Everybody loves a good parade; this is especially true at Walt Disney World in Orlando, where four new parades are strutting their stuff as part of special 15-month 100 Years of Magic celebration that launched in October 2001 and runs through December 31, 2002. The "100 years" stacks up as a big birthday salute to Walt Disney himself, the man behind the magic, who was born on December 5, 1901. "We're doing an event based around the birth of Walt Disney and what he stood for," says John Haupt, managing producer for Walt Disney Entertainment. "The parades are an extension of Walt's incredible creativity, and are designed to honor his legacy. As we did early research for the parades, we looked at all the areas that Walt worked in during his lifetime. from animation and live-action films to television and theme parks. Each parade represents a different aspect of his work, and mark the key milestones in his career.'
The parades take place throughout Disney World, from Share a Dream Come True in the Magic Kingdom and Tapestry of Dreams at Epcot to Disney Stars and Motor Cars at Disney- MGM Studios and Mickey's Jammin' Jungle at Animal Kingdom. Each of the parades captures the flavor of Disney, while testing new technology and design techniques, from Disney characters inside giant snow globes made of strong acrylic (as used for fighter jet windshields) to a large networked audio system with over 400 speakers along Epcot's parade route. The parades travel through time, from the first days of Walt Disney the animator and the early versions of his world-famous mouse to collecting dreams for the future. "Like Walt," says Haupt. "He always had one foot in the past and one in the future."
TAPESTRY OF DREAMS
A revised version of Epcot's millennium parade Tapestry of Nations, the new Tapestry of Dreams is based on the concept of dream seekers collecting children's dreams and having them come to life. "The idea is that the dream seekers collect dreams for the future in dream nets during the parade," explains Lynn Holloway, a freelance art director and scenic designer based in Charlotte, NC who designed the scenie elements for the origA 12-story version of Mickey's sorcerer's hat from Fantasia (ieft) stands 122' high and creates a new icon at Disney-MGM Studios as part of the 100 Years of Magic celebration this year. Mickey leads the way in Share a Dream Come True (right), the new parade in the Magic Kingdom, where Disney's magic is caught in larger-than- life snow globes.
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