Christmas 2012 - Fireworks and more.

Partners

DeVine, I think I saw her once.

Disney Always draws me back during the holiday season.  The decorations are delightful.  The food is wonderful even at times other than the holidays. However magical Disney World is, you can always count on a little extra magic during the Holidays.  Special Shows and events and special parades fill the parks with Holiday Cheer.  Even the old standbys, like Illuminations or Wishes, get an upgrade during the Holidays.  The only event that I found that didn't get an upgrade during the holidays was Fantasmic, which is pretty special to begin with.  Each park has something wonderful to offer and each of these offerings are as varied from each other as the night is varied from the day.  Even the street shows get dressed up for the holidays.  In Epcot special presentations of Customs from around the world fill the walkways with additional Christmas magic as story tellers tell Christmas legends from their homelands.  Visitors could spend an entire afternoon just listening to the stories these folks have to tell. The street performers were lots of fun. All the parks have street performances running through out the day and are all worth some mentioning The Dapper Dans barbershop singers can be heard on main street.  The Voices of liberty are an amazing Au Capella group  in Epcot. If you are lucky enough you might see DeVine,  A performance artist on stilts that hides in the plant life of the animal kingdom.  You have to look carefully for DeVine. Amazing musicians are everywhere delighting young and old.

JAMMitors, These guys are fun!

I thought this post would start with the smaller acts though the park and work up to the big Park Wide Celebrations.  One of the most amazing of the Street Performer groups that show up periodically is a small percussion group called the JAMMitors. Visitors will find the JAMMitors in the area in front of mission space and the Test Track. They carry their buckets, trash cans and cleaning utensils and Jam out right were every one can see them.  Music from "found" instruments in my opinion is very profound because using the environment to make music may be the most basic and earliest form musical expression.  Its not that I think these guys are being profound. They just seem to revel in the entertainment that they provide to the people that gather around them when the perform. Those that have seen a Stomp performance  will find this form of percussion very familiar.  Buckets and trash cans and plastic barrels make wonderful drums and in the hands of a skill percussionist can be very entertaining and fun to watch.  These guys are skilled and make their "drums" sing for the audience.  Of course, with respect to the Christmas season  they had Santa hats over the hard hats. Lots of times people just walk past these wonderful little performing groups.  Many visitors are so concerned with making their fastpass time or getting to the next thrill ride to take the time to enjoy these delightful  groups.  Sometimes, even at Disney you should stop to smell the roses.

Nowell from Canada.

La Befana,  Italy

Monkey King, China

As people walk around Epcot at Christmas time, visitors are likely to encounter the "Christmas around the World" presenters.  These performers dress in costumes and  talk to the crowds about Christmas Traditions from other parts of the world. In Canada you will encounter a fellow that looks remarkably like Santa Clause in a Plaid shirt with Big boots named Nowell.  He tells of Belsnickers whom Santa Claus enlists to cause mischief in the homes of Naughty Boys and Girls.  From Italy,  La Befana  Tells a 2000 year old Christmas story. In Japan, where New Years Day is the biggest Holiday of the year, A Daruma Doll Seller tells of the new years traditions in Japan.  Pere Noel and Father Christmas talk of traditional Christmases in France and England.  In China the Monkey King tells stories of the Chinese New year including his own story.  Helga from Germany tells of the Nutcracker. In Morocco Taarji tells of the Holy month of Ramadan.  Sigrid from Norway tells of Julenisson, a gnome who lives in woods and briers and is the guardian of the family.  Children in Norway leave him porridge to thank him.  Los Tres Reyes or The Three Kings, speak to the family traditions in Mexico.  Finally, the American Adventure has Mr and Mrs Claus along with presentations about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Personally, I've only listen to a few of these story tellers. But one could probably spend an entire afternoon, wandering the World Show Case and hearing all the Stories about the Holidays around the world.

The Fountain is Amazing

Another wonderful but often overlooked  event at Epcot Is the Fountain.  Located near the south end of Future World, the Disney Imagineers have constructed an amazing fountain that performs all day long to the Ambient music that pervades through out park.  Water actually leaps from the fountain as it pops and splashes back down.  The water leaps at new angles and gurgles and flows all choreographed with the music that is currently playing in the park.  When my feet get tired, one of my favorite ways to rest them is to sit on the wall or a bench near the fountain and watch as it Dances to the music.  Yes, this fountain proves that water can dance.  One Night, After we had just finished watching Reflections and the park was emptying My wife and I just sat and watch mesmerized by the colors and the spectacle of the water as it it moved and jumped and leaped into the air.  I mean it actually leaps. Air cannons shoot the water up in the air with a loud pop.  I really love the fountain.  Most people just pass it by and have no idea, I guess, how amazing it its and how much fun it is to watch it. I think it is a tribute to Disney's attention to detail that they make  the stuff that most people pass by as amazing and entertaining as many of the attractions.

Flavio Fellini the Director.

 Street performers are not just limited to the walkways around Epcot. Wandering down Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Avenue visitors are likely to encounter the Citizens of Hollywood.  This cast of characters is put on the streets to promote the feeling that you are actually in a version of Hollywood that never really existed, but should have. People like Sparky Sparks and Flavio Fellini could be intensely discussing a scene they are about to shoot. Or Jack Diamond could be out scouting new talent.  Disney calls this Streetmosphere and having characters you might find on a Hollywood set brings the streets of Hollywood Studios alive.  Along with the all the street performers, The stage in the center of Hollywood Studios near the Sorcerers hat hosts many stage shows all day long and near the stage are a bunch of benches that face a big screen that show the American Idle performances during the day.  Watching the singers is a great way to rest your feet for a bit.  Later in the evening on select nights Hollywood studios presents Fantasmic.  Fantasmic is a fireworks and water show that tells the story of one of Mickey Mouse's dreams. The dream of course starts pleasant enough but quickly turns to a nightmare as the Disney villains invade his dream.  Soon mickey is doing battle with Scar, Hades, Cruella De Vil, and Maleficent.  At one time a huge serpent attacks mickey and fountains of flame and sparks spring from his hands.  Fantasmic is a fun show and I think Disney has recently updated the show to include some of the newer villains as well.  Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas shows up and a battle ensues between him and the Native Americans.  In the end, the the good triumphs and evil is vanquished quite as you would expect form a Disney show, but while the show is predictable, The spectacle of the fireworks and special effects make the show lots of fun to watch.  I try to catch Fantasmic each time I'm in Hollywood Studios, if there is time in the schedule and we can find a good restaurant that is offering the dinner package. I recommend the dinner package because you get great seats and a good meal to boot.

This has lots of Wow!

Reindeer and Angels Fill the Air

The Splendor of the Streets of America

The other awe inspiring event at Hollywood studios during the Holiday season is the amazing Osborne Spectacle Of Dancing Lights.  I've spent a lot of time in this blog talking about this event.  Even so, its worth writing about again.  We arrived on the Streets of America where the display happens early, just as the sun was setting over Central Florida. Over the Holiday season the sun goes down fairly early, even in Central Florida. As the darkness of night flowed into the streets,  My family and I and several thousand of my close friends that I didn't know yet had gathered together to watch as the display was to begin. As with all things Disney, the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights has to have a ceremony and back story before the lights can dance.  A couple of years ago over the holidays, we watched the lighting of the Castle.  It was of course proceeded by a 30 minute show involving Cinderella and her Fairy God Mother.  I really didn't have any problem with the show.  It was after all her Castle and if she wanted a show she could have it and the show was fun to watch.  Unfortunately, we were not in a place where we could see what was going on with the lighting of the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights which took place more centrally to the display.  We had found our place in the square that was adjacent to the Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show.  By the way, the stunt show is fun to watch but i don't need to see it every time I'm at Disney. 2012 was one of the years we didn't go see the stunt show. Anyway, We stood waiting on the lights to dance when the pre-show started.  Minnie and Goofy started talking with a radio announcer that gave a forecast of snow in Central Florida.  Of course, right on queue, the bubble snow started to shoot from the roof tops of the streets of america.  Bubble snow is my own term for the realistic snow flakes that behave very much like snow falling from the sky.  however, instead of being made up of frozen water crystals, this snow was made up of small bubbles.. I'm sure it took a long time for the engineers to come up with a plan that would allow them to give the impression of snow with out actually shooting frozen water down on the crowd in weather that is not kind to snow.  I could believe it was snow when I suspended my disbelief just a little bit.  Soon after the snow began to fall somebody in the background threw the switch and the show began.  The lights didn't just come on, they started to dance across the buildings and through the sky in time with the music that was being played over the speakers in the area.  Angels took wing, Christmas trees spun and sparkled and lights. Santa danced cloaked in red and white. Everything of was dazzling.  I just want to take a moment to comment about how some people may find the Christmas displays garish or sacrilegious.  I can understand the feeling about how Christmas has become too commercialized over the years.  It seems that House decorations has come to symbolize the commercialization of Christmas. Snoopy's house was used in a Charley Brown Christmas to represent the commercializtion of Christmas. Maybe it was the fact that he won a prize for his decorations.  Personally, I love Christmas lights and Decorations on homes. I feel that people who go to all the trouble of setting up displays year after year using all their spare time, starting as early as September deserve better than what many of their detractors say.  After all, people put the displays out  for the public to enjoy.  They work hard,  spend lots of money and talent on  making our Christmas a little brighter, maybe a little more joyous.  I don't decorate my house.  I don't have the drive to put up a display.  So, when I see even just a strand of lights surrounding a window or a lighted tree on the outside of a house, I am grateful to that person for taking the time to make my holidays a little brighter and happier.  The Osbournes did this to extreme and I am more than happy that Disney now hosts this display.

The Music was the Best at Disney

Neil Patrick Harris

As far as I know, The only sacred presentation of the holiday season occurs at the American Adventure in the America Gardens Theater just across form the American Adventure pavilion.  The America Gardens Theater Hosts acts like The Manhattan Transfer, one of my favorite jazz singing groups, Smash Mouth, even Ex Monkee, Micky Dolenz.  During the Holidays starting just after the Thanksgiving holiday, The theater is decked out in holiday trimming and the presentations of The Candlelight Processional begin. Every time I write about the holidays in Disney I have to spend time talking about the Candlelight Processional. Just thinking about the wonderful music and amazing singing makes my day a little brighter. I am made happier just  knowing that such things exist and I get the chance to see it.  Essentially, The Candlelight Processional is a presentation of the Christmas story as read by a celebrity presenter.  Seeing Neil Patrick Harris read the Christmas story was fun and he added a lighter edge to the story.  Previously, Jodi Benson whom we saw the first time we attended the Candlelight processional treated the story with great reverence. While Neils telling was maybe a bit more entertaining Jodi's rendition was a bit more awe inspiring.  Both presenters were wonderful and both gave a different experience to the Candlelight Processional.  Whom ever is presenting the Christmas story, for me, the Candlelight Processional is all about the music.  A huge mass choir and a 50 piece orchestra provide contemporary and classical arrangements of some of Americas favorite Christmas carols.  The Voices of Liberty lead the mass choir with their amazing voices The mass choir is composed of church Choirs and High School choruses from around the country.  The sound they make is amazing.  Mix in the wonderful music of  the Orchestra and the stirring tones of the Harold Trumpets and you have a night you won't soon forget.  I highly recommend combining the Candlelight Processional with a Dinner package.  The Candlelight Processional is included in the cost of your Epcot Admission, if you are willing to wait for a seat in the standby line and there is no guarantee that you won't be standing. Candlelight Processional Packages pretty much guarantee a place to sit and are available for Lunch and Dinner. The Lunch packages providing seats at the early show.  Dinner packages provide seating at the two later shows.  Not all restaurants in Epcot have packages and not all of them have both lunch and dinner packages.  Le Cellier, one of our favorite restaurants at Epcot, stopped doing dinner packages and only did lunch packages last year.  Not to worry, however, you are almost sure to find a restaurant with a cuisine that tempts your taste buds and offers Candlelight Processional dinner packages. Be sure to book your Packages early And  for the busy times just before Christmas, I recommend you make your reservations the first day that the Dinner packages are available.

One of the side benefits of booking a Candlelight Processional dinner package is the priority viewing location for Illuminations, Reflections of Earth that are bundled into the package.  The priority viewing area is on the north shore of World Showcase Lagoon close to Future World. I've seen Reflections many times from many places around World Showcase Lagoon but by far my favorite has to be Show Central where the Priority viewing area is located. The show is great from anywhere but I really believe that it was designed to be viewed best from where we watched in in 2010 and again in 2012.  My first experience with Reflection was in October of the year 2000.  This was four years after Disney did the opening ceremonies for the Olympic games in Atlanta.  I mention the Olympics in a post about Walt Disney World because Epcot used many of the puppets and costumes form the opening ceremonies in a parade just before Reflections the year I first saw it.  I can clearly remember my children dancing with the characters as they circled the World showcase Lagoon.   I remember dancing a bit myself.  Certainly, to me it was one of those experiences that enriched my life and makes me grin from ear to ear when I remember it.  We viewed Reflections form the far side of the lake and got a wonderful view.  The first time I saw Reflections, the whole experience was new and I didn't know what to expect. You only really get that experience once.  Every time I get the chance to see Reflections of Earth is special and unforgettable. That first time with Illuminations was extra special.  I have to admit however, during the holiday season at
Epcot the colors of the fireworks might have been a bit more vivid,  the shower of sparks from the roman candles a bit brighter.  The Globe opening with flame a bit grander.  The whole thing is something that is not to be missed.

Disney's Wishes Fireworks Spectacular is something you must see on any trip to Disney World.  From All around the Seven Seas Lagoon you can see the the iconic image of shells bursting over and around Cinderella's Castle.  The Seven Seas Lagoon offers many terrific places to see the fireworks.  Some of my favorites are in some of the wonderful restaurants that look out over the lagoon to the Magic Kingdom.  Visitors can even see the fireworks from boats and yachts on the lagoon itself.  My wife and I once took the Pirates and Pals Desert cruise that took us out on Bay lake where we saw the Electric Water Pageant that has been at Disney World since it opened in 1971. Our boat took us over the Aqueduct to the Seven Seas Lagoon were we saw the Fireworks.  Like most things Disney, the Pirates and Pals Desert cruise was a little pricey and may not be something we will do again soon but seeing the fireworks from the lagoon was fun.  We have also seen the fireworks from a bit further away.  The first time my wife and I went to Walt Disney World during the Holiday season we ate for the first time at O'hana's in the Polynesian resort across the lake from the Magic kingdom.  Our reservations were for 8:00 but the restaurant was running about an hour late seating people.  We were content to wait the extra time we were after all on vacation.  We were rewarded for a patience.  About halfway through our wonderful meal, the lights dimmed and the music for the Wishes Nightime Spectacular could be heard throughout the restaurant.  It was very romantic and very exciting to hold hands with my lovely wife and watch the fireworks explode, showering the Magic Kingdom with with sparkles and joy.  On a previous vacation our group made other reservations with the intent of seeing the fireworks while we ate. In 2009 my wife and I along with my wife's mother, my son, my daughter and at the time my future son in law made reservations atop of the Contemporary Resort at The California Grill.  The California grill, which is currently being remodeled, originally opened at Disney World with The Contemporary Resort in October of 1971.  I really enjoyed the fireworks from the California grill, They seemed a bit closer and there is something to be said for seeing a shell burst at the same altitude in which you sat.  As an added bonus, If you make Reservations for the restaurant, you can watch the fireworks from a veranda near the restaurant itself so you don't have to perfectly time your reservations and as i'm sure you know,  Fireworks time is a difficult time to get reservations at the California Grill.  My favorite place to view the Wishes Fireworks Spectacular is in the plaza right in front of Cinderella's castle. Probably, visitors can seel the fireworks better and Certainly many viewing locations are much less crowded that the plaza. For me at least, watching from the plaza becomes more that just watching the pretty explosions and seeing the sparkles from the roman candles as they arch across the sky.  When I'm surrounded by other park goers, i feel like i'm surrounded by people with the same love of Disney spectacular that I have. There really isn't a better place to see Tinkerbells flight and having the fireworks go off all around you and so close to you is amazing.  I would also add that the Imagineers at Disney have added a projection show just before the fireworks.  The Celebrate the Magic show that is projected on Cinderella's Castle amazed all who saw it and there isn't a better place to see Celebrate the Magic than from the plaza.  The show mixes images projected onto the castle with music and words to excite and entertain all the visitors that can see it. I really loved the projection show and i know that others who see it will as well.

I just couldn't believe it when I saw it.

As you can see, Disney is more that just rides and attractions.  Every where you look you can see magical stuff.  Bands of roving musicians roam the streets of the parks.  Jugglers and funny men are every where.  If you ever meet the guy in the Italian pavilion with the soccer ball or the Drummers at the Japanese pavilion it is always worth a few moments of your time to laugh or to be amazed.  Even Fantasy Land in the Magic Kingdom gets into the act with a small renaissance band. The big stuff is fun. The fireworks over Cinderella's castle are amazing.  Reflections of earth is astounding.  Fantasmic is awe inspiring but the smaller shows are all worth a look and worth the 15 minutes or so it takes to view them.  Each time I go to Walt Disney World, I see something I didn't see before. As rich of an environment that the Disney Imagineers have created, this probably shouldn't be much of a surprise.   Next time you go,  watch the fountain at Epcot, or see the toy solders in the Pixar parade.  But don't miss the fireworks and if you are there at the right time don't miss the dancing lights on the Streets of America.