The merriest time of the year!
The "Holidays Begin Here" at the Disneyland Resort and today is a look at all the festive offerings the resort has in store this year!
The merriest holidays on earth!
The holidays have hit the Disneyland Resort and this year just may be the merriest celebration yet! This year the season runs from November 8th, 2019 until January 6th, 2020, so there's still plenty of time left to experience the festivities. The holidays at the parks are packed with seasonal decor, yummy treats, special entertainment and all around jolly fun.
There's plenty of offerings that shouldn't be missed! Here's our little recap and breakdown of our "must do's" and favorites from our holiday trip:
Disneyland
Attractions:
The holidays at Disneyland bring about the seasonal overlays of two of the park's beloved attractions. The Haunted Mansion is decked out by Sandy Claws with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. It's a unique overlay here at Disneyland and a holiday favorite! Sadly, lines were pretty crazy on the days we were there so we opted to forgo the attraction since we had already been on it during our Halloween visit.
It's a Small World Holiday gets its annual holiday makeover and it's always one of our "musts". Not just because the attraction is my all time favorite, but there's just something so magical about this seasonal overlay. If you're only able to check out one ride during your holiday visit, it's this one. And this year the "Happiest Cruise" just got a few enhancements with all new added scents along your cruise. Different areas correspond to specific smells. I won't spoil it for anyone, but here's a sneak "sniff": cinnamon, coconut, and so much more, oh my! It's a Small World truly gets the most magical makeover that makes this attraction one of the star's of Disneyland's holiday offerings.
**It's a Small World Holiday tip**
Don't miss the "lighting" which happens at 5:15pm each night (Check your Disneyland app for current times) and is a heartwarming way to kick off your evening. There's also a fun projection show set to holiday tunes that occurs every 30 minutes throughout the rest of the evening. The Small World Mall (surrounding area) is also a great spot for fireworks viewing, parade viewing and the "snowfall" that coincides with the Castle Lighting each night.
Decor
Trees, wreaths, garlands and soap snow, oh my! Disneyland brings it with the most gorgeous holiday decor around the entire park. From Main Street, to New Orleans Square, to the corners of Critter Country, and all the way into Toontown, be sure to not miss out on the fun ways the parks get into the spirit with its decorations. This is probably one of the reasons why I love this season so much, the decor just transforms the entire park.
Don't miss out on stopping by Mickey's Toontown. In my personal opinion, it gets some of the most festive holiday decor in all of the park. It's bright, colorful and the characters even have a special set of holiday style they wear separate from the rest of the other character costumes!
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| Merry& Bright is how best to describe the jolly decor over in Toontown. Photo by the amazing KSL Wedding |
Entertainment
Christmas Fantasy Parade
This beloved holiday parade is worth watching. It's full of holiday merriment with gingerbread, roller skating snowflakes and a fun way to see all of your favorite Disney pals in one sitting. The parade spans from the front of the park, all the way to the back of it's a small world so there's plenty of areas to try to catch one of the two daily showings. We caught the later showing right on Main Street and it made for the prettiest backdrop for the parade.
Believe... In Holiday Magic
This is my ALL TIME favorite fireworks show! There's just something about this show, the classic Christmas and holiday tunes, the snowfall at the end... It's beautiful and will melt even the biggest Christmas grinch's heart. I love catching this show from the middle of Main Street since theres some fun projections featured on Both sides, but other viewing areas that may be less congested would be along the Rivers of America and in front of It's a Small World. These locations, along with Main Street and the castle area have great views and have the magical disney "Snoap" (soap foam snow) fall at the finale.
Castle lighting & snowfall
If you can't make it to the fireworks or want another classic Disney holidays experience, check out the Castle lighting with snowfall at 7:30pm and 8:30pm. It's a sweet little show that will pack an emotional punch, with the lighting of the castle and that magical Disney snow at the end.
Disney Holiday Dance Party
Exactly how it sounds! Located in Tomorrowland, it's a high energy dance party for all ages. Featuring holiday classics mixed to dance beats, it's a fun way to get get your dance on. The best part? Disney characters join in on the fun on the dance floor. They don't typically stop for traditional photos, but you can catch some fun candids. Plus this season they brought our some rare characters like the Aristocats!
Food
Try all the seasonal foods! Disneyland has brought it with a plethora of peppermint, ginger spice and all the jolly treats to delight your tastebuds this year. Click HERE to see the official Disneyland holiday foodie guide.
Here's a few of our personal favorites from this season's selections.
The Thanxmas Sandwich from Jolly Holiday, along with the peppermint Santa Hat macaron. It was a filling sandwich and the macaron is one of my all time favorites. The blend of chocolate ganache and the minty filling is SO GOOD.
One of my favorite foods from Disneyland's holiday menu were the Candy Cane beignets! Sweet, minty, fluffy and oh so YUM. These Mickey beignets are always a classic Disney snack, but add in candy cane bits? Perfection! Find this sweet treat over at the Mint Julep Bar in the back of New Orleans Square.
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| Ben approves of the beignets! Be warned though, they're as messy as they're yummy. |
If all the seasonal offerings weren't enough for you over at Disneyland, right across the way at Disney California Adventure Park, even more festive entertainment, food and fun await!
Attractions:
While most of the attractions over at DCA remain the same, Carsland gets a major holiday over haul! The land features the cutest Cars inspired holiday decor with wrench wreaths, cozy cone trees and more. It's our favorite themed land in DCA for the holiday season. In Carsland, you'll find two rides with fun holiday overlays like Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters and Mater's Jingle Jamboree.
Food:
There's a handful of amazing holiday menu offerings here at DCA. Here's a few of our favorites that we tried:
Churro Toffee Shake from Schmoozies! If you're a fan of cinnamon sugar or the famous Disney Churro Toffee, this shake is for you. It was the perfect blend of both. I thought it tasted like a liquid churro which meant it got a 10/10 in my book.
Surprisingly, my next favorite treat was another shake, the Peppermint Mickey Shake also from Schmoozies! I wasn't sure if I'd like this one since I'm not a huge fan of "cookies and cream" based sweets, but the peppermint flavoring (which I love) really shined through in this. It was like a minty Oreo. It also gets major bonus points for being super adorable!
Entertainment:
Mickey's Happy Holidays:
An all NEW entertainment offering this year and it features Mickey and Pals in a cute and festive show that also serves as a mini parade. The show starts over in front of the Little Mermaid attractions area, then travels down to the front of Carthay Circle for another dance break. It's short, but definitely a fun little show!
Viva Navidad:
A colorful and festive holiday offering full of food, music and another cute parade like show. We unfortunately weren't able to catch this, but from what we've heard, it's a really fun little entertainment offering.
World of Color Festival of Light:
DCA's nighttime water spectacular show gets a holiday reboot set to your favorite Christmas music and some new special effects. Another must watch for the holiday season.
Santa!
Santa, I know him!!! Yes, Santa has landed at *both* Disneyland and DCA and he has the most magical meet and greets at the parks. We opted to meet Santa over at DCA since it's the same location we met him last year and thought it'd be a fun to visit the same spot again. He's over in the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail over at DCA. Over at Disneyland, he's meet with guests in Pooh's Corner. I personally love meeting Santa at Disney since it just adds that extra dose of magic to an already happy place/experience!
Festival of Holidays
A mix of holiday traditions from around the world, live music, and 8 marketplace food booths serving up delicious holiday inspired cuisine. The food alone is worth a visit, there's a little something for everyone.
We tried a bunch of foods like the Pork Belly Adobo (yum) which was very similar to the traditional Filipino adobo that I grew up with! We also tried the Chorizo Queso Fundido which was delicious, the churro toffee cold brew (it was okay, but not as good as the churro toffee shake) and many more yummy eats. Our personal favorite though? This Churros Yule Log!!! I love cake and this was a 100/10, SO GOOD! Pair it with the housemate horchata and it was the perfect blend of holiday perfection.
**Festival of Holidays Tip**
Get yourself a "Sip and Savor" pass! It costs $54 (AP discounts apply!) and can be purchased at different booths and stores around the park. It's so worth it! The pass gives you 8 different tabs that you can use to redeem food and non alcoholic drinks from any booth. Also another tip? You can order any item from ANY booth at the the same register, so no need to get in line multiple times to pay!
All the holiday feels!
Disneyland and DCA really bring it with the holiday feels every year and this year is no exception! If you can't make it into the park, there's holiday cheer resort wide like at the hotels and Downtown Disney District with special food offerings, music and even some special decor. Check out the massive gingerbread display inside the Grand Californian!
The happiest way to kick off the holidays!
As you can see, the Disneyland resort really knows how to break out all the holiday cheer for the season! It's been one of my favorite traditions to visit the parks to soak in all the magic. It's the perfect way to kick off Christmas for us and it's even more special now getting to share in all the fun as a little family with Ben. Thank you for another year of holiday memories and magic, Disneyland! 💜
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| Not a creature was stirring... except for one very special holiday mouse... 💝 |
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