Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade (1986)

This is the second Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade to be aired on network television from 1986. This parade would become a staple for decades and something important in growing up Disney during the 80's and 90's, before being abandoned in the early 2000's by the Eisner regime. This is the only time the parade was merged with the New York City Easter Parade in a joint broadcast, making it a unique parade broadcast in its history. The New York City Easter Parade had debuted on TV the year before on CBS while the Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade aired later that night on ABC. This broadcast aired on CBS and alternated between the two parades. After this year, the Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade always aired on Easter afternoon after most Americans had returned home from attending morning church services. The parade always ended with the crowd singing Irving Berlin's Easter Parade as they dispersed after the festivities. It's a time capsule into Walt Disney and America's history past and pop culture past.

Robby Benson and Anna Alicia co-host the Disney World portion of the parade with Ken Kercheval and Susan Howard hosting the New York City Easter Parade portions of the show.

Benson was a movie star at the time and would go one to be the voice of the Beast in the 1991 Disney animated feature Beauty & the Beast. Alicia was one of the main cast members on the soap opera Falcon's Crest.

Original air date March 30, 1986

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.