Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade (1987)

This is the third 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 broadcast aired on ABC. 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.

Joan Lunden and Ben Vareen co-host this parade with Alan Thicke and Regis Philbin. It’s the same dynamic of the Christmas parades of the time. This was the first Easter parade where Thicke appears.
Lunden was then the current co-host of Good Morning America and Thicke was one of the stars from the sitcom Growing Pains. Regis was a well known talk show host vet even then. This archetype of hosts for the parade broadcasts would continue with the parade for decades even though the hosts would change.

Original air date April 19, 1987

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