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Entertainment, Special Events & Tours at DisneylandLAST UPDATE: 5/14/08 - MOST RECENT ADDITIONS ARE IN REDWondering what special events may be happening during your visit to Disneyland Resort? Listed below are the major events and festivals taking place during the year. On this page you'll also find any specials, deals and discounts available on entertainment, special activities and nightlife at Disneyland Resort, as well as how to save money on theme park tours. Jump to:
Special EventsJump to: Now through the end of 2008, Disneyland guests can enjoy a celebration called "The Year of a Million Dreams." Focusing on the slogan "Where Dreams Come True," the promotion emphasizes special experiences that are only available at Disney's theme parks. Through the Disney Dream Giveaway, guests may have an opportunity to experience fabulous Disney "dreams" such as spending a night in the Mickey Mouse Penthouse at Disneyland Hotel or receiving a special FASTPASS allowing the bearer to jump to the head of the line. To learn more about the Year of a Million Dreams, click here. Disney does not offer an Easter parade or decorations in the parks. However, there is a buffet style Easter Brunch. The brunch is held at the Grand Ballroom at the Disneyland Hotel. For 2008, the cost was $83.02 for adults, $23.01 for kids (3-11), including tax and gratuity. Annual Passholder discounts were available. Participants received 4 hours of complimentary valet parking at the Disneyland Hotel. Call (714) 781-DINE (3463) for information and reservations. Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends During Disney's Food and Wine Weekends at Disney's California Adventure, guests can sample "tastes" of various California food and wine specialties. You can enjoy FREE culinary demonstations from celebrity chefs, partake in beer, wine, and spirits tasting seminars with brewmasters and sommeliers, and participate in educational and lifestyle seminars. There is also a Taste of California Marketplace, where you can purchase sample delicious tapas-sized California delights accompanied by specially paired wines and beer. The Taste of California Marketplace is held at the Lucky Fortune Cookery in the Pacific Wharf. In addition, you can register for separately-ticketed cooking and wine tasting events. These Signature Events include celebrity chef dinners, winemaker dinners, cooking classes, and other events geared to please everyone from the novice to the gourmand. In 2008, the California Food and Wine weekends took place every day from April 11 - May 4 at Disney's California Adventure. Admission to the complimentary events is included in your Disney's California Adventure park admission. When tickets for 2009 Signature Events go on sale, I will list the information here. A special buffet meal is available each Mother's Day at the Grand Ballroom at the Disneyland Hotel from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. The meal includes champagne for those 21 and over. For 2008, the event will feature Cinderella and Princess Friends. Cost is $83.02 for adults, $23.01 for kids (3-11), including tax and gratuity. Annual Passholder discounts are available. Participants receive 4 hours of complimentary valet parking at the Disneyland Hotel. Call (714) 956-6413 for information and reservations. Disneyland offers a special fireworks show every year on July 4. These festivities are included in regular park admission. The Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend has been affectionately dubbed “The Happiest Race on Earth.’’ Participants run, jog or walk a course unlike any other half-marathon on the West Coast. The 13.1-mile route takes runners through the two Disneyland Resort theme parks – Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure – and past Anaheim landmarks such as Arrowhead Pond and Angel Stadium of Anaheim, while colorful Disney characters and festive music inspire them along the way. In 2008, the Half Marathon Weekend will be August 29-31. It includes the Disneyland Health and Fitness Expo, a two-day celebration of health and fitness that involves celebrity runner appearances and seminars on training, racing and nutrition, along with opportunities to experience the latest in running and fitness equipment. There is a 5K Family Fun Run on August 30 and the Half Marathon takes place on August 31. For more information, including online registration, click here. Disney’s HalloweenTime returned to the Disneyland Resort in 2007 with a lively mix of Disney characters in seasonal costumes, whimsical décor, decked-out attractions, themed shows and tasty treats designed with the whole family in mind. This inviting interactive Halloween experience at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure ran Friday, September 21 through Wednesday, October 31. The Sunshine Plaza in California Adventure is the site of “Candy Corn Acres,” where Mickey Mouse’s pal Goofy sets out to grow the West’s biggest and most unusual candy corn: candy corn coconuts, candy corn carrots and candy corn pumpkins, among other delicious produce offerings. The Plaza is overgrown with the “fruits” of Goofy’s labor. Also offered is Mickey’s Halloween Treat, a separate-ticket nighttime event which gives kids and their families the opportunity to dress in their Halloween costumes and trick-or-treat throughout Disney’s California Adventure after it has closed to day guests. HalloweenTreat offers tricksters of all ages treat locations along with fun character encounters (including an all-new nightly cavalcade), interactive games, and spirited music with DJ Mickey. Older kids and parents will want to experience the heart-dropping Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and meet the hotel’s ghostly staff members who materialize only during the Halloween season. During regular park hours at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, Disney’s HalloweenTime offers parents and children lots of not-so-scary fun. HalloweenTime experiences include special Halloween shows, meet-and-greets with Disneyland characters in their Halloween costumes and spooky-silly holiday themed decorations which guests begin to spot as soon as they reach the entrances to the parks. Jack-o’-lantern creations resembling Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy adorn the top of the Main Entrance to Disneyland. Across the Esplanade, at the entrance to Disney’s California Adventure, guests see the iconic 11-foot-tall CALIFORNIA letters transformed into giant pieces of candy corn. Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland is decked out for the Main Street Pumpkin Festival. Guests are greeted there by Miss Cobbler, Queen of the Pumpkin Festival, and Constable Jackie O’Leary. More than 300 jack-o’-lanterns peek out of shop windows, while festive orange and yellow bunting graces the quaint Victorian buildings. The whimsical 12-foot tall Mickey Mouse jack-o’-lantern, complete with pumpkin ears, returns to highlight Town Square, smiling at guests as they enter Main Street and giving them a playful wink when they depart. The Central Plaza of Disneyland, near Sleeping Beauty Castle, is specially decorated with Disney character-inspired jack-o’-lanterns surrounding the famous “Partners” statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. Additionally, the Disney characters themselves get into the “spirit” of the occasion, wearing their favorite Halloween costumes, while meeting and greeting guests. "Woody’s Halloween Roundup” takes over Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland. The Roundup fun includes a visit with the animals in the “Petting Boo,” crafts and musical activities including a Halloween Hoedown and a spooky interactive sing-along version of “Old McDonald Had a Farm” featuring black cats, ghosts and werewolves. Woody, Jessie and Bullseye from the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies appear throughout the day on stage in comic adventure tales hosted by a guitar playing, storytelling cowboy. The Roundup also features an array of tasty treats to satisfy the most monstrous of appetites, including cotton candy in Halloween colors and Creepy Cookie Critters that guests create themselves. At Disney’s California Adventure are the spooky Hollywood Tower Hotel staff members who haunt the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror during the Halloween season, and “Golden Screams,” where Disney villains roll out the black carpet for an awards ceremony – “Best Scream,” “Best Act of Villainy” – held daily inside the Golden Dreams Theatre. Favorite Disney villains, including Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Captain Hook from Peter Pan and others, roam both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure for HalloweenTime meet-and-greets with park guests. Throughout the Disneyland Resort during Disney’s HalloweenTime, families can enjoy unique Halloween-themed food items including Zero’s Ghostly Ghoulash, a favorite of Jack Skellington’s pet in “Haunted Mansion Holiday,” and merchandise including Disney costumes, collectible pins and coins, and a special set of Halloween-themed Mickey Mouse ears resembling a Mickey jack-o’-lantern. And no Halloween celebration at Disneyland would be complete without the return of Jack Skellington and his friends to transform the Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square into the popular seasonal “Haunted Mansion Holiday.” Inspired by the innovative animated film Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, “Haunted Mansion Holiday” depicts the holiday mayhem that occurs when Halloween and Christmas traditions collide. For the 2007-2008 season, "Haunted Mansion Holiday" is offered September 21 through approximately January 3. The holiday-enhanced version of the attraction is a madcap celebration where the traditions of Halloween and Christmas collide. The ghoulish but well-meaning Jack Skellington from the film Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" comes to the Haunted Mansion to transform it with his skewed vision of the holidays. Mickey's Halloween Treat at Disney's California Adventure Enjoy a special Halloween treat at this frightfully fun event, held after hours in Disney's California Adventure! This "spirited" evening party includes:
About Costumes: Guests of all ages may wear costumes only to the Mickey's Halloween Treat event in which their ticket is valid. Otherwise, costumes are only permitted at either theme park for guests ages 9 and under. All costumes must adhere to any guidelines as determined solely by Disney. Please choose costumes that are not obstructive, offensive, or violent. Guests' eyes must be visible at all times. 2007 Event Dates:
Ticket Prices:
Limit 8 tickets per guest, per event date. Each ticket is valid for admission to the event and parking for one vehicle (larger vehicles may require an additional fee) on the specified event date. Tickets are not valid for theme park admission prior to the hours of the event. This annual charity walk at Disneyland is a fundraiser for Children's Hospital Orange County (CHOC). The walk passes through Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, followed by festivities in Downtown Disney. The 2008 event will be held on October 19. For details, click here. Disneyland Celebrates the Holiday Season (Overview) Each year Disneyland Resort undergoes a Christmas holiday transformation.
For 2007 the entire resort was lit up in honor of the holidays from
approximately November 16, 2007 through January 6, 2008. Starting about November 16, all of the decorations should be up and guests can enjoy a nightly holiday fireworks spectacular. During the holidays, "Believe" concludes with a magical snowfall down Main Street, U.S.A., Small World Mall and New Orleans Square. Disneyland's annual holiday parade also begins around November 16. This ever-popular procession depicts an enchanting collection of holiday scenes, music and a cast of Disney characters and performers in Yuletide vignettes. Disney's California Adventure (DCA) celebrates the season with enhanced park-wide decorations and expanded entertainment offerings. Sunshine Plaza becomes "Santa's Beach Blast," where Disney characters playfully blend classic holiday images with the California beach lifestyle. Santa the Surfer greets guests near a Woody wagon sleigh, and the area is filled with seaside-style holiday decorations. At Flik's Fun Fair in DCA, Flik and his bug buddies decorate with giant Christmas lights, oversized ornaments and towering candy canes throughout their realm. Disney does not offer a Thanksgiving parade or decorations in the parks. However, the Christmas decorations are in place by Thanksgiving weekend and the Christmas Holiday events begin no later than that weekend. In addition, there are usually special buffet meals available on Thanksgiving. Information and reservations usually become available about 60 days in advance. I will post information here when it becomes available. Call (714) 781-DINE (3463) for information and reservations. The Candlelight Processional is an annual event on Main Street that includes a celebrity narrator presenting the Biblical Christmas story, plus a large choir and an orchestra performing traditional carols. In 2007 the Candlelight Processional was held December 1 and 2, at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm. Jane Seymour was the narrator. If you want preferred seating you must purchase a special dining package that requires you to spend a designated amount at one of the resort restaurants on the night of the event, after which you will be given your tickets to the Processional. Advance reservations are required and the packages sell out quickly. 2007 packages went on sale to the general public on 11/19/07 and sold out within 90 minutes. Locations and Prices:
In addition, Napa Rose was available at $125 per person, but only for Annual Passholders. To book the Passholder Dining Package at Napa Rose, you had to log in through the Annual Passholder web site on 11/19/07. Each restaurant will offer a special, limited menu with multiple courses. Kids pay the same price as adults. You must eat prior to the show, so be prepared for dinner at 3:30 pm if you're attending the early show! Price includes tax and tip, but not alcoholic beverages. Limit of six Dining Package tickets per person. You do not need to purchase a special dining package if you don't mind standing. Admission to the event is included with your regular park ticket. MouseSavers reader Laura C writes: "There is limited seating in the town square in front of the train station. Those seats are reserved for VIP's and package holders. However, there is plenty of room to stand and watch behind the seating. Still very enjoyable and didn't cost us an extra dime. Hint: If you get there early enough you can stand on the porch of guest services and see right over the heads of everyone - awesome spot." In addition to the special parade, "snow" experience and fireworks at Disneyland, there are usually special buffet meals available on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Information and reservations usually become available about 60 days in advance. 2007 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners:
Other special Christmas meals may be available at various Disneyland restaurants. Call (714) 781-DINE (3463) for information and reservations. New Year's Eve & New Year's Day Disneyland stays open late on New Year's Eve and offers extra entertainment, usually including live performances, an extra parade and fireworks. These festivities are included in regular park admission. Entertainment, Special Activities & NightlifeJump to:
ESPN Zone, located in Downtown Disney, is a sports dining and entertainment location offering more than 150 monitors, including a high-definition big screen. The restaurant offers American grill food, plus there is more than 10,000 square feet of interactive games and attractions.
There is an AMC 12-plex movie theater, the AMC Downtown Disney 12, in Downtown Disney where you can take advantage of various AMC specials.
Fantasmic! Premium Seating With Dessert The wonderful Disneyland show Fantasmic! is included in your theme park admission and is shown every night in the summer, and on weekends during parts of the winter. In low season it may not be offered. You can stand with the crowds and watch it for no extra cost. But if you want to watch Fantasmic! with the best possible view and comfortable seating (and enjoy yummy desserts at the same time), you may want to consider booking Fantasmic! Premium Seating. Fantasmic! Premium Seating includes a reserved seat in a private area near the Haunted Mansion. There are about 60 seats in the Premium Seating area. You will also enjoy a fabulous dessert and drinks such as coffee, soda, iced tea and hot chocolate. If you book Premium Seating for the first performance of Fantasmic! offered that evening, you will also be allowed to keep your seat for the fireworks. This is strictly a luxury experience and very costly. Reserved seating for Fantasmic! is $59 per adult, $49 per child. To get reserved seating for Fantasmic! you MUST call one month before the day you plan to attend. (It usually sells out within minutes.) Be on the phone to (714) 781-4400 at 8:00 am (PST). They will give you a confirmation number. On the day of your reservation, you will need to bring that confirmation number, the credit card used to purchase the tickets, and photo ID. On the day of your reservation, pick up your tickets at Guest Relations outside the Disneyland entrance. Show up at least 30 minutes in advance (45 is better) at the special seating area. They will call you about 20 minutes before the show and show you to your seats. Usually you will be seated based in the order of the tickets purchased, but this is not guaranteed. Theme Park ToursFrom time to time, Disneyland offers special discounts to Annual Passholders, Disney Rewards® Visa® cardholders and AAA members on various park tours. Reserve a tour up to 30 days in advance by calling (714) 781-4400, or stop by City Hall on Main Street, U.S.A. Jump to:
This two-and-a-half-hour journey is ideal for first-timers to the Disneyland Resort. It provides tips and suggestions to make the most of your visit, plus you'll learn fun facts and trivia. The tour includes both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure. Participants receive priority seating at a stage show or a parade and a reservation at one dining location for any day of your stay (selected locations). You'll also receive two FASTPASSes to use after the tour, and a sweet treat. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Tour is limited to 20 people. Park admission is required. Regular price for this tour is $25 per person (all ages).
A Walk in Walt’s Footsteps Tour Experience Disneyland from its founder’s perspective. Highlights of the three-and-a-half hour tour include a sneak peek of the lobby of the legendary Club 33 restaurant in New Orleans Square, a trip on the Disneyland Railroad, a visit to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (the first attraction at Disneyland featuring Audio-Animatronics), a collectible trading pin, and a private lunch on Main Street, U.S.A. The Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour is not recommended for young children. (Most kids and young teens would find it boring.) Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Tour is limited to 15 people. Park admission is required. Regular price for this tour is $59 per person (all ages).
During this three-hour tour, guests follow musical clues on a scavenger hunt to solve mysteries, hunt for hidden treasure, learn how to outsmart Disney villains and save the day by helping out everyone's pal, Mickey Mouse. The "Discover the Magic" tour breaks the mold of conventional tours where guests follow a guide who shares information. With this new experience, kids and their parents are put right in the action. The tour includes lunch and a special gift. You'll have quick visits with a couple of Disney characters along the way. The Discover the Magic Tour is recommended for families with children ages 5-9. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Tour is limited to 20 people. Park admission is required. Regular price for the first two guests is $59 per person (two person minimum). Regular price for any additional guests in the same party is $49 per person.
Cruizin' Disney's California Adventure Tour This three-hour tour circles DCA on a Segway before the park opens to the public. You'll receive instruction on how to operate the Segway, complete an obstacle course, and then travel as a group around the park. Participants receive a collectible gift, souvenir photo and continental breakfast. Participants must weigh between 100 and 250 lbs and be at least 16 years old. Parent/guardian signature required for guests who are at least 16 but under 18. All participants are required to sign a liability waiver. Tour is limited to 12 people and requires a minimum of 2 people to operate. Park admission is required. Regular price is $99 per person.
This Halloween-themed 2 hour walking tour, offered September 21-October 31, 2007, includes tall tales and legends from your tour guide. The tour covers both parks, with rides on Haunted Mansion Holiday, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. You'll also receive a souvenir keepsake. Available for all ages, but guests must be at least 40 inches tall to experience the included attractions. Regular price is $59 per person. Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour This seasonal tour includes information about Disneyland holiday traditions and decorations, VIP seating at the Christmas Fantasy Parade or the fireworks (depending on time of day you take the tour) and a sweet treat, plus a visit to Haunted Mansion Holiday and "it's a small world holiday". The 2007 holiday season tours run through January 6, 2008. Regular price for the 2007 Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour is $59 per person (all ages). Disneyland Annual Passholders received 20% off the regular price of this tour through November 29. Disneyland VIP Tours are private tours just for your group. You'll be led around by a Host or Hostess who will tailor the tour to your interests. They can usually assist you in experiencing the attractions with minimal waits. VIP Tour participants may ride the Lilly Belle (Disneyland Railroad's private train car), which is a privilege not available to the general public. As a part of booking the VIP Tour, you may have them set up priority seating for various shows and parades. The cost is $75 per hour for up to 10 guests ($95/hr if booked less than 48 hours in advance) and there is a 4-hour minimum. There are no discounts on the VIP Tours, but for a large group the cost per person compares favorably with some of the other tours. You can arrange a VIP Tour by calling Disney Special Activities at (714) 300-7710. Unlike the other tours, VIP Tours can be booked months in advance. Back to top MouseSavers.com® is not an official site of The Walt Disney Company or of Universal Studios. Content of MouseSavers.com is © MouseSavers, Inc. 2001-2008. Website content may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of MouseSavers, Inc. Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions of Use |
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