12 Days of Christmas... Day Six

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Six Ponies Trotting

12 Days of Christmas... Day Five

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Five Christmas Trees!

12 Days of Christmas... Day Four

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Four Princesses Waving

12 Days of Christmas... Day Three

On the Third Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... 3 Stars a-Hanging

12 Days of Christmas... Day Two

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Two Mice a-Skating

Twelve Days of Christmas... Day One

As I will be away until the New Year, I thought it would be fun to do the 12 Days of Christmas - DF'82 style!

Please join us every day to see what each day will hold...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Father Christmas in a big sleigh!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

DF'82 (and Mickey Mouse) would like to wish you all a very, Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays! Or Happy Hanukkah!

Whatever your religion or festival you celebrate, I hope you have a fantastic day and get to spend it with the ones who mean the most to you.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

On this Christmas Eve, I thought I would share with you one of my favourite events of the Holidays at Disneyland Paris. The special show, Mickey's Winter Wonderland. In this show, set in the snowy hillsides of Frontierland, you get to see Mickey, Minnie and all their friends ice skate, dance and sing!

The show is in French and English - with one host speaking French, the other speaking English - and even has a special appearance by those pesky Country Bears! It is set at a log cabin, belonging to Donald Duck, and lots of characters appear to say hello. Here are some pictures from this beautiful show to get you all in that Christmas spirit! Click on the pictures to enlarge!

Belle's Christmas Village

A small area in Fantasyland, over in Disneyland Parc, is taken over by Belle during the Holiday Season. Similar to the style of many European markets (for example, the popular German Markets), Le Village de Noel de Belle, or the Belle's Christmas Village, is a beautiful little walk-through. There are little stalls, selling different type of Christmas gifts - all Disney related, of course! But as spending time in Disney Parks tends to leave us hungry, there are also some small food stalls, selling some French delicacies.

Princess Lights

Following on from Saturday's post on the Princess Baubles in Disneyland Paris, those pesky but pretty Princesses have taken over Main Street as well!

As you can see, throughout Main Street USA, the lamps have been replaced with Princess Lamps, each one showing the Disney Princesses. And at night time - during the Tree Lighting Ceremony - you see them lit up in all their wonder!

Hanging Up The Baubles

When I was lucky enough to visit Disneyland Paris during the Christmas celebrations of 2006, the 'hub' in front of the Castle was decorated in a very special way. Each point of the hub had a special Princess related decoration - a massive bauble dedicated to different Princesses.

There were only four in total, each one beautifully and intricately decorated. Can you spot which bauble belongs to Princess Aurora, Princess Belle, Snow White and Cinderella?

Happy Holidays!

As most of you know, I just love how the parks are 'dressed' up for the Holidays. And it's not just the Magic Kingdom parks that are dressed up - oh no!

Over in the Disneyland Paris Resort, the Sorcerer Mickey at the entrance to Walt Disney Studio's also gets a little festive make-over.

O, Christmas Tree

Ryan over at Main Street Gazette has written an excellent article about the 22 different Christmas Trees from the Camp Minnie-Mickey area of Animal Kingdom.

This inspired me to show you the beautiful Christmas Tree from over at Disneyland Paris. This is the tree they had last year in Town Square, at the bottom of Main Street USA. Can you spot any Hidden Mickeys?

Funnily enough, this wasn't the only tree they had in Main Street USA. Minnie had her own special tree too!

Edit: Everyone is mad about trees today! 5 Kingdoms also has this great post on trees from the different Disney Parks around the world.

Memorabilia Monday - Party Time

On today's Memorabilia Monday, I thought it would be nice to step back in time - once again - to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party of 2006, over in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. What could we do, what was going on? Shall we have a look?

Click to enlarge!

Shall We Skate?

Hotel New York in Disneyland Paris also enjoys 'dressing up' for the Holidays. The area in front of the hotel turns into a beautiful ice-rink, where guests can enjoy skating with some music playing and a beautiful Christmas tree to enjoy.

Holidays All Around

As long-time readers of this blog will know, I do love the Disney Theme Park Resorts. Back in my days as a Cast Member, one of my favourite things to do was Resort Hop. It was cheap, cheerful and usually an adventure (especially when Walt Disney World Resort Buses came into the equation).

And, as you know, the holidays are not forgotten in the Disney Resorts, no matter where you are in the world! So, for the next few days, I thought we could do some Resort hopping of our own - what do you think? Disneyland Paris, especially, brightens up their Resorts even more with Christmas trees, tinsel, baubles and decorations galore!

Whilst being one of my favourite Resorts in the Paris Resort area, the Disneyland Paris Hotel is brilliantly decorated during the Holidays. Just have a look at some of these pictures of the lobby - which really don't do it justice!

And don't you like it when not only do you get presents under your tree, but you also get suitcases, filled with wonder? I know I do!

Winter in Florida?

In honour of all those lucky people heading to MouseFest for this weekend, I thought it would be nice to have a little look at Walt Disney World in the holiday season. And where better to start at than Main Street USA? For all of you who have ever wondered whether it snows in Florida, have a look at this picture...

Of course, during my brief period living in Florida for the winter, one day there was actual real snow - but it only lasted a minute or two! And this snow happens in the Magic Kingdom during the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties, and the week before Christmas itself. A magical time of year in the parks, with the decorations everywhere.

Oh, I just love Magic Kingdom Holidays! With the magical music in the air, I just love standing in front of the train station looking up at the Christmas tree.

During the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, however, there is plenty of things to do! You can have a look at the party decorations, catch a parade or a show, or watch the spectacular Holiday Wishes Fireworks display. Me? I love to do all that - and meet a character, or have some hot chocolate too (doesn't it always come back to food?)!

Main Street Winter Wonderland

One of the things I love most about the parades at Christmastime, is how the regular floats are decorated to embrace the holiday season. Such as in Disneyland Paris' Christmas Parade:




And from the Walt Disney World Holiday Parade, here are some of my favourite floats:

March On

A Disney Christmas Parade wouldn't be a Disney Christmas Parade without the famous Toy Soldiers. And the Parade at Disneyland Paris is no exception!





Can you notice any differences?