WDW Daily News

This year, Holidays at the Disneyland Resort will offer a double-bill of “World of Color” shows on Paradise Bay in Disney California Adventure Park. The traditional holiday “World of Color – Winter Dreams” will return, featuring Olaf the snowman from the Walt Disney Pictures animated hit “Frozen” and a variety of wintry scenes with Disney characters.

Also on the holiday schedule is the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration spectacular “World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney,” a fun and exciting tribute to the vision and creativity of Walt Disney, hosted on the giant screen by Mickey Mouse and award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris.

“World of Color – Winter Dreams” is the first show of the evening, followed by “World of Color – Celebrate!” Guests will need a FastPass to see the show, and may check the park entertainment schedule for show times, usually 7 and 8:15 p.m. nightly, or 9 and 10:15 p.m., depending on Disney California Adventure park hours.
 “World of Color – Winter Dreams”

• The popular holiday version of “World of Color” unfolds in seven sequences, each one a dreamlike adventure:
  1. Season’s Greetings: Tinker Bell’s traditional greeting from “Wonderful World of Color” summons Old Man Winter and the skating Frost Fairies.
  2. Snow – A Winter Wonderland: Olaf takes guests on a breathtaking winter sleigh ride, encountering Bambi, Thumper and, from “Frozen,” sisters Anna and Elsa.
  3. Glow – A Season of Light: The holidays are celebrated with images of holiday cards created by Disneyland Resort guests and cast members.
  4. Enchantment – The Toy Story Nutcracker: This familiar ballet is danced in some delightful, offbeat renditions by favorite “Toy Story” characters.
  5. Spirit-Holiday Sing-Along: Snowman Olaf has always loved the idea of a warm summer. He innocently imagines himself enjoying the sunshine, then leads the audience in a holiday sing-along.
  6. Finale – Merry & Bright Holiday Lights”: Olaf welcomes a surprising Santa as 700 newly installed lights blaze to life for a colorful finale around the lagoon.
  7. After Glow: Finale (Honor Choir)
• “World of Color – Winter Dreams” features more than a dozen songs, ranging from familiar holiday tunes such as “Jingle Bells,” “Feliz Navidad” and “The Dreidel Song” to musical numbers from “Frozen” and other classic Disney films.

“World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney”

• “World of Color – Celebrate!” unfolds in five sequences:
  1. Opening: The “World of Color” overture and the magic of Tinker Bell’s pixie dust introduce our hosts, Neil Patrick Harris and Mickey Mouse.
  2. It Was All Started By A Mouse: From black-and-white cartoons to Technicolor stardom, “World of Color – Celebrate!” honors Mickey Mouse.
  3. The Golden Age of Animation: A dazzling exploration of Disney animated features stirs hearts with a kaleidoscope of happy memories.
  4. The Dream of Disneyland: A celebration of Disneyland, the “Happiest Place on Earth,” from Walt’s opening day dedication to creating smiles around the world.
  5. Finale – Infinity & Beyond – A Celebration for Years to Come: The inspiring finale expresses the wish that everyone stay “Forever Young” and hold on to their dreams.

• Emmy- and Tony- award-winner Neil Patrick Harris is a longtime Disney fan whose numerous acting credits include starring roles on Broadway, television and films.
• More than five minutes of new animation were created by Walt Disney Feature Animation to allow Mickey Mouse to step into the imaginative new journey of “World of Color – Celebrate!” Pixar animators also created new animated footage, allowing Mater, from the film “Cars,” to kick up his wheels with the baby tractors.

Enduring Popularity and Theatrical Technology

• The nighttime spectacular “World of Color” debuted in 2010. Since then, more than 10 million guests have experienced the show at Disney California Adventure, in more than 2,800 performances.
• Nearly 1,200 dancing fountains are the talented stars of “World of Color,” generating excitement through synchronized, computerized movements. From geysers and dancers to water whips and flower spouts, the fountains are all just beneath the surface of the bay, anticipating their big moments and leaping at any chance to perform.
• The show’s theatrical technology features a 380-foot wide water screen used for digital projection. The water screen takes on live characteristics, changing shapes, creating special effects, and interacting with other media in the show: color, fire, lasers and fog.
• The “World of Color” screen uses more than 30 million pixels. By comparison, a high definition television image uses 2 million pixels.

The warmth and festive spirit of Latino holiday traditions enliven Holidays at the Disneyland Resort with “Disney ¡Viva Navidad!” The lively holiday experience adds merriment to the season at Disney California Adventure Park Nov. 13, 2015 through Jan. 6, 2016, joining the ongoing Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration festivities.

“Disney ¡Viva Navidad!” fills the Paradise Garden area of Disney California Adventure with jubilant dancing, exciting music, holiday foods and crafts, and appearances by some popular Disney characters. The exuberant “Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party” is a daily highlight of the celebration.

• Disney characters participating in “Disney ¡Viva Navidad!” include Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy in their festive costumes along with the Three Caballeros: Donald Duck, Panchito from Mexico, and José Carioca from Brazil.
• Paradise Garden is decorated with holly, banners and Latino cultural icons, including traditional “papel picado” – hand-cut paper art decorations.
• The lively “Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party” takes over Paradise Garden several times a day, featuring the Three Caballeros on a colorful holiday float, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse on brightly decorated street tricycles, Brazilian samba dancers and drummers, and flag bearers. The street party draws on long-standing traditions that continue to be practiced today in small towns and cities across Mexico, where townspeople celebrate the holidays by processing down cobblestone streets with Mariachi bands, folklórico dancers, larger than life “mojiganga” puppets and colorful flags.
• At the Paradise Garden bandstand, guests may enjoy performances by traditional Mariachi, Norteño, and other regional music groups. Also at Paradise Garden, community music and folklorico troupes will perform on the weekends.
• “Disney ¡Viva Navidad!” guests will enjoy fun arts, crafts and storytelling, as well as a selection of unique merchandise.

• Dining locations in Paradise Garden add an array of popular Mexican food options. Menus will feature Mexican dishes that are often served for the holidays, such as fresh seafood ceviche with citrus vinaigrette, house-made pozole (hearty stew), chicken mole, street-style tacos, sopes de Barbacoa (shredded beef), Champurrado (Mexican-style hot chocolate), sweet tamales, torta al pastor (pork sandwich) and cinnamon-dusted buñuelos (deep-fried sweet treat) with caramel sauce.
• Capping off “Disney ¡Viva Navidad!” will be the special five-day celebration of Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes) 2 through 6, 2015 in Paradise Garden. Traditional Rosca de Reyes bread will be served in honor of this special holiday.

“Disney ¡Viva Navidad!” brings its own special magic to the traditional Disneyland Resort holiday season, as well as to the ongoing 60^th Anniversary Diamond Celebration. The fun at Disneyland includes the daily “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, nightly “Paint the Night” parade and “Disneyland Forever” fireworks. In Disney California Adventure, even Mater gets in the spirit, donning a red hat to meet guests inside the festively decorated Cars Land. The special holiday “World of Color ­– Winter Dreams” returns with snowman Olaf as your host, and the separate Diamond Celebration “World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney”show also is presented nightly. Throughout the resort, guests will enjoy holiday music, décor and characters in special holiday attire.