How To Throw A Disneyland Party – The Party Magic Way

I have a huge confession to make.

For the past year, while I’ve been proposing and designing unique birthday party ideas for my clients for Party Magic (the boutique event styling firm I own), there has always been ONE BIG IDEA that’s at the back of my mind, that took hold of my imagination and simply refused to let go.

This idea clamored for my attention, begging itself to be free. And while I proposed parts and portions of this big idea to some of my clients who were throwing Mickey Mouse or Disneyland themed parties, I kind of held back a little.

Yes, it’s true. I’ve been holding out on you.

But don’t get me wrong. I actually did propose this to my clients, but for various reasons it didn’t push through. I think the major ones had to do with the fact that the idea was entirely tedious to execute, involved a large amount of preparation time, and not to mention, large amounts of money (okay fine, money was probably the biggest reason!).

The ever delightful Minnie Mouse greets guests during Party Magic’s Flights of Fantasy Parade

(Special thanks to the amazing Krissy of Little People Photography for these wonderful pictures!)

And so I went ahead and did it myself, for two of the most important people in my life: my daughters, Sofia and Chloe! It just so happened their birthdays were coming up, and what better way to celebrate the 2 biggest reasons of my life by throwing the biggest idea (for now) of Party Magic?

The idea that I’m talking about can be condensed in 5 words, actually:

DISNEY’S FLIGHTS OF FANTASY PARADE

The rough idea is to recreate the famous HK Disneyland Flights of Fantasy Parade, right inside your child’s party! (you can watch the original parade here)

The fiery Belle of Beauty and the Beast fame as she enters Party Magic’s Flights of Fantasy Parade 

The first time I went to HK Disneyland and watched the parade, I was thunderstruck. I loved the melody and upbeat tune to the music, and all the spectacle.

You see, I’m an unabashed Disney baby. I grew up on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pocahontas (Beauty and the Beast is my all-time fav). And so, I wanted to let all the guests in the party feel the same feeling of pure happiness that I feel whenever I enter Disneyland.

Now instead of prattling on about the parade, why don’t I just go ahead and show it to you? (barararam, drum roll, please!)

PARTY MAGIC’S FLIGHTS OF FANTASY PARADE

(Special special thanks to the hard work and creativity of Artz of Lemon Three Films. You are a genius!) 

That’s all you needed to see, really.

Coincidentally, the song file that we used for the parade mentioned a “5th anniversary celebration”, which was just apt because as I thought about it, Party Magic is more or less 5 years old too (it started as a small sideline thing while I was working for an investment bank).

The beauty about the parade is that its participants came out of the curtains one at a time, during specific points in the music, that it provided a sort of anticipation and surprise element on the part of the guests (some of them were quite busy recording the event with their mobile phones).

For example, Mickey Mouse came out just when the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse main theme started rolling:

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?…M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!

Tadaa. Mickey Mouse enters!

Princesses Belle and Elsa came out when Someday My Prince Will Come started playing (music originally from Snow White):

Of course, the marching band gave out a strong first impression, being the first participant in the Parade during the Flights of Fantasy main theme:

There was a sort of rap-segment in the song, and that’s where these awesome LED-light dancers came out in a swagger:

And of course, if we were to do this again, I loved the last part where the celebrating family enters (with the marching band as “royal escorts”), goes up the stage, and dances with all the participants for one last time.

Song ends, confetti blasts out, then all the participants gather around the stage to sing a sweet Happy Birthday to the birthday celebrant. This program comes out as uniquely different, but still short and sweet and quick to the punch.

As soon as Little People gets done with the rest of the pictures, I would love to blog more about my Sofia and Chloe’s special Disney day. For now though, I hope that you enjoyed reading this post and watching the video. While watching, I hope you felt that you were also there with me along for the ride, and as happy as I was celebrating my kids and Disney.

But for now, as Mickey Mouse would say:

Toodles!