Exclusive: Festival of Fantasy makes big progress towards its return

Guests and fans eagerly wait for the return of Festival of Fantasy at Magic Kingdom. We have exclusive information on its progress that may indicate when we can expect to see this parade again.

Festival of Fantasy

Magic Kingdom is home to Festival a Fantasy – an enchanting tribute to the tales of Fantasyland. See your favorite characters from movies like Tangled, Peter Pan, and The Little Mermaid. We also cannot forgot that Mickey and Minnie Mouse appear in the parade as well as fan-favorite Maleficent (in dragon form). There are so many beloved characters to spot in this fun show.

The parade began in 2014, but Disney temporarily cut the show during the initial reopening phase. In in its place, Disney created cavalcades. These are basically miniature parades that run much more frequently throughout the day.

Festival of Fantasy is a fan-favorite parade at Magic Kingdom.

The cavalcades are nice and do provide entertainment, but nothing compares to the pageantry of a full scale parade. With social distancing no longer implemented at Disney World theme parks, we knew it was only a matter of time before other entertainment returned.

Signs of Progress

Parades are a different beast than fireworks. It takes many more performers than firework technicians to put on a show. Disney revealed that Festival of Fantasy would indeed return in early 2022. Unfortunately, this is all the information they gave us at the Destination D23 Expo.

They probably could not share a more detailed timeline due to the nature of hiring more Cast and finalizing other details. While we still do not have a precise timeframe, we do have some good news!

Our trusted sources share that Festival of Fantasy has begun overnight practice! This is huge progress for the parade!

When will it return?

Our source does not have an exact date, but once Disney has started rehearsals, this means they have most (if not all) of its Cast for the parade. It seems likely (but not definite) we could expect an announcement from Disney in the next month or so. Hopefully the first full-length parade returns by the start of Spring Break.

Festival of Fantasy has begun overnight rehearsals! We hope to see its return by Spring Break.

This news is all unofficial until Disney makes it official so keep that in mind as you plan your upcoming vacation. Character Locator will have showtimes listed when Disney makes an announcement regarding the date. The easy-to-follow touring plans will help you easily manage your day with any shows or parades you want to add in!

We are excited to see and hear the parade again soon! Are you looking forward to this parade returning? Let us know in the comments on Facebook and in our Facebook group!