Fun Facts for a Merry Disneyland Holiday Celebration

The holiday season at Disneyland Resort gets underway Monday, Nov. 14, and will continue daily through Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012.

For the first time, the Holiday season at Disneyland Resort will be extended to celebrate Three Kings Day, known as Día de Reyes. From Jan. 6-8, 2012, look for special décor and entertainment in Frontierland that showcases western and Mexican heritage, along with food themed to this holiday and children’s activities.
The first Disneyland holiday celebration was in 1955, when Walt Disney placed a Christmas tree in the Hub at the north end of Main Street, U.S.A., near Sleeping Beauty Castle. For many years now, the tree has been located in Town Square near the Main Street Disneyland Railroad Station.
Beginning Friday, Nov. 18, “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”show gets a new, Yuletide glow. The show features photos and video of guests creating memories at Disneyland park, with favorite holiday melodies underscoring images of guests enjoying their holidays at Disneyland.

The lively street show “Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party” gets a merry twist at Disney California Adventure park, with holiday décor and songs. The show is performed several times a day in Paradise Pier.
Lanny and Wayne, the techno-savvy elves from the “Prep & Landing” holiday TV specials, make guest appearances in a new holiday prelude sequence in the nighttime “World of Color” show in Disney California Adventure.
Decorating experts at the Disneyland Resort have to get started early. They trim nearly 700 trees for the season, on display in Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, the resort’s three hotels and the Downtown Disney District. The smallest tree is at Storybook Land and the largest is at Town Square – both in Disneyland.

The Disneyland Christmas tree in Town Square has become a favorite spot for snapping holiday photos. The artificial tree stands 60 feet tall and has 280,000 pine-tip branches molded from actual tree branches. It is decorated with more than 2,000 ornaments, including the three-foot star on top, and nearly 4,800 energy-efficient LED lights. When the Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle show reaches its finale crescendo, more than 60,000 LED lights and 1,200 strobe lights are added to the effect.
Mickey’s Toontown is decorated with its own distinctive “toon” trees this 2011 holiday season. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse each have personal Christmas trees in the front yards of their Toontown homes, and a cartoon-themed tree beckons guests for photos in front of Toontown City Hall.
Since the introduction of the artificial Christmas tree and LED lighting technology in 2008, the Disneyland park Christmas tree has used 50 percent less electricity than it did previously.

Carolers in traditional Victorian holiday garb make regular appearances throughout the season at each of the three Disneyland Resort hotels: Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, the Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
The Dapper Dans, the popular Main Street, U.S.A., quartet, add holiday songs to their repertoire, with holiday chimes as accompaniment. Favorites range from the traditional “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to “Frosty the Snowman,” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Christmas in Killarney.
The nighttime Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle light show is divided into three “acts” over the course of the evening. Each one begins at the Castle and travels the length of Main Street, U.S.A., finishing at the Town Square Christmas tree. Each act features a magical snowfall, and the final act concludes with “Believe…in Holiday Magic” fireworks.

The nighttime light show employs more than 200,000 points of light, 2,600 individual circuits and more than 85,000 individual wiring connections.
If all the cables and conductors for the show were laid end to end, they would stretch 48 miles from Disneyland Resort – enough to pass the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.
The entrance to Disney California Adventure and locations throughout the park are festooned with holiday decoration. New this year are the decorations around the newly renovated Paradise Pier area, with The Little Mermaid ~Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and the nearby dining locations.

The largest ornaments used at Disneyland Resort may be found in the “bugs-eye-view” world of Flik’s Fun Fair at Disney California Adventure.
The smallest ornaments used at the Resort may be found in the Storybook Land attraction at Disneyland.

“A Christmas Fantasy” parade

Each performance of “A Christmas Fantasy” features 105 performers, 18 float drivers and 12 musicians costumed as toy soldiers from the Disney movie “Babes in Toyland.” With daily parade performances, it takes approximately 200 performers to stage the parade during the holiday season.
The parade features six major “units,” each consisting of multiple floats. The units are: ”A Christmas Fantasy Opening” featuring Mrs. Claus sorting letters in Santa’s Mailroom; “Winter Wonderland” with Mickey and Minnie enjoying a romantic skate atop the frozen pond; “The Candy Shop” with Goofy leading the bakers from the Gingerbread House; “Candlelight Christmas Ball” featuring everyone’s favorite Disney Royal Couples; “Toy Factory,” the perfect spot for Buzz and Woody; and the “Finale,” where Santa himself waves from his sleigh.

it’s a small world” Holiday

Decorators use 50,000 Christmas lights on the façade of “it’s a small world” Holiday, and an additional 200,000 mini-lights in the trees, hedges and topiaries surrounding the attraction.
Among the holiday special effects inside the attraction: pine tree and peppermint scents in the European scenes; 75 gallons of bubble juice to make bubbles throughout the season in the South Seas scene.
Nearly 150 giant candles decorate the Christmas Tree in the European scene.

Haunted Mansion Holiday

Jack Skellington has his own ideas about appropriate holiday decorations. The Haunted Mansion Holiday exterior is decorated with more than 100 jack-o’-lanterns and the eerie glow of more than 400 flickering candles.
For the holidays, the graveyard in the Haunted Mansion finale is covered with 7,500 square feet of snow. Trees in the graveyard are decked out with 1,000 tiny orange lights.

The gingerbread house in the Mansion’s Great Hall is made of real gingerbread and icing. Each year, the Disneyland Resort Foods and Entertainment divisions partner to create an original design for that year’s Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread house.
This 2011 gingerbread house stands six feet tall, consisting of 500 pounds of gingerbread and miles of frosting. The house animates to become a gingerbread monster, revealing glowing eyes and sharp teeth. This year’s Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread house took months of planning and three weeks of creation in the Disneyland Resort Central Bakery.
Guests may book guided Disneyland holiday tours which include visits to Haunted Mansion Holiday and “it’s a small world” Holiday attractions, reserved viewing of “A Christmas Fantasy” parade with a delicious holiday treat and warm beverage, plus a 2011 holiday pin and tour tag. (Information and reservations: 714-781-TOUR/714-781-8687.)