With this winters’ extreme cold and heavy snow fall the open air entertainment at the Disneyland Park certainly had to be temporarily restricted at times, with e.g. the performance stops of the Disney Fantillusion parade being cut out or some performances of shows being cancelled even on short notice, especially during the even colder late hours of the day – e.g. the final performance on the show “It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends”. Speaking of the show “It’s Party Time…” the special, soft material used as the stage floor of the newly constructed stage for this show seems to need special attention during the winter season.
While the Royal Castle Stage (built in time for the park’s grand opening in 1992) can be left unattended even during the coldest days with heavy snow fall and only needs to be cleaned off any snow prior to the performances of “Snow White… Happily Ever After” – well, it is a different thing for the huge stage on Central Plaza, that was constructed all new at considerable expenses in early 2009. Here several cast members are brought in to add plastic sheets covering the whole stage floor every evening this winter – even on nights were temperatures are expected only to get close to freezing. Shortly before the first performance of the day another set of cast members is coming in to brush off any ice, snow or water and afterwards take the covers down again – all in full sight of the guests inside the park. One needs to wonder which additional costs these extra work steps are causing (not the mention the bad show that executing these steps in front of guests is) and whether the entertainment management considered this extra work and costs when pushing for the expensive construction of the stage instead of opting for the underutilized Royal Castle Stage?