Extinct Attractions - Totally Minnie Parade
Welcome to Extinct Attractions.This week, I flashed back to Disneyland of old and looked at what can only be described as the most 80s parade of all-time.
This past weekend, the Disney fan community came together to celebrate their love of all things Disney at D23: Ultimate Fan Event 2026. The event was full of panels and reveals, with some of the most exciting ones for myself coming from the Disney Experiences Showcase. Held at the Honda Center (future home to volleyball at the 2028 Olympics) for the second time, guests got exclusive looks at upcoming attractions like Avengers Infinity Defense and Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent.
It was exciting to see some more changes coming to Disneyland Resort with that being the closest one to my home. The parks have changed so much over the years with Disney California Adventure amazingly only having six attractions still open from its opening day.
Via Jacksonville Music Experience
But for today’s attraction, let’s jump back to the 1980s when music videos were all the rage to the point that Disney even made an entire parade around them. Replacing Circus on Parade, the Totally Minnie Parade, opened on June 21, 1986 and gave guests a glimpse at how a music video was created. Well, kind of, because I doubt this many Disney characters were generally on set.
The parade kicked off with a few of the mice from Cinderella, Br’er Bear, Br’er Fox, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit all leading the way. It was such an eclectic mix of characters capped off by Mickey on his own little float in a producer’s outfit that had some real flow to it.
The characters were joined by some 80s-garbed dancers carrying around records of the song “Totally Minnie” whose music video we’d be seeing created that very day.
While the outfits of that gang were cool, they couldn’t be topped by the costume department that rolled in next with a whole trove of fun outfits. Interestingly, Peter Pan and Captain Hook joined the fun (and weren’t fighting) as well as Tigger and Daisy, both of whom got to wear their finest brightly colored outfits themselves.
Mr. Executive Producer Pluto followed along in his own little float with a full-on movie chair, lording over those around him including Mary Poppins and Bert as well as a couple of film reels that were quite literally walking around.
The sound team joined the party next with a good handful of dancers wearing gigantic headphones plus Chip and Dale in some fun pink jackets. They led the way for a band made up of some of Disney’s leading ladies in Snow White, Cinderella and Alice along with King Louie and some of his monkeys. The Big Bad Wolf joined them as well for a truly rocking journey through the park.
Right behind the group were the Three Little Pigs, luckily hiding away from the Big Bad Wolf, though they were still cat-adjacent, staying near Honest John and Gideon from Pinocchio though Gepetto was around to keep them in check. Along with that crew were a bunch of backup dancers who were “warming up” for the shoot, with the highlight being Goofy in some exercise clothes doing a lot of stretches along with a couple of country bears in tutus for some reason.
Via Disney Wiki
The character barrage continued with some Robin Hood characters, namely King Richard, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Friar Tuck and Robin Hood himself along with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. There were just so many characters in the parade for almost no reason, but how could one complain?
Of course, a show like this also needed to have a master director, with Donald Duck himself rocking the big chair for the parade. He had a special camera that he used to film a lot of dancers in some wild colored wigs partying before Minnie showed up in an 80s looking outfit to help close things out.
The Totally Minnie Parade was a fantastic time capsule back to the 1980s, with the show being pretty much the most 80s show that I can imagine. Between the giant cast of over 100 characters and amazing outfits, it hit every element of excess that marked the early Eisner era. The show came to an end in 1987 with the Come to the Fair Parade taking over. With how fun and charming it was, I would love to see some sort of version of it at the 80s Nites that they occasionally do, but I’m not holding my breath too much.
Via Pinterest
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!