A Moment of Silence, Please.

Today is the last day of the Celebrate! A Street Party (parade, but not really a parade) at Disneyland. The Christmas Parade begins tomorrow and as of now, the plan is to introduce a new show, Soundsational!, after the holidays.

Most Cast Members are beyond thrilled that Celebrate! is leaving. They have had intense dislike for it since it began. I'll admit, it is not really a parade - and Cast Members are instructed to remind guests of this whenever we refer to it. It is a Street Party, only traveling through parts of Main Street and stopping in three places, rather than having the constant flow of a traditional parade. The thing I really like about Celebrate! is its potential to be very interactive. Provided you are standing in the correct spot, you can go out and join in the dancing in two different parts during the show - what a perfect magic moment for any family vacation! (I have to admit, it was one of the things I was most excited about sharing with my nieces and nephew when they came to visit!)

I remember my anticipation to see the show before I even moved down to Anaheim. One of my friends was a dancer on opening day, and I saw his performance on youtube. I couldn't wait to work my first parade shift as a Cast Member because it meant I'd get paid to see the show! (Even before I was a cast member, I had no problem spending my entire day at the park seeing all of the different shows and not even going on any of the attractions. I was always more excited about parade shifts than working at Jungle or Indy as well.)

Fun fact: I met my faithful blog follower - Chris C. while I was working my first parade shift. He was a Tomorrowland Cast Member, but he and his two other Autopia buddies Garet and Luke took me under their wings and showed me how it was done, even though I was a West Sider (from Adventureland).

I have SO many wonderful memories from my countless parade shifts for Celebrate! A Street Party. In honor of today being the last day, here are just a few:

~ The girl dancers wear dresses covered in sequins, and during the swing dance segment, when the guy twirls her upside down, the girls always lose a sequin or two. When the Guest Control Cast Members follow up the parade to the next stop, we would compete with each other to see who could find the most on the street amid the Mickey confetti that was being quickly vacuumed by custodial Cast Members.

~ When the show started at Town Square and had to move up to its second stop in The Plaza, the Cast Members create a 'Flying V' to direct incoming traffic around the show in the street. We would stand there and dance with each other the whole time, providing yet another form of entertainment for the guests.

~ At one point in the show, there is a short motif from the Jungle Book where the girl dancers and the guy dancers have a little duet. It didn't matter where you were working, when that part came, the girl cast members would sing the female part and the guys would sing the male part. It was a fun, unspoken rule.
~ This time of year, when it started getting darker sooner and the floats could use their lights, the Guest Control Cast Members would use flashlights with cones instead of the orange daysticks to direct traffic. We would fight over the good ones. Some were super heavy or awkward and some weren't very bright anymore. Towards the end of my time working at Disney, the leads would save me the fancy pink or white flashlight without me even asking.

~ I met another one of my FAVORITE Cast Members, Troy, while working parades. He was positioned in a walkway across from mine and at one point during the show, we were dancing along to the show and caught each other's eye. We started dancing along and singing to each other from across the street and we knew right away we were going to be a special kind of friend.

~ A wonderful thing about working parade shifts was getting to meet Cast Members from all over the park. When I was working Jungle, I didn't get to meet anyone besides the other skippers. Parade shifts were a chance to mingle with CMs from other attractions - actually, probably the only way to do so.

~ I'll never forget the night I went over to my friend Jon's apartment after he called me excitedly with orders to get there ASAP. Turns out, he had just made friends with one of the dancers, who taught him the choreography for the intro. We had a mini dance lesson right there in Jon's living room and vowed to dance along with the show forever more.

~ There are three floats in the show with DJs - basically just older guys who are dressed in shiny suits who sing and get the audience energized. One DJ in particular, was VERY good at slipping in some extra things. Joe, one of my favorite parade leads, and I would always try to stand near his float to catch little blips of some 'Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be' or 'Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life' that no one else ever noticed.

There are SO many more memories from working these shifts! I can't even think of them all right now. Needless to say, parade shifts were the highlight of my time at Disney. Celebrate! will always have a special place in my heart.

It's so funny to see everyone's facebook status right now. It literally JUST stepped backstage after it's last showstop about two minutes ago and everyone is so happy it's gone. Not me. But all good things must come to an end.

Every time is the right time, so make every second count. Go for the dream, you can live it. Reach for the sky - it's your limit. Celebrate what you're all about. It's the time of your life, you don't want to miss out on right here and now. In everything you do, celebrate YOU!