How was the first day of Disneyland's Holiday entertainment?

[DodgerGirl]

I know that today was the first day of Disneyland's Holiday entertainment and i'm curious to know how it went? Are there any new holiday themed characters added and how were the lines for Santa photos today? Were they very packed and how much are photos with Santa Claus at Disneyland now? Have they raised the prices or the prices for Santa photos the same as last year. Also one last thing are the princesses dressed in holiday attire for holiday meet and greets too?

 

[Pluto468]

I was wondering that, too! Would love to see pictures if anyone has some to share

 

[DizMe]

I'm interested to hear, also! My dd said they had try-ons for the new character holiday outfits the other day. Pluto has a cute new holiday collar

I, too, would love to see pictures!

 

[LKing]

Yesterday was absolutely packed. It was mostly adults in line to try the foods, buy popcorn buckets, etc. It reminded me of D23 Day.

There were a lot of people dressed up for Tiana's. They set up a separate store for Tiana's merchandise in Tomorrowland, but I didn't see people buying much. They did a nice job designing/decorating the stores in Bayou Country.

I didn't see all of the characters, but supposedly in DCA, you can find Bruno, Mirabel, Russel, Carl, Clara, Jose & Panchito, Dug and Shang Chi.

Guests started lining up to watch the 1:10 Mirabel's Gifts of the Season show very early. This shot was taken 15 min before the show began.



Likewise, the 2:30 parade route was pretty much full 45 -60 min before the parade started. I was standing at the end (Main Street) where the parade doesn't arrive until closer to 3 pm. This was the crowd 30 min beforehand.



And the other direction...



I thought I picked a good location because the sun was behind the tree. By the time the parade made it to our area, the sun was shining directly in our eyes and it was difficult to take photos. Here are a few shots that turned out okay.









@DizMe is this your Pluto?

 

[DizMe]

Yesterday was absolutely packed. It was mostly adults in line to try the foods, buy popcorn buckets, etc. It reminded me of D23 Day.

There were a lot of people dressed up for Tiana's. They set up a separate store for Tiana's merchandise in Tomorrowland, but I didn't see people buying much. They did a nice job designing/decorating the stores.

I didn't see all of the characters, but supposedly in DCA, you can find Bruno, Mirabel, Russel, Carl, Clara, Jose & Panchito, Dug and Shang Chi.

Guests started lining up to watch the 1:10 Mirabel's Gifts of the Season show very early. This shot was taken 15 min before the show began.

View attachment 913481

Likewise, the 2:30 parade route was pretty much full 45 -60 min before the parade started. I was standing at the end (Main Street) where the parade doesn't arrive until closer to 3 pm. This was the crowd 30 min beforehand.

View attachment 913482

And the other direction...

View attachment 913483

I thought I picked a good location because the sun was behind the tree. By the time the parade made it to our area, the sun was shining directly in our eyes and it was difficult to take photos. Here are a few shots that turned out okay.

View attachment 913485

View attachment 913489

View attachment 913486

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@DizMe is this your Pluto?

View attachment 913490

I'll ask but I don't think so...she was texting me yesterday about other things so I don't think she was there. Also, I believe the CMs for parades are in a different set.

Thanks for all of the great pictures!!

 

[LKing]

Small World was AMAZING! I love all of the new additions. They seem to have added a lot more hanging from the ceiling and added decorations to the transition tunnels. I hope they keep them when they remove the holiday overlay.

Fantasyland Theater had meet & greets with Santa and some classic characters. I think they said Chip, Dale, Goofy and... I'm not sure who else. They definitely didn't mention Mickey or Minnie. There were a ton of admin type CM watching to make sure everything was going okay. I did not ask the price for pics with Santa.





Letters to Santa at the top





Oh, and here is Russel in DCA.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Sounds like typical day 1 Dis-fan behavior. We deal with the same thing here in WDW. Lots of vloggers, influencers, and whoever needs to be first taking up space for their content and then by day 2, back to normal crowding.

 

[LKing]

Sounds like typical day 1 Dis-fan behavior. We deal with the same thing here in WDW. Lots of vloggers, influencers, and whoever needs to be first taking up space for their content and then by day 2, back to normal crowding.

The first day of any season is always busy. People want to see something new. Shoot, I booked my reservation the first day they announced it and I'm just your Average Joe MK holder. Add the fact that Disney decided to open Tiana's and Bayou Country on the same day that the holiday season started. That involved new stores and new merch. New popcorn buckets are always a big draw. Festival of Holidays and new food are always a big draw.

EVERYONE was taking pictures and videos. Honestly, I probably got in people's way more than the people you are referring to. I see well known vloggers just about everyday I'm at Disneyland. While I saw them yesterday, they were there to do their thing and didn't get in people's way. The only difference that I noticed yesterday was that everyone (ie. the social media peeps you are referring to) was decked out in holiday attire.

The real problem, in my opinion, were the collectors and resellers. They arrive very early and tend to be more aggressive. Most came for popcorn buckets. Some came to see if the Ariel doll was available in the parks. Others came for the Crislu trunk show (3-4 hr wait). It was a lot happening on one day.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

The first day of any season is always busy. People want to see something new. Shoot, I booked my reservation the first day they announced it and I'm just your average Joe MK holder. Add the fact that Disney decided to open Tiana's and Bayou Country on the same day that the holiday season started. That involved new stores and new merch. New popcorn buckets are always a big draw. Festival of Holidays and new food are always a big draw.

EVERYONE was taking pictures and videos. Honestly, I probably got in people's way more than the people you are referring to. I see well known vloggers just about everyday I'm at Disneyland. While I saw them yesterday, they were there to do their thing and didn't get in people's way. The only difference that I noticed yesterday was everyone (ie. the media peeps you are referring to) was decked out in holiday attire.

The real problem, in my opinion, were the collectors and resellers. They arrive very early and tend to be more aggressive. Most came for popcorn buckets. Some came to see if the Ariel doll was available in the parks. Others came for the Crislu trunk show (3-4 hr wait). It was a lot happening on one day.

Yup. You all had a whole event and Tiana was a whole other reason for an influx. In WDW, there's that type of craze for a merch drop or popcorn bucket. Trust me. Y'all have it way better.

 

[xApril]

My friend who loves entertainment has loved everything so far (she is from FL). Only thing she told me that was skippable so far was the Coco show.

 

[disneychrista]

Yup. You all had a whole event and Tiana was a whole other reason for an influx. In WDW, there's that type of craze for a merch drop or popcorn bucket. Trust me. Y'all have it way better.

Oh we have that same type of crazy here for such things.

 

[DodgerGirl]

What is the Mirabel's Gifts Of The Season show at Disneyland? Is this a new show that is debuting for the first time and what's it like? Is it really nice? I do not recall reading about it

 

[DodgerGirl]

How is Santa Claus at Disneyland? Is he a nice Santa? And how do they take the children's photos with him? Can children sit on Santa's lap or do they make Santa sit on a couch and the children can sit next to him and get their photo taken? Also do the children get a candy cane or a little toy along with the photo as well?
I am just curious to know?
Dodger

 

[LKing]

You can find info about the show on the Disneyland website: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/en...-adventure/mirabels-gifts-of-the-season-show/

There are also several videos on YouTube.

Regarding Santa, I didn't spend that much time in the Fantasyland Theater. The kid I saw was sitting next to Santa, but that could have been his choice. I believe Santa will also be in DCA and in the GCH.

Edit to add: I was in the parks this afternoon/evening and something must have happened to Mickey's float. During both parades today, Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale were walking down the street with the dancers.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Are the princesses also gonna be doing Christmas storytime in the Tinker Bell Toy Shop in Fantasyland this year? Because when I went to Disneyland during Christmas week in 1998 I remember watching a princess Christmas themed storytime with Belle in the Tinker Bell Toy Shop and Belle was telling her Christmas story and then Belle signed autographs and posed for photos with kids and I was wondering if they still have this at Disneyland this year with the different princesses?
Marvelous info LKing i'll see some of that Christmas parade on Youtube when I can
Dodger

 

[Pluto468]

Pluto has a cute new holiday collar

I'll have to see that!

 

[disneychrista]

Are the princesses also gonna be doing Christmas storytime in the Tinker Bell Toy Shop in Fantasyland this year? Because when I went to Disneyland during Christmas week in 1998 I remember watching a princess Christmas themed storytime with Belle in the Tinker Bell Toy Shop and Belle was telling her Christmas story and then Belle signed autographs and posed for photos with kids and I was wondering if they still have this at Disneyland this year with the different princesses?

I’m 99% sure the toyshoppe doesn’t even exist any longer.

 

[LKing]

I’m 99% sure the toyshoppe doesn’t even exist any longer.

Isn't that Biddidi Bobbidi Boutique now?

 

[disneychrista]

Isn't that Biddidi Bobbidi Boutique now?

I am pretty sure you are right about that.

 

[LKing]

Saturday night I was in line for Small World when people were lining up for the 5:30 parade. This was the crowd 40 min before the parade.





And lockers were sold out by midday both Friday and Saturday. I have a feeling they were filled with popcorn buckets.