Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade Photos

Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade is run during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom on select nights during the holiday season. Christmas is one of the best times of year to visit Walt Disney World, and this parade is a big reason why!

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade debuted in 2007, when it replaced the very similar Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade; the prior parade had been running since 1994. The current Christmas parade consists of elves, toy soldiers, reindeer, gingerbread men, and Disney characters in their holiday finery. The music in this parade is very catchy, and is available online (find it with our Disney Parks Music Guide). It is not the same as the parade that is shown on ABC on Christmas Day, which is filmed at Walt Disney World the first weekend of December each year.

Here are some photos of Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade: (more…)

Boo To You Parade Disney Photos

The Boo To You Parade is right up there with Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade as the best parades shown at Walt Disney World Resort.

This parade is shown only during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and features several “units.” The first unit is called Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Bash, which has a lot of characters and is heavily themed to Fantasyland. This is the cheeriest unit of the parade. Next comes the Yo-Ho Pirate-Palooza, which contains the pirate floats, including Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook. Following that is the Haunted Mansion Cemetery Soiree, which has some of the best performers of the parade, and is by far our favorite unit. Next is the Halloween Hooten-Nanny Hoedown, which is the Frontierland portion of the parade. The villains come next, in the Villains Groove-A-Go-Go. Goofy’s Trick-or-Treat Candy Hop concludes the parade with another lighter unit focused on candy.

These units are all great, and the music soundtrack for the Boo To You Parade is VERY catchy. It’s available on the Disney Magic Kingdom Event Party Music CD. We play ours almost daily during the Halloween season! (more…)

New Fantasyland Dueling Dumbo Photos

New Fantasyland Expansion in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is now completed, with Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, Maurice’s Cottage, and Be Our Guest Restaurant all open! We thought it would be a good time to look back at the cornerstone of Phase I of the New Fantasyland Expansion, the Dueling Dumbo spinners!

Admittedly, Dumbo has never been a “Must Do” attraction for us. Not even close. We don’t have kids, don’t like waiting in long, hot lines for short attractions, and really didn’t see the appeal of such a simple attraction. The view of Cinderella Castle at night was pretty special, so if the lines were short at night, we’d consider taking a spin, but it was not uncommon for us to skip Dumbo on multiple consecutive trips. While Dumbo still is not a must do for us, it’s moved up quite a few slots. The nighttime ambiance of the Dueling Dumbos, with their great lighting and water features, have a ton of kinetic energy, and make for some really fun photos. The attraction substance is unchanged, so it’s not that much of an upgrade, but it’s still a nice improvement on a Magic Kingdom staple.

Plus, there’s not a whole lot that could have been done with this iconic attraction to really bring it into the 21st century. It will always be relatively simplistic, and perhaps that is part of the charm (note: this same charm can NOT be found in the Magic Carpets of Aladdin; there’s no history there, and the Carpets are not a rite of passage–they’re an eyesore, plain and simple). The new location and kinetic features don’t come without a cost: Dumbo now does not offer beautiful views of Cinderella Castle. While I feel that the overall experience is a net improvement, and I don’t mind hiding the spinner off in the corner, when it comes to the experience itself, that great view of Cinderella Castle played a big part.

Now, for some photos that show a big part of why we like spending time in this part of New Fantasyland…PRETTY LIGHTS! (more…)

Cars Land Photos

Cars Land is the new flagship land in Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort. Here are tons of beautiful Cars Land photos from this brand new land at Disney, based on the popular Pixar Cars film. As you can see, Cars Land is incredibly detailed, and as soon as you step foot in Cars Land, it feels like you’ve stepped out of Disney California Adventure, and onto Route 66 right at the edge of Radiator Springs. It’s truly one of the most beautiful and immersive lands that Disney has ever created, and Disney California Adventure has a huge hit on its hands with Cars Land. I could gush about Cars Land for pages and pages, but for now, I’ll let the photos do the talking!

Make sure you check out our main Disney California Adventure Grand Reopening page! From there you can access photo pages for everything that opened at Disney California Adventure in Summer 2012, from Cars Land to Buena Vista Street to merchandise, food, and much more! We’ve also posted many exclusive photos only to Facebook, so make sure to “Like” Disney Tourist Blog on Facebook! All photos copyright Tom Bricker. (more…)

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree Photos

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree is Cars Land ride in Disney California Adventure at Disneyland. Here is a gallery of beautiful Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree photos. These photos include the exterior, queue, and attraction of Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. This attraction and Cars Land are based on the popular Pixar Cars film franchise. Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree is one of three attractions in Cars Land, along with Radiator Springs Racers (photos) and Luigi’s Flying Tires (photos). It’s pretty fun and well done, I think. Now on with the photos!

Make sure you check out our Disney California Adventure Grand Reopening page! From there you can access photo galleries for everything new at Disney California Adventure in Summer 2012, from Cars Land to Buena Vista Street to merchandise, food, and much more! We’ve also posted many exclusive photos only to Facebook, so make sure to “Like” Disney Tourist Blog on Facebook! All photos copyright Tom Bricker. (more…)