Before there was Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there was the Disney-MGM Studios theme park at Walt Disney World. And before there were Block Party Bash, High School Musical, Power Rangers, or the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade, there were a number of other street-based forms of entertainment in that theme park. So today we’re…

Looking Back at Disney-MGM Studios Parades and Street Shows

Disney-MGM Studios has changed very slowly over the years in its ultimate transition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Throughout this transition, the Studios theme park was the place to find parades and street shows that revolved around whatever the hit movie or television show was at the time.

Dinosaurs

In 1992, that hit television show was Dinosaurs, a sitcom about a family of giant prehistoric anthropomorphic lizards leading their daily lives. So in bringing them to Disney-MGM Studios, what else would be more appropriate than… a street party!

I don’t know where or when exactly this concept of theme park street parties began, but I suppose it’s comforting to know that today’s Move It, Shake It, Celebrate it! street party at the Magic Kingdom had Dinosaurs as one of its ancestors.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

From one reptile to another: Following lounging lizards in 1993 were the heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. At the time, the fearsome foursome had a hugely popular cartoon as well as a pair of live action films. So into Disney-MGM Studios rolled the Turtle Van, April O’Neil, along with Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, and Raphael, to show off their… singing and dancing?

Why does everything in a theme park involve singing and/or dancing? Why couldn’t the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come out and battle Shredder? While showing off the Turtle Van was an excellent touch, those costumes really needed some more work.

Aladdin, Toy Story, and Mulan

Beginning in 1994, Disney-MGM Studios began a long line of Disney and/or Pixar movie-based parades.

Aladdin’s Royal Caravan - 1994 - Highlight: Fake cartoony people along its floats

Toy Story Parade - 1996 - Highlight: Green army men raising a flag, Iwo Jima-style

Mulan Parade - 1998 - Highlight: Never-ending dragon/Great Wall of China

These are just some of the highlights of Disney-MGM Studios street parties and parades that existed during the years leading up to the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade premiere in 2001.

Did you have a favorite Disney-MGM Studios parade or street party? Comment!