2025 will see a few additions to the Disney Parks and the company gave updates about two of the most exciting plans today. Details were released for the new villains themed show, Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, at Hollywood Studios. Along with that, concept art of Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, Magic Kingdom’s upcoming nighttime parade, was released. In this post, we’ll share the news and add a little bit of commentary. Let’s get to the details via the Disney Parks Blog.

Let’s start with Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where work is well underway on “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” – an all-new show starring Disney Villains. This show will take place in Sunset Showcase, where Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy used to be.

If you asked them, villains would probably try to convince you that they’ve been treated pretty unfairly over the years. In this show, the Magic Mirror has summoned us to hear them out. Never ones to let a dramatic performance pass them by, fiendish foes Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, and Maleficent will break through the glass and take the stage to prove once and for all why they are the most misunderstood. In the end, it will be on you to make the final call in a delightfully wicked finale filled with dozens of the most infamous evildoers awaiting your decision from within the Mirror’s realm. 

A dedicated team has spent nearly two years developing the cutting-edge stage design, thrilling effects, and catchy live musical numbers that will celebrate the villains we love to hate. There will be drama, there will be laughs, there will be something for everyone when the show opens this summer alongside “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” – another spectacular new production sure to make waves at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  

Switching gears to Magic Kingdom Park, “a nod to the past with our eyes firmly set on the future” has become a bit of a motto for the creative team bringing “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away” to life. As they prepare this all-new nighttime parade for its debut this summer, the team is drawing inspiration from not only the rich history of nighttime parades at Magic Kingdom (trust me fellow parade lovers, there are more than a few easter eggs), but also some of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ earliest animated features.  

This reverence for the past will be on full display in the parade’s recently revealed princess unit, which pays homage to Disney Legend and artist Mary Blair’s original concept artwork for Disney Animation’s “Cinderella.” Anchored by a gleaming fountain of light that overflows to illuminate a cosmic ballroom, the float is just one piece of the constellation of classic and contemporary stories that make up this new parade. Moments from Disney Animation’s “Moana,” “Peter Pan,” “Frozen,” “Encanto” and more will unfold on a bed of starlight as the cavalcade floods Main Street, U.S.A. with some of your favorite tales.  

Anyone who’s seen a good parade knows the floats are just one piece of the magic. That’s why members of the Disney Live Entertainment Costuming team have been hard at work designing a whole fleet of glimmering garments for “Disney Starlight.”  

Using a blend of innovative lighting techniques and whimsical custom-fabrics, the team is constructing each look to be “kissed by starlight.” When you look at the photo below of one of the prototype costume pieces for the parade, try to imagine it swirling down the parade route, layers of shimmering fabric picking up the glow of the surrounding floats, each light twinkling in perfect synchronization with the music.  

The Parks Blog also teased the parade music but didn’t end up giving any details on the subject, as we’re still a few months away.

Commentary

I don’t have a lot to add here, as the details are somewhat boilerplate. We’ll start with the villains show, which has a promising plot idea and the stage looks beautiful. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the musical numbers will be live. It seems that Disney has been moving in that direction recently and I fully support that shift. I don’t think this show will be anywhere near high concept but I’m looking forward to seeing some villains sing some of their hit songs. Let Jeremy Irons show up and sing ‘Be Prepared’ whenever he wants to. That does beg the question of if he would ever want to!

The more exciting news to me is the nighttime parade. Costuming shared looked exceptional and I’m eager to see a light parade that’s developed in 2025. Balancing nostalgia with modern technology could be a tricky line to walk for Imagineering. Main Street Electrical Parade is held close by so many fans that there needs to be some nod to the past. But having modern costuming that should, at least theoretically, illuminate very clearly will be really exciting to watch.

While we won’t know fully until the actual parade debut, Disney is saying all of the right things when it comes to this. They have great examples of what makes a nighttime parade work and I trust them to follow that idea. It’s been way too long since Magic Kingdom had a regular nighttime parade and I’m very excited for Starlight to come down Main Street. We’ll be sure to cover any details about the parade that are released between now and the opening!

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