A hugely popular pre-Thanksgiving Disney planned event. Before this trip to Chicago I didn't even know Disney was aware the middle west existed.

The Festival of Lights is a full weekend of things to do - including a parade (Saturday), dancing Disney characters on the hour (actually every two hours), fireworks and a laser-light show. People apparently travel from very far away to spend this weekend in town with their kids. I luckily happened to stumble upon it.

Did the girls love this? Of course they did! They had a wonderful time & were talking about it days later. Were there huge crowds? Good Lord, yes! Michigan Avenue started getting crowded quite early in the day so we staked out a likely spot when people looked like they were settling in for the duration and made friends with the people around us so that when we left for hot beverage and bathroom breaks we wouldn't lose our spot. Was it cold? Oh! Colder then I even thought it would be!

On the bright side, this isn't a long parade, a'la the Rose Bowl (a parade long enough to try anyone's patience and bladder), some people in the crowd complained that it was too short, but given the temperature (soooo cold!) the parade was long enough for you to feel it was worth the wait, but not so long that you worried about losing a toe to frostbite.

Now, I suppose the question is, would I recommend going out of your way to see the parade? Yes, and no. No if you hate the cold, no if you don't like pushy crowds and no if you have to travel more than three hours, also no if you've already seen the parades at DisneyLand or DisneyWorld. It just wasn't that special. But, yes if you're already in the area, and absolutely yes if you have small children - the younger the better (an 11-12 year old would probably have been bored).