Shiney Christmas Castle at Disneyland.
 

Opens:16 November 2007
Closes:06 January 2008

This show, an addition to the holiday decor and festivities at Disneyland, will feature 80,000 LED's on Sleeping Beauty Castle (35,000 embedded into Fiberglas snow and 45,000 in icicles, with an additional 480 custom LED strobes, all under 952 channels of control). Three times a night, a lush holiday musical soundtrack will accompany a snowfall as the castle shimmers and sparkles with "wintertime enchantment". Additional lighting for the castle includes an assortment of ColorKinetic's ColorBlast and ColorCast units, Martin MAC EX-250's and EX-600's, as well as Vari*Lite VL3000's.

Cool - a new reason to have ungodly congestion!

I continue to be annoyed by the idea that we in southern CA need to pretend it snows here, though I do love the shiny.

It'll no doubt look awesome at night, but in the daytime hours, it might look like Bukkake Castle.

But once you're inside Disneyland you are no longer in Southern California. You're in Disneyland, and it pretend snows there.

RIGHT?!

hehe - visible Alex mojo!

For that, you get a smiley. :p

See, there is a little magic left in Alex!

Visible mojo, friend

Yes, I always wondered why we had to have the old west to enjoy frontier times, or what's with that stupid jungle just to enjoy adventure!

What???? It's not real?????:eek:

Depends on how hard you believe.

and I will miss it by 12 days- bummer.

Didn't you hear me clapping wildly?


I think it will be nice. Perhaps a bit much on a hot dry Santa Ana condition day, but the park is all about lights and effects at night durring the holidays anyway.

It's funny, I'm fine with all the rest of the theming, because the wild west is hot, as is the tropics (though they could use some humidifiers around there). I do think that the Matterhorn could benefit from some large blasting air conditioners (though I'm sure it wouldn't help the global warming situation), and that the town burning scene in Pirates has always needed a heater (hell is warm in Mr. Toad's, why not the burning town?).

What gets me is how not just the haven of themeing that is Disneyland, but ALL of southern california, from the front lawns decorated with plastic snowmen to the classrooms filled with paper snowflakes, pretends that December equals snow, even though it does not. Does not. It does not equal snow for billions of people, for millions of square miles on this planet. Yet we conform to the pole-centric, high-altitude-centric version of winter. For some reason, it irks me. A plastic palm tree in the dead of a northeast winter would irk me in the same way.

So sure, they can do whatever magical theming they want at Disneyland, and it "makes sense", because it's Disneyland and they can do whatever they want. Doesn't mean I have to think it works or makes sense. :p

I think you're mistaking snow = winter for snow = Christmas.

No matter what the weather is like where you live .... as long as Santa = Christmas, the corrollary equation of snow = Christmas will hold true.














or are you one of those jews who holds that Jesus = Christmas? in which case, of course, desert sands and palm trees hold sway just fine.

Well, I was kind of hoping that I could construe this as regarding Winter instead of Xmas, because I realize that no one gives a sht what a Jew thinks regarding the, shall we say, idiosynchrasies of Xmas. Since Winter and Xmas are so tangled up in our culture it's hard to just seperate those two.

I think I'll stick to my best case, which is that plastic icicles in 70 degree (or 60, 50, or even 40 degree) weather is dumb.

But what if they had special effects that showed them "melting" when the weather was too hot?

From a Pagan point-of-view, the seasons still change, regardless of local climate, so to me, it's a way to honor/recognize the season.

Even though we don't have the fall colors that we have back east, you'll still see me decorate with bundles of fall leaves during Autumn, "snow" and pine during Winter, flowers and eggs during Spring, and usually citrus and other things that represent the sun during Summer.

I grew up in Vegas, and there really are no "seasons" there, let alone flowers.

And, if I lived in the Southern Hemisphere, my decorating would be opposite, of course. I'd seriously have a pine tree up for June 22nd.

Snow is an icon for Christmas and winter not necessarily the reality. It has nothing to do with how many of us actually have snow. Probably 3/4 of the globe doesn't have snow on Christmas. But, Christmas does evoke pictures of snowy climes - even though most of us have never experienced Christmas in that way.

Love you guys, understand the whole connotations of Xmas thing, as well as pagan rites....but for a Jew with not only roots in the shtetls of Eastern Europe but the deserts of Israel, where I was born, I've always felt more of a pull towards desert climate seasonal celebrations. There's no snow in Hanukkah, and I'm glad I live here, where the location reflects the roots.

Sukkot is an even better example, a harvest holiday happening next week, involving building huts out of palm branches and eating outside. In some very Jewish places such as NY and Chicago, never mind the shtetl, actually celebrating Sukkot in its full form runs from very trying to absolutely impossible. Out here, it's the most natural thing on earth.

Yeah, I have an odd perspective on this stuff. :)

...and no Chinese food in Christmas.

But it comes, all the same. Happy interfaith holiday season, y'all! Even those of you without a Faith get to play along!

Oh, and I AM looking forward to Sparkle Princess Castle!

Do you mind autumnal decor for Halloween and Thanksgiving, which also don't reflect most climates on earth (nor ours here in SoCal), or is it simply the Dradle Song played during Believe and icicles on Sleeping Beauty Castle that have your inner jewess all upset?

I can't wait for them to take down the gold Barbie railing from the castle. It upsets my inner straight dude.
:D

I was once a straight dude's inner gay dude, but he was drunk.

I like all things shiny.

We have trees that turn leaves here in socal, and there is no mistaking that late October breezy chill we get every year. It's nowhere near as dramatic as elsewhere, but it's good enough for me to absolutely adore fall decor. When we were discussing wedding plans my first idea was to marry in October and do fall colors. It's still my favorite time of year, which is why we plan to be in the thick of falling leaves in Chicago and NY in 2 weeks! :)

I believe it is just plastic snow that bugs me. As for the Dreidel song, that's a whole 'nother thread.... ;)

Hope they're not having an Indian Summer! ;-)

so, I guess you wouldn't be interested in the dehydrated snow I bought at the County Fair?

I get what you are saying. I have to agree. However, I'm a native born 2nd generation Southern Californian. Fake snow is all I know, so it doesn't seem dumb to me. It doesn't seem like snow, it seems like decorations.

If you want to get really p'od, stop by my house this Christmas. My whole front lawn will be covered in roll out fake snow. ;)

You were born in Israel? That's so cool. I'd love to visit there some day. I love the traditions of the old countrys, in fact I respect any ancient culture that tries to keep it's traditions alive, even though modern society tries to wipe them into obscure history.

I would drive 384 miles to see that. Sounds glorious!:cool:

Yes, but so did Light Magic..........

Does anyone have any idea what it will look like on Nov 1-4? I realize the "show" will not start til the 12th- but will we be able to see the castle or will it be under wraps for the update?

Welll, remember, this is Disneyland and once you walk through the gates, you leave the reality world behind.

I get you're bugged by the plastic icicles and snow, but if some guy walking around in a mouse costume does not bug you, or a girl in a large wig and large shoes that flies in on a wire, well, what's a little dusting of magic?

It's all about the magic, at least I think that's the goal, right? ;)

Now those huge plastic pumpkins......

I wonder if everyone has a "magic threshold". I know I have one, where I'd stop and say "now that's just dumb." Hard to delineate, but I know it when I see it...

Well, when I was looking at my pics from DL, I got a few of Tink on the Parade of Dreams float and thought, Holy S***, look at that horrible wig and man her feet are effing huge! Of course, anatomically, Tink is a little out of proportion, kinda like a Barbie would be in real life.


;)

She's a man tho, right?

So it's like Christmas porn?

I dunno! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, could be!

Obscenity.

Last I heard it was a woman. But under that mask, who would no the difference?

I don't think gender is of much importance in the big head characters, so what's the diff with Tink?

Actually, this Tink was a woman, on top of the float. No mask, just a huge wig and HUGE shoes on her feet.

The Tink that flies down from the Matterhorn, who knows? A stunt guy? All I know is I'd never do that!

I might consider it for the dough she/he/it makes.

But I might get to the top of the Matterhorn and chicken out.......

You callin' me FAT??? :mad:













(j/k. I can spell... really)

OMG - I would LOVE to be able to do that! Not for the show - just fly on the wire. Somehow though, I think my 250# might be a tad much for the rig.

I know the pre-50th Tink was definitely female. I am not sure if this is rumour or fact, but I have heard that it was the same woman for a very long time - she did it up until her 60's or 70's.

According to a Tink stalker I know, the current flying Tink wears a huge mask that is actually really ugly up close.

It's plainly visible when viewing the fireworks from behind the castle, near Dumbo. Or when you're lucky enough to be on the Matterhorn and pop out of the mountain right below her escape hatch as she begins her descent.

The first Tinkerbell was Tiny Kline - a former circus acrobat. She first flew in 1961 at age 70 (I believe - no time to check facts). Kline means small in German, so her name is "tiny tiny". Tinkerbell has never been played by a man - contrary to popular myth.

Since the installation of the new wires, Tink has worn an oversized rubber head. I think it is because she spends so long "on-stage" and dips a lot closer to the ground than her previous flight path.

I'm pretty sure that some of the current Tinkerbells are male from their body shape and whatnot when people take telephoto lens shots of em.