Celebrate the Holidays at Disneyland Resort November 14 – Jan. 8

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Nov. 1, 2011) – Mickey Mouse celebrates the holidays with a cartoon-style Christmas tree this season as new décor adds merriment to Mickey’s Toontown for the 2011 holidays at Disneyland Resort. The holidays shine brightly throughout the resort from Nov. 14, 2011, through Jan. 8, 2012, as guests create memories for a lifetime.

Those holiday memories might even appear in the nightly “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” show on the façade of “it’s a small world” in Disneyland park. A new segment of the show, specially added for the season, features a musical score filled with favorite holiday tunes and images of resort guests celebrating their holiday visits. As the presentation unfolds, the façade of “it’s a small world” Holiday is frozen in ice, decorated with wreaths and candy canes, wrapped in Christmas paper, and even turned into a giant snow globe. This new segment appears in “The Magic, The Memories and You!” beginning Friday, Nov. 18.

Nearby, in Mickey’s Toontown, the centerpiece of the new holiday décor is a cartoon-style Christmas tree in front of Toontown City Hall. Sculpted garlands and wreaths adorn the Toontown gazebo and add holiday cheer to the Gag Warehouse. The personal  Christmas trees in the front yards of Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses also carry the “toon” theme. On Main Street, U.S.A., Disneyland welcomes back the traditional, 60-foot-tall Christmas tree that is a popular guest photo location.

In Disney California Adventure park, guests are treated to a jolly seasonal addition to the “World of Color” nighttime water spectacular. This holiday season, Lanny and Wayne, Santa’s techno-savvy elves from the “Prep & Landing” holiday specials, appear in a “World of Color” sequence.

Disneyland Resort also welcomes back all the guest favorites for the holidays. Among the popular offerings are “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, the nightly snowfall on Main Street, U.S.A, and special holiday versions of “it’s a small world” and Haunted Mansion. In Fantasyland, holiday guests will find the traditional snowdrifts and icicles adorning Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle.  After dark, a sensational holiday lighting and special-effects show carries the magic of the holidays from the castle all the way to the Christmas tree in Town Square.  The 60-foot-tall Disneyland Christmas tree is specially designed to present a nightly holiday light show like no other with more than 62,000 energy-efficient LED lights.

The Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle presentation unfolds throughout the evening in three acts, each of them featuring a touch of winter snow on Main Street, U.S.A.  The finale of the show includes the legendary “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks show, which takes guests on a journey of sights and sounds of the season and ends with a touching rendition of “White Christmas,” along with a climactic snowfall swirling down on Main Street, U.S.A., “it’s a small world” Mall and New Orleans Square.

“A Christmas Fantasy” parade has become a holiday tradition in Disneyland. Guests enjoy watching as Disney characters celebrate the magic of the season, wrapping gifts, baking  holiday treats and preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus, who shouts a jolly greeting to spectators along the parade route.  Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse even take to the ice for some skating fun.

At The Disney Gallery on Main Street, U.S.A., in Disneyland, a display of vintage and new art celebrating Walt Disney’s love of railroading will premiere during the holiday season. “All Aboard for A Grand Circle Tour of the Trains of Disney!” will survey Disney trains from the classic Disneyland Railroad to such historic routes as Nature’s Wonderland and the Carolwood-Pacific circuit that operated in Disney’s backyard in Holmby Hills, California.

Themed entertainment, sparkling decorations and tasty treats add festive warmth to holiday fun at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.  Also, guests may book guided holiday tours that provide entry into “it’s a small world” Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday, reserved seating for the Disneyland “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, a keepsake remembrance and entertaining information about the history behind Disneyland holiday traditions.  For information and reservations guests may visit Disneyland City Hall or call (714) 781-4565.

Returning holiday favorites at Disneyland park include:

• “it’s a small world” Holiday becomes  a worldwide celebration of the season, boasting more than 300,000 glittering lights on its facade. Also nightly on the façade is “The Magic, The Memories and You!” show with its new holiday sequence.
• New this year in the finale of “it’s a small world” Holiday is a 14-foot sparkling snowman. He’s dressed in a gold top hat, golden scarf and hundreds of twinkling lights.  A frosty snowflake mobile twirls over his head, flickering with an icy translucent glow, and the snowman’s “Happy Holidays” sign is sculpted out of ice that changes color.
• Haunted Mansion Holiday presents a madcap celebration as the traditions of Halloween and Christmas collide.  The ghoulish but well-meaning Jack Skellington from the film “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” has come to Haunted Mansion to transform it with his skewed vision of the holidays.
• Santa Claus and his reindeer return to greet Disneyland guests at Santa’s Reindeer Round-up in Big Thunder Ranch, Frontierland.  Kids and their families chat with St. Nick and see real reindeer grazing in a corral.

Disney California Adventure celebrates the season with fanciful park-wide decorations and lively entertainment.

• The park’s newest attraction, The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, is specially decorated for the holidays, along with its Paradise Pier neighbors, the Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta and Paradise Garden Grill restaurants.
•  “a bug’s land” transforms as Flik and his bug buddies spread giant Christmas lights and oversized ornaments throughout their realm.
• The holiday scene along the Paradise Bay boardwalk includes a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and lampposts decorated with seasonal wreaths.
• Santa Claus greets guests in a specially decorated gazebo on the boardwalk near Ariel’s Grotto on Paradise Pier.

Guests in Disney California Adventure won’t want to miss the park entertainment. In addition to “World of Color,” with special holiday guests Lanny and Wayne from “Prep & Landing,” the “ElecTRONica” nighttime street party in Hollywood Pictures Backlot transports guests of all ages “on the grid” and into the environment of the Walt Disney Pictures feature, “TRON: Legacy.”

Also part of the regular Disney California Adventure lineup:

• A new Disney California Adventure street show, “Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party” invites guests of all ages to “seize the day,” dancing and singing on Paradise Pier with the Disney Channel’s inventive animated boy geniuses. Also on tap are the energetic “dance-off” competition of “Disney Dance Crew” on the Backlot Stage in Hollywood Pictures Backlot, and the rock concert-style “Disney Channel Rocks,” featuring music from Disney Channel movies and series, performed on the Palisades Stage in Paradise Park, alongside Paradise Bay lagoon.
• In Blue Sky Cellar at Golden Vine Winery, the Imagineers’ workshop offers guests a preview of what’s coming to Disney California Adventure, including Buena Vista Street and Cars Land in 2012.
• Guests along Paradise Pier in Disney California Adventure also may enjoy the new Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventures and Goofy’s Sky School attractions, along with such favorite as Toy Story Mania!, Silly Symphony Swings, California Screamin’ and Mickey’s Fun Wheel.

Holiday shopping at Disneyland Resort offers an array of merchandise available exclusively at Resort theme parks and the Downtown Disney district. Along with ornaments, holiday-themed Mickey Mouse ears, jewelry and the celebrated Disneyland handmade candy canes, guests discover a new line of edgy and stylish designs featuring The Muppets on clothing, vinylmation and decorative skate decks.

Disneyland Resort hotels join in the holiday merriment with twinkling lights and ornaments, special entertainment and holiday dining.  Expanded hours at both Disneyland Resort theme parks extend the fun.  For more information about holidays at Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com/holidays and for hotel and ticket offers, visit www.disneyland.com/offers.

About the Disneyland Resort: The Disneyland Resort features two spectacular theme parks – Disneyland (the original Disney theme park) and Disney California Adventure park – plus the Downtown Disney District comprised of unique dining, entertainment and shopping experiences. The Resort’s three hotels are the luxurious, 948-room Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which also features 50 two-bedroom equivalent Disney Vacation Club units; the magical 969-room Disneyland Hotel; and the 481-room Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel with its “day-at-the-beach” fun. For information on new attractions and vacations at Disneyland Resort visit www.disneyland.com, call 866/60-DISNEY or contact local travel agents.