While all the floats of the Tournament of Roses charm, perhaps those creations that spotlight other vehicles bewitch the most.
It's charming, right, to see a car made of daisies atop something that's rolling down the street? Call it meta or whimsical. Or call it Cars Land.
The newest Disney California Adventure land is set to make its Rose Parade debut on Tuesday, Jan. 1. It made its Anaheim bow in June of this year.
Nope, the Imagineers aren't transporting the entire theme park section to Colorado Boulevard for the 124th Tournament of Roses (they'd probably have to shut down significant portions of the 5 for that). But several of the characters from Cars Land will appear on the 125-foot California-shaped float, including Lightning McQueen. Mater, the tow truck, is not on the float, but follows behind, of course.
Smoke-puffing mini tractors and other flowery vehicles appear on the float itself. There are 45 moving parts in all. (Isn't that one of the charms of the parade for you? Finding out how many moving parts a float might have? It's only rivaled by how many hours it takes to decorate and how many flowers are used.)
Disney and the Rose Parade go way back. Snow White and a certain number of Dwarfs waved at crowds from the 1938 route, while Walt Disney served as Grand Marshal in 1966. And, of course, a drive to an Anaheim location is tradition for the Rose Queen, her court, and both football teams competing in the Rose Bowl. That annual must-do started in 1960.
