Hello everyone, here are the news of the past Halloween season and Christmas that has just started
We look back at the Halloween season, special due to the global COVID pandemic. But we do not change what works, decorations are back like other years, whether we like it or not, it feels good!
On the entertainment side, this is where it change the most.
The offer has been improved from 2020, when Halloween was drastically reduced!
Character encounters are limited and mostly random. The Happening in the castle theater has been withdrawn.
Happening :
On the Parade side, despite the installations on the stages of Central Plaza for the Show Stop, the first half of the season did not see the parade but rather random parades made up of a single float. Limits surely imposed by the institutions of the French government. Restrictions was down after the second half of the season Oct. 23, where Disney is permitted to do parades. The latter made up of all the floats from the Halloween parade with a small number of characters and especially the absence of dancers. An initiative for a very gradual return of the destination’s offer.
Parade :
October 23 was also the return of “The Lion King : Rhythms of the Pride Lands” Show. The opportunity for Disney to offer a new product, Guaranteed Access, which, for €15 (with tax) per person and per performance, guarantees you access to the performance hall without waiting and to enter 15 minutes before the beginning of the show. After the Premier Access (FastPass Payment) it’s now the Show with Guaranteed Access
The Halloween party : this year again, the quality has decreased, for €89 (with tax) per person you have 3 DJ parties, ten character meeting points and…. Nothing more !
Since 2011 we no longer have Halloween parties because the prices keep increasing and the offer decreases shockingly.
As a reminder in 2011: The evening was 35 € for a special Halloween parade, an electric parade, a fireworks created for the evening, two different Halloween shows for the event and actors throughout the park, characters and in addition to the light atmospheres.
This is what has disappeared, a real evening!
But things may change, the day Disneyland Paris will have evenings as the American parks (before covid) so there, yes we will be back. For now, the Disneyland Paris Halloween party offer has been just a disgrace for several years given the price.
For this Christmas season, which will end on January 9, 2021, Disney was finally able to launch its new Christmas parade ready for the 2020 season which could not take place due to the confinement.
This Parade is the epitome of creative success!
Absolutely everything works, the colors, the music, the choice of characters, costumes, floats! Everything absolutely everything works!!
And great surprise, absolutely nothing comes from Tokyo Disney Resort! Finally, resources have been provided for a house production “made in Paris”.
Parade version – by day
But as beautiful as this parade is, some things can be improved.
The Show Stops had great technical difficulties when launching the parade in their “Night” version, probably due to the obsolescence of certain equipment in the control room which did not keep up with the technological development of the new parade.
Following technical issues, the show stops were withdrawn for 3 days. This is where you realize that the parade actually goes very quickly when there are no shows. The parade without stopping, parades more slowly which allows us to admire the costumes, the different choreography of the dancers and the floats. It’s simple, we preferred the parade without the show to admire it!
Why ? The Stop shows in central Plaza do not allow visitors to see the whole parade because the floats split into two groups when they arrive in the square and the time taken to put on a show immediately affects the running time of the parade. The floats therefore roll faster. Having said that, this new parade, which only comes out twice a day, has a day version and a night version. If the daytime and nighttime show stops are the same on Central Plaza, on Town Square they are different. At night, the Show Stop is used to illuminate the Christmas tree.
This ruse therefore makes it possible to no longer have a show purely dedicated to the Christmas tree, but only small Happenings launched randomly when there is no longer the parade in the evening.
Parade Version – by nigt
You will understand that you can therefore see the parade under two version, day and night with completely different lighting!
But what would be ideal for visitors is to see the parade at least 3 times without a Show Stop, as before the arrival of the pandemic, and possibly leave the floats once only on Town Square to illuminate the Christmas tree.
It is not because there is the possibility of having a show stop that the visitor will necessarily come out on top of this “improved” offer. In fact, a visitor to central Plaza will not be able to see all the parade and the floats roll quickly because the parade cannot exceed the ending time. No one is really a winner in this story unless the parade stays only in “parade” mode and not “parade + show stop”.
Parade with Princesse Show Stop
Anyway, this Christmas parade is a wonder! 4 days after my visit I still have the music in my head and the colorful images of the floats. But although the parade has been ready for over a year, the merchandise and music CDs do not follow in shops.
Unfortunately, apart from 2 collectibles (to be sure they sell like Disney keys) nothing came out. The lack of ambition of the Merchandise department continues despite the years.
At Sleeping Beauty Castle, the renovation is coming to an end. Almost a month from the removal of the high scaffolding, nothing! The fireworks are not back. Which is a shame because that didn’t stop Disney from having the Bonfire fireworks on November 2, 4 and 9, 2021! Disney proves it can create a firework, even temporarily by picking up the music from Mix Magic from Disneyland Resort in California. But while waiting for the return of Disney Illumination on December 21. Nothing! Not even on weekends! Here we are once again in savings as the entertainment supply is sorely lacking and the parks are full.
Bonfire
At Walt Disney Studios Park you will find for the season only one happening of Donald and Goofy “A Funny Snowy Winter” 6 minutes before a souvenir photo session where visitors will take 1 minute to understand that the “show” part is over.
Once again, we are a long way from “Surprise Mickey” and the lack of “Mickey’s Christmas Big Band” and the nighttime show “Goofy’s Incredible Christmas “.
We can think that we are still on a gradual recovery … an excuse which, the more time goes on, the more difficult it will be to hear in view of the price of the entrance ticket and the high attendance of the Resort.
To end our tour of the season, here are some photos and some Christmas tree illuminations launched randomly.
You will have understood that this Christmas has for real attraction the atmosphere, the place, and the Dazzling parade of Mickey … but no more, this pandemic impacts the management of the destination must manage very difficult for the second European tourism site.
Thank you for your loyalty.
See ya real soon !
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