Disney Dreams Come True Parade Hurricane Version

[imagineerthat]

I came across a couple of videos on YouTube of the Disney Dreams Come True Parade filmed during rain caused by Hurricane Fay (according to the video info).

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

[almandot]

I have some video of spectro from a similar situation where they sent it out when it had no business being out. Spectromen, Balls, Mickey, and Genie's float got out and they stopped sending them but they had to deal with a downpour of rain along with lightning and thunder right on top of them. The floats were BOOKing it down main street and I don't say that with any short of emphasis. I was watching in liberty square and saw them fly past my point of view around the hub, they had to slow down to get across the bridge and make the liberty square turn but by the time the genie float got to us the spectromen and logo float were already past the gate by splash mountain. The floats in the first DDCT video seem pretty slow given what they're dealing with heh. The second video though now we're talkin It was probably because in the first one there were still street performers out there in the way and having fun, which totally makes the first one so awesome. I'd have a blast performing in that kind of weather.

[sassy*tink]

I have never seen that happen. I feel sorry for the characters that day. I have heard of it canceled for rain, which I think they should have done this day.

[ZeekSlider]

Poor cast members. They should have had a Rainy Day Parade for occations like these. I mean, they make rainy days that much more magical if you are in the park during inclimate weather.

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

[toonaspie]

Oh well at least Jiminy Cricket got to be dry.
It pays to be a character who carries an umbrella!

I must be crazy but I wish now that I had been working at WDW this year instead of last year. Being in Disney World in a crazy hurricane wouldve been really cool.

[MickeyM]

Wow... I didn't know that the floats could speed down Main St.
Anyway, I have never seen that happen before. (Probably because I've never gone to the parks during a storm!)

[malice]

that is one of the most hilarious things i've seen and it looks like some of the cast members were having a blast splashing in the puddles. luckily none of my trips to disney world have been marred by inclement weather, but i have been stuck in some torrential downpours while visiting islands of adventure and disneyland paris.

[TDLFAN]

I think the situation on those videos is utterly ridiculous and irresponsible. Management should know better and cancel the parade. Who cares if some guests get upset by a show or parade cancelation? C'est la vie. Very sad indeed. One of these days.. ligthing will strike in the middle of Main Street during a storm and Mickey will be fried to the bone. I can only hope the lack of concern for safety does not spill to other areas of the resorts...especially safety on rides.

[Coast21]

I wonder if they could put flag pole holes on the base of the floats to at least cover the characters on them. When it rains like this again, add the polls with tarps and the characters on the floats are covered .

Any how, I didn't know that those floats could book it that fast down main street LOL.

[TDLFAN]

On stormy days like this, the MK needs the Rainy Day Parade like TDL and HKDL, period. At least the rainy day parade floats and costumes have been designed to withstand the weather conditions. Dreams Come true parade? Nope.

[Hakuna Makarla]

wow I am sorry but I think not having the parade in that mess would be a better option. the floats are going pretty fast and I feel bad for those having to be in it. way to wet for me to stand around to watch themget soaked and me to!

[aimster]

Ok I'm going to go technical for a second.... Fay was not a hurricane. It was never a hurricane. It was a tropical storm.

Now that I got that out of my system...

I think a rainy day parade would be a good idea considering the rain we get in central Florida nearly every afternoon in the summer, but this is WDW so it'll probably never happen.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by aimster

Ok I'm going to go technical for a second.... Fay was not a hurricane. It was never a hurricane. It was a tropical storm.

Now that I got that out of my system...

Pun intended

I think a rainy day parade would be a good idea considering the rain we get in central Florida nearly every afternoon in the summer, but this is WDW so it'll probably never happen.

You are correct. What was I thinking?

[CTXRover]

From what I heard, this was not planned as some have insinuated. If it was raining before the parade started, they would have canceled it as they have many times in the past for rainy weather. While it was cloudy that day and rain was in the forecast, from what I was told by a CM who was there, the parade stepped off without even a drizzle. Mickey's float entered halfway into Town Square and the deluge started. It was impossible to stop the parade at that point.

Personally, I was very impressed by how the CM's in the parade stayed in character, some even improvising by splashing in the puddles, while others helped to escort the characters that either dance or walk the route offstage through backstage entrances on MS for their safety.

If you watch closely in the first video, you will see some of the characters who walk the parade route being escorted off stage as safely as possible as the parade made its first run during Main street. Note that this happened when the parade went up and then back down MS while Liberty Square bridge was being replaced. Thus, in order to get the floats backstage again, a certain number needed to run down the parade route so they could get back in.

That is why in the second video you will only see the floats, whcih do appear to hightail it back in. I thought, at least from those videos, it was handled very well given the circumstances.

Some may argue that Disney should have "known" it was going to rain, but I imagine since it had been dry up to that point from what I was told, a decision was made to let the "show go on".

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by CTXRover

From what I heard, this was not planned as some have insinuated.

My concern lies with the fact that WDW has a doppler radar system, don't they? If they do have ways of predicting the weather.. they should be able to see this coming, forecast it, and plan accordingly. I don't think it would be that difficult for them to see a storm moving towards the MK at XX mph, and given that info, they can predict at what time it would hit the MK.. making it easier to decide if it's safe to do a parade or not.

Also, there have been times when they still send a parade out in light rain. I have seen the float characters holding umbrellas over their heads as they enter the parade corridor at Splash Mountain. So saying that they always cancel a parade when it rains is not totally correct, based on what I have seen before at the MK.