Forever Magical
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Then it was over to the Amphitheater area to wait for the show. Lots of friends joined us and we chatted about various things which is what we normally do on a Sunday evening at the Disneyland Resort. In the middle of Paradise Bay were several large holiday presents, which I knew, were disguised show elements for LuminAria. But imagine a child's curiosity when they first glimpse the oversized packages. While waiting we watched the Electrical Parade from there. A little while later the 15-minute announcement for LuminAria was accompanied by the introductory pyro of Believe…in Holiday Magic at Disneyland. Once those fireworks ended we knew it was getting very close to showtime.

Suddenly the lights of Paradise Pier went dark and the audience cheered. A small amount of light illuminated the face of the sun wheel as a female voice soothingly says, “Dream of a wintery world where imagination swirls like a falling snow. Share in the warmth of the holidays and let your heart shine with joy.” I thought it was the voice of that face that is always watching us during our days at DCA. Then she declares, “This is the season of the light” as pyro explodes from the center of Paradise Bay leading to startled audience "oohs." The word "shine" is sung by a variety of voices in a choir, each right after the other. They are followed by the main theme of LuminAria, a reminder that each person makes a difference, just like a single candle in the darkness. The song invites us to "share your dream, share your light and feel the whole world shine."

Through marvelous pyro we are transformed to a wintery world. Several pyro effects fell like snow on the waters of Paradise Bay and the blue lights accompanied helped continue that imagery as the refrains of White Christmas filled the air. This segment was followed by dancing pyro filling the sky to the energetic rhythms tune of Sleigh Ride eventually fading back into White Christmas. When the segment was finished the audience applauded. I must admit that I smiled during the sleigh ride segment. Even now watching the video to make sure I describe everything accurately I realized I was smiling. The combination of music and fireworks that explode in whimsical spirals just makes me smile.

MPG Video of Sleigh Ride segment, 1 minute, 11 seconds
Low Bandwidth: (160 X 120, 4.3 Megs)
High Bandwidth (320 X 240, 9.9 Megs)

And then my field of vision was filled with red and green shots during Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Suddenly the sky exploded in rainbow of colors and when the sky cleared the large Christmas presents had opened up to reveal the LuminAria cards created by guests throughout the day. We heard one person point out their child’s card during the show and Doobie heard a child notice his card being shown. Then red pyro filled the background behind the hand drawn images.