Walt Disney World's hottest parade float has returned

January 25, 2019, 11:53 AM · The star of the Magic Kingdom's Festival of Fantasy parade has returned.

Sorry, Mickey, but you're in every Disney parade. But only one featured the fire-breathing Maleficent dragon, who turned heads and summoned cell phone cameras like few other floats in Disney parade history. Well... at least until she actually caught fire during a performance last year.

No one other than Maleficent was injured in the mishap, though for obvious reasons, Sleeping Beauty's nemesis has been missing from the parade since then. But now she has returned, Disney announced today... "complete with enhanced safety features to keep her in check."

Disney's being refreshingly cheeky about this one, noting in its press release that the Disney villain has "had some work done – although she would never admit it."

Maleficent's return also means the return of her unit in the Festival of Fantasy parade, including Prince Phillip, fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and Maleficent's ravens.

And because Disney can leave no promotional opportunity unrealized, the park is celebrating Maleficent's return with the return of the Maleficent Cone at Storybook Treats in Fantasyland, a lime soft-serve in a black waffle cone, topped with purple sugar and chocolate horns.

The Festival of Fantasy parade runs daily in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Replies (1)

February 1, 2019 at 3:26 AM

I always like a nice dragon !
They are much more fancy then dinos .... :-) Dinos are way to abundant all over the world in amusement parks, and became extreme boring.
A dragon, however, usually is a loner, a one-to-be creature facing a crowd, with proud.

Disney's dragons are not more then 1 per park.
https://d23.com/fierce-friends-our-six-favorite-dragons-in-disney-parks/
Efteling however, has one ('Draak') in almost every Realm:
Sprookjesbos - Fairy tale forest : Draak Lichtgeraakt (damping only)
Reizenrijk : Chinese dragon (Carnaval Festival dark ride) (damping only)
Ruigrijk : swamp dragon in Joris en de Draak (coaster) (fire spitting)
Marerijk : Draconicon, steampunk style, in Ravelijn show (fire spitting)
...and at the lakeside, for insiders only, the magic binocular trough which you can look around over the lake, and see and hear the lake dragons fly over the water, which are invisible to the naked eye :-) ...

Although they both are considered 'reptilian'.. :-) ...
With a dragon, you can amaze and tell a story. A story of their own. The dragon has the star role !
With dinos, they act like dumb figurants, just impressive by their size.

Cheers (your dragon lover)

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