Christmas Time in Disneyland, Anaheim, California

If there is anytime I would choose to go to Disneyland, it's during the Christmas holiday season. With two dear friends, we decided to meet and spend a couple of hours in the "happiest place on earth."

With no kids in tow, we were kids at heart, choosing our own favorites. At California Adventure, which hass been renovated since the last time I was there, we headed to the Hyperion Theater to watch Aladdin. It's a must-see musical entertainment. If ou have not seen it, you can watch it here. It is hilarious as part of the script includes references to what we are familiar with like the TSA search, twitter, and more. It's a grand production that will trasport you as you allow Aladdin to take you to "...a whole new world..." on a magic carpet.

Our next stop was Soarin' High. It's a trip around the state of California, while flying high. Here we go...join us!

With our tummies growling, we headed to the train station on Main Street for our ride to New Orleans square. It was time to have our late lunch with our three o'clock reservation at the the Blue Bayou restaurant in the vicinity of Pirates of the Caribbean. Our choices for lunch were the Monte Cristo sandwich, Stuffed Salmon (with goat cheese and potatoes au gratin on the side), and Sirloin Steak. For starters, we had a choice between a salad and Gumbo soup. That Gumbo soup was excellent, so perfect for a chilly day.

It was while we were going to take our  train ride that we had noticed a big stage set-up facing the Disney Main Street, right next to the train station. This reminded us that there was going to be a Candlelight Ceremony and  Processional at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30p.m. We made a quick decision to forego our 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. fast-track reservations at World of Color - a musical extravaganza of film, light and water show - which we had seen before, in favor of watching this seasonal event for the first time.

Lunch was great. More so, it was a time to catch up with one another. Then, it was time to secure our places  to watch, the Candle Ceremony and Processional/Christmas concert at Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A. 

Disneyland is even prettier at Christmas time as it is decorated and lit up like a Christmas-fantasy land. 

With the sun going down earlier in the winter months, the Christmas lights were turned on as we walked along Main street.

 A little after five o'clock in the early evening, the Christmas tree was aglow. 

People were coming into the Disney grounds and exiting on the other side just a couple of hours before closing time, while we we searched and found our favored spot in the cordoned off areas, next to the section reserved for wheelchair-bound visitors. So as not to be impatient while we were waiting, we posed for our souvenir pictures.

There were chairs in some sectioned-off areas, reserved for guests who received invitations to this event and for those who won seat assignments by lottery (last August). From our vantage point, our view of the giant stage was partly obstructed by some big trees, though that was not much of a problem when the show got underway. 

 At past five in the afternoon, the orchestra members took their places on stage, and by five thirty it was showtime. Under the baton of Nancy Sulahian, the concert began with familiar tunes that were classically arranged for a grand collaboration of the different, musical instruments to create the most magnificent melodies for this presentation.

 Soon, the members from different choral groups processed on Main Street towards the stage.

With the chorus in place, the sweet sound of Christmas carols filled the air.

Lou Diamond Philips was introduced after the opening number as the narrator for the evening's performances. Thus began the story of the first Christmas. "The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph..."

This turned out to be a very touching concert. We got emotional and teary eyed. It was a presentation that reminded us of what we are celebrating this Christmas. "For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." John 3:16 NAB

The Candlelight Ceremony and Processional was started back in 1958 by Walt Disney. It was first held as a private event, by invitation only, to thank the community partners of Disneyland for their continued support. This year, this event which is normally scheduled for the weekends, will  be  scheduled on some days of the week, with two performances each evening. It is available to annual pass holders and the purchase of new dining packages. For the complete schedule this season, please check here. 

This holiday event has become an annual, traditional event at Disneyland and Disney World.  If you are not able to go to Disneyland or Disney World during this holiday season, here is what it was like.

May you all have a blessed, merry Christmas.

"World of Color," Disneyland, Anaheim, California

Gone are the days of the Disney Electrical Parade.  World of Color is the latest nighttime finale show at Disneyland's California Adventure, which premiered last June 11, 2010. The entire show, designed by the Walt Disney Creative Entertainment cost $75,000,000.

The tables are turned. Now it is my daughter who takes me to Disneyland. To be a kid again for 2 hours, I willingly dropped everything to catch  the finale show for the day, "World of Color!" 

Paradise Bay is the setting for this much-awaited, daily evening show. We had situated ourselves in a pretty good place, going early enough to find our spot, heeding the warning that we would get wet. 

The show has been designed with the use of more than 1,200 fountains, including "lights, water, fire, fog, and lasers, with high-definition projections on mist screens," with music performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, as arranged by  Mark Hammond and Dave Hamilton. 


Showtime - 8:15 p.m. First the fanfare, then the  water from the fountains shot up to as high as 200 feet, dancing in prismatic colors  to the music and the light settings...

 then, the images were projected on the high-definition mist screens. 

Excerpts of the popular themes of the  Disney stories were shown, one after another. Here is a snippet - an excerpt from Pocahontas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obZjQZedzSM. It was one of my favorite parts of the show.

Projection globes came up, from time to time, with images of the characters of the featured stories.

Here is the finale number I filmed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgEOTzpRnPA. As the show went on, building up to a climax, more water was shooting up and the misty rain started reaching the crowd closes to the water. We came prepared for this. 

Little by little the image projections, the fountain's activities, the sounds, the light programs all came to an end. What a production that was. I was in awe and amazed at the creativity of all the geniuses behind this project.


Soon, California Adventure will undergo a refacing and be transformed into another era. While the show will continue to go on, it might be good to go and see the show now before the detours are set into place, due to the construction.


In the forthcoming project, the new theme will be reminiscent of the time when Walt Disney came to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams, circa 1920s. This will be a totally new place to look forward to. When it is all built, it will be another good reason to visit Disneyland. 

Disneyland at Christmas Time

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) is particularly remembered as an American film producer, known as an innovator in animation and theme park design. After winning fifty-nine Academy Award nominations and twenty-six Oscars,seven Emmy Awards, he, along with his brother Roy, put up the Walt Disney Company. He and his staff created several of the world's most famous fictional characters including the ever popular Mickey Mouse, a character based on a mouse he had adopted as a pet while working in a Kansas City studio. With many more animated characters to populate his own fantasy-theme park, soon Disneyland was opened as the happiest place on earth, for all who spent a day or so in this magic kingdom. The The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.


The magical, holiday season is here in Disneyland! Two friends and I went there for a couple of hours to experience this season in Disney fashion, along with about 40 to 50 thousand others, that day. Our plans were to have a late lunch at the Blue Bayou Restaurant, catch up with each others' lives, and visit a section or two. And so we did.



The Magic Kingdom's castle was our gateway to our fantasy land for the next hour or so.



By the time we were queuing for "It's a Small World," the lights went on...



and soon the international doll characters paraded before us...



followed by a number of lighting effects on the Small World castle...like magnified snowflakes falling...





and after the snow-falling, the blue lighting effects came...and that's when we got on for our boat ride to...



it's a Small World!...a place where hope for peace on earth from a child's point of view is celebrated — to the tune most of us are familiar with, on a joyful boat ride around the globe...





where different countries and continents are featured...and different languages are "spoken"...







with a message about "Peace on Earth"...



and in living in harmony with one another.



The magical minutes came to an end, but the joy in our hearts warmed us on this cold evening. And, soon the sky was going to be lit up...pop, pop, pop...and the fireworks display was underway!















Those pyro-technicians surely entertained us!



Then, the evening shade finally fell over the Magic Kingdom...



and we started to trek out...along lit up streets...



and taking one more look at the castle that brought us to another world.





We joined the crowd on Main Street...as we headed out...



and finally, we took a good look at the towering Christmas tree, admiring the big-sized ornaments...which, at one point, will be auctioned off for charity.



After taking a break at the California Hotel, we went to the other park: California Adventure, to ride, "Soarin' over California," where in one ride we "flew" over all the scenic places to visit in this Golden State.

This visit to Disneyland was reminiscent of days past when we used to bring our children. This time, we were alone in our child-like mode, to enjoy the happiest place on earth!