Welcome Back to the Disneyland Resort
We’re back from our multi-week vacation from these Disneyland Photo and News Reports and just in time for the start of the Holidays!
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are both getting decked out for the Holiday Season, Disneyland played host to Hollywood as the Christmas Day Parade was recorded and Earl of Sandwich finally opened in Downtown Disney!
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| Christmas Day Parade Filming |
The Disneyland park portion of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade was recorded this past weekend.
Many who watch the ‘Live’ Christmas Day Parade on ABC may not realize that the Disneyland portions are actually filmed in early November.
The stage seen above, and in the photo below, was used to host the main line performance of the Backstreet Boys and Toby Mac on Sunday.
Disneyland brought out the Cars characters from Cars Land for the parade.
Mickey appeared in a different portion of the show, so Goofy took his place on the lead Soundsational float.
Fans come dressed in their red and green, and look festive for the cameras as they attempt to get the director’s attention.
The more active and festive you appear the greater the chances are you’ll be on TV!
This year’s Disneyland portion is hosted by Mario Lopez, who also hosted the grand opening of Earl of Sandwich the day prior.
| Decking the Halls |
With the Holiday Season just a little over a month away, most of the Disneyland decorations are already installed. From New Orleans Square to Fronteirland to Toontown, the Holidays are quite visible to park guests.
New Orleans Square
The Pirate’s League has moved out of the Court of Angels and the traditional holiday pop-up shop has been installed.
As much as I would love to see this area returned to the quaint corner that it is meant to be, I must say that I am extremely happy to see the Pirate’s League gone. The makeover station made the Court of Angels inaccessible to most park guests. At least now families can pose in their favorite spot for those holiday photographs.
Frontierland & Critter Country
Toontown
“it’s a small world” is closed through November 8, 2012 for installation of the holiday overlay.
You can see some of the 300,000 lights around the facade.
| Disney California Christmas |
Disney California Adventure is also getting into the holiday spirit, and for the first time, Buena Vista Street and Cars Land will have extensive overlays.
Holiday merchandise is already available on Buena Vista Street.
Cars Land
A few references to holiday decorations in Cars Land are also visible.
Traditional Christmas lights are hung from the front porch of the Radiator Springs Curios Shop.
The tree outside of Sarge’s Surplus Hut is covered in what can only be thousands of Christmas lights!
As one follower put it on twitter, Sarge has a surplus of Christmas lights.
Paradise Pier
The Paradise Pier Christmas tree is already up, and lit at night.
As nice as this tree is, the ornaments are looking a bit shabby – scratched and nicked – and are need of replacement.
At the neighboring gazebo, Donald Duck can be found in his new winter costume.
Duffy the Disney Bear is also in his holiday best.
Subtle decorations can be found at Boardwalk and on the exterior of Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
| Around the Resort |
The extensive refurbishment on the Casey Jr. Circus Trains and Storybook Canal Boats continues through November 16.
Work is being done to add ‘safety rails’ to the train bridges.
Monstro the Wale is looking good, coming out from under tarps after having received a fresh coat of paint.
The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad FASTPASS distribution area is under a refurbishment and FASTPASS are unavailable.
The Halloween Time decorations have been removed and soon Santa Claus will move in along Big Thunder Trail.
Significant progress can now be seen over the construction walls at the Fantasy Faire.
| Earl of Sandwich Grand Opening |
Nearly a year after the initial announcement, Earl of Sandwich finally hosted its grand opening this past weekend in Downtown Disney.
The highly anticipated eatery held a series of soft openings over the past week, and thanks in part to social media, the restaurant saw significant numbers of hungry customers for most of the week. On Sunday, the line extended around the restaurant and wait times were estimated at 30 minutes to place an order!
Robert Earl, co-founder of Earl of Sandwich, poses with Mario Lopez and Mickey Mouse during Friday’s grand opening of Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney Anaheim.
The line on Sunday, the day after the grand opening, extended through the internal queue, out of the front door, across the front of the restaurant and ended near the rotunda. Employees estimated the wait time at 30 minutes to place an order.
That’s going to do it for this week’s update. You can see the past updates here.
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