Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade (1983)

This is the very first Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade to be aired on network television from 1983. This parade would become a staple for decades and something important in growing up Disney in the 80's and 90's, although the "Christmas" name would be dropped near the end of the Eisner age. The Christmas parade telecast really became a 2 hour infomercial for what the Walt Disney Company had in the works for the upcoming year. Eventually annual Easter and Independence Day Parade telecasts would join the Christmas Parade and the Christmas Parade itself would expand to a 2 hour Christmas morning broadcast tradition. Regis Philbin became the figure most associated with these parades, but this was before that. (The Easter and Independence Day Parade broadcasts were dropped near the end of the Eisner years as well.) The Christmas and Easter parades always aired on the ABC Network.

This is a time capsule into Walt Disney history past. This is the final Walt Disney World Christmas Parade before the Eisner regime took over the company. Here, we get a glimpse at what Disney was like BEFORE Pixar, before The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and the other beloved properties that came later and they could only rely on the characters that Walt Disney personally created. Walt had been dead for nearly 20 years at this point, and they were STILL coasting on the fumes he'd left behind. You can see how this was still a small company that was run like a family. It wasn't anywhere near the global conglomerate people think of today. Many of these characters you don't see anymore either and they STILL cared about the legacy of Walt Disney. What a tremendous time capsule this is.

Mike Douglas and Joan Lunden co-host this parade with Carol Lawerence.
Douglas was a popular talk show host of the day while Lunden was then the current co-host of Good Morning America. Lawerence was a well-known actress and singer of the time. She would host her own EPCOT Center Christmas concert a few years later. This archetype of hosts for the parade broadcasts would continue with the parade for decades even though the hosts would change.

Joan Lunden is the longest-running host of the Disney parade broadcasts and Mike Douglas was later replaced by Alan Thicke with Regis Philbin was later added as an on-street interviewer.

Original air date December 25, 1983

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