Planning for the holiday season, specifically the decor of Buena Vista Street and in Cars Land, has been in the works for more than two years. Because both lands are new to Disney California Adventure this year, the Resort Enhancement Team had the unique opportunity and challenge of developing theming and decor where there previously was none. My favorite part of the tour was visiting Cars Land. My family and I had the opportunity to visit this summer and loved every single detail from the street signs to the rides and everything in between. Now, after seeing it decorated for the holidays, I cannot wait for my kiddos to see and experience it all over again when we visit in December. 
Along Route 66 each building is decorated in keeping with the personality of the character who lives there. Click here to hear about the initial planning sessions, emails, and text messages with the creators of Cars that helped the Resort Enhancement Team to think and decorate Radiator Springs as the inhabitants themselves would have- using items such as traffic cone Christmas trees, wrench snowflakes, and tire wreaths.
My favorite building is Town Hall and the Stanley statue. Stanley, the founder of Radiator Springs, has been given a holiday makeover complete with Santa hat and a bag full of “toys” or auto parts as it were. Stanley’s Christmas tree is covered with hundreds of shiny hubcaps and skirted with tire planters that are filled with white and red poinsettias. Disney PhotoPass Cast Members are on hand throughout the day to take your family’s photograph. Posing between Stanley and his Christmas tree make for a great photo opportunity.
Disney has truly pulled out all of the stops (pun intended), when creating the holiday overlay for Cars Land- it’s simply stunning and a true must visit this holiday season.
We capped of the evening with the official lighting of “it’s a small world” at Disneyland. Each year The Disneyland Resort selects a family to participate in a special ceremony and to light up “it’s a small world” for the first time (click here to view the event video). This year the Plummer Family was selected through a local non-profit called Operation Homefront. I was truly inspired by Staff Sergeant Mark Plummer and his family’s story of selflessness (he enlisted after September 11th) and how they are working together to adjust to the challenges they are facing as a result of Mark’s injuries, multiple deployments, and economic hardship.
We’ve got more photos, fun-facts, tips, and product reviews to share. Be sure to check back over the next several weeks as the Babes in Disneyland Blog will feature more exclusive videos and photos from Monday’s media event and the other events Lisa will be attending throughout the season!
You can find Kendra on Twitter or on Instagram @kendrakuske
