'Tis the Season!

Faith makes all things possible,
Hope makes all things work,
Love makes all things beautiful,
May you have all the three
for this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

Silent night, Silvery snow...
Evergreen tree, bright & aglow...
Christmas is here bringing good cheer...
May it bring for you...
Gifts of love and joy too!
Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!

May the spirit of Christmas
Bring happiness to your heart,
Peace and joy to your home.
And blessings to you and your loved ones!

Merry Christmas!!

Disneyland Orlando - The Parade at Night!!

Some more pictures from my visit to Disneyland Orlando during the Christmas weekend in 2008. This time from the Disney parade at night. There are a lot of lovely colourful parades going on throughout the day at regular intervals which is fun to watch. But the night parade is something special as now all the floats will be lighted with a thousand bright and colourful little lights that add a different perspective to the whole event. Definitely one of the things to catch while in Disney.

Mickey Mouse leading the parade in the first of the floats to pass by. The crowd sitting patiently on both sides of the path till this point started cheering. Lots of flashes of lights on both sides, indicated the multitude of cameras clicking to capture this parade.

More floats followed. Each beautifully decorated with some Disney character at the helm.

A beautiful dancing peacock in green was next in line in the parade.

A shoal of fish passed by to the loud cheers from the crowd. Somehow I thought the fish had the look of simpletons about them.

Next in line was a steam engine that passed by with a loud whistle.

This crocodile could have come straight out of the story of Peter Pan, maybe in search of the pirate captain, Captain Hook.

The next float had an angry bird with its wings spread wide apart, ready to take flight.

This float had the three little pigs playing the fool and making the crowd laugh.

The pumpkin chariot straight out of folk-lore. One could see a beautiful damsel sitting in the chariot.

This was a really beautifully decorated float with lithe birds and butterflies adorning the chariot.

The final floats passed by with one of the seven dwarves waving. And with this the last parade of the day, the only parade at night, came to an end.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in Belmont, one of the suburbs of Charlotte. It includes manicured gardens, natural surrounding areas including woodland trails, sparkling fountains and an Orchid Conservatory. During Christmas and New Year, nearly 60,000 holiday lights are on display at the garden transforming the garden into something ethereal. Just 30 mins from home, we visited the place on a evening. The holiday lights were beautiful but the heavy fog somehow dampened the visit.

Two angles at the entrace welcomed us to the Visitor's Lobby of the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

There was some Irish music along with some traditional dancing in the lobby. Some traditional Irish intruments were playing out beautiful tunes.

They had a full christmas tree made up of orchids. But then this place has an Orchid Conservatory.

Managed to capture the holiday lights decorated here from a good angle giving a different perspective.

There were lights of different colours. Some red, some blue, some yellow, some green. And some were white.

The beautiful lighted tunnel leading to the fountain.

Another capture of the lighted tunnel leading to the fountain.

The lights were decorated in the shapes of trees and birds. Saw one in the shape of a large butterfly.

Some christmas lights in the shape of flying birds.

Some in the shape of trees and colourful flowers.

Soldiers standing sentinel infront of lighted christmas trees.

There were some lighting in the Orchid Conservatory as well.

Disneyland Orlando - Christmas Parade

Christmas is a good time to visit Disneyland. One can enjoy a variety of special Christmas parades organised only this time of the year. We were lucky to visit Disneyland Orlando during the long Christmas weekend in 2008. It has lots of attractions, especially for kids. Rides, parades, Cindrella's Castle and lovely display of fireworks at night.

Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas Time Parade

The Disney Band

Mickey and Minnie

Uncle Scrooge

Dancers matching the beats

Donald Duck on a horse carriage

Graceful Dancers

Winning over the crowd

The Chipmunks

Snow White with her prince charming

The Seven Dwarfs

More dances

Goofy goofying around

One more float in the parade

Straight from Toy Story

The band from Toy Land

Santa riding with a sleighful of presents