Holiday Magic at the Disney Parks

Introduction
 
“Does your heart hold the magic of the holidays? Is it filled with warm memories just waiting to be discovered again? Well, now is the time to open your heart, believe in that magic, and remember those treasured moments. Oh, they’re still there, deep within you, waiting to touch you once more. So come along, as the magic of the season leads the way.”
 
Those words open the Believe . . . in Holiday Magic fireworks spectacular show in Disneyland, and encapsulate the vision for this book rather nicely, too. The fall and winter holiday seasons are, somehow, more than the individual feasts we celebrate—they are an exceptional concoction of feelings, dreams, hopes, reawakened memories, and (perhaps more than at any other time of year) the renewal of traditions. Sounds a bit like the Disney park experience already, doesn’t it? Disney magic and holiday enchantment blend very smoothly—and the resulting cocktail has been delighting Guests for decades. With twelve theme parks and dozens of resort hotels, plus numerous cruise ships, dining venues, and shopping districts, and more than six decades of holiday experiences to look back on, it has been quite a challenge deciding what to include. That’s a lot of pumpkins to cover, and hundreds of Christmas trees to reflect upon, too—from the smallest, at just four inches, to the very tallest at a Disney property (at seventy feet). We have packed in as much as we could: all of the locations; the most significant historical holiday events; the biggest parades, stage productions, and nighttime spectacles; and special holiday menu offerings. Only a few of our own favorites eluded us; we could not find a good photograph of the unique Christmas tree from the opening year in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, for example.
 
Like us, you will have your special memories from past holiday visits—and traditions you return to Disney for each year! We certainly hope you will find many of those favorites covered in the pages that follow. So, to evoke those treasured memories most effectively, we have made a conscious decision to use pictures more often than words. The amazing artists and designers who have and continue to create Disney’s decorating magic are telling their holiday stories visually, so we have done the same here as well, retelling those tales with as many photographs as we could squeeze in—almost 1,900 of them between the covers.
 
We are greatly indebted to the photo librarians and archivists all around The Walt Disney Company who allowed us to explore their vaults and pluck the tastiest images in their respective collections for inclusion here. We spent many pleasant hours thumbing through literally thousands of historical slides (most of which have not been looked at in years); as we were mining those wonderful treasure troves of bygone times, we have tried to pick an array of images not seen before—or at least not seen in quite a long time.
 
Almost two thirds of the photographs here, though, were taken just for this book. We have visited every Disney park and resort around the world to see their holiday presentations firsthand, to snap many, many pictures, and, wherever possible, meet the talent behind it all. We flew more than 180,000 miles and took eighty thousand photographs on behalf of this worthy endeavor. A rather pleasant excuse to be globe-trotting, even we must say, although we found ourselves wishing the Halloween and Christmas seasons could last a little bit longer!
 
Whether from an archive or from our own photo shoot, the visuals we have chosen illustrate, as much as possible, the decor, parades, and performances from a Guest’s perspective during operating park hours, to make this as close as possible to your own experiences. Only in a handful of cases did we need to sneak in after hours—mostly for attraction interiors, which would have been difficult to photograph during the day without impeding operations. For some parades and fireworks shows, we were fortunate to get help from the entertainment and media relations teams, too; they let us set up our cameras in just the right spot. Otherwise, what you see here is pretty much the perspective any park Guest would have.
 
Try as we might, though, it’s impossible to create a book like this without being a little bit out of date by the time the presses roll—and it’s published. Disney parks are always changing, and the current holiday celebrations are no exception. As you leaf through these pages, much of what you will see is already history, even the pictures taken quite recently—the decor at that location having been refreshed or the parade updated. A show that we talk about as current may, by now, have closed. We have noted the year each photograph was taken; and where we have found good images of the same setting through the years, we have included them so you can see how it has changed.
 
One final thought before we scan our tickets and head through the turnstiles: we want to acknowledge the many, many people involved in bringing Disney’s seasonal magic to life. Every parade or show requires dozens—sometimes hundreds—of creative magicians both onstage and off. And each decoration is chosen carefully to fit the theme and story of a location, placed on its tree or garland by craftspeople backstage; installed onstage, maintained, and, yes, disassembled, by small armies of technicians (usually at hours of the night few of us want to acknowledge people are working hard); and then cleaned, prepared, and stored for next year in vast warehouses out of sight by unsung employees. We were privileged to meet many of them. All are gifted, talented people, endlessly passionate about the holiday magic they create. It has to be said that they also seem to be having an awfully good time—for those who love the holidays, working on them all year long might be a dream job! We would usually ask if the novelty of Christmas . . . or New Year's . . . or Hanukkah ever wore off? And the answer was invariably “definitely not.”
 
—Graham, Becky, and Charlie
 
“During this glorious time of year, there is one message that rings out around the world in every language. ‘Peace on earth, goodwill to men’ is a wish to hold in our hearts throughout each passing year. A gift of immeasurable value. A treasure to be handed down with care from generation to generation. And so, our holiday wish is that everyone, everywhere, share in the spirit of the season. Peace on earth, goodwill to men.”
—Walter Cronkite as the narrator of Holiday IllumiNations, EPCOT, 1994

CHAPTER 1
Bygone Fall Traditions
Pumpkins, pigskin, pilgrims, and jazz from the early years of Disney parks
 
Today at Disney parks around the world, the fall holiday spirit abounds with a swirl of autumn colors, spicy scents, warm, comforting foods, and (perhaps most excitingly) the spooky thrills of family-friendly Halloween chills. Walt Disney dreamed up special Halloween treats for his audience even in the years preceding the opening of Disneyland in 1955.
 
In a piece of marketing serendipity, the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce reached out to Walt Disney Productions in 1953, inviting the studio to participate in their highly popular annual Anaheim Halloween Parade. Unbeknownst to the Anaheim committee, Walt had recently identified the city as the location for his brand-new theme park, and he jumped on the opportunity to share some Disney magic with the people of that community—even prior to the public reveal of the project (we know today as Disneyland). The committee was thrilled when Walt offered the talents of his studio artists to design six floats based on classic Disney stories; he also committed to sending performers, including fabulous Disney characters. Approximately one year later (shortly after plans to build Disneyland had been announced), Walt, on April 2, 1954, again offered to participate in what would be the thirty-first annual Anaheim Halloween Parade. This time he asked Imagineer and Disney Legend Yale Gracey to design six new floats based on attractions that were under development for the park, including Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Casey Jr. Circus Train, a Tomorrowland rocket, and even a float inspired by the True-Life Adventure nature film series.
 
In October 1955, with the park having opened a few months earlier, Disneyland participated in a very big way by having the newly organized Disneyland Band, under conductor Vesey Walker, march in the parade, followed by the brand-new Mouseketeer stars of the Mickey Mouse Club, who rode in a restored antique circus wagon. Disneyland continued to be involved in the annual celebration in various ways for many years afterward, including major participation in a 1973 special golden version of the Halloween festivities that celebrated both the beginnings of Anaheim’s parade and The Walt Disney Company itself in 1923.
 
It wasn’t until four years after Disneyland opened that it hosted a Halloween event. That event was the charmingly homegrown Parade of the Pumpkins, held October 31, 1959. “There’ll be pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere this Saturday morning in Holidayland at Disneyland. 1,000 pumpkins and 1,000 official entry blanks for Disneyland’s first Parade of the Pumpkins will be given away free to youngsters under 12 accompanied by a parent,” News from Disneyland described in October 1959.
 
The momentum began on October 23, 1959, with the delivery of one thousand pumpkins, piled up near the Holidayland gate. On Saturday morning, October 24, the gates were thrown open for registration, pumpkin selection, and contest information. The following week, on Saturday, October 31, the celebration began with a hand-carved and decorated pumpkin contest in the large candy-striped Holidayland tent. Only real pumpkins were accepted, and the judging was based on the originality of design as well as the entrant’s Halloween costume. The celebrity judges were actor Henry Calvin, who portrayed the comic Sgt. Garcia in Disney’s hugely popular television series Zorro; Disney animator and “Big Mooseketeer” Roy Williams, co-host of the Mickey Mouse Club; and television personality Don Lamond, the host of a local Three Stooges program airing daily in the Los Angeles area at the time.
 
Following the pumpkin judging, the contestants carried their entries into the park, where they lined up in three age groups—ages nine to eleven, six to eight, and those who were under six. Then the kids excitedly paraded with their pumpkin creations down Main Street, U.S.A. to the thrilling sounds of the Disneyland Band. Each group was led by one of the Three Little Pigs carrying a sign. Chip and Dale followed carrying signs announcing the judges, who were riding behind in a Disneyland vehicle. For the grand finale, Mickey and Minnie Mouse also joined the fun.
 
The parade ended in Fantasyland at the Mickey Mouse Club Theater, where the prizes were awarded. A sweepstakes winner in each age category was announced and the top prizes were a Gym-Dandy surrey (a child-sized two-seater canopied pedal car), an electric train, and a bike. Runners-up in all three groups received, respectively, cameras, watches, and board games. After the prizes were awarded, each contestant and a chaperone were admitted to Disneyland for the day without charge. They also received free admission to the Mickey Mouse Club Theater for any showing of the Disney shorts The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Trick or Treat, which were screened all day to celebrate the holiday.
 
As charming as the 1959 “kiddie parade” must have been, Walt and the Disneyland event planners found that the city of Anaheim celebration, which attracted over 250,000 attendees by 1960, covered their needs when it came to hosting a local Halloween event. So, Disneyland did not celebrate Halloween again at the park until it featured a Halloween Festival Parade in 1968.
 
The next Disney park Halloween events were in Florida and part of the Magic Kingdom, as early as 1972, when a Halloween Weekend of activities (including a show and parade) was presented. The Halloween Spooktacular Party, held in 1973, and a Halloween Weekend & Ghostly Characters Parade, in 1974, followed. Specific Halloween celebrations did not return to Disneyland, however, until 1995, when Mickey’s Halloween Treat debuted at the park.
 
But there were many other classic autumn celebrations in Disneyland during its infancy. Those special annual “fall” events included Horseless Carriage Days (from 1955 to 1960) and a special Steamer Car Meet and Parade that was held in 1958. Patriotic events were held at the park almost from the beginning, starting with a Veterans Day remembrance in November 1956 that featured an American Legion Activities and Parade event. This was followed in 1957 with a special Veterans Day Show with Spin and Marty featuring actors Tim Considine (as Spin Evans) and David Stollery (as Marty Markham) of the Mickey Mouse Club serial The Adventures of Spin and Marty. The three-day event saw the young actors board a Disneyland horse-drawn streetcar each day in Town Square and follow the Disneyland Band down Main Street, U.S.A. to the Plaza Gardens (now home to Fantasy Faire), where they signed autographs.
 
Through the following years, Disneyland offered special salutes to US veterans with its evening Flag Retreat Ceremonies, which were often coordinated with concerts by the Disneyland Band. In 1968, an inspirational flag-raising ceremony was held at the Town Square with a color guard composed of military personnel and veterans. The highlight of the rite was a “winged salute” of two hundred trained pigeons that flew down Main Street, U.S.A. to spiral the flag standard before retracing their route. This special ceremony was followed by the first Disneyland parade held to salute the nation’s former servicemen. The pageantry of the Red, White and Blue parade included troops of the Orange County (California) Boy Scouts carrying American flags, several drum and bugle corps, the Disneyland Marching Band, the Delta Ramblers Dixieland band, and twenty-eight of Disney’s most famous characters, led by Mickey Mouse.
 
The fall celebrations also included music-based events such as the charmingly odd Piano Teachers Day event and parade in 1959 and notable offerings for country music fans, with 1967’s Country Music Jubilee and 1971’s Country Spectacular. An autumn favorite with teens, Sadie Hawkins Day, was celebrated at the park with Date Nite dancing.
 
But probably the most fondly remembered musical events were the incredible jazz concerts that floated down the Rivers of America in Disneyland every September and October. In 1960, for example, the park presented its First Annual Dixieland at Disneyland. This special ticketed event featured six of the world’s best Dixieland bands in a one-hour Salute to Dixieland production. The show celebrated the full range of jazz, from New Orleans and Chicago styles to the Blues and Big Dixie, and even to the more modern sounds of the 1960s that were starting to emerge. Rafts floated gently by, carrying renowned bands such as the Elliott Brothers Orchestra, the Teddy Buckner Band, Dick Cathcart, and Pete Kelly’s Big Seven, Disneyland’s own Strawhatters, and Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats, with each group playing three numbers.
 
The highlight of the show was the Young Men of New Orleans, who were on the final raft. This special ensemble was comprised of eight legendary musicians all over the age of sixty, including Alton Purnell, one of the greatest rhythm pianists ever to come out of New Orleans, and seventy-year-old Johnny St. Cyr, considered by many to be one of the world’s best rhythm-section guitarists and banjo players. Blues singer Monette Moore also performed with the band on Tom Sawyer Island. Following the bands, the Mark Twain Riverboat sailed in for a finale with fireworks and a rousing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”