Theme Park Scope

You don’t see THIS group walking down Main Street, U.S.A. every day!

Disneyland officially kicked off D23 weekend with a celebration packed with special entertainment, rare character appearances, and plenty of surprises for Disney fans, but one of the biggest moments brought together some of the people who have helped shape Disney history.

On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Disneyland Park hosted a special Disney Legends Cavalcade as part of D23 Day at Disneyland Resort, featuring Disney Legends, beloved Disney characters, and the Disneyland Band traveling down the park’s iconic parade route. And if you missed it, this wasn’t a new permanent Disneyland parade — it was a one-day-only event created especially for the D23 celebration.

D23 Day at Disneyland Resort took place on August 13, one day before D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event officially began in Anaheim on August 14.

The special celebration was open to all Disneyland Resort guests with valid theme park admission and a park reservation, including D23 members and guests attending the larger D23 event. Disney filled the day with limited-time entertainment, character appearances, merchandise, photo opportunities, giveaways, and other experiences celebrating Disney fandom.

One of the day’s centerpiece events was the Disney Legends Cavalcade, which stepped off along Disneyland Park’s parade route at 1:30 PM.

Disney brought together several previously inducted Disney Legends for the special procession.

Disney Legends appearing in the Disneyland cavalcade included:

• Martha Blanding
• Ming-Na Wen
• Linda Larkin
• Jodi Benson
• Joe Rohde
• Tony Baxter
• Wing T. Chao
• Floyd Norman

That’s a pretty impressive collection of Disney history traveling down Main Street, U.S.A. all at once.

Martha Blanding also participated in a signing earlier in the day connected to a new doll based on her and her book. Blanding became Disney’s first Black VIP tour guide and spent decades with the company before being named a Disney Legend in 2024.

The other Legends represented an incredible cross-section of Disney history, from animation and Imagineering to some of the voices behind characters fans have loved for decades.

Ming-Na Wen is known throughout the Disney universe for roles including the voice of Mulan and Fennec Shand in the Star Wars franchise, while Linda Larkin provided the speaking voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin. Jodi Benson is, of course, the legendary voice behind Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

Imagineering fans had some particularly exciting faces to spot, too.

Joe Rohde’s decades-long career with Walt Disney Imagineering included major involvement with the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, while Tony Baxter’s extensive Imagineering career included work on attractions and projects that became defining pieces of Disney Parks history.

Disney animation was represented by Floyd Norman, whose career included work on Disney films such as Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

It wasn’t only Disney Legends making their way through Disneyland. Disney’s official D23 Day announcement confirmed that the cavalcade would feature 23 Disney characters alongside the Disneyland Band and select Disney Legends.

That number wasn’t exactly random, either.

The 23-character lineup was a fitting nod to D23 itself, whose name references 1923, the year Walt Disney founded the company that eventually became The Walt Disney Company.

Together, the Disney Legends, characters, and Disneyland Band turned the normally familiar Disneyland parade route into a celebration of Disney’s past and present — especially appropriate considering what was coming next.

The Disneyland celebration served as the unofficial kickoff to a much larger Disney weekend.

D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event runs August 14 through August 16, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center, with additional major presentations and entertainment taking place at the Honda Center.

Disney has more than 50 panels and presentations planned across the three-day event, covering Disney films, television, animation, theme parks, Imagineering, music, and more.

And another group of familiar names is about to officially earn Disney Legend status.

The 2026 Disney Legends class includes 11 honorees spanning film, television, animation, Imagineering, music, voice acting, and Disney leadership.

The full 2026 Disney Legends class is:

• Chris Berman — Television
• Jerry Bruckheimer — Film
• Susan Egan — Voice
• Eric Goldberg — Animation
• Anne Hathaway — Film
• Kim Irvine — Imagineering
• Dwayne Johnson — Film & Voice
• Jonas Brothers — Television & Music
• Lin-Manuel Miranda — Film & Music
• Alan Tudyk — Film & Voice
• Bob Iger — Leadership

The newest class will officially be inducted during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, with the Disney Legends ceremony scheduled to be streamed live on Disney+ on Sunday.

The Disney Legends Cavalcade may have been available for only one day, but it was a pretty fitting way to start one of the biggest Disney weekends of 2026.

Bringing Disney Legends together with the Disneyland Band and 23 characters turned Main Street, U.S.A. into a celebration of the people, characters, and stories that have helped build Disney’s legacy — all while another class prepares to officially join those ranks.

And now, all eyes turn toward D23.

With three days of panels, presentations, entertainment, Imagineering showcases, and potential announcements ahead, there could be a LOT of Disney news coming out of Anaheim.

Be sure to revisit Theme Park Scope throughout D23 2026 as we follow the biggest Disney Parks announcements, Disneyland and Walt Disney World updates, entertainment news, new attractions, and surprises revealed throughout the weekend!