MARNE-LA-VALLE, France (dpa) – If you like to celebrate Christmas in grand style, Disneyland Paris could be just the place.
The leisure park on the outskirts of the French capital celebrates Christmas in elaborate U.S. style, with a season that continues through to January 7.
The theme park and its hotels are adorned with luxurious seasonal decorations, and there are thousands of fairy lights, stars, mistletoe, and Christmas delicacies such as biscuits and baked apples to ward off the winter blues and put guests in a festive spirit.
Disneyland does not skimp on its Christmas trees but the best is the giant tree that has been set up directly at the entrance to the park. The 7,000 lights on this tree are switched on at dusk every night with a touching ceremony. Mickey Mouse and Father Christmas pick out a child from the crowd who helps them light the candles with a magic wand.
Fairy lights also adorn the facades of the ornate houses on Main Street USA. The street takes visitors on a winter fairy tale trail, with a grand finale of fireworks at Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
Christmas is the high season for Disneyland Paris. But as well as all the seasonal festivities, visitors can also enjoy the attractions that are open here all year round. The theme park on 1,943 hectares has seven hotels, the Disney Village entertainment centre, a 27-hole golf course and two day centres. It attracts 12.5 million visitors a year.
At the heart of it is the Disneyland theme park with five different “lands”. They include Fantasyland, where children can discover Disney’s fairy-tale world. They can walk through Alice in Wonderland’s crazy garden, visit the world of Peter Pan or take a ride on a nostalgic roundabout.
Older children and adults will prefer the roller coaster rides, spectacular 3-D shows in the style of various Disney productions. On the Space Mountain in Discoveryland, wagons race at break-neck speed through the dark – just a hair’s breath away from blue-shimmering planets. On the Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland, you can take a bone-rattling trip on a mining train.
Disneyland Paris makes a special effort with its decorations – not just at Christmas. Like its sister theme parks in Orlando and Florida, guests can expect all-round entertainment. Each of the five lands has its own special flair. In Adventureland there are jungle plants and exotic bird sounds from hidden loudspeakers. In Frontierland, red-brown rocks tower over the attractions and the snack bars look like western saloons.
This year Disneyland Paris is adding to its festive decorations with a Christmas market in the Disney Village entertainment centre. There are also special Christmas shows “Mickey’s Christmas” and “Mickey’s Winterwonderland,” performed in Fantasyland. But Donald, Goofy and Co. also turn up outside the shows in the park at special times of the day to talk to guests in cartoon language.
If that is not enough spectacle there are daily parades on Main Street USA. The winter parade every afternoon lights up children’s eyes. And at night, the Electrical Parade turns the main street into a sea of light with millions of tiny lamps.
But even in this land of fairy-tale, reality sometimes intrudes in the form of crowds, who push and shove, and the high entrance fees charged. Visitors who do not let that spoil the fun have a good chance of succumbing to the magic of a Disney Christmas, synthetic though it may be.
