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Ever looked at the giant Christmas tree on Main Street and wondered how many ornaments it sports? Have you had the urge to sing carols on board the Disneyland Railroad? Did you notice what kind of decorations are hung around Frontierland's Rancho del Zocalo?
The answers to these and other holiday questions can all be found on Disneyland's Holiday Time tour, offered now through Sunday, January 4, 2004.
This was my third time taking the tourand the third year it has been offered as part of the holiday activities throughout the resortand each time has been full of surprises and new bits of information. For those like me who usually go for latkes over eggnog, fear notthe tour embraces all winter holidays.
A little trivia off the bat: The tour takes its name from Holiday Time at Disneyland, a special that aired in 1962. Usually the Holiday Time tour is given at nightthe only Disneyland tour given at nightonce or twice based on the number of A Christmas Fantasy parades that day. However, I took the tour on the same weekend as the Candlelight Processional, so the two parades were held earlier in the day. And while the price has gone up since Adrienne Krock first wrote about it for a Parenting in the Parks article two years ago, I think it is worth the price.
What would usually be an obstructed view of the Main Street Train Station
decorations, looks different thanks to the setup for the Candlelight Processional
program. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
Of course during the day you don't have an opportunity to see the lights around the park as well, but it did make it easier to see the details on the decorations, and made it much easier to maneuver around the congested areas of New Orleans Square.
I had made my reservation a week in advance, although you can make it up to 30 days ahead. And some people on my tour had bought their tickets that morning.
I met up with my tour jockey, Lera Rae, a little before 10 a.m. outside City Hall. Then 16 of usplus the 12 who were part of a tour led by Wandabegan our journey, after offering each other a rousing Happy Holidays! We had all received a Christmas tree-shaped tag/ornament to wear for the 3.5-hour experience that allowed us to access the Fastpass lines at it's a small world and the Haunted Mansion.
Since I hope you all have a chance to experience the tour, I won't give away the secretsjust the high points.
We began in front of City Hall and learned the history of the holidays at Disneyland. We then moved east to the firehouse where Lera Rae filled us in on some Walt trivia regarding the hidden apartment (if you don't know where it is, any of the Disneyland tours will give you the answer). Secrets of the Christmas tree were next, including what happened one year when the Disneyland crew needed some Disney magic to repair a tree that caught on fire. We then walked north to the mezuzah on Main Street at the office of Dr. Benjamin Silverstein, where Lera Rae explained the basis of Chanukah. (Although there were no decorations to be found, I'm glad Disneyland added this component last year as it was missing the first year.)
Our noses led us to our next stop in front of the Candy Palace, where a vat of peppermint was boiling for the candy makers to create delicious candy canes. The magic of Disneyland makes it so even if nothing is cooking, guests still have a craving for something sweet. Our visit on Main Street concluded in front of Coke Corner where we talked about Santa Claus and learned the role the Coca-Cola company played in the way he's perceived today. There was also a language lesson as we learned what other countries call himwho says Disneyland isn't educational?
Adventureland was our next stop, where we continued our language lesson by learning to say Merry Christmas in other lands. The home of the Jungle Cruise was also where we learned about the origins of Kwanzaa. Since apparently Tarzan and Jane didn't get to spend Christmas together and Indiana Jones was too busy running from snakes to decorate his temple, we soon left Adventureland for Frontierland.
The Wild West was where we received our first surprisebut you'll have to go on the tour to find out what it is. As we headed past the pine needle-laced buildings to New Orleans Square, we were warned that we were headed to the most congested section of the park.
Lera Rae told us that the area decorations were divided into three sections. The first is the Mardi Gras-style complete with gators instead of reindeer. The next took us to the Court of Angels, a peaceful oasis in the center of a very hectic area, where angels adorned bells and golden décor surrounded us.
The Court of Angels offers a little piece of heaven in Disneyland. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
The third section is referred to as the Celestial Promenadefor a reason made apparent as you walk through it.
We then reached Haunted Mansion Holiday and enjoyed a very speedy entrance to the attraction.
Once the 16 of us exited the attraction we found ourselves in a quandaryour guide was missing. She emerged from the attraction a few minutes later. It tuned out she went to get a birthday sticker and a Fastpass for someone on our tour and it took longer than she anticipated.
Our next stop was the Disneyland Railroad, which we took from New Orleans Square to Toontownand we didn't have to wait in line. As we waited for the train to depart, we saw Wanda's tour. Before we had a chance to tell them Happy Holidays! they shouted it to us. So we, of course, shouted it backmuch to the surprise of the other guests on the train and in the station.
Lera Rae then asked if we all wanted to sing carols, and since no one wanted to select what we would sing, she suggested Jingle Bells. So our ride from New Orleans Square became a song-filled festuntil we ran out of lyrics somewhere around the Rivers of America. Caroling, it turns out, is a bonus part of the trip. I'm sure if one of us wanted to sing earlier in the tour it could have been arranged.
Once we left the station we headed to it's a small worldagain via the Fastpass line. While in line, some of us debated which color scheme worked best with the attractionthe white or pasteland agreed that our version of the attraction looked much nicer than Walt Disney World's.
Our two boats enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the holiday overlay. Elvis Stitch is back on the surfboard and a little Flounder can be found in one of the mermaid's shell stockings. Once we exited, we headed to Toontown.
Because of my love of puns and sight gags, I think appreciate the decoration scheme in Toontown more than any other section of the park. The giant hot dogs, clocks, and school books make Toontown decorations some of the most creative in the park.
The 3rd Little Piggy Bank proves you can grow money for Christmas. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
We left Toontown to get our seats for the Christmas Fantasy Parade. Did I say seats? I meant chairs. Yup. Honest-to-goodness chairs set up directly across from the it's a small world queueboy did we get looks of envy. In addition to the great seats, we received something to warm our tummiesa much appreciated treat.
When the parade started, our tour and Wanda's had the best vantage point in the park. We were so close that when Mrs. Claus passed she was able to see the birthday sticker Lera Rae gave to the woman in our tourand wished her Happy Birthday. Until then I had never been able to read the naughty and nice listPaul, Cynthia, Roy, Walt and Mickey are all on it in case you were wondering; Michael is not.
The new reindeer with the smaller faces are so cute, and not as scary as the ones with the long tongues. I still kept hoping they would sneak in a menorahbut c'est la vie.
The viewing of the paradefrom those comfy chairsmarked the end of our tour.
Hopefully I've whet your appetite enough that you will take the tour this year or next. It might change slightly, but it will still be filled with that holiday magic.
So from our tour to yours?Happy Holidays!
Cheers from Lera Rae's group. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
 
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