A Christmas Fantasy or Very Merry Christmas Parade?

[BDBopper]

To be honest I am not sure where the appropriate forum was for this question so if the mods want to place this somewhere else they are most definitely welcome to do so.

I have recently seen videos of both the Christmas Fantaasy Parade at Disneyland, and the Very Merry Christmas Parade at WDW's Magic Kingdom. Which one is your favorite parade and why? Chances are you have seen WDW's on TV if you have not been there in person.

From what I have seen, both parades IMO are special in their own ways. Both parades are better to be seen at night with all the extra lighting on the floats. But I have to say that I like VMCP a little better. I wish ABC would go back to showing the parade at night-I just think it is better eye-candy.

I like the music soundtrack better because it doesn't loop much, In other words there is not very much repetition going from one uint to the next compared to the Christmas Fantasy where the theme is tweaked and played over again.

Also there is live music in the VMCP with small bands interspersed through the parade (the soldiers, army men, on the castle float, and on the riverboat and the glockenspiel girls at the end-reminds me of when I saw Fantasy On Parade at DL in the 80's).

Please note that the video of VMCP I saw was from last year, so things might have been changed a little. However I like the Holiday costumes at WDW better because they are mostly unchanged from what I saw as a child on TV and at DL (id the gingerbread men, dolls, reindeer).

Even though I like the VMCP better both parades are wonderfully done. I don't mean to knock Christmas Fantasy Parade at all.

What do you think?

[GeneralShang]

i like the Christmas Fantasy Parade a lot BECAUSE of its music. I happen to like the repitition because then everything is part of one big theme. And i think the costumes look better than the ones in Very Merry Christmas Parade. They're newer.

Actually, VMCP originated in Disneyland, I think. Some of the costumes that VMCP has right now came from DL's version or from DL's Christmas Fantasy Parade.

[tloolgb]

Never seen the Christmas Fantasy, but I like VMCP. The Jack Wagner intro, the whole parade is just classic WDW...so that is where part of my love comes in. You can't get those feelings too often. And besides, WDW and Christmas are too special things. When they mix it is just grand.

[tloolgb]

Yeah I just realized that I was thinking of the Very Merry Christmas Parade.
Scratch what I wrote.

[CUatDL]

I have not seen the Christmas Fantasy Parade yet this year. I plan to see it next Wednesday. But I do remember several years ago when they went from the Very Merry Christmas Parade to the Christmas Fantasy Parade that I liked the VMCP better, though I can't remember why. Could be age sneaking up on me.

CU@DL

Andy

[Moving Sidewalk]

I haven't seen WDW's 'Very Merry Christmas Parade', so I can't comment on that.

But in comparing Disneyland's 'A Christmas Fantasy' (ACF) Parade to the 'Very Merry Christmas Parade', I tend to prefer ACF, since it stays true to the Christmas theme.

I remember that Disneyland's VMCP had a number of movie-specific floats, such as the Snow White float, Captain Hook's ship, and a Beauty & the Beast group of some sort... While I loved the music for the Snow White float, it wasn't specifically a Christmas float. It was something that could have been in a non-Christmas parade. Same thing for Captain Hook's ship.

That's not to say the the VMCP was bad-- it too had some neat elements that ACF doesn't. I remember the days of using live horses... and the custodial guy following after. There used to be a float with carolers who sang using wireless mics, and their singing was amplified by the speakers on the float-- I think that was in the VMCP days. And I miss the spotlights setup along the entire parade route-- not sure if that ended with VMCP, or later.

ACF is already on it's 11th year I believe, so forgive me if I got any of those details about the Very Merry Christmas Parade wrong-- that was so long ago.

[Aladdin]

I do miss a few things from DL's old Verry Merry Christmas
Parade, The kids in the Peter Pan Segment, and I'm sure
there were a LOT more toy soldiers. And Yes, the lighting
at nightime does make the parade a lot more festive. Oh,
current music for the DL Christmas parade is good, but I
do miss Holly Jolly Christmas.

[sir clinksalot]

If it wasn't for the annoying song being played over and over ... and over and over ... and over and over ...

It would be Christmas Fantasy. But I have to go with Very Merry.

[BDBopper]

Reading the replies I have some questions. When was the last year "Fantasy On Parade" was run at Disneyland during the Christmas Season?
Did Disneyland run a version of the Very Merry Christmas Parade before the debut of A Christmas Fantasy Parade (and which year did ACF start running)? I thought only WDW ran the Very Merry Christmas Parade and that A Christmas Fantasy replaced Fantasy On Parade.

I have a video of Fantasy On Parade that my dad shot (don't know where it is...can't find it at the present time) from December 26th, 1986 and it was a Disney parade with Christmas units at the end. In other words there were units of the parade that represented Disney characters and movies and there was no Christmas theme until the parade's final units (but even so there were several Christmas units).

[BDBopper]

I think I got some of my questions answered with a little Christmas luck. I have a friend who had recorded Walt Disney World's Very Merry Christmas Parade as shown on Christmas morning of 1988 on ABC. It just so happens that parade footage was also filmed and shown from Disneyland (an excuse to plug the new ride Splash Mountain). In 1988 both parks were running their own version of "Very Merry Christmas Parade" and both of them looked very similar to the parade I saw at Disneyland back in 1986 (Disney movie units followed by Christmas units at the very end) WDW had not adopted the full Christmas theme to their parade yet and Disneyland was beginning to use some of the units now being used for A Christmas Fantasy. Very interesting is that WDW was using the exact same soundtrack for the Christmas units that Disneyland was using in 1986!

Sorry if that bored anyone out there...I just didn't want anyone who may have paid attention to the thread to be left hanging. Thought it would interest some of you Disneyphiles like me out there.