Decorating Disney Holiday Magic! Tonight premiered the show that took us backstage, behind the Disney magic to see how the Holiday magic comes to life!So, you know I am a HUGE Disney fan so watching this episode I was in awe. Everything that it takes to make the holidays in the park come to life is AMAZING, and it makes me love and appreciates those decorations that much more seeing how it was brought to life.
The number of lights that and decorations are escorted by police to get to the parks is mind-blowing. WDW has a 54 thousand square foot warehouse that is filled with decor, that is an insane amount of decorations. The tree alone is 70 feet and 35-40 thousand pounds of trees! These workers get all that up in just one night if that’s not hard work and Disney magic than I don’t know what is.
The Main Street Tree in Walt Disney World like the other 9 iconic trees in the park have custom ornaments, but the popcorn on Main Street is crafted to match the original decor in 1971. There are over 10 thousand ornaments and over a quarter of a million lights just to decorate the iconic and lobby trees. The tree in the Contemporary Hotel are all painted street lamp bulbs, which you can see from 25 miles away.
Heading back into Disneyland, one of the most iconic rides Its A Small World gets a makeover and turns into Its A Small World Holiday bringing every doll a bit of holiday magic. Some get a full holiday outfit while other get a few holiday accessories. There are 50 thousand lights on the exterior facade of Its A Small World, while 350 thousand mini lights in the trees, bushes, topiaries, and hedges. One of my favorite building to look at during Holiday at the parks, it blows my mind every year.
Going back over to Walt Disney World in the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, its time to talk about the ever so famous Gingerbread House. It stands 17 feet tall, 12 feet long, and 10 feet wide not only is this thing massive and can walk through it, but you can also eat it. The house takes 1,050 pounds of honey, 700 pounds of chocolate, 800 pounds of flour, 35 pounds of spices. So you can imagine how amazing it smells when you walk in. I was lucky enough to see it in all its glory and highly suggest seeing it because you won’t regret it.
Back at Disneyland is my ALL TIME FAVORITE holiday attraction Haunted Mansion Holiday. Haunted Mansion comes to life with a little help from Jack Skellington and his mischievous friends from Tim Burtons Nightmare Before Christmas. Now, as amazing and magical as this ride is when it gets its holiday overlay for me it’s all about the little details that make me appreciate the attraction that much more. For instance, the gingerbread house in the ballroom scene changes every year and is actually made up of real gingerbread. Imagineers also modified the table in the ballroom so when they put the house up, they can roll it right into place.
In the seance room, you can find Madame Leota reading your tarot cards. In the classic mansion, the wonderful Imagineer Leota Toombs voices Madame Leota. Not only did she voice Leota, but she also worked on all the pirate heads in Pirates of the Caribbean along with their costumes. She also relocated to WDW in 1971 to start up the onsite team that would maintain the shows and attractions. In 1979 she transferred back to Disneyland where she trained many Disneyland figure finishers and artisans while working in several different capacities. Unfortunately, Leota passed away December 1991.
Kim Irvine, the daughter of Leota Toombs, was offered and accepted to be the voice the holiday Madame Leota in honor of her mom. So her legacy will continue to carry on in the park, but she is not the only one. There are tributes all throughout the Haunted Mansion with names of Imagineers on the naughty and nice list along with the tags of gifts are of the original creators, designers, and producers along with two cast members who have passed away: Bill King scenic touch up artist and Kristin Plummer who was the head decorator. One of my favorite scenes will have to be Pumpkin Mountain, surrounded by 7,500 square feet of snow at the base. There are also 69 pumpkins that tower to the ceiling as a tribute to when the Mansion first opened in 1969.
I honestly love spending the holidays in the parks, everything is just extra magical.
-Dezi
Now this has to be my ALL TIME FAVORITE place to visit in the city, we have Christmas trees, an Ice Skating Rink, and Hot Chocolate BUT we also have puppies, and kittens that need homes in the window. You can donate to the SPCA and get info in case you are interested in bringing home a furry friend. What makes this year even more special is that you can for $10.00 play with puppies for 10 minutes. The money gets donated back to the shelter to you are literally buying 10 minutes of happiness. Since, I had my pups I did not get to play with all the puppies but I did donate and I will be back to play with them soon.
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