What's Up With All The Stop Parades at Disneyland/DCA? Why No Continuous Parades?

[JiminyCricketFan]

Parade stops are simply a device to make a shorter parade seem longer. I prefer a parade that does not stop, but each float costs money. If they can cut out two floats and still have the parade go for the same amount of time, then they have saved money.

[soccermouse]

Also, A Christmas Fantasy doesn't stop.

Actually, I believe that it does. Chip and Dale stop their car and get out and mess around. Goofy's gingerbread house/float stops and the 'chefs' run around. They may not be long, but I would call them stops.

[Maverick]

During wildfires and when the air quality is bad the parades dont not stop at all its always continuous for the performers.

[SparkyLD]

Pixar Play from what I have heard will be continuous and very long, without any stops at all.

That being said, if Parade of Dreams had no show stops it would eliminate the Lion King float's birds doing their spin "thing" and the Alice cards and their acrobatics, etc. The Pinocchio marionettes can do more as well when they aren't in motion and many guests enjoy it and often ask where the show stops occur.

Parades like the High School Musical 2 Parade are more shows that move along the parade route than they are parades. With that one, it would be pointless to move it because everyone would walk with it until they're done with the set so I'm glad it stops.

That spin "Thing" is called Spanish Web.

[almandot]

Those aren't showstops you're talking about for A Christmas Fantasy. The parade stops and restarts every loop of the music because the song ends, it's not a continuous, endless loop like parades such as Electrical Parade's music. So yes it's a stop but not a showstop and the parade is still continuous.


Sidenote I haven't really looked into it but I suspect that the whole song stopping and restarting thing is a biproduct of the time the parade was made, when they were switching over from tape audio to digital audio and I wonder if sound equipment at that time made it so they couldn't really do seamless loops mid-track and so opted to just play a song let it finish and put it on repeat.

[SparkyLD]

Hmm. Not my experience seeing it twice in December! Got nice pix of reindeer stopping and dancing, watched snowflakes stop to dance, the genie sure had fun while everything was stopped, some chefs and a moose-like character had fun dancing while everything stopped...tons of stops, to my eyes!


Stopping like that allows for much nicer pictures.

And those are Bakers, not chefs.

[WSVR]

I'm not a big fan of the stops. I wouldn't mind them if they weren't done to make the parade shorter. But that's why they have them. And I couldn't stand Block Party Bash. Of course the stops make people want to see it more than once to get a view of a different float at the stop. In the current parade, two of the floats are really cool at the stops. But there are a couple that are Meh.l

[CAdisneymumma]

I looooove the show stops on POD because of the song. Monday we got stuck with ursula though.

[Aladdin]

Hmm. Not my experience seeing it twice in December! Got nice pix of reindeer stopping and dancing, watched snowflakes stop to dance, the genie sure had fun while everything was stopped, some chefs and a moose-like character had fun dancing while everything stopped...tons of stops, to my eyes!


Stopping like that allows for much nicer pictures.

First of all, I do like parades, and I do like the show stops. It
gives me more time to enjoy different sections of the parades.

As for the Christmas Parade, it does not have "show stops"
however, the designated crosswalks at various places along
the parade route do sometimes create a spaces between
various sections of the parade, and does slow down certain
parts of the parade, almost to a stop, when the cross walks
are being used.

At DCA, even Eureka! had show stops, too.

Parade of Dreams does make use of the stops, in order
to increase the height of at least three of the floats,
(The russian dancers on the bungees, Little Mermaid's
fountain grows taller, and the trees on the Lion King
float increase in height also) The show stops also
allow for more acrobatics to be performed, that wouldn't
be possible otherwise, especially on the bungees and
on Alice's Trampoline Tea Table.

And don't forget the dramatic pause of all floats and
characters, when Walt talks. That certainly is worth
a short stop, for just that overall effect.

[filmfreak11]

Kind of off topic, but I think it may be interesting to mention if not already:

The Aladdin show in DCA is quite long... 45 minutes. Usually the Fantasyland Theater shows in Disneyland would be between 20-30 minutes. My theory is since Aladdin is a longer show to make up for the lack of attractions the park has. So this fits into the BPB & HSM discussion. Disneyland has a lot more to do.

[ashley solo]

The only parade I've seen at the park(s) is POD and I liked the stops. It seemed to fit. If it was totally unnecessary, then I'd say cut the stops.

But really, it does make things cheaper. Maybe, because doesn't floats that rise and do different things cost a little more to make than continuous parades with less elaborate floats.... did that make sense? Heh.

[Capt Hook]

I also love the show stop parade like POD cause it gives the character to interact with the guess. I've had Alice,Mad Hatter,Belle and the Rhino from Lion King interact with me. Oh also with Aurora. I've had Alice come to me and grab my hands and start glapping them. I've had Aurora and Belle both give me a heart sign when they seen my shirts with them on it and I've had the Mad Hatter come over and talk about my Mad Hatter hat that I have on from time to time. With the rhino I've seen him go over to little kids and have them pet him. Also I have seen Maryweather Flora and Fana go over to little kids and give them a big hug and stuff. So it gives the change for the charaters to interact with the guess for the show stops.

[codelyokorox]

I like the parade stops because, and this is gonna sound obsessive, I know where the Alice float stops. And frankly, I like the attention the Hatter usually gives me when I sit in that area.

I don't think I'll be so fond of it if it was a different parade. Because once the parade was off, and Ariel float stopped in front of me. And the entire time I was bored. Then again, the Ariel doesn't dance around like Alice does.

So, I'm fond of the Parade of Dreams. Other parades... not so sure.

[almandot]

Tokyo uses showstops in almost every parade they do for guest interaction. Not block party style, but just a little charade type thing usually that they can even watch videos of from disney's website beforehand and then do in the park.

[Radiobarry]

Being so used to continous parades at DL through the years, I remember that the first couple of times I saw POD, I assumed a float had broken down.

Someone then explained to me that they were stopping on purpose. Since then, I've come to enjoy the brief stops for reasons mentioned earlier in the thread.

But I still love the continous parades such as the Electrical Parade, which I will always refer to as Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade.

Thank you for your kind attention.