Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade taping begins at Disney World

Kris Allen (2nd from left) performs Dec. 3 at Magic Kingdom for the 2009 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade taping. (Walt Disney World photo)

Filming for the 2009 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade began today at Walt Disney World with Kris Allen (American Idol) and Yanni. Folks who weren’t able to get reserved tickets for Thursday might not be unhappy after all.

Yanni and the Yanni Voices gave a beautiful performance of “O Holy Night” in front of the Cinderella Castle stage, but judging from fan comments, he wasn’t one of their hoped-for performers.

Kris Allen sang “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” on a stage constructed at the castle hub area, and Nick Cannon was spotted at various locations in the Magic Kingdom taping “man on the street” segments. Both were warmly received.

The Goodyear Blimp flew above Magic Kingdom capturing overhead coverage of the park and performances for the ABC special that airs on Christmas morning.

Taping is scheduled to continue Friday morning with the large-scale production number. You must have separate tickets for the taping that begins before the Magic Kingdom opens to the public. For the first time in recent years audience members will learn simple choreography and be part of the show. I can’t wait to see that!

The annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade (renamed this year from the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade) is taped at both U.S. theme parks. The segments from Disneyland are usually filmed first in November. Like us, Disney fans in Anaheim, Calif., love to speculate about who will be performing.

But, unfortunately, they are at a disadvantage because not only does Disneyland not announce its talent ahead of time, it also doesn’t reveal when the tapings will take place, according to The Orange County Register’s Web site. 

That’s quite different from Walt Disney World, where free admission and parking is offered in exchange for participants committing to a four-hour shift in the audience. Disney World tickets usually are snapped up within hours, but at least we have a shot at being involved.

Both parks stress that the tapings involve a lot of downtime for the audience members and there is no guarantee of a celebrity sighting, but Disneyland officials apparently consider the television production to be disruptive to guests who are not interested in the taping.