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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Santa hat on the water tower |
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Welcome to the holiday season at Disney’s California Adventure. It’s now 2001 here. It’s the new park’s very first Christmas. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Golden wreath and golden garlands on the Golden Gate |
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The big show for 2001 is LuminAria, the nighttime show that invites you to “see the holidays in a whole new light,” featuring “innovative pyrotechnic effects set to a stirring soundtrack.” But that’s not all. There are also festive decorations and a chance to visit Santa Claus. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Hollywood stars |
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The grand entrance to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot is even more grand with golden Christmas decorations—including elephants holding golden wreaths—befitting the Golden State and the Golden Age of Hollywood. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 A wreath around the ABC logo |
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The outside of the ABC Soap Opera Bistro is not decorated except for a wreath with red ornaments around the ABC logo on the tall sign. Inside, there are plenty of Christmas decorations at the Chandler Mansion “set” from All My Children—because that’s how it’s decorated year round. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Christmas on the Hollywood Pictures Backlot |
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The section of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot behind the Hollywood facades is rather industrial, with telephone poles, overhead fires, barricades, lighting towers, acres of pavement, and bleak soundstage buildings. The idea is that it looks like a real Hollywood studio lot. This time of year, a festive Christmas tree makes it look more cheerful. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Kermit and his decorated arms |
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Kermit’s outstretched arms serve a useful purpose during this season—to hold an evergreen garland with lights and gift packages. A Santa Claus cap completes his ensemble. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 The Drive-in where there are no cars |
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There’s a much larger Santa Claus cap nearby on the Hollywood Pictures water tower next to Stage 12, home of the Hollywood & Dine food court. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Christmas at the Mission Tortilla Factory |
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There are rustic cornhusk garlands with tiny orange lightbulbs on the Mission Tortilla Factory. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Holiday scarecrows at Bountiful Valley Farm |
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Nearby, at Bountiful Valley Farm, the scarecrows in the agricultural gardens are dressed up for the holidays. There’s Santa and Mrs. Claus, an angel, a snowman, a nutcracker in the traditional red jacket uniform, and even Rudolph the Red-Nosed Scarecrow. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Santa Rosa Seed and Supply |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Farmers Market |
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Santa Rosa Seed and Supply and the Farmers Market are also festooned with cornhusk garlands. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Banner at Bountiful Valley Farm |
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Banners throughout the park advertise LuminAria. In some parts of the park, the banners seem to be the main holiday decorations. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 LuminAria Holiday Art Card Center |
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The San Francisco block has gone unused for the park’s first nine months, but now it’s the LuminAria Holiday Art Card Center. Take your kids inside to make Art Cards. Over one hundred cards are selected to be in each LuminAria show. Maybe you’ll see your kids’ artwork projected tonight. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Golden garlands on Golden Dreams |
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The Golden Dreams rotunda, modeled after the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, is decorated with golden garlands and golden wreaths—just like the park’s Golden Gate Bridge and Hollywood Pictures Backlot entrance. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Colorful garland on the “train platform” shade canopy |
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If you’re looking for Yesterland souvenirs, you might want to pop into the streamlined California Zephyr rail car. Just look at what you can get as gifts for your family or friends—or maybe for yourself. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Souvenir toys on display inside the California Zephyr |
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You can buy toy versions of your favorite California Adventure attractions, such as the Orange Stinger, complete with yellow-and-black bee abdomen seats, and the Sun Wheel, with the smiling California sun face in the center of the wheel. Then there’s the Mark V Monorail, just like the one that goes through the park (except that this one is missing three of the five cars). |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 More toys on display inside the California Zephyr |
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There’s an accessory that you should get if you buy the toy Monorail: a genuine, oddly proportioned Golden Gate Bridge, just like the one at the entrance to the park (except without a golden garlands or golden wreath). |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Santa by the waterfalls |
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Don’t forget to visit the outdoorsy Santa Claus who greets guests near the waterfall below Grizzly Peak. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Santa at night |
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The park looks better—and more Christmasy— at night. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Christmas Tree at night |
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At the scruffy Hollywood Pictures Backlot, the Superstar Limo facade serves as the background for the colorfully lit Christmas tree. Did you enjoy your holiday 2001 visit to the park? At least it wasn’t crowded! |
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Disney’s California Adventure opened February 8, 2001. Nine months later, it was time for the new park’s first holiday season. The park was not off to a good start. In a Christmas Day 2001 article (“Reflecting on a very long year”) for the Orange County Register, Jonathan Lansner wrote, “Disney thought spending a billion in Anaheim or so would gain it an instant smash with California Adventure. Oops, they basically built a ghost town.” The big holiday offering at Disney’s California Adventure for 2001 was Disney’s LuminAria. The reaction to the show was mixed, and it never returned. Beyond that, the park offered holiday decorations and Santa Claus. There were fewer decorations than at Disneyland Park. Most of what is shown in this article is now gone. All of it has changed considerably… for the better! |
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© 2024 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated December 13, 2024 |
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