"It's That Time of Year" Holiday decor, Merchandise & Snow White's 70th, + Much More
Happy Holidays! Hopefully you aren't still too full of turkey and pumpkin pie, and you haven't been mauled too bad from the Black Friday shopping crowds - cause it's time for our very first "Dateline Disneyland" photo update!
WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!
The toll booths at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure are sporting Christmas wreaths.
The billboards at the tram stop announce the holiday festivities at the parks.
The new marketing campaign for this year's holiday season is really nicely done. The snowman from last year is missed, but this year's designs are really great.
The billboard near the security checkpoints is pushing APs for Christmas gifts.
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...
New park maps.
Disneyland park is decked out in its holiday finest.
The poster for "Remember... Dreams Come True" is still up in the entry tunnel, despite it being on hiatus to make way for the Holiday show.
Poinsettias swirl in the flower beds
And of course, the Disneyland Christmas tree rises high above Town Square
The Christmas tree in Walt's Apartment is up
The following Main Street photos are linked to their respective flickr pages and are available there for high-res download, if you're interesed.
Main Street Carolers!
You can watch a video of the carolers, by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk3kmqsLvmc
The Disneyland Band has their Christmastime uniforms on.
Frontierland is decked out for the holidays, too.
Inside the Golden Horseshoe:
Over in Critter Country, Pooh and Brer Rabbit have decked out the place quite nicely. The balloons holding the garlands up in the sky is a clever touch, and overall, Critter Country is a nice little corner during the holidays.
A small, but nice touch:
SLEEPING BEAUTY'S WINTER CASTLE
Of course, the talk of the town is Sleeping Beauty Castle's new winter overlay.
For a video of the Castle lighting ceremony, click here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...80727655893957
The Castle projector boxes have been open all week. Talk about bad show. Guests shouldn't be able to see this sort of stuff.
On paper, the idea of Sleeping Beauty Castle covered in magical snow is pretty awesome, but the reality of the concept is quite lacking in several areas. Overall, the entire overlay seems incomplete. There are patches of snow that are missing. The icicles are incredibly tacky. And at night - only half of the Castle is lit, so if you're in Fantasyland, the illusion of magical, glowing snow is shattered.
This turret didn't even get snow.
Missing snow
Did it melt?
This is just cheap. Forget about being able to immerse yourself in the illusion - You can clearly see where the snow ends.
At night, the lighting effect looks great from far away. But up close, not so much.
Sections of icicle lights and snow don't work.
First year glitches are many.
Magical? Not really.
And it's not like the snow and icicles that aren't working are kind of hidden from view.. The wreath and icicles on the front of the Castle above the drawbridge aren't working, either.
And despite the trees around the Castle being covered in lights for Christmas, none of them are ever turned on.
The most unfortunate part of this overlay is that the back of the Castle is not lit. At night, from Fantasyland it is glaringly obvious that there's something missing from the overlay. No lights at all, and you can see where the snow lights and icicle lights stop. Bad show.
SNOW WHITE CELEBRATES 70
The DCA guide map has a blurb about the Snow White 70th Anniversary exhibit in the Disney Animation pavilion.
The exhibit is set up in the lobby of the Disney Animation attraction in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. It's done very nicely. The animation loop on the overhead screens has been changed to nothing but Snow White clips and audio.
A wall shows "how animation works" and includes flip books with reproductions of original Snow White animation art for guests to flip through. This is a great touch, an is a great little thing for the Disney Animation attraction.
Overall, the exhibit is done exceptionally well. It's a perfect use for the big lobby area, and hopefully this will become home to more exhibits in the future now that the Disney Gallery at Disneyland is gone. The use of the screens and audio is an amazing touch that compliments the exhibit material perfectly. Using the lobby as gallery space is a smart move and it feels completely natural.
Anyway, over in the Character Close-Up room the Wall-E glass case has a new backdrop:
And the case that previously advertised Meet the Robinsons now features a big teaser for 2008's Bolt.
The Off the Page store next door is selling loads of new Snow White merchandise. Here's some of it.
ENCHANTED
The new Enchanted pre-parade with Princess Giselle is now rolling out before the Christmas Fantasy parade.
For a video of the "Enchanted" pre-parade, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8I8D0r3CtU
DISNEY GALLERY
The last remnant of the old Disney Gallery is now gone. The signs that were on the base of the stairs are now gone.
And a look at elevator construction...
HOLIDAY TREATS & EATS
And finally, a look at some of the seasonal goodies available at Blue Ribbon Bakery and the candy shop in DCA's Greetings From California.
Holiday biscotti
Pumpkin muffins are still available, too.
The toll booths at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure are sporting Christmas wreaths.
The billboards at the tram stop announce the holiday festivities at the parks.
The new marketing campaign for this year's holiday season is really nicely done. The snowman from last year is missed, but this year's designs are really great.
The billboard near the security checkpoints is pushing APs for Christmas gifts.
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...
New park maps.
Disneyland park is decked out in its holiday finest.
The poster for "Remember... Dreams Come True" is still up in the entry tunnel, despite it being on hiatus to make way for the Holiday show.
Poinsettias swirl in the flower beds
And of course, the Disneyland Christmas tree rises high above Town Square
The Christmas tree in Walt's Apartment is up
The following Main Street photos are linked to their respective flickr pages and are available there for high-res download, if you're interesed.
Main Street Carolers!
You can watch a video of the carolers, by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk3kmqsLvmc
The Disneyland Band has their Christmastime uniforms on.
Frontierland is decked out for the holidays, too.
Inside the Golden Horseshoe:
Over in Critter Country, Pooh and Brer Rabbit have decked out the place quite nicely. The balloons holding the garlands up in the sky is a clever touch, and overall, Critter Country is a nice little corner during the holidays.
A small, but nice touch:
SLEEPING BEAUTY'S WINTER CASTLE
Of course, the talk of the town is Sleeping Beauty Castle's new winter overlay.
For a video of the Castle lighting ceremony, click here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...80727655893957
The Castle projector boxes have been open all week. Talk about bad show. Guests shouldn't be able to see this sort of stuff.
On paper, the idea of Sleeping Beauty Castle covered in magical snow is pretty awesome, but the reality of the concept is quite lacking in several areas. Overall, the entire overlay seems incomplete. There are patches of snow that are missing. The icicles are incredibly tacky. And at night - only half of the Castle is lit, so if you're in Fantasyland, the illusion of magical, glowing snow is shattered.
This turret didn't even get snow.
Missing snow
Did it melt?
This is just cheap. Forget about being able to immerse yourself in the illusion - You can clearly see where the snow ends.
At night, the lighting effect looks great from far away. But up close, not so much.
Sections of icicle lights and snow don't work.
First year glitches are many.
Magical? Not really.
And it's not like the snow and icicles that aren't working are kind of hidden from view.. The wreath and icicles on the front of the Castle above the drawbridge aren't working, either.
And despite the trees around the Castle being covered in lights for Christmas, none of them are ever turned on.
The most unfortunate part of this overlay is that the back of the Castle is not lit. At night, from Fantasyland it is glaringly obvious that there's something missing from the overlay. No lights at all, and you can see where the snow lights and icicle lights stop. Bad show.
SNOW WHITE CELEBRATES 70
The DCA guide map has a blurb about the Snow White 70th Anniversary exhibit in the Disney Animation pavilion.
The exhibit is set up in the lobby of the Disney Animation attraction in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. It's done very nicely. The animation loop on the overhead screens has been changed to nothing but Snow White clips and audio.
A wall shows "how animation works" and includes flip books with reproductions of original Snow White animation art for guests to flip through. This is a great touch, an is a great little thing for the Disney Animation attraction.
Overall, the exhibit is done exceptionally well. It's a perfect use for the big lobby area, and hopefully this will become home to more exhibits in the future now that the Disney Gallery at Disneyland is gone. The use of the screens and audio is an amazing touch that compliments the exhibit material perfectly. Using the lobby as gallery space is a smart move and it feels completely natural.
Anyway, over in the Character Close-Up room the Wall-E glass case has a new backdrop:
And the case that previously advertised Meet the Robinsons now features a big teaser for 2008's Bolt.
The Off the Page store next door is selling loads of new Snow White merchandise. Here's some of it.
ENCHANTED
The new Enchanted pre-parade with Princess Giselle is now rolling out before the Christmas Fantasy parade.
For a video of the "Enchanted" pre-parade, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8I8D0r3CtU
DISNEY GALLERY
The last remnant of the old Disney Gallery is now gone. The signs that were on the base of the stairs are now gone.
And a look at elevator construction...
HOLIDAY TREATS & EATS
And finally, a look at some of the seasonal goodies available at Blue Ribbon Bakery and the candy shop in DCA's Greetings From California.
Holiday biscotti
Pumpkin muffins are still available, too.
What a delicious way to wrap up our very first Dateline Disneyland. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving - and for the record, the thing that we are most thankful for around here is you, our wonderful readers. See you next week for more visions from Disneyland.
- Andy Castro
MasterGracey
- Andy Castro
MasterGracey
Total Comments 42
Comments
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Thank you MasterGracey! Fantastic update!!!
Congratulations on your very first "Dateline Disneyland," we look forward to many more.
-DustyPosted 11-22-2007 at 11:05 PM by Dustysage
Updated 11-23-2007 at 02:11 AM by Dustysage -
Great job Andy!!!! Love the pictures!!!
Congrats on the new gig!!!!!
Posted 11-23-2007 at 01:38 AM by peoplemover1 -
Excellent job!
Question: Are the different performances of the Castle lighting ceremony (I had heard there were 3) actually different, or do they just do the same thing 3 times? Or is there only actually one? I'm curious since I'll be down there soon and hope to get some audio/video.Posted 11-23-2007 at 01:56 AM by Club 33 -
It's the same show. From what I understand, three different shows were planned, all three progressing a "story" dealing with the child, mother, and the wish for snow.Quote:Originally Posted by Club 33Excellent job!
Question: Are the different performances of the Castle lighting ceremony (I had heard there were 3) actually different, or do they just do the same thing 3 times? Or is there only actually one? I'm curious since I'll be down there soon and hope to get some audio/video.
Furthermore, I've noticed that the Snow Show is only done twice a night, both times before the fireworks. The third show, which I understood to be scheduled immediately after the fireworks show is absent altogether - at least from what I saw anyway.
I believe the first two Snow Shows are at 5:30 and 7:30, respectively. They are not listed on the Times Guide or on Disneyland.com.Posted 11-23-2007 at 02:09 AM by MasterGracey - There are three shows. Two of them haven't come online yet, and are expected to be rolled out once the hours are shorter to allow for more testing time.
I think the castle looks beautiful.Posted 11-23-2007 at 02:36 AM by mrfantasmic -
Ok again, if i dont correct this my OCD will bug the crap out of me. They are not projectors in those boxes. They are motorized LIGHTS! If you want to get specific, Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots.
There are 3 shows, two ARE online one is not. Wish and Believe are running. Believe is just the normal ending to the fireworks. Dream went online Nov 22.Posted 11-23-2007 at 06:06 AM by SparkyLD -
Wow... That was one of THE most awesome sets of holiday photos from DL that I've ever seen. Many thanks for posting, and do keep up the good work!Posted 11-23-2007 at 08:30 AM by tonyrr1 -
Great pictures MG! Thanks for the update!Posted 11-23-2007 at 10:15 AM by MTNGIRL -
Great Work. I still cant believe the Disney Gallery is gone.Posted 11-23-2007 at 11:23 AM by SciFi96 -
Awesome new feature. I look forward to many more "Dateline Disneyland's".Posted 11-23-2007 at 12:56 PM by sir clinksalot -
Great update! I agree about the castle I wonder why they didn't attempt the version at DLP or at least the version at WDW. I'd prefer the "netting" effect versus the fake snow (they could have done a better job with that IMO) & typical Xmas icicle lighting myself. But, children will believe the facade, so I guess we're outruled.Posted 11-23-2007 at 02:08 PM by nojarama -
Great update, Andy!Posted 11-23-2007 at 02:43 PM by ROBONICS95 - You were kind of hard on Disney for the Castle. The overlay did just come up online and it does take time to work out some kinks. The reaf was lit for last weekend during my trip(11/15-11/18) and as far as I saw all lights that were on display were on. Maybe something came unplugged or they had to do some work on those lights. Give it a try in a couple of days to a week.
As to the lights in the boxes have were open every time I went past the castle during my trip morning to closing. they were pretty annoying and got in the way of some of my picturesPosted 11-23-2007 at 02:57 PM by JK020489 -
i always look forward to these updates on the disneyland forum. and now i can just click on the main miceage page!!
nice work mastergracey. you never ever disappoint and congrats on this fantastic addition to the website!!
Posted 11-23-2007 at 03:26 PM by kickcows -
The whole "bad show speech" is "bad show".
But say what you say, MasterGracey is one damn good photographer.Posted 11-23-2007 at 03:32 PM by TheManator -
Wow...MGM's Giselle is much better looking than DL's.Posted 11-23-2007 at 03:40 PM by tloolgb - Great update MasterGracey! Just a question, why is this posted on MiceChat instead of MiceAge?Posted 11-23-2007 at 04:06 PM by Luke Manning
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Since I live over 2,000 miles away, I can continue my Dinseyland love vicariously through your pictures. Thank you so very much!!!Posted 11-23-2007 at 04:34 PM by Indiana Jeff -
Great work, looking foward to more dates in this line LOL.Posted 11-23-2007 at 04:39 PM by Imaginationeer -
terrific pix thank you for posting!!
I gotta agree with you on the castle lights, it'd be one thing if all of the ledges got the LED snow light fx but the half icicle style is not appropriate for a Disney Land quality decorationPosted 11-23-2007 at 06:34 PM by DznyFan17
