It’s Christmas time at Disneyland. It almost hurts to say that. What ever happened to waiting for turkey day? I’d like to take this moment to reach deep inside and pull out my crotchety old man voice to say It seems to get earlier every year. And this year it comes in a
50th aniversary gold edition. From a Disneyland press release:
DISNEYLAND 50th ANNIVERSARY GOLD CHRISTMAS TREE FUN FACTS
The 2005 holiday season at the Disneyland Resort will be a whole lot
brighter this year as the traditional Christmas tree in Town Square on
Main Street, U.S.A. goes gold in honor of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary
celebration (continuing daily through 2006). Glittering in gilded
splendor the traditional live tree has received the “Midas Touch†with
a golden theme to commemorate Disneyland’s half-century milestone.Here are the trunk-to-tip facts regarding this most unique Disneyland holiday icon:
The Disneyland 50th Anniversary Gold Christmas Tree stands in
Town Square on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland from November 11, 2005
to January 2, 2006.- The tree is 60 feet tall and decorated with 5,000 golden ornaments and 5,000 holiday lights.
- The lights decorating the tree are clear, white and amber accenting and highlighting the tree’s golden luminescence.
- The tree’s gold topper is a symbolic pair of golden Mickey
Mouse ears with the numeral “50†in the center, and is accented with
genuine, hand-applied 24-karat gold leafing.- At the base of the tree are giant decorative gift boxes and colorful red poinsettias.
- The tree was harvested from the Mount Shasta region of Northern California, near the city of Redding.
- The tree is a White Fir, which is also known as a Shasta Fir.
- For its journey to the Disneyland Resort the tree was secured
horizontally on a flatbed tractor-trailer and transported by a trucking
company to southern California.- The tree arrived at Disneyland on October 17 and soon began an
extensive preparation and decorating process that took place in the
Resort’s “backstage†area.- More than 20 Disneyland Resort Cast Members were involved in
the process of preparing, decorating and displaying the Disneyland 50th
Anniversary Gold Christmas Tree.- The entire process for this year’s tree, from selection to installation on Main Street, U.S.A., took 560 hours.
- The tree firmly rests in a planter in Town Square and is kept
secure from any wind effects by four guy wires that are attached to the
tree. Two guy wires are anchored to Main Street buildings and two
are anchored into the ground.- During the decorating process, the tree was placed in a
five-foot-deep well containing 50 gallons of water. While in Town
Square for its eight-week display, the tree sits in a similar well that
is replenished with water every few days.- The Disneyland tradition of a giant Christmas tree towering
over Main Street, U.S.A. began in 1956. Disneyland is the last Disney
park in the world to still utilize a real live tree as its holiday
centerpiece in Town Square.- Since its first holiday season in 1955 Disneyland has
celebrated this special time of year with Yule time parades, an
abundance of festive décor and special entertainment including the
annual holiday parade, carolers, holiday foods, seasonal merchandise
and the traditional Candlelight Ceremony and Processional.# # #
