Cancelled Parade in DHS... What Can This All Mean?

As was reported a few years back in the infancy of the Gazette, it appears as though the Pixar Countdown to Fun Parade at Disney's Hollywood Studios has been officially cancelled and boxed up. As of early April. the parade that follows the same general route that all DHS parades have followed will be ending its run. THough it lasted much longer than many anticipated (though they did make subtle improvements through the past year) the major curios act is the lack of a replacement. There is no new parade going into the park at all. Which would leave DHS and Epcot as the parks lacking a parade.

Now we know the reason Epcot has no parade, as the layout makes it difficult, and the Tapestry of Nations had a very limited year and a half run, but it is concerning to many as to why no new parade has been announced. This is extremely un-Disneylike. Consider every parade in Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, as well as Disneyland, Paris and the like have always announced a parade leaving with a parade coming. Keeping in mind that this parade will leave in approximately 2 weeks and there is no replacement makes many wonder. There is a long standing rumor (that this site has reported on in the past) that major renovations coming to the park, with a new facade for The Great Movie Ride (Carthay Circle Theater) A Star Wars area, and maybe some type of land or expansion to Pixar Place in the Backlot Tour area. This seems to be a logical step as major renovation would require the discontinuation of any parades within the park. We are not sure, but the News is there and the rumors persist. Lets just keep our eyes and ears open and see what comes out of The Walt Disney Company in the coming weeks and months.

New Downtown Disney Plan

Once again it appears as though there is a design on the docket for Downtown Disney. After the cancellation of Hyperion Wharf, for reasons really unknown, Disney has gone back to the drawing board. This drawing board represents what sounds like another Disney response to fan feedback, as it appeared that fans had trouble seeing the vision of the aforementioned Hyperion Wharf. The new idea is dubbed "Disney Springs" and seems to be rooted in the concept of the Disney Village from the early days of Downtown Disney.


"Disney Springs" will be divided into six distinct districts, or neighborhoods: The Gateway, The Town Center, The Springs, The Landing, The West Side and The Village Marketplace. Each land appears to have its own function, and will have a major part of the changes in Downtown Disney.

The Gateway- Will be the actual entrance of Disney Springs and will feature a 5-story parking garage. This will help deal with the parking issues that have plagued DTD since its inception.

The Town Center- Will include new retail shops, and be a busy and upbeat motif.

The Springs- This will feature the old Pleasure Island area, complete with running streams and a waterway walk to the Landing.

The Landing- This area will encompass dining and nightlife options, as well as being close to Paradiso 37. One of the rumored dining locations may be Morimoto's, the Iron Chef's restaurant.

The West Side and Village Marketplace will remain mostly unchanged as they are the holdovers from the DTD of today. Apparently the only real change will be the departure of Planet Hollywood, being replaced by the Observatory.

As we can see, there is another plan for the revitalization of Downtown Disney. This seems to be more in tune with what guests have been wanting to see, and thus will be a major part of the future of the Walt Disney World Resort.