I don't know about you guys, but this year I've found it really hard to get into the Chrismas spirit. After what seemed like the longest Halloween season known to man I don't think I'd quite snapped out of the Halloween spirit and Christmas kind of crept up on me when I wasn't quite over the spooky vibes yet, so I rejected it. Anyway, come 1st December and I tried everything to get into the swing of things. Lit a Christmassy candle, watched a bunch of Christmas movies, ate some festive snacks. Nothin'. This called for drastic action - I needed a hardcore hit straight to the heart of mulled wine scented, sparkly, jingle bell sounding joy straight to the heart and I knew just the thing for it - we needed to head to Disneyland Paris.
Seriously, if you can't feel Christmassy, Disneyland all over the world is the antidote. Sure, they do each season pretty well but Disney are the absolute kings when it comes to delivering pure, unadulterated Christmas joy. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the atmosphere. Everything just oozes festive goodness and if you're in need of a little Christmas pick me up then there's no better place. I actually think it should be written into law that everybody has to experience a Disney Christmas at least once - here's five reasons why you should pay homage to the Mouse at this most sparkly and wonderful time of the year.
Why is it so good when you see Disney characters in different outfits than their usual get up? It's like when you get a shiny Pokemon card, there's an inexplicable association of joy and magic when you see Minnie Mouse but she's in an elegant white ballgown instead of her red polka dots, or Goofy sporting a full of red-with-white-trim Santa suit. Urgh, I just love it. So not only do you get all the fabness of the standard character meet and greets but you also get to meet them in their Christmassy best! So magical and fun (and perfect for the 'Gram!)
I defy anybody to watch a Disney Christmas parade and immediately learn all of the words and be singing along at the top of their lungs by the time Santa's float comes mincing down Main Street. I always find as well that the Christmas parades are a great chance to see some rare characters? The Paris parade this year had gingerbread Mickey and Minnie, Max Goof, Clarabelle and the Three Little Pigs, to name but a few. It's a Christmas Day tradition of mine to live stream the Magic Kingdom Christmas Day parade in my house, so there's something subconscious in my brain that automatically links the two together anyway, but urgh, the incessant happiness and Christmassy outfits just bring the joy home.
It's basically impossible to escape a Disney Resort without having spunked hundreds on meaningless plastic crap, but at Christmastime it's technically illegal to come home without at least one Christmas ornament. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules, that's just how it is. And my god, the selection is bloody excellent at Disneyland Paris. We managed to come home with only two new items to our already excessive collection of Disney Christmas crap, but the park really have upped their game when it comes to Christmas goodies. Amazing plushes including some awesome Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, a HUGE selection of resin character ornaments and even some ride-themed music boxes that we came dangerously close to splurging on.
Wow, Disneyland Paris have really expanded their Christmas entertainment offering this year and it's bloody spectacular! You have the staple shows like the Christmas parades, tree lighting and nighttime spectaculars but they're supported by some really fun and creative shows that feel more West End/Broadway than Disney and honestly it's a wonderful touch that really adds a dash of diversity to the show line-up. Our favourite new show for this year was Mickey's Christmas Big Band which is a jazz style revue with live singing, a real jazz band, dancing and of course, Disney characters. It was really fabulous and was the perfect balance of class and diversity to the gaudiness of the parades. Fantastic stuff.
And lastly, the magic. After coming back from Orlando feeling ever so slightly jaded with the corporate American way the parks deliver the Disney experience over there I was relieved to find that for me the magic was well and truly alive at Disneyland Paris. It's hard for me to explain why, because on paper it doesn't really make sense. It's still an expensive theme park environment, still crowded as all hell and still shoving the Mouse in your face at every opportunity but for some reason in Paris is just doesn't feel as icky. There's just always an elegance about the Paris park that the others don't seem to have. The whimsical designs of the gorgeous Fantasyland facades, the majesty of the Jules Verne inspired Discoveryland and the mystery of the landscape of Adventureland - there's just an edge of finesse to Disneyland Paris that the other parks just don't have. Add to that a sprinkle of Christmas magic with the decorations, music and smells and it's hard to come away not full of Christmas spirit!
Suffice to say it worked and I'm now excitedly peeling back each window of my advent calendar counting the days until the big two-five!
Talk later xoxo,
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