The holidays are quickly approaching at Disneyland, and with the additions of Buena Vista Street and Cars Land this year, Disney California Adventure guests will be able to enjoy some new holiday experiences and decorations in these areas. Disney recently announced some interesting new holiday enhancements that guests can expect this year at Disney California Adventure, including new entertainment offerings, specially themed decorations, and more.
Buena Vista Street will be decorated to suit the 1930’s Los Angeles theme that serves as Buena Vista Street’s setting. David Caranci, Manager of Resort Enhancement, says about the holiday transformation:
“For this first holiday celebration, we imagined that all the businesses on Buena Vista Street got together like a chamber of commerce to bring the community together. It becomes a matter of civic pride to decorate the street and stores and to erect a huge, 50-foot-tall Christmas tree in the heart of the city as a spot for everyone to join in singing carols. Even Mickey and his friends will sport a retro look — how they appeared in the 1930s — to match the rest of the theming on Buena Vista Street. We’ll also have wonderful vintage toys for display under the huge Christmas tree. From a tin robot to a blimp — all sorts of hidden surprises from that time period.”
The holiday decorations will also have a bell motif, which serves as a nice backdrop to the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers that will be performing throughout the area and during the nightly tree lighting. The evening tree lighting will be a unique and traditional experience with its roots in a Disney memory from the past. Carla Carlile, Show Director for Walt Disney Entertainment, explains:
“On the episode entitled ‘Holiday Time at Disneyland’ on ‘Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color’ TV series in 1962, Walt was seen in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle ringing bells and standing beside a group of carolers. We are very excited to re-create that concept with our own bell ringers in a ring-along, sing-along encouraging our Guests to join in by singing familiar carols and ringing in the season.”
The tree itself will also be something that guests won’t want to miss; the 50-foot tree will even feature a custom-made 1/16th-size train that goes around and through the pile of custom gifts found underneath the tree.
“The amazing people in Resort Enhancement studied what type of trees might have been used during that time period in Los Angeles,” said Alan Braun, Creative Director, Walt Disney Entertainment. “The Buena Vista Street tree is completely different from any others in Disney Parks. All the decorations are large-scale replicas of actual decorations that would’ve been on a Los Angeles Christmas tree in the 1930s.”
Finally, no experience in Buena Vista Street would be complete without visiting Santa Claus himself, who will be greeting guests in the Elias & Co. store each day during the holiday season.
“One of the most exciting things for all of us is creating new holiday traditions,” said Braun. “Now there are holiday things to enjoy on our ‘two main streets’ to add to the existing memories traditions at Disneyland Resort.”
For Cars Land, the employees at Resort Enhancement, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Pixar Animation Studios all came together to answer the question, “How would cars celebrate the holiday season?”. The results of their work can be seen throughout Cars Land in new and innovative decorations that guests will not be able to see anywhere else. Each resident of Cars Land will have decorations that suit their personality, from Mater having a nine-foot-tall tree with an arching sparkplug on top as the star, to Flo’s equally tall tree made out of oil cans. There will be fun, Cars-themed decorations all around the land, and guests can even look forward to a new holiday-themed car character, Snowy the Snow Car.
In addition to these new areas, the rest of Disney California Adventure will also provide some holiday cheer. The Mad T Party will get some new holiday-themed entertainment offerings, and guests might even be surprised by a snowfall during the party. Also getting some enhancements will be “a bug’s land,” which will feature some decorations as put up by Flik, Princess Atta, and Princess Dot. Over on Paradise Pier, the lights on Mickey’s Fun Wheel will be programmed especially for the holidays, and World of Color will be getting some fun holiday surprises added to the show that guests won’t want to miss.
We love these fun new additions to the park and can’t wait for guests to experience them this holiday season. Are you heading to a Disney park for the holidays? What are you most looking forward to? Leave a comment and let us know.
