PIXAR Pals: Countdown To Fail?

The PIXAR Pals: Countdown to Fun parade debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Sunday, January 16th. To say that reviews of the “new” parade have been negative would be an understatement. Imagine Block Party Bash at full speed, without guest interaction, without a number of floats, with horrible choreography, and with the toy block floats repainted to look like blocky explosions, cheese, & balloons. Oh, and I almost forgot to loop one of the songs from the PIXAR Play Parade. Can you imagine it? Neither could we, but that’s what is now running at 3:00PM everyday:

Rumors are still circulating that Disney is waiting for some Play Parade floats to arrive in Florida for the Spring, and we certainly hope these rumors are true. If not, one of the shortest and worst received parades in Disney history may have you squeezing in another ride on a DHS favorite instead of waiting for a parade.

Bye-Bye Block Party, Hello PIXAR Pals!

The Block Party Bash came to an end on January 1st at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The parade/show was just approaching it’s 3rd anniversary at the park, debuting in March 2008 after a run at Disney California Adventure from May 2005 through January 2008. Luckily, Banks Lee was there for the final performance and captured it on video for all of us to enjoy:

Now that Block Party Bash is gone, we can turn our attention to the upcoming “PIXAR Pals: Countdown to Fun”. The new parade is scheduled to debut on January 16th, but as always, we can expect some early performances at some point in the days before the official first performance. There has been a lot of speculation as to what floats will be included in the parade since the announcement. We expect to see the existing Block Party Bash floats that carry characters from “A Bug’s Life”, “Monsters Inc.”, and “Toy Story”, but what are the floats carrying characters from “The Incredibles”, “Ratatouille”, and “Up” going to look like? Here’s our theory:

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Either Walt Disney World has built a new float for “The Incredibles” or we can expect to see these floats make their way to Florida from California Adventure this week

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Construction and new float height requirements are being cited for the removal of the PIXAR Play Parade from DCA, and this is one of the taller floats, so it would make sense to send it to the Studios.

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The “Ratatouille” float was the tallest in the parade and was only used during busy Summer months, so we can assume we will see this at DHS

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The “Up” float is another mystery, but the little seen pre-parade float from California in 2009 seems like a candidate

Another question is the parade soundtrack. Yes, we can expect to hear the PIXAR Play Parade main theme and the songs that were in that parade to play along with characters from “Ratatouille”, “The Incredibles”, “Monsters Inc.”, “Toy Story” and “A Bug’s Life”, but what about “Up”? These characters were never in that parade, so we should expect to hear something new for Carl Fredrickson and the gang. Again, this is all purely speculation at this point but are the most likely outcomes for this new parade we’ll see at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2 weeks. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information becomes available on the “PIXAR Pals Countdown to Fun”.

The Block Party Is Over, So What’s “UP”?

From the Disney Parks Blog:

Disney/Pixar fans, we’ve got some great news to share today. The entertainment team at Walt Disney World Resort is in the midst of developing a new parade for Disney’s Hollywood Studios featuring some favorite Pixar pals. While details are still being worked out, we do know that four Pixar characters not currently seen at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Remy and Emile from “Ratatouille” and Carl and Russell from Disney/Pixar’s “Up” – will be added to the lineup.

For those who want to be sure to celebrate the last dance with their favorites from Block Party Bash, make sure to mark January 1 for the final performance. The new show is scheduled to open January 16. Keep your eye on the blog for more future parade updates.

While this announcement says “new parade”, I wouldn’t necessarily buy it. It sounds like it may be a few new floats mixed in with the existing Block Party Bash floats in a more traditional performance without show-stops. A new soundtrack and name are sure to be a part of it. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information on this breaking story becomes available.