A year long celebration, extensive special decorations throughout the Disneyland Park, further decorations in the Fantasia Gardens, the Walt Disney Studios, the Disney Village and the Disney Hotels, a new parade, a new experience to meet Mickey and a breathtaking nighttime spectacular called “Disney DREAMS!” - the resort is going to length for its 20th anniversary that kicked off on the past Saturday with a large event that saw Imagineer Tony Baxter visit and Steve Davison talk about his birthday present to the resort before returning to the USA.
So what might be missing? Oh, yes – special anniversary merchandise! During the weeks leading up to Saturday’s kick-off event the anniversary merchandise was added one by one to the displays and shelves across the resort, certainly in particular the Emporium on the Main Street, the extension room of The Disney Store in the Disney Village and the Studio Store in the Walt Disney Studios.
There is a wide selection of various items in several styles and on all price levels. These include various t-shirts, sweat shirts, rugby shirt, baseball hats and jackets with traditional some may say “college style”) prints of their very own 20th anniversary logo – as seen above on the left as well as on the t-shirt for girls on the right.
The major amount of merchandise picks up the blue and golden color palate of the official 20th anniversary logo and also features various graphics including in particular Mickey and Minnie in their new magician costumes, but also Goofy, Donald as well as Chip’n'Dale. The products of this range are the most varied and include magnets, photo frames, several snow globes (a smaller simple model and a larger one that plays music and lights up with Mickey leaning on top of it), playing cards, stickers, key rings, a beach towel, fun hats as well as baseball hats, various pens, plastic cups, a shopping bag, place mat, pocket umbrella, backpack, purse, collectible spoon, light-up spinner, the music piece of a music box with a special backdrop, a photo album, electric candle, mugs and much, much more up to a 1,000 piece puzzle.
In addition to the “blue line” there is also a smaller “pink line” for young girls including t-shorts, dresses and plastic wands. Also available are certainly plushs of Mickey and Minnie in their new costume – and for the real fans of Mickey a new big figurine of Mickey! Or what about some Mickey gloves? While Mickey continues to wear his regular white gloves even in his new costume, the gloves on sale are in a blue magician design.
However, there is a third product line as well so far consisting of plates and ceramic mugs. Also called “retro design” these items feature artwork in the style of the early years of the resort. The first item in that line is a set of two coffee mugs with an identical design showing the castle and the Town Square gazebo on one side and the earfel tower with the main gate of the Walt Disney Studios on the other side. Also available are amongst others a ceramic cup, decorative ceramic tiles (one per land of Disneyland with iconic landmarks of the land), as well as a set with paper and pen
Another item of the line is a set of four quadratic plates, that set next to each other are to depict both parks by selecting various especially iconic landmarks. The plate for the lower left corner features the right half of the Main Street as well as Discoveryland (represented by Space Mountain and Orbitron). The plate for the upper right corner features Fantasyland (with the facade of it’s a small world and the giant beanstalk of Sir Mickey’s) as well as the right half of Frontierland 
(represented by the rocks of Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor). The plate for the top left corner includes Adventureland (represented by Captain Hook’s Galley, the Temple du Peril, the Swiss Family Treehouse and the Adventureland Bazaar). Also included on this plate are the Tower of Terror, the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop and a bit from the Earfell Tower as well as the magic hat of Disney’s Art of Animation from the Walt Disney Studios. The “rest” of the Walt Disney Studios including the lower part of the Earfel Tower, the magic hat structure as well as the entrance gate are represented on the plate for the lower left corner, which also includes the majority of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.
The retro line is only available at selected shops – including Harrington’s which also sells an engraved crystal glass.
Two more items have already been announced and should be arriving in stores soon. The first one is glossy multi colored photo book documenting the history of the resort titled “Disneyland Paris: 20 Years of Dreams”. The resort hopes to have it in stock by April 12 for the actual birthday but this is not yet confirmed. The second item is a CD-release of the theme song of the new “Disney Magic on Parade” that also functions as the anniversary’s theme song titled “Magic Everywhere”. Originally the resort had hopped to have the CDs in stock by Saturday but technical difficulties resulted in a delay.
Oh, and there is also the set of four special 20th Anniversary Vinylmation (sold separately) already available in the resort - as reported earlier in a separate news.
