Guests lining the parade route at Magic Kingdom on February 13 noticed something was off as Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away made its way through the park.
During one of the two scheduled performances that evening, a key finale float partially lost power, leaving large sections of its lighting system dark as the parade continued.
Oof the finale starlight float is half burned out. pic.twitter.com/Mmh6eMnmgc
— RockNstardust🎸✨ (@Kdodgers24) February 14, 2026
“Oof the finale starlight float is half burned out,” wrote one X, formerly known as Twitter, user who shared video footage of the moment.
The issue occurred near the end of the parade, affecting the finale float known as Whimsy, a locomotive-inspired unit modeled after Casey Jr.
A Visible Glitch in the Disney Starlight Finale
Under normal conditions, the Whimsy float illuminates a wide group of characters, including Goofy, Pluto, Donald and Daisy Duck, Snow White, Dopey, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
On February 13, however, significant portions of the float’s lighting were inactive. Several characters — including Aladdin, Jasmine, Rapunzel, and Flynn Rider — appeared in relative darkness as the float moved along the route.
Despite the malfunction, the parade was not stopped, and the float completed its run.
According to other guests in attendance, the same float had been operating normally the previous evening, February 12. The issue appears to have developed between performances rather than reflecting a persistent technical problem.
Disney has not publicly commented on the incident.
The malfunction comes as Disney Starlight continues to settle into regular operations. Since debuting in 2025, the parade has undergone several behind-the-scenes adjustments.
Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away’s Run at Magic Kingdom
Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away marked Magic Kingdom’s first new nighttime parade in nearly a decade when it launched last year. Its arrival ended a long absence that followed the conclusion of the Main Street Electrical Parade’s final Walt Disney World run in 2016.
Nighttime parades were once a defining part of the park’s entertainment strategy. The Main Street Electrical Parade debuted in 1977 and became one of Disney’s most recognizable after-dark experiences.
That legacy continued with SpectroMagic, which ran for years before the Electrical Parade returned multiple times through farewell tours and limited engagements.
After 2016, however, Magic Kingdom went without a nighttime parade entirely. Fireworks and projection shows filled the schedule, but the park lacked a moving, street-level nighttime spectacle for years.
Disney Starlight was positioned as a reset. The parade features illuminated floats inspired by Moana (2016), Frozen (2013), Wish (2023), and Peter Pan (1953), blending legacy characters with newer intellectual property.
Guest response has been largely positive, particularly around the scale of the floats and the number of characters included. Still, its early run has not been without operational fine-tuning.
Performance counts of Disney Starlight are frequently adjusted based on projected attendance. Earlier this week, Disney also reversed the route for second showings, with the later performance now running from Frontierland to Main Street, U.S.A.
Have you seen Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away yet?
