Disneyland - Christmas in Downtown Disney

I know I usually don't write a lot about Downtown Disney, because I really prefer rides to shopping. I had to write about it because of the rink.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/entertainment/downtown-disney-district/winter-village-ice-skating/

I don't even know that much about it. We ate one night at Earl of Sandwich, and the rink was set up, but not in operation. The dates are listed as from November 13th through February 22nd. (We were there on November 11th.)

Those closed but nicely decorated buildings could very well be the fun-filled winter chalets that they refer to; that would make sense. I just know that it looked great.

Olaf has been  a great character for Disney in his popularity and quotability. I mean, who doesn't like warm hugs?

So we found him resting on a roof just above where you could meet Anna and Elsa in Fantasyland, and he talked. We found him emblazoned on clothing and accessories everywhere. And we found marshmallow creations of his in the bake shops that seemed like they could be replicated at home.

Why not have him preside over winter fun?

And the rest of Downtown Disney did have some lights and things too, but a lot of it looked like a normal, non-Christmas level of festivity. But when you got near the street end of the promenade, and there was a tall Christmas tree with strings of lights streaming out in every direction, overlooking an ice rink - in California - with a cheerful snowman surveying it all while perched on an ice flow, I thought it was pretty cool.