The Tapestry of Nations was a parade at the Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World that ran around the World Showcase Lagoon from 1999 to 2001. The parade had a unity and world peace theme and featured a variety of large puppets and massive rotating drum units. The leader of the parade was the Sage of Time, who was represented as a stilt walker in an elaborate costume featuring alchemy symbols, gold trim on a white robe, a staff, and a headpiece resembling a sun with a face.
The parade was actually 3 identical processionals, which occur concurrently in the World Showcase. Parade A can be seen between Mexico and Germany, Parade B between Germany and Morocco and Parade C between Morocco and Canada.
The Puppets included:
- Reverse Marionette, a large multicolored puppet with a little marionette being held in its arms.
- Disc Man, a large character with discs within the body and dreadlocks. This was the heaviest and tallest of all the puppets.
- Hammer Man, a humanoid character made of pieces of sheet metal.
- The Sprite, a winged character with a three tiered tail.
- Angel Girl, a feminine figure with a massive wingspan and human face.
- Wiggle Girl, similar to Angel Girl, but had a smaller wingspan and lacked a face, also had movement in the hips.
- Bird Man, with a large wingspan and a crane-like face. This puppet was the hardest to control.
- Aztec Man, with an Aztec-style head, small wingspan and several flaps at its end, similar to kite tails
In 2001, the parade became Tapestry of Dreams. Wishes from children around the world were heard throughout the parade's soundtrack. The middle of the parade had a tribute to Walt Disney, "...the greatest and most wonderful dreamer of all!". In this version, the Sage of Time was replaced with the Dreamseekers, a trio of elf like characters that would open and close the parade and collect Dreamtale coins that children would receive at the Epcot Kidcot stations. These three included:
- Leonardo Columbus, who represented discovery, invention and genius
- Elfin, who represented nature, magic and emotion
- Cosmo, who represented space and the unknown
It ran nightly, although in a reduced fashion compared to Tapestry of Nations and was canceled in March 2003 as a result of its waning popularity.
Pictures and Information from PinPics, AllEarsNet, WDWmagic, and Wikipedia
I miss this parade! The music was absolutely fantastic and even though I was only nine at the time it has continued to stick with me to this day. :] I personally think Epcot could use a parade. It simply adds to the excitement leading up to Illuminations. Whenever my parents and I return to the park, we always feel that something is lacking. Oh how I wish they would bring it back or at least recreate it using the same music. It made Epcot so much more livelier at night!
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