DEL.ICIO.USFROM ATLANTA TO ... ORLANDO, FLA.
Holidays bring extra magic to Disney World
The House of Mouse does more than stir for Christmas
For the Journal-Constitution
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Never mind the fact we were splashing about in the hotel pool earlier in the day. Snow, albeit man-made, is falling on Main Street U.S.A. at the Magic Kingdom, one of Walt Disney World’s four theme parks.
Kids are reaching into the air grabbing at flakes, smiles plastering the faces of both young and old. Even park employees, known as cast members in Disney speak, can’t help but gaze in wonder, some bobbing their heads to the holiday soundtrack jingling in the air.
Disney World
At 6:30 each night of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the Fairy Godmother waves her wand and approximately 200,000 lights flash on at Cinderella Castle. It’s just the beginning of the magical fun.
Disney World
Wooden soldiers march twice a night in ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade,’ an event that even appeals to the nose as some floats pass by.
IceBar Orlando
The IceBar Orlando, carved out of blocks of ice, is always kept at 27 degrees. But patrons do get a complimentary cocktail to take off the chill.
JON WATERHOUSE/Special
Animatronic dinosaurs grunt and growl at the T-Rex restaurant in Disney’s shopping, dining and entertainment district.
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. $55.95, ages 10 and older; $49.95, ages 3-9; 2 and younger free. Discounts available on advance ticket purchases for select nights. Nov. 30, Dec. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19. 407-934-7639, disneyworld.disney.go.com.
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Christmas at Disney World truly is a wonder.
And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Just when you think the vibe couldn’t get more magical, the House of Mouse dips into its bag of pixie dust and ups the ante with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, a special event taking place on select nights through Dec. 19 at the Magic Kingdom.
HOLIDAY PARTY TIME
The park officially closes at 7 p.m. on event nights. But those holding tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are given wristbands and can stick around until midnight for a Santa-size sackful of holiday-themed entertainment and many of the rides and attractions regularly found at the park.
Although the event doesn’t officially kick off until 7 p.m., be sure and arrive no later than
6:15 to secure a spot for the lighting of Cinderella Castle, which takes place promptly at 6:30. The massive structure, which serves as the Magic Kingdom’s centerpiece, has been painstakingly decorated with 200,000 glimmering lights. Mickey Mouse and company take to the castle’s stage and enlist help from Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother to illuminate the proceedings. With the wave of her wand, the Fairy Godmother helps signal the lighting, a breathtaking production that begins gradually with a final payoff that finds the castle blanketed in a full glow.
The best spot to view the lighting is just in front of the castle, but it tends to fill up with throngs of onlookers. But other spots work, too. If you can handle a handful of smokers, a patio just below the Plaza Restaurant has a heaping helping of tables and chairs. Gaze through a part in the trees for a dead-on view of the castle in all its splendor.
The decor doesn’t stop there. Wreaths, garland, ribbons and Christmas lights show up throughout the park. Looking for a killer Christmas card backdrop? Inside the turnstiles at the main entrance, you’ll find the landscape in front of the Main Street U.S.A. train station in full yuletide form. Christmas trees decorate the lawn, and a large collection of poinsettias come together in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s noggin. Guests can grab a serious photo op. Sit on the lawn’s wall with the holiday decor and the white light-lined train station in the background.
DON’T MISS THE PARADE
The parade, dubbed “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade,” comes rolling down the park’s streets like an avalanche of holiday cheer. It begins in the Frontierland section of the park and wraps up on Main Street U.S.A.
This not-to-miss production requires grabbing a seat about 30 minutes before the marching begins. Spots along Main Street tend to pack quickly. We nestle ourselves on a curb in Frontierland to soak up the spectacle. Snow White dances with Prince Charming in a royal gazebo on wheels that’s flanked by four white Christmas trees. Cinderella, her carriage dolled up in lights, gives tiny wannabe princesses a wave and a song. The attention to detail is staggering. As Goofy rolls by on a giant candy-making machine, we’re blasted with the scent of peppermint. The same goes for a puff of gingerbread that emits from a float featuring Clarabelle Cow baking cookies. A troupe of costumed wooden soldiers march, their wooden feet clunking loudly in unison. And bringing up the rear is Santa sitting in his sleigh high atop a colossal float.
The 8:15 p.m. parade is usually more crowded than the one at 10:30 p.m. If you can wait, ride a popular attraction such as Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean during the early parade and catch the second one somewhere along Main Street.
LIGHTS IN THE SKY, TOO
Jiminy Cricket narrates a fireworks show designed especially for the event. Although a choice spot is somewhere in front of the castle, we find ourselves in Fantasyland, located just behind it. This puts us smack dab in the middle of the action. “Look, a giant red and green umbrella is bursting to the left!” “Wait, golden rocketlike blasts are shooting off to the right!” Be aware that it’s super loud; little ones may get shell-shocked. If the noise proves too intense for little ears, duck into a nearby theater for a show during the explosions. Or add additional dazzle by timing a ride on Dumbo the Flying Elephant, an outdoor attraction, to coincide with the fireworks show.
HOLIDAY TREATS
Complimentary treat stations are scattered throughout. Our brood loads up on all the hot cocoa, cookies, apple slices and apple juice we can stomach. Some lines are longer than others. At one point, we duck into a dance hall that straddles the Liberty Square and Frontierland portions of the park. On stage, a piano player tickles holiday tunes on the ivories, a Christmas tree in the background. A pair of costumed characters from the “Toy Story” movies keep restless kids’ attention by posing for pictures and signing autographs while parents wait in line for goodies.
UP CLOSE WITH TINKER BELL
Inside the Toontown Hall of Fame Tent, guests can get up close and personal with costumed versions of Disney characters. We opt for the Disney Fairies, the latest addition, and are led down a hall decorated like a technicolor forest. Soon we’re having a semi-private, meet-and-greet session with Tinker Bell and friends, who chat up the kids and cuddle up for photos. The fairy magic intoxicates our 3-year-old girl as she walks away with visions of winged cuties flying in her head.
OTHER DISNEY WORLD MAGIC
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the first of several holiday events that take place at Walt Disney World theme parks this season. The Candlelight Processional lights up Epcot. It stars a choir, a 50-piece live orchestra and celebrity narrators such as Virginia Madsen, Edward James Olmos and Abigail Breslin. The streets of the New York section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios get dressed in bulbs for the Osborne Family’s Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Animated light scenes, 3-D effects and falling faux snow inject the merry. And “Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom becomes “Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade,” complete with a Christmas-style makeover.
WHILE YOU’RE IN ORLANDO
In Orlando, the theming spills out of the parks and into area restaurants and bars. A pair of new spots, one fit for the family and the other decidedly more adult, opened in October just in time for the holiday rush.
• IceBar Orlando This nighttime destination crafted entirely of ice brings holiday temps to the typically warm locale. Professional carvers used 50 tons of ice to make everything, including the walls, bar, tables and chairs. The temp stays at a bone-chilling 27 degrees to keep everything from melting. To handle the freeze, guests borrow thermal hooded capes, gloves and foot coverings to brave the 45-minute experience.
Visitors score a complimentary Grey Goose cocktail or a nonalcoholic concoction. Although it’s more geared toward the adult set, children accompanied by a parent or guardian are allowed. All ages get a kick out of the light and sound shows that go along with each bar experience. Every six months, the carvers install a new theme. Currently, it’s an ice palace stocked with the Snow Queen’s throne, a polar bear and fireplace sculpted to look like Old Man Winter. Fur throws add some padding to the icy furnishings.
The staff suggests arriving 30 minutes before your reservation. Sessions take place every 45 minutes from 5 to 11 p.m. nightly. IceBar has an entry fee, but there’s no cover to hang out in the warmer, adjacent Chill Lounge, a 3,000-square-foot bar with a Nordic theme.
$40 at the door, $35 online, ages 13 and older; $35 at the door, $30 online, ages 12 and younger. IceBar: 5-11 p.m. nightly. Chill Lounge:
5 p.m.-midnight Sundays-Wednesdays; 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. IceBar Orlando, 8967 International Drive, Orlando, FL. 407-426-7555, www.icebarorlando.com.
• T-Rex Downtown Disney Marketplace, Walt Disney World’s open-to-the-public shopping, dining and entertainment district, unveiled this gargantuan theme restaurant of prehistoric proportions. It comes from the minds of Landry Restaurants Inc., the folks behind Rainforest Cafe.
Diners venture inside a man-made mountain where looming animatronic dinosaurs dwell. A giant octopus stretches and moves its tentacles above the Shark Bar, a snazzy watering hole featuring a huge, stocked saltwater fish tank. Hidden projectors shoot images of plummeting asteroids across the ceiling as the dinos go berserk. A pterodactyl flaps its wings, a jumbo woolly mammoth guards its babies, and a dining room designed to look like an ice cave has a dinosaur skeleton imbedded in its wall.
The eye candy goes on, including enormous jelly fish lamps and a triceratops that doubles as a seating area. Burgers, salads, seafood and more fill the menu, as do specialty cocktails in garish glasses. The decor is nothing short of amazing, but all that noise provides serious sensory overload. Intimidated kiddies can retreat to the gift shop where they can make their own stuffed dino doll.
11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays. T-Rex, 1676 E. Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista. 407-828-8739, www.trexcafe.com.
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