. It had to happen eventually — OR DID IT??? Look, Disney, all we’re saying is that we’d be pretty happy to waltz beneath a canopy of dancing lights again, OK? It doesn’t matter where or when. WE MISS OUR OSBORNE LIGHTS.
Osborne Lights — Extra Shiny in the Rain!
At least we can still get our fix of beautiful Christmas spirit elsewhere. Sunset Seasons Greetings is a fun continuous show in Hollywood Studios that is typically offered each night of the Holiday Season, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party has the A-MAZ-ING Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks.
EPCOT is a reliable holiday favorite with the Festival of the Holidays and Candlelight Processional to enjoy. Plus, there are a TON of ways to celebrate in Animal Kingdom — a few years ago, they debuted park-wide Christmas decorations and PUPPET ANIMALS and entertainment! I guess we’ll be able to find stuff to do during the holidays without our fav lights. Sigh. But the ache continues in our hearts.
Click here for a look at everything coming to Disney World for the 2022 holiday season
2. Getting Rid of Sweet Spells in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and NOT ADDING A NEW CANDY STORE?!?!
You know what, Hollywood Studios? We have another bone to pick with you! How could you get rid of Sweet Spells and NOT replace it with another candy store!? We need our candy, okay? Sweet Spells was the go-to spot in the park for all your sweets needs like gourmet apples, Disney fudge, cookies, rice cereal treats, cupcakes, and more — and it’s been GONE since 2018 with no replacement. The audacity!
Sweet Spells in Disney’s Hollywood Studios
The spot where Sweet Spells resided is now a shop selling primarily Pixar merch. Pixar swag is good and all but it’s not as good as CANDY. We could maybe forgive this one if they had opened another candy shop in Hollywood Studios, but they didn’t. And now Disney guests are candy-less when they’re wandering the Studios.
Sweet Spells Candy Apples
You can still get your sweets fix in Hollywood Studios, just maybe not quite the same way! There are awesome ice cream concoctions at Hollywood Scoops, Dinosaur Gertie’s Ice Cream of Extinction, or 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Plus, you can usually find a version of the Carrot Cake Cookie from over at The Trolley Car Cafe (the park’s Starbucks location). Trolley Car Cafe is actually a great spot to find sweet treats, though these can change throughout the seasons, so check to see what’s available when you go.
The Trolley Car Cafe!
Be on the lookout for pre-packaged candy in some spots too. But is it the same as having a FULL candy store? No, not it’s not.
Click here to see our cookie showdown: Carrot Cake Cookie vs. Red Velvet Whoopie Pie!
3. No More Main Street Electrical Parade 😭
UPDATE: The Main Street Electrical Parade officially returned to Disneyland on April 22nd, 2022 for a limited time, but Disney World is still without this beloved spectacular.
And last but certainly not least: How could we EVER forgive the fact that Main Street Electrical Parade is gone for good? Wait, we know the answer to that. We CAN’T!
Main Street Electrical Parade was the beloved nighttime parade that ran off and on from 1977-2016. It had a few breaks from 1991-1999 and 2001-2010 to make way for SpectroMagic, another beloved Disney World nighttime parade that has since been permanently retired.
Main Street Electrical Parade
Main Street Electrical Parade featured impressive, light-covered floats like a Casey Jr. Train Dumbo float, a Cinderella float, and even a Pete’s Dragon float! With Main Street Electrical and similarly styled SpectroMagic running since the 70’s, generations of guests grew attached to these parades and made them beloved parts of their trips.
Our main issue here is that there are now NO MORE nighttime parades during the regular park day in Disney World. The daytime parades are cool and all but there’s something really special about seeing all of the awesome lighting effects that come with a nighttime parade.
Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland
Now, luckily, there is actually a special way to still catch a nighttime parade in Disney World, but you’ll have to head to a separately ticketed event. You can see Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (though it is sometimes offered during the day to all guests). And if you head to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party you can catch the Boo-To-You Halloween Parade at night too.
Such a Great Parade
The Main Street Electrical Parade did return to Disneyland in 2022, and we might have been a little bit jealous. Okay…a lot, but who can blame us! This parade is full of classic Disney magic, and it even got an upgraded finale in the new Disneyland version featuring Encanto!
But the parade was only available there for a limited time and has since ended its 2022 run.
We’re SO Jealous
We might be able to forgive you, Disney, if and only if this parade returns to the Magic Kingdom.
Want to make sure you’re ready for all the changes in Disney World? Click here!
So, you see? There are definitely some things that Disney has done that we just can’t bring ourselves to forgive. We still love ya, Disney World, but we REALLY loved these things in the parks, too! With so much always evolving in Disney World, maybe they’ll find a way to make it up to us.😉
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Totally agree about Osborne. Really miss the holiday time lights with snow, was always a classic must see. We always laughed at what the response by the crew who was every year, responsible for putting up the 1.2 MILLION lights in Nov was??? To gain the wonderful Galaxy’s Edge we had to lose Ave of America, Lights Motor Action, and Backlot Tour amongst other things.
Besides losing Sweet spells, we lost its neighbor Starring Rolls! And the Butterfinger (peanut butter crunch) cupcake was never the same! Great location and nothing placed there yet with all that seating???
AJ what about Spectromagic? That was by far my family’s favorite parade. We were heartbroken when they took it away.
I 100% agree about the losses of our beloved lighted night parades and the Osborne lights. They were both awesome. I think the loss of all the parades is disheartening. I remember when every park had a daytime parade. What’s up with that Disney? The AK parade turned into a holiday version at Christmas time, the HS had so many great parade versions. The Epcot parade had a lot of cool giant puppets as I recall. I think it’s sad that the MK has the only remaining parade at all.
Taking away the Osbourne lights was like taking part of xmas away and the Main Street Parade as it needed to be updated but not have it anymore was robbing not only kids but also the Big Kids
The Osbourne Christmas Lights need to return as does the Main Street Electrical Parade. Maybe when the parks here in Florida reopen they will return. Don’t get me wrong, I know people are anxious to get back in the parks. Perhaps Disney executives will bring these back. The people are speaking and Disney we know you want to make up for lost revenue. Bringing these back would increase night time attendance thereby increasing in park sales.
I TOTALLY AGREE ON NUMBER 1 AND 2. It makes me soooooo sad that they got rid of them 😢 I didn’t really care about the electrical parade though lol
I totally agree with all 3 and my main thing was getting rid of Tapestry of Nations parade
I absolutely loved that parade
Honorable mention to Illuminations. I know, these nighttime shows have a shelf life, but Illuminations was one of my favorite experiences anywhere. I would usually catch it several times on trips, even if my day did not revolve around EPCOT that day. It gave us such a wonderful, peaceful feeling… a great way to end any day in WDW.
I truly hope the new night show at EPCOT is along the same lines. I love the show at Magic Kingdom but it doesn’t evoke that sames sense of peace as Illuminations did.
Never had the pleasure of a Disney Christmas but those lights look great! We will miss the evening parades very much and the candy, but Im really upset about Starring Rolls. That was always our first stop at the Studios.
Totally agree and add Starring Rolls to the list! Really miss the Osborne Family Lights. We went every year to WDW just to see them. 🙁
Paint the Night was the BEST parade we ever saw for a Disney night parade. Wish they had brought it out for us east coasters to enjoy. But it’s not running out in Disneyland any more either if correct ?
So cool with all the characters and creative uses of lights and video displays
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_the_Night
Totally agree about the Osborne lights. It was a holiday tradition for my family we went every year after Thanksgiving.
A new one for us is getting rid of the British Revolution. It was the one musical entertainment we could always count on. We would go to Epcot at night just to see them. Shame on you Disney!
I’ll never recover from the loss of MSEP. 😢
Bring back the LIGHT PARADE!
We loved the main street electrical parade. That’s one of the things that made Disneyworld truly magical and made it stand out from other amusement parks. Please bring it back!!!! 😥
You can still see the Osborne lights every holiday season…you’ll just have to travel to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO to do it. The Hershend family bought them a few years ago.
Absolutely miss the Osborne Family Lights! The holiday season just wasn’t the same since it was removed. Likewise the Main Street Light Parade. We loved seeing it a second time as the crowds had died down. It was our goodnight present to ourselves with a final dessert.
Osborne Lights. The shameful environmental truth is that, each year, most of these went into landfill when they were taken down. You can imagine the tangled mass of wires as they stripped it all out. Mapped projection on the buildings is a possibility for the future and allows new content to be added.
I agree with all of these and would add the removal of Starring Roles! Our favorite stop for delicious sandwiches and cupcakes!
I too miss the Osborne Family of Dancing lights. But certain factors went into the decision. Mr. Osborne wanted to please his young daughter with a great display & he had the money to do so. Then he lost a court battle in Arkansas & had to scale it well down or not put up the display. So he loaned the lights to WDW in return for his family being named (and a place to stay during the season). The loan was for 20 years. His daughter became an adult. Mr. Osborne has died & the 20 years was up. So the show was dismantled & closed. Note too that Siemens sponsored the show, paying for the lights including changing them out yearly. Siemens has withdrawn not only from the light show but also over time from Spaceship Earth.
Sad as I am over not seeing the show, I recall Walt Disney saying that the park(s) would always change & fresh. He was right in his vision.
Related to Sweet Spells, I thought it was unforgivable to get rid of Villains in Vogue! I love my villains and it was a one stop place to get all my merchandise! I would drop $200-300 easy every time I went in and they had specific items you could get no where else.
It’s so sad that the Spectro magic parade is retired for anyone that had not seen it it was a beautiful night parade Disney needs to reThink some of their decisions we wish they would bring that back did they send it to another’ Disney park out of the country and bring back those beautiful Osborne lights they r so beautiful and puts so much joy n our lives Disney please listen more to what park guest want and DONT change every thing a lot of the original. attractions need to still b kept there WALT DISNEY had this wonderful imagination to build this special place please DO NOT destroy all his DREAMS
My top three unforgivable:
Epcot’s Lights of Winter
Tapestry of Nation’s
Osborne Lights
100% agree with the nighttime parade not being there anymore. It’s one of the reasons I don’t hang around the parks later. And Sweet Spells! Absolutely loved that little store and was so sad to see it gone. Disney please listen to your “customers”!
Main Street Electrical Parade and SpectroMagic were entrancing night-time parades, even if they were very retro! The introduction of LED lighting helped, but there were still high maintenance costs. The number of cast members in the night-time parades was the clincher, as they’re expensive to run.
Disney invested in digital content for mapped castle projection and ever more sophisticated firework displays. These can be changed or updated at far less cost than parades with illuminated costumes and floats that cost $$ to maintain and clean.
That’s not to say that a night-time parade is off the map, but we won’t see one in the near future
When my husband and I come to Disney world I become a little child again and so does my sister and that is what everyone is suppose to b at the happiest place on earth so like I said Disney please don’t destroy that with too many changes
I’m still mourning the loss of SpectroMagic, Wishes, and Illuminations. Completely unnecessary to get rid of and unforgiveable. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let those go!!
Closure of Sweet Spells in Disney’s Hollywood Studios…
Do we need more sugar-loaded snacks and desserts when all Disney parks and resorts are already awash with them?
Treats are great – but they don’t have to be sweet!
I think we should add a 4th…How about the closing of our beloved Adventurer’s Club? That is unforgivable to me!
I have always HATED the Electric Parade – mainly because of the music – it is the most horrible music I’ve ever heard out of Disney… is it just me? I almost have nightmares of that music playing.
The Main Street Electrical Parade was a hard hit for me. It was one of the biggest things that made up my first ever trip to Disneyland when I had just turned 4 years old in 1995. My parents bought the VHS of the parade because they loved it so much as well! We still have it! The music of the parade is probably one of the most nostalgic things that will ever exist in my life. I hear it and I literally have memories of my first trip to Disneyland, sitting on the sidewalk on main street.
The Cinderella float was definitely super memorable and awesome because there were so many dancers and so many different colored costumes.
Needless to say when they brought the parade back in the 2000s, i was beyond thrilled and went to the parks multiple times just to get my fill since I knew they inevitably would take it away again. Once they moved it DCA, it wasn’t the same either and I knew it’s time was running short.
That being said, the Paint the Night Parade absolutely blew my mind. I loved everything about it. I thought it was such a cool, like second generation of the electrical parade that included newer movies and characters the younger generations have grown up with. I had an annual pass when that parade was in Disneyland and every time we went we made a point to watch Paint the Night because we loved it SO much.
I hope these come back for at least for short runs one day. They are truly spectacular and so much fun! And the feeling of nostalgia can’t get any better than The Main Street Electrical Parade.
Yes, Yes and Yes to all 3 and then some. The trek to the Studios to be amazed each holiday season was a must, and each year it got more and more spectacular and became the focal point of many a trip to WDW. Too many of the old favorites are going and now there is less reason to go back. I hope Disney is not shooting themselves in the foot by turning everything into a Thrill Ride….
I agree with Osborne lights, but, if they had to be removed, why didn’t they replace them with something else? And, I really miss Writer’s Stop — especially on hot, busy days. Just sayin… Thank you for the post.
You’re over-dramatising things as usual.
Disney is raising prices significantly on everything and eliminating some of its popular special attractions so that it can charge separately for them. This will continue to happen. It’s big business out to maximize profits.
I think Disney is making a huge mistake by doing a way with all #1,2 3.
!&2 should have been replaced somewhere in the park.
Electrical parade brings back such happy childhood memories and The Osborne Lights were just spectacular, even when it was raining. The Christmas offerings at HS since 2017 are just not up to par.
DISNEY!! BRING BACK THE CLASSICS!
The Osborne Christmas Lights !!!!! I I also miss Starring Rolls. Best ham sandwich anywhere.
We absolutely miss both Spectromagic and Main Street Electrical Parade, not just for the fun of the parade floats and performers, but the music is AMAZING and infectious. Please bring one or both back in rotation and while I’m asking, please bring Magic Happens to WDW. The parade and music are equally wonderful and I can’t get enough of listening to them. I won’t even get into the loss of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth which has so many family memories tied to it. I’ve never seen so many family members brought to tears from the music alone because it is so beautiful. C’mon, Disney. I’m all for progress and innovation, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
My husband and I are DVC members. On May 31st this years points that we own run out! We have reservations on the 10th and of course that is up in the air. Our points run out and we have been told that we just lose them! I asked for them to be put into this years points! I WAS GIVEN A HARD NO !!! EVEN IF YOU ASK TO SPEAK TO MANAGER !!! STILL A HARD NO!!! It’s as though they take your money for your room and won’t give it back. Disney has oversold DVC and are just saying we can’t give you your points back ( even though they have created the overselling). I believe Disney is responsible for the fact that they can’t our your points to the next year because of their greed and Irresponsibility in this matter!!!
I agree that discontinuing the Main Street Electrical Parade and Spectromagic are unforgivable. #3 on my list would be changing Norway to a Frozen attraction. If it had to be in Epcot, it could have been a separate attraction like Ratatouille.
We miss the electric light parade and illuminations. When our children were young we would plastart playing the music from the electric light parade when we booked our next trip and the children would get all excited be cause that meant we were going to Disney . They would get all excited and dance all over the house shouting “We are going to Disney World” over and over. Iit continued through the generations. So many happy memories for us. Thank you to Walt and all the cast members who helped to make all of our vacations special.
My complaint goes deeper than just the disappearance of a candy store. WHY do we need a Star Wars World anyway?? No way do I think “Disney” when I think of Star Wars! Likewise, I never thought we needed a Muppets attraction. These things just don’t inspire thinking of Disney!
Hi Mary Kosloske!
Once DVC know when guests can return to WDW, they will work out a fair way of recompensing owners for cancelled vacations and “lost” points.
Until they know a re-opening date, their holding position will be that there’s nothing they can do just now but you will NOT lose your points because of the resort’s closure.
It’s complicated by the rental inventory available each year and the legal restrictions around timeshare.
Disney knows that DVC Members are loyal, regular customers who have invested in the Magic. They won’t let you down.
It may be that, because of the number of cancellations during the epidemic, they will have to offer hotel rooms for cancelled points as there simply won’t be enough villas to satisfy demand.
You’ll have to wait and see when this is all over. Your points have a $ value, and DVC will find a way to sort this out.
I think Disney’s ultimate goal is to get rid of any parades or shows that make people congregate in one place.
They want over-capacity crowds in the park. But the only way to accomplish this is get rid of shows so they don’t have to clear walk ways in the places where the parades and shows happen.
There’s just getting to be too many people and there’s just NO room.
So more people with less entertainment.
This is old but removing old school figment is top on that!
Agree with all. Osborne made my Christmas. They really should find a use for those lights. Night parades have disappeared because of economics. Too many night special events
Mary Kosloske…
DVC will take care of cancelled vacations and “lost” points once business returns to the new normal and they can assess inventory against demand. Until they can re-open, there’s no way of assessing how many cancelled DVC reservations they have to deal with. Be patient!
Amen on Osbourne, and I also miss the Backlot Tour, always a favorite. In Epcot, always loved the fountains to the tune of “Carol of the Bells”, it never failed to put me in the holiday mood. Wish they could have utilized more land instead of repurposing for the new theme areas. I am hoping that all of the new attractions will somewhat make up for the losses over the years but I am NOT holding my breath…
i agree with all 3 but for me it was the demise of the adventuers club. i never will get over that lose. It was 1truely one of a kind and could have been easily been relocated at any park or resort. Bad bad move disney