Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I’ll be going overseas to see how Tokyo Disneyland celebrated Christmas at the beginning of its time as a park.
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Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. It’s hard to believe that we are already almost done with 2022, with 2023 just around the corner. All the Disney parks around the world celebrate Christmas, with most having done so since they first opened. Tokyo Disneyland is no exception, generally having had a Christmas show and parade every year since they first opened in 1983.
Until 2017, Tokyo Disneyland called its Christmas celebration, Christmas Fantasy, with many of the shows and parades incorporating that name in some way. Today’s attraction was no exception, especially because it was the first Christmas parade to ever call Tokyo Disneyland home. Christmas Fantasy on Parade opened during Christmas-time of 1983 and quickly became a mainstay in the park.
Mickey led off the parade with a cool old school Christmas outfit. Minnie and Pluto joined him on the float, also decked out in their Christmas best (well, a little scarf for Pluto). Their backdrop was a giant Mickey head wreath to really frame them well.
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After Mickey and his gang, we got to see Goofy in a really fun Santa outfit, with a complete gingerbread float behind him plus chefs with some funny mustaches. In what will become a familiar refrain, this group of individuals reminded me of Disneyland’s Christmas Fantasy Parade, which also sees Goofy on a gingerbread house and some fun chefs. However, Goofy doesn't get the super fun Santa outfit there.
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Next up, Mary Poppins made an appearance along with some chimney sweeps and penguins. I hadn’t really seen Mary Poppins in a Christmas parade before, but honestly she felt like a perfect fit with the film being so focused on family.
After Mary, we got another similarity to Disneyland with the snowmen and snowflakes that are so beloved there. It’s not a Christmas parade without those little snowmen especially because they are just so darn cute.
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Snow White popped up next along with her full cadre of dwarfs. Their float was pretty expansive with a wishing well and little cottage and let me tell you, those dwarfs could dance.
After them, some moving Christmas trees showed up with an escort of elves. I had never seen Christmas trees rolling around like that in a parade before and honestly they were a really nice touch that I’d love to see at Disneyland.
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I’ll be honest, Chip and Dale showing up as cowboys along with a full Wild West float left me a bit perplexed. I think it was their attempt to bring Westernland into the parade, but even with the Christmas decorations on the float, it felt pretty out of place.
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This next float featured the highlight of the show for me. I already love Peter Pan and seeing a full Jolly Roger float was pretty awesome. But what really stood out was that the crocodile was a walkaround character dressed up as Santa. I mean, come on? It doesn’t get better than that.
The rest of the parade was pretty standard fare with some walkaround stockings and then Cinderella making her appearance along with her stepmother and stepsisters.
Then, the show concluded with a float that had a really fascinating hodgepodge of characters in Pinocchio, Gepetto, Donald, Daisy, White Rabbit, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I’m not really sure how they decided on those characters, but they all kind of fit with each other in an abstract sort of way.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed Christmas Fantasy on Parade. With it sharing a lot of similarities with Disneyland’s parade, it would be hard not to like it since that is one of my favorite parades. Tokyo definitely had a hit on their hand with their first Christmas parade as evidenced by the fact that it stuck around for 10 seasons until 1992.
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As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!