Orange County Register

The snowfall, twinkly castle and holiday-themed parades and fireworks return this week to the Disneyland Resort, well before Thanksgiving.

The holiday season begins Friday, Nov. 13 at both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, running through Jan. 3. Most of the features are the same as previous years, said John McClintock, a Disneyland Resort spokesman. However, a few surprises were added to A Christmas Fantasy parade.

Workers already started installing the decorations after the Halloween season, putting up garland and bulbs in New Orleans Square and adding snow-like accents on the castle. (Check back later for photos and a video of the decorations.)

Here are some of the features that visitors will find starting Friday:

• A special fireworks show, called “Believe … in Holiday Magic,” in front of a sparkly Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland includes holiday music. The show concludes with fake snow falling on Main Street U.S.A., by it’s a small world ride and in New Orleans Square. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the show is scheduled for 9:25 p.m. For weekdays next week, fireworks go off at 8 p.m., according to the Disneyland Web site schedule.
• A Christmas Fantasy parade with holiday scenes and vignettes will go down Main Street U.S.A. daily. The parade proceeds at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It starts at 5:30 p.m. on weekdays next week.
• Reindeer will appear in Santa’s Reindeer Round-up in Big Thunder Ranch in Disneyland. Santa Claus will also greet children there, as well as at Paradise Bay boardwalk in Disney’s California Adventure.
• The it’s a small world ride will re-open with the dolls dressed in holiday attire, singing carols along with the classic tune. More than 300,000 lights will adorn the outside.
• Later, Disney’s Electrical Parade will run Dec. 18 to Jan. 3 in Disney’s California Adventure.

Southern California Select annual passholders should plan on getting to the parks soon. Their passes only allow entrance on most weekdays through Dec. 13. After that, there are blackout dates for the rest of the season, according to the Disneyland Web site.

Taking pictures of holiday time at Disney parks? Share your photos on the Around Disney Flickr group. Pictures are selected each week to run in the blog. About once a month, we choose photos to run in the newspaper.

Photo courtesy of Disneyland.

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