Musical Changes to Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Parade 2024 – The Good and the Bad. “Must Be Santa” and “Candyshop” have been removed, Olaf singing “That Time of Year” added along with a rather mundane version of Nutcracker Suite which almost sounds like it belongs in Boo To You Parade.
The 2024 Holiday season officially kicked off last night with the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2024. The specially ticketed event here at the Magic Kingdom is always a highlight of the year, and even though the party itself never really changes, there are always new things to do and a festive time to enjoy.
Change is inevitable or so the saying goes, but we all do not have to agree on if the change is good or bad. Like the music changes to Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Parade. Delight in an entertaining display chock-full of good cheer. Snap memorable photos of dancing gingerbread men, marching toy soldiers, and beloved Disney Characters as they float by, waving hello. There’s even a special appearance by Santa Claus—riding in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
This year’s version has a few differences, like the song that gets stuck in our heads for the next few weeks, “Must Be Santa” is missing now and has been removed, replaced with the parade song played on repeat the whole show. This song was played for many years leading up to seeing Santa Claus at the finale of the parade. It was played during the March of the Wooden Soldiers, and the wonky-looking Reindeer (okay maybe they aren’t that wonky).
You can hear the song part we are talking about below:
The other song that has been removed is the section of the parade with Vanellope from Wreck it Ralph (which, I must say… Bring Him Back!), Chip & Dale along with Clarice the Chipmunk, Goofy riding the Gumball float, and Clairabelle Cow riding the Gingerbread Kitchen all move along the route with the song “Candyshop” mixed in with Once Upon a Christmas. This section has been replaced with parts of the Nutcracker Suite.
Below is a video of a part of the song from the 2024 daytime filming for Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade:
For the new additions to the parade songs, we now get a new Frozen song. Instead of generic holiday music standards, Olaf is now singing “That Time of Year”. This new addition fits well into the whole feel of the parade and is a worthy addition. Originally from the Disney Animation short Olaf’s Frozen Adventure the song is about Olaf trying to find Arendelle’s citizens’ holiday traditions, and then take them back to Elsa & Anna to show everyone has some tradition. This plays during the whole of the Frozen section.