A goofy, gonzo, gloriously bonkers flat ride awaits in Cosmic Crater’s central caldera. This is Flying Saucers 2.0, also sometimes known as “Foo Fighters,” a spiritual successor to an old dearly departed (and never entirely successful) Tomorrowland favorite. This followup envisions a training facility for S.K.Y. astronauts, preparing them for all the dizziness and lasers of outer space. Guests will find Flying Saucers 2.0 to be surprisingly repeatable! For while it might look like a standard teacups ride, interactive astro-guns elevate this ride type into the stratosphere!
Two hemispherical domes house our UFO testing facility - doubling up for capacity! The polymer domes’ rooftops are awash in a haphazard assortment of sci-fi satellite dishes, mechanical panels, and antennae. The domes are held up by white Googie arches like the LAX Theme Building. Passersby can watch the craziness from off-ride, which should prove quite a spectacle!
The queue begins in between the two domes, underneath a hand-welded sign on chains announcing “Flying Saucers 2.0.” A crashed UFO smoking in heaps spans the entrance archway. Guests wait in the shade under an eave inspired by Tomorrowland 1955’s Space Bar. Vintage NASA-style S.K.Y. posters beckon guests to “Enlist!,” to “Become an Astronaut!,” generally spelling out the ride’s training program premise. Switchbacks overlook both rotating ride platforms; helpful illustration-heavy signage explains the ride’s laser gun mechanisms.
The queue splits in a “Y” against the far crater wall, where the ride controller oversees from a slanted mission control window built into the sands. Mid-century cinder blocks hold the crater walls in place, dirt visibly pouring over them in spots. Cast members at the “Y” gather groups of guests in both directions, just enough to fill both domes at the same time.
Our pre-ride music - the strangely experimental mid-century oddity that is 1956’s “The Flying Saucer” by Buchanan & Goodman - plays out as guests walk onto the floor. Each dome hosts eighteen flying saucers, with six each on three spinning discs. The ride vehicles are hubcap-shaped retro-futuristic UFOs with simple bench seating facing forward. In each UFO are two atomic ray guns holstered in the dashboard. In both form and function, these blasters borrow a lot from Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters.
The ride begins, speed picks up, as surf guitarist Dale’s 1996 recording for Space Mountain plays. The large ride platform rotates clockwise, while the smaller inset discs rotate counter-clockwise - physically, this is Mad Tea Party. But then there are the ray guns! Because on Flying Saucers 2.0, guests don’t spin themselves...they spin other riders!
Large light-up targets cover every available interior surface. Targets are all over the semi-dome ceiling, in recessed panels and rafters inspired by old, forgotten Discoveryland concept art. At the center is a target-covered chrome 1950s robot - equal parts Robbie, Daleks, Gort, and others - spinning opposite the main ride platform. Targets are even found on other UFOs’ rear exhaust ports. Now fire away!
The object of all this? To shoot other UFOs and cause them to spin uncontrollably for a second or two. Hitting non-UFO targets along the ceiling or along the support arches strengthens your own UFO’s “shield” from opposing laser blasts. Of course different targets hold different values - more shield, or longer spin for your opponents. There is no final score tally, but simply the sheer adrenal pleasure of an out-of-control ray gun frenzy! And should riders grow nauseous from the rotation, their UFO comes equipped with an on-off switch...it stops the spinning, and it also powers down the ray guns. There is the potential to use this strategically. Our ride designers are still fine-tuning the gameplay elements, but they are confident that the end result will be addictively confounding.
Flying Saucers 2.0 is a kaleidoscope of trippy psychedelic lights beams! It is a disorienting dance floor of disco balls and green beams and whatnot! Disneyland locals will be reminded of ElecTRONica. And like a dance party At night the ride becomes Flying Saucers Unearthed, a dance party version of a flat ride, which comes complete with a live DJ and incredible new light show packages. No two rides on this are ever the same!
I'm trying to find the right combination of adjectives to describe this experience. "Delightfully astonishing" is the best I have so far. "Sensory Overwhelming" is a close second.
A goofy, gonzo, gloriously bonkers flat ride awaits in Cosmic Crater’s central caldera. This is Flying Saucers 2.0, also sometimes known as “Foo Fighters,” a spiritual successor to an old dearly departed (and never entirely successful) Tomorrowland favorite. This followup envisions a training facility for S.K.Y. astronauts, preparing them for all the dizziness and lasers of outer space. Guests will find Flying Saucers 2.0 to be surprisingly repeatable! For while it might look like a standard teacups ride, interactive astro-guns elevate this ride type into the stratosphere!
Two hemispherical domes house our UFO testing facility - doubling up for capacity! The polymer domes’ rooftops are awash in a haphazard assortment of sci-fi satellite dishes, mechanical panels, and antennae. The domes are held up by white Googie arches like the LAX Theme Building. Passersby can watch the craziness from off-ride, which should prove quite a spectacle!
The queue begins in between the two domes, underneath a hand-welded sign on chains announcing “Flying Saucers 2.0.” A crashed UFO smoking in heaps spans the entrance archway. Guests wait in the shade under an eave inspired by Tomorrowland 1955’s Space Bar. Vintage NASA-style S.K.Y. posters beckon guests to “Enlist!,” to “Become an Astronaut!,” generally spelling out the ride’s training program premise. Switchbacks overlook both rotating ride platforms; helpful illustration-heavy signage explains the ride’s laser gun mechanisms.
The queue splits in a “Y” against the far crater wall, where the ride controller oversees from a slanted mission control window built into the sands. Mid-century cinder blocks hold the crater walls in place, dirt visibly pouring over them in spots. Cast members at the “Y” gather groups of guests in both directions, just enough to fill both domes at the same time.
Our pre-ride music - the strangely experimental mid-century oddity that is 1956’s “The Flying Saucer” by Buchanan & Goodman - plays out as guests walk onto the floor. Each dome hosts eighteen flying saucers, with six each on three spinning discs. The ride vehicles are hubcap-shaped retro-futuristic UFOs with simple bench seating facing forward. In each UFO are two atomic ray guns holstered in the dashboard. In both form and function, these blasters borrow a lot from Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters.
The ride begins, speed picks up, as surf guitarist **** Dale’s 1996 recording for Space Mountain plays. The large ride platform rotates clockwise, while the smaller inset discs rotate counter-clockwise - physically, this is Mad Tea Party. But then there are the ray guns! Because on Flying Saucers 2.0, guests don’t spin themselves...they spin other riders!
Large light-up targets cover every available interior surface. Targets are all over the semi-dome ceiling, in recessed panels and rafters inspired by old, forgotten Discoveryland concept art. At the center is a target-covered chrome 1950s robot - equal parts Robbie, Daleks, Gort, and others - spinning opposite the main ride platform. Targets are even found on other UFOs’ rear exhaust ports. Now fire away!
The object of all this? To shoot other UFOs and cause them to spin uncontrollably for a second or two. Hitting non-UFO targets along the ceiling or along the support arches strengthens your own UFO’s “shield” from opposing laser blasts. Of course different targets hold different values - more shield, or longer spin for your opponents. There is no final score tally, but simply the sheer adrenal pleasure of an out-of-control ray gun frenzy! And should riders grow nauseous from the rotation, their UFO comes equipped with an on-off switch...it stops the spinning, and it also powers down the ray guns. There is the potential to use this strategically. Our ride designers are still fine-tuning the gameplay elements, but they are confident that the end result will be addictively confounding.
Flying Saucers 2.0 is a kaleidoscope of trippy psychedelic lights beams! It is a disorienting dance floor of disco balls and green beams and whatnot! Disneyland locals will be reminded of ElecTRONica. And like a dance party At night the ride becomes Flying Saucers Unearthed, a dance party version of a flat ride, which comes complete with a live DJ and incredible new light show packages. No two rides on this are ever the same!
Excellent work as always! Fantastic work making each land and each attraction feel unique while the park still feels like a cohesive whole. Absolutely fabulous work!
Cocktails and molecular gastronomy meals [ADULT DRINKS]
A curious, forgotten world of Space Age chic - wavy neon mod design and cheesy lounge music and out-of-this-world cocktails - lives again at Quarks! Of DisneySky’s four table service restaurants, this is certainly the most “out there.” The setting is retro-futuristic to the max. The cuisine is experimental. The drinks are in Technicolor.
Quarks sits slightly below Cosmic Canyon’s walkway at the lagoon level, on a rocky spit of land between Atomic Boneyard and Langley Lagoon. It is just high enough to block views of Avengers Airspace. This mid-century Googie creation is shaped like a UFO, with inspiration from Palm Springs’ Elrod House and Joshua Tree’s Kellogg House. Like those houses, Quarks is built organically around a garden of massive sandstone boulders. Joshua trees grow out from all available crevices.
Underneath a big Googie “Quarks” sign, the kind you’d find at a vintage bowling alley or car wash, a ramp leads down to the lobby wing. The check-in lobby is a ribbed concrete chamber which transitions guests from the desert to the “future.” Deluxe moderne furniture circles around a retro starburst carpet. A floor-to-ceiling magenta lava lamp wall obscures views into the sunken dining room.
The circular dining area is heavily indebted to the defunct Encounter restaurant which used to occupy LAX’s Theme Building...a restaurant which, incidentally, was a rare work-for-hire project by Imagineering. Like Encounter, Quarks doubles down on the outdated Space Age stylings: All bubble-shaped chairs and wavy white plastic tables and Populuxe furniture. Oh, and all this has been built around the desert rocks, which divide up the space.
Like the Elrod House, a radial ceiling of slanted concrete slabs leads the eye up to the center. Here hangs an atomic model chandelier. Dining by Langley Lagoon is below the water level, protected by solid concrete architecture. Diners at this level sit with their faces right next to the gently lapping waves. Inwards-slanted clearstory glass windows provide all diners with panoramic views of Langley Lagoon, which makes for ideal lagoon show viewing. A curvy bar fills the restaurant’s inner perimeter, backed by an aquarium backdrop full of lazily meandering bubbles. Restrooms, located behind the bar, continue the hazy, retro neon ambiance, with wavy countertops and an atomic motif.
Groovy, dreamy lounge music from a forgotten age - music like Earl Backus’ “Haunted Guitar” - drifts across the chamber.
At night, Quarks truly comes alive with neon recessed lighting. Turquoise, teal and magenta colors swirl slowly. Lava lanterns at the tables provide additional psychedelic imagery. Reservations are required for nighttime seating, since Quarks provides one of the best spots in all of DisneySky for viewing our nighttime spectacular, Skies of Fantasy.
The menu at Quarks is truly out-of-this-world! The kitchen specializes in molecular gastronomy - a form of food science which chemically and physically transforms food (often using liquid nitrogen) in experimental new ways. The end results are as colorful and alien as anything in Quarks. These culinary concoctions can be purchased a-la carte, or as a prix fixe meal. The chefs are always playing around with new techniques, so the menu is always evolving.
Cocktails at the bar are similarly playful. Forget Disney’s typical glowing ice cubes, here the drink itself glows! Beverages bubble and steam. They come in a wide, wild range of colors, like the beakers in an old-fashioned mad science movie. Flavors range from the fruity to the smooth, with a heavy emphasis on flavored vodkas and grenadines. (We also serve beer.)
Bunker Bistro Counter service restaurant
Burgers, salads and more
With an asteroid threatening all life on Earth, Dr. Luna Diesel took proactive steps and constructed a fallout shelter dug deep into the ridge of Mt. Helios. Now that the threat of annihilation is thankfully passed (see IMPACT!) that shelter has been transformed into a sprawling counter service restaurant welcoming families and astronauts.
The entrance to Bunker Bistro is located north of the crater facilities. A cave mouth inspired by Bronson Canyon (famed from awful sci-fi flicks like Robot Monster) leads to the blast doors - an open vault airlock. A massive atompunk earth drill sits alongside the entrance, amidst piles of freshly-loosened soil, as a testament to the bunker’s creation. Googie lettering embedded in the striated rock face outside announces the bistro’s name.
Within is a domelike silo, a towering cathedral of sandstone dug out from the mountain’s interior. Paved with monumental concrete and defined by austere angular shapes, the clear primary influence here is James Bond production designer Ken Adam...in particular his enormous volcano set for You Only Live Twice. A huge, slanted disc-shaped sunroof lets in light from above (it’s just an effect). At the room’s center is a ballistic missile, steaming ferociously. Outer concrete walls feature automat machines, as well as collections of canned foods and MRE barrels.
The slanted wall on the far end features a “Big Board” like in Dr. Strangelove. Picture a fantastical version of NASA’s Mission Control: TV screens several yards across display a blinking satellite map of the Solar System map, as well as large food menus.
Beneath the board, where guests might expect ordering counters, instead they find a series of touchscreen stations shaped like the nuclear consoles of Dr. No. This is a no-contact ordering setup familiar from Magic Kingdom’s Be Our Guest, hopefully maximizing throughput in this sure-to-be-popular restaurant location. Cast members are on hand to assist should any questions arise. Guests do not receive their food here; rather they receive RFIC “green meteorite” trackers to take to their tables, where servers will later locate guests and bring their meals.
The kitchen - which remains forever unseen - prepares classic American comfort foods with a bit of a bistro spin. Safe and familiar dishes are the specialty here, with options including hamburgers, salads, flatbreads, baked potatoes, and genuinely good casseroles.
Guests head to the dining area through a vaulted nuclear decontamination passage. Wall panels are awash in clattering Geiger counters and yellow nuclear radiation signs. Cool gusts of air blast from slanted vents in the ceiling.
Narrow vaulted halls create a compression moment, before guests emerge into a spectacular dining chamber. Space for hundreds of diners is hewn from the sandstone cliffs. With its pair of asymmetrical slanted walls, this catacomb recalls Ken Adam’s original design for Dr. Strangelove’s War Room - minus the “Big Board,” of course. In its place is an incredibly wide, clearstory window weld in place by steel girders, offering spectacular observation views of IMPACT!’s launch track. Stainless steel dining tables are arranged on three tiered sections so that every guest can enjoy unobstructed views of the rockets blasting off.
Monolithic concrete slabs hold in the inner sandstone cliffs. This inner section resembles Adam’s design for Blofeld’s private quarters in You Only Live Twice - domestic yet minimalistic, with vertical gardens built into the rock face. Seen close up, these walls feature vintage “duck and cover” nuclear safety placards (strong shades of the Fallout video games). In one corner is a newly-bored tunnel, one still bearing the telltale indents of an industrial-scale drillbit, which leads to the Bistro’s dedicated restrooms.
Guzzlin’ Gremlins Beer stand
Wagon offering pretzels and draft beer [ADULT DRINKS]
When the deserts of Cosmic Crater become too hot and dry for guests, they can always head to the shores of Langley Lagoon and quench their thirst at Guzzlin’ Gremlins. This low-key snack stand pours locally brewed draft beers, the same vintage served at DCA, plus warm, soft pretzels.
Guzzlin’ Gremlins is based out of an army green B-25 fuselage which has been grounded, shorn of its wings, and turned into a beer wagon. Painted on its side is a cartoon gremlin from Roald Dahl’s novel “The Gremlins” - which was actually published in 1943 by the Walt Disney Company!
The reason this plane was decommissioned? It is infested by gremlins!...mischievous creatures in aviation folklore who love to destroy aircraft. Evidence of their presence is practically overwhelming, from the tiny footprints in the nearby sand to the sound of them mucking about inside the B-25’s interior, cackling with glee. Occasionally the military surplus netting which shades guests will flap erratically, always accompanied by the laughter of unseen gremlins.
Accessories, sun protectors and extraterrestrial merchandise
Long before even the recent meteor collision, this eerie and under-traveled section of desert has been ground zero for the strange and the bizarre. It was inevitable that some enterprising huckster would capitalize on the area’s extraterrestrial mania. Like the chintzy roadside attractions which dot places like Roswell, New Mexico, or the tacky dinosaur parks which swarm the southwest, Area 55 brings its own seedy charm to Cosmic Crater.
Just don’t call it a post-ride shop! Yes, guests exiting Atomic Boneyard will walk directly past Area 55’s decrepit wooden shack, but they are never forced inside. They enter voluntarily, enticed by some magnetic phenomena perhaps, or rather by the shop’s gaudy appeal. Even from the main asphalt walkways, guests cannot escape this curio shop’s hucksterism. From the massive white “Area 55” emblem across the red rooftop, to the cheesy “UFO parking” billboard, to the homemade “outsider art” UFO dangling from a crane winch, to simply the pink lawn flamingos, there’s no ignoring Area 55!
Countless similar establishments throughout the American Southwest inspire this spot, notably Santa Fe’s Jackalope and Los Alamos’ Black Hole. Influences from both feature aplenty inside. Dozens of pseudo-taxidermy mounted jackalope heads line the walls. Piles of military surplus supplies stack up in corners. There are bizarre things held in colored vats, which purport to be alien remains but which are actually rather unconvincing hoaxes created by the owners.
The shop’s centerpiece is a metallic junk art version of a 1950s robot. Like King Kong or Godzilla, this mecha-monstrosity “attacks” UFOs attacking in the air - actually these “UFOs” are an armada of hubcaps on visible wires, suspended from a ceiling guidewire circling the establishment. More hokey bits of vernacular art fill out the space, from the sculptures of welded garbage to the Googie/Populuxe sign proclaiming “Ronald’s Ray-Guns!” New Age crystals sit alongside books on the Sedona Vortex. The actual merchandise - ranging from generic Disney accessories to cactus candy to themed alien items - cannot be said to be any classier.
For all of these curios and oddities, perhaps Area 55’s most unusual item is “Madame Zbargggh.” She is a grey alien psychic who lives inside a coin-op fortune telling machine, who uses her otherworldly powers to read guests’ minds. Okay, obviously this thing is merely a not-to-convincing animatronic thrown together by the proprietors, but like Adventureland’s Shrunken Ned she boasts an undeniable charm.
Meteorite Mart Post-ride shop
Confectionary, items themed to space travel and more
Now this IS a post-ride shop! The exit to IMPACT! leads riders down ramps and through underground concrete tunnels under the crater’s base. These tunnels let out into Meteorite Mart, a sunken circular shop located below grade in the crater’s geometrical center, directly beneath the mounted meteorite. Riders who don’t feel like shopping can easily continue forward, to exit ramps or stairs leading upwards around the mart’s perimeter and towards Flying Saucers 2.0.
From the outside, this odd little place somewhat resembles a 1950s Googie UFO. On the inside, it’s like a scaled-up atompunk version of Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House - a cylindrical aluminium “machine for living.” The Fuller influence extends to some of his artwork displayed on the outer walls. Wraparound exterior glass windows look out onto the subterranean strata of Cosmic Crater - all glowing green with radioactivity from the meteor impact. To add square footage, there are two side rooms, sunken even further and styled like the interior of Klaatu’s spaceship in The Day the Earth Stood Still. In all interiors, eerie track lighting on the floors and ceiling illuminates everything like the innards of a vintage flying saucer.
As for decor, all of that follows the same goofy atompunk UFO motif. Shelf tops boast astronaut equipment props and genuine vintage wind-up spaceship toys. The checkout counter is shaped like a UFO cockpit, complete with consoles which light up in random sequences whenever a purchase is made.
Lunar Gifts Wagon cart
Wagon with cases, light-up items and more
The outskirts of Cosmic Crater are littered with Dr. Diesel’s failed atompunk space experiments. The most interesting of these contraptions is a lunar lander perched along the tufa-filled shores of Langley Lagoon. The lander malfunctions constantly, releasing flames from its retro rockets into the desert sands. Some of these sands have even been turned into glass!
Alongside the lander is an atompunk moon buggy which serves as the actual shop wagon for Lunar Gifts. Buggy tracks in the walkway mud suggest it has been parked here only recently. With the Skies of Fantasy nighttime spectacular taking place so very nearby, Lunar Gifts specializes in glowing light-up items to be waved around and worn during the show.
Season’s greetings! When the merriest time of year comes to Disneyland Resort, festive celebrations pop up throughout to delight both out-of-towners and local passholders. Disneyland’s holiday offerings include character cavalcades, wintertime shows, and innumerable ride overlays. Disney California Adventure plays the Epcot-style event card with Festival of the Holidays. Across the entire resort, special Christmastime foods and shows and activities spread cheer. And unlike Walt Disney World and its hard-ticket nighttime parties, Disneyland Resort’s holiday entertainment is all part of a regular day in the parks!
DisneySky is not immune to the fun. It too sees Christmas additions to every land. New food, decorations, and more bring warmth to the cold winter skies, starting in early November and running through January. DisneySky’s elaborate lagoon shows metamorphose into unique seasonal extravaganzas. Whether you’re in the park seeking new holiday features, or simply enjoying the existing sights and attractions, Christmastime is the right time for DisneySky!
DisneySky Christmas Decorations
Top to bottom, every acre of DisneySky transforms with holiday decorations to give every guest a warm, joyful sense of goodwill. The additions begin with the Grand Central Hangar entry, which now houses a massive Christmas tree standing 55 feet tall. Garlands wreath the industrial rafters. Hundreds of ornaments spanning the “Grand Central Tree” feature characters from every animated Disney film. Similar touches festoon the park’s seven destinations.
Befitting an entry land, Runway One receives the heaviest redecoration. A lot of the new seasonal look is very familiar from the classic Christmas accessories seen on Main Street U.S.A. and elsewhere. Everywhere guests look, there are bright holiday lights, garlands, tinsel, poinsettia flowers, red ribbons, gift-wrapped presents, Mickey Mouse wreaths, and ornaments.
Snow and icicles cover Inspiration Observatory. At night, light blue projection mapping bedecks the facility in slowly drifting snowflakes and snowfall. Avionics, DisneySky’s emporium, hosts a gingerbread airplane model as its centerpiece. Centrally located in Dreamers Circle is a statue of Mickey Mouse as Santa Claus riding a jet plane; his “sleigh” is pulled by a team of reindeer statues. This statue serves as a major outdoor event location, with caroling and Christmas bands scheduled to appear here throughout the day.
Since Christmas did not exist in ancient China, Mythic Realms instead honors the Winter Solstice. This is entirely in keeping with DisneySky’s astronomical themes. China’s Harbin Winter Festival provides the primary visual inspiration, with its sculptures of (simulated) snow & ice depicting traditional Chinese subjects. Nighttimes are especially gorgeous, thanks to multicolored LED lights glowing within the ice blocks.
An Old World Christmas, in the German and Scandinavian styles, defines Discovery Glacier. Shops and restaurants feature Christmas trees with candles in place of light strands (no fire hazard; they’re electrical). Temporary Christmas Market wood sheds line Lake Verne, serving as pop-up storefronts for wintertime treats. Strands of white lights give the land a soft, elegant nighttime glow.
Since Pioneer Fields is the centerpoint for DisneySky’s Halloween celebrations, the land is a bit more low-key for Christmas. Pioneer Fields specializes in Hispanic traditions. There are seven-pointed holiday pinatas hanging everywhere. However, there are no nativity scenes, to avoid possible religious offense.
Diesel Bay is brightened by some rather simple Christmas light additions, with strands spiraling the bases of palm trees and DisneySky JetRail supports. The Hollyhock Stage near Rocketeer Center in downtown Diesel Bay hosts an elegant white-lit Christmas tree inspired by New York’s Rockefeller Center. The jungle interior meanwhile embraces a Hawaiian Christmas approach, with palm front wreaths and banners declaring “Mele Kalikimaka!”
A New Mexican Christmas is celebrated in Cosmic Crater. This means that in place of the usual Christmas lights, the roadways and trails are lined with luminarias. Also known as farolitos, these are rows of candlelit paper lanterns (again, electric to avoid fire hazards) which create soft, romantic light. Christmas wreaths are made of dried chili peppers, with alternating red and green shades. A snowman made of tumbleweeds greets guests at Cosmic Crater’s entrance.
Avengers Airspace maintains the same “basic” Christmas decor as Runway One, albeit with less density. Besides, the Langley Lagoon shows totally make up for it! Nighttime lighting packages bathe the skyscraper facades in festive red and green hues.
Character Encounters
Most of DisneySky’s Christmastime character encounters consist of the park’s usual characters appearing in wintertime garb. This is especially noteworthy in Runway One, where Mickey and the other Fab Five gather festooned in warm fur-lined coats and Santa outfits. A somewhat jokier approach is employed in Avengers Airspace, where Marvel’s superheroes dress as usual, while also wearing Santa hats.
There are a few dedicated meet ‘n’ greet facilities included to spread additional cheer. Discovery Glacier, with its 19th-century snowbound Europe setting, is a natural spot to include some characters from Frozen. But lest we spoil the land’s meticulous steampunk theme with an overbearing character intrusion, only a small corner of Tinkerer’s Workshop is altered. For only a few months out of the year, guests can queue up to meet Arrendelle’s visiting dignitaries, Anna and Elsa and Olaf, all dressed in their best wintertime vestments, in A Very Merry Frozen Christmas.
Meanwhile, Marceline Character Hub - Runway One’s year round meet ‘n’ greet attraction which is designed specifically for regularly rotating character appearances - hosts a special Flights to Santa’s Workshop overlay. One of the Hub’s theaters flies guests out to the North Pole to meet with the big man himself!
Seasonal Treats
Dessert venues throughout DisneySky create new seasonal sweets for each annual event. The churro carts serve cocoa-filled gingerbread churros. Places like Wright Bakers and Pie-in-the-Sky Pie Shoppe dish out peppermint ice creams, figgy puddings, even the dreaded fruit cake (only DisneySky does it well!). In Discovery Glacier, the pop-up Winter Village provides traditional Germanic tidbits, including cups of hot spiced cocoa, stollen bread, and pfeffernusse cookies.
A few of DisneySky’s premier table service and counter service restaurants include distinctive seasonal meals. Barnyard Barbecue serves traditional Christmas dinners, with both turkey and ham options. Bulldog Cafe, already known for its tamales, serves them “Christmas style” smothered in both red and green New Mexican chile.
Entertainment & Overlays
Holiday entertainment offerings in DisneySky range from quaint streetmosphere performances to grand extravaganzas in Langley Lagoon. Disney Parks’ hard-working entertainment divisions create fantastic new offerings yearly, so this is but a sampling of the seasonal merriment guests might discover.
Carolers populate Runway One throughout the day and night. They are especially fond of singing in Dreamers Circle, in a designated performance arena. Guests may join in, aided by souvenir lyric sheets, all under the shadow of “Mickey Claus” in his jet plane sleigh. At night when departing guests must again pass down Runway One’s main boulevard, the carolers kick into high gear. Artificial snow machines dot the hangar rooftops, while the carolers gather around artificial bonfires lining the walkways.
In the Hispanic world of Pioneer Fields, cast members celebrate Las Posadas, a novenario candlelight procession with songs dedicated to the winter solstice.
And in Diesel Bay, the Rocketeer Center Christmas Tree is host to a special tree lighting ceremony which takes place at dusk.
As with Halloween, again the main ride overlay takes place at Pioneer Fields’ Airtopia flat ride. For the Christmas season, the ride is rechristened Merry-topia. Again the hovering hot air balloons are redressed, this time as immaculate Christmas ornaments, complete with glistening lighting packages and an accompanying yuletide soundtrack.
Then there are the large-scale offerings in Langley Lagoon! This setting, visible primarily from the Helicarrier in Avengers Airspace, is DisneySky’s primary spectacular venue. Both the daytime Kite Festival and the nighttime Skies of Fantasy shows receive major holiday overhauls.
Christmastime Kite Festival replaces our typical waterborne DisneySky Kite Festival with a seasonal medley of holiday songs to accompany special Christmas-themed kites...all with the show’s original cast of lovable Disney characters. Songs include “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” and other favorites.
Merry Skies of Fantasy is our yuletide nighttime spectacular. The regular Skies of Fantasy employs a combination of physical sets and projections, much in the style of Fantasmic!, making a top-to-bottom transformation unlikely. Instead, most of the “Merry” appears in the show’s mesmerizing finale, which now features classical Christmas music such as Tchaikovsy’s “Nutcracker Suite” (replacing Holtz’s “Jupiter”), while screens on the main conical stage transform the platform into a dazzling Christmas tree. Projection mapping covers the entire western slope of Mt. Helios with snowfall, and with appropriate Disney imagery such as Fantasia’s winter sprites.
We hope you enjoyed your yuletide visit to DisneySky. May all your days be merry and bright, and airy with flight.
While of course Christmas and Halloween are the major seasonal events at DisneySky (and all Disney Parks, for that matter), there are other holiday seasonal events throughout the year which warrant discussion. Seasonal events, like anything based on operations, are subject to constant change - take for instance the Epcot festivals which arose organically over the years - so consider this simply a sampling of the seasonal celebrations which DisneySky can host.
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve falls within the greater Christmas season, plus it’s really a one-night-only event, so massive parkwide redecoration is not needed. Rather, DisneySky rings in the new with special hard ticket one-night-only parties, and unique public performances throughout the day which are available to regular park guests.
DisneySky’s walkaround characters, in particular the Fab Five, get in on the festivities. Throughout the day, even during regular daylight park-going hours long before any hard ticket events, guests will find Mickey, Minnie and the rest celebrating publically dressed in their black tie best, complete with stylish gowns and foppish tophats. Live musicians - DisneySky’s daily marching band and streetmosphere performers - delight guests with specialized holiday performances & dances & songs.
Some of DisneySky’s most exclusive table service restaurants - venues such as Ptolemy’s, Salon de Hyperion, South Seas Club, & Quarks - each host separate New Year’s Eve parties, with each restaurant playing up its own unique vibe. From the Art Deco grandeur of South Seas Club where the event is treated with a grandiosity straight out of The Great Gatsby, to the Swinging Sixties cool of Quarks where the New Year is treated like the Age of Aquarius, there is something to fit every style. Diners will enjoy champagne and hors d'oeuvres, and they will countdown to midnight
The real centerpiece of DisneySky’s New Year’s Eve is the countdown show in Langley Lagoon. While DisneySky’s residential neighborhood location precludes the use of loud fireworks or noisemakers - besides, there are two other resort theme parks for that - our unique combination of mountainside projections, lagoon ambiance, and reprogrammable drone fleet makes a one-night-only show easy to design and implement. Following an extended performance of DisneySky’s nightly Skies of Fantasy spectacular, the countdown commences. Drone fly together to spell out numbers; they light up in sequence as midnight nears. As the calendar turns, the whole of Mt. Helios is bathed in gorgeous sunrise projections, glowing warm with the promise of things to come!
Lunar New Year
The ancient Chinese environs of Mythic Realms provide the perfect canvas for a Lunar New Year celebration. At present, this celebration is underrepresented at Disneyland Resort. DisneySky’s festival conforms to the Chinese New Year, when the first new moon of the year appears, typically between January and February. This tends to be a slower time of the year at the resort, making this a good crowd draw.
Mythic Realms is redressed with a grand assortment of red lanterns strung throughout the buildings. Cherry blossoms appear amidst the plantings. Creative paper creatures throughout represent that year’s zodiac animal. The animal is also represented by a large central faux-paper sculpture which is formed from kites. Special foods such as lunar new year dumplings temporarily feature on restaurant menus.
Additional streetmosphere performances make the event more than mere redecoration. The land’s acrobats engage in processionals meandering through the walkways, clad in evocative dragon and animal costumes. They perform the lion dance and similar ceremonies. For the eight days preceding the official start of the holiday, and for the festival’s fifteen official days, unique and appropriate ceremonies feature. There are distinct new performances on each day, following the classic Chinese traditions.
Easter
The April weeks surrounding Easter also happen to fall during Spring Break season, when crowds are practically guaranteed in Disney Parks. Some simple redecoration is all that’s needed to honor this holiday, since realistically Disney is limited to Easter’s secular iconography. Character-themed Easter eggs are hidden throughout the park, just as they are at Disneyland and California Adventure. Runway One welcomes entering guests with beautiful springtime floral arrangements and garland displays. Pioneer Fields, with its agrarian setting, is a proper setting for an egg decoration booth, where cast members help guests paint their choice of Disney character on a souvenir egg.
Fourth of July
Runway One in particular is already a year round celebration of Americana, particularly a celebration of the U.S. armed forces. It takes little effort to visually transform the airfield into a patriotic Independence Day extravaganza. Additional flags and buntings are strung about tastefully, all with a bright, festive red, white and blue color scheme.
It’s far less feasible to stage blowout fireworks displays at DisneySky, given its close proximity to Anaheim’s residential neighborhoods. (This is a problem throughout the Disneyland Resort, one that’s only exacerbated in our location.)
So in place of any sort of show stopping nighttime spectacular - that duty falls to California Adventure’s World of Color holiday overlays - DisneySky instead is proud to host the daytime DisneySky Aerodrome Extravaganza (Presented by Red Bull). This is a curious, one-of-a-kind “Flugtag” event held in Langley Lagoon. A roster of competing teams (invitees from across the nation, possibly the world) present their own homemade, man-powered flying machines. Teams launch from a pier overlooking Langley Lagoon to see who can fly the furthest. But competition isn’t the point; this is all about the entertainment value. Humorous, off-kilter “flying machines” rarely ever fly at all! It’s all about watching bizarre contraptions crash spectacularly into the water! DisneySky’s flugtag stands in for the daily Kite Festival, and its one-day-only, one-of-a-kind nature makes it a major draw which gets crowded fast!
