Yesterday, Disneyland Paris said
“joyeux anniversaire!” to Mickey Mouse, following
a number of Disney’s other resorts and media properties in celebrating the mouse’s 88th year with a host of special surprises and a global initiative using the hashtag #HappyBirthdayMickey.
DLP Today was there to capture the fun in pictures and videos!
The day began similar to any other at
Disneyland Park, with only Mickey’s familiar figure in the Disneyland Hotel clock and Fantasia Gardens flower bed.
Though the surprises that would follow were only small, they were all welcome little plusses to create a special feeling around this milestone Disney date.
“#HappyBirthdayMickey” Stickers
Throughout the day, Disneyland Paris Guest Flow Cast Members, working along the parade route and alongside characters, were sharing out special limited edition “#HappyBirthdayMickey” stickers.
Bearing the same design as the badges (or buttons) handed out at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, the stickers soon became a common sight around the park — and later that evening, as guests headed home, as far away as Lille Europe station and beyond!
Happy Birthday Mickey Pre-Parade
The main birthday exclusive was the advertised cavalcade of Mickey Mouse half an hour before the main Disney Magic on Parade! rolled onto the route.
With no schedules distributed or announcements made, regular guests seemed confused and astonished that the parade route was being cleared a full hour ahead of the parade’s scheduled start. Suddenly, an announcement turned their heads, Mickey’s new feel-good song played from the speakers and the mouse rolled into view.
Watch our video here:
Mickey and the Magician “Birthday Song” Encore
A nice surprise also awaited guests catching the newest
Walt Disney Studios Park sensation earlier in the day, as
Mickey and the Magician presented a special encore with the curtain call cast welcoming Mickey back to the stage for a “Happy Birthday” sing-along.
Though
a press release had suggested Mickey and the Magician was well worth watching, it felt like this was just to get some extra advertising for the resort’s newest entertainment offering from the mouse’s campaign. Adding an actual special surprise at the end, however brief, was a great way to renew focus on this now award-winning show and a nice reward for fans — something Disneyland Paris should try to provide more often.
Watch our video here:
Special Cakes
Both an exclusive cupcake and restaurant birthday cake were announced last Monday. Disneyland Paris tweeted its own photo of an amazingly Mickey-coloured cake which presumably was the one exclusively available for guests also celebrating their birthday, in place of the regular birthday cake at table service restaurants.
The cupcake was available Friday 18th and Saturday 19th in selected sweet treat locations — thank you to Maarten for snapping this photo of one before snaffling it up!
It’s fair to say the Pre-Parade was
slightly underwhelming compared to the American resorts’ efforts. California in particular, of course, put a good amount of effort into decorating its Main Street Vehicles with banners and colourful balloons.
A whole gang of “VIPs”, the park’s marching band and a cast of dancers also joined Mickey, unlike his rather lonely Paris appearance.
Our cavalcade simply re-used a car from
Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars, the former Walt Disney Studios Park parade which originally came from Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, and now sadly sits idling backstage.
It wouldn’t have taken much to add a few more decorations, or characters, or dancers from the regular parade, or even willing Cast Members walking along with balloons or party hats, but wait — let’s give Disneyland Paris credit. So what if we got paper stickers instead of
proper buttons. So many times we’ve watched the American parks in particular endlessly revel in these kind of one-off Disney events.
Now at last, Marne-la-Vallée is actually joining the fun so much more often, and that’s worth celebrating almost as much as an 88-year old mouse.
So, Happy Birthday Mickey! Here’s to 89!
• See our @DLPToday Twitter for all the live tweets from the day
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