Heads up! A major Disney World change is happening soon, and Disney just issued a warning about it.
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Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away is a NEW nighttime parade debuting on Main Street in Magic Kingdom on July 20th. But this parade is expected to be extremely popular, so Disney is making a significant change to its Park Pass Reservation system. Ahead of those changes, Disney has shared an update on the My Disney Experience app and website.
Starting on July 20th, Annual Passholders visiting Magic Kingdom at any time of the day (including after 2 PM) MUST have a theme park reservation. Disney anticipates there will be some heavy crowds during and shortly after the premiere of Starlight, so this is how they intend to manage that capacity for the time being.
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A new warning has been posted on the Disney World website that says, “For a limited time, starting July 20, 2025, Passholders visiting Magic Kingdom park at any time of day (including after 2:00 PM) must have a theme park reservation.”
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Typically, Annual Passholders only need park pass reservations for Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays after 2 PM. At EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom — nothing has changed. This new update only applies to Magic Kingdom beginning on July 20th, 2025 for a limited time.
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If you missed your chance or forgot to make a park reservation for Magic Kingdom on July 20th, keep in mind that you can still park hop. Just book a reservation at any of the other three parks and then hop over to Magic Kingdom. Don’t forget that park hopping is subject to availability, so if Magic Kingdom is at capacity before you get there, you might be out of luck.
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This new parade will take place at 9 PM and 11 PM, except on nights with specialty parades, such as Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Unlike other Magic Kingdom parades, this one will begin on Main Street and will end in Frontierland — usually it’s the opposite.
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Disney Starlight will feature beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Pixar films, and some will be making their nighttime parade debut! As it begins, Disney Starlight will be “brought to life by the magic of the Blue Fairy” from the Disney animated classic, Pinocchio.
Parade viewers will see Disney characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as Encanto, Frozen, and Peter Pan. (You’ll see Wendy, too!)
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We can’t WAIT to see Disney Starlight when it debuts at Magic Kingdom, and we’ll be bringing you our FULL coverage when we do. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news and more.
Check out everything we know about Disney Starlight so far right here!
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The park pass reservation system needs to go!
Wish I was still working at Disney. So many memories