2019 Christmas at Disneyland & California Adventure
Disneyland is always a special place, but during the holidays it gets even more magical. Below I’m sharing what Disneyland and California Adventure have to offer for Christmas 2019!
Haunted Mansion (Disneyland)
Two rides get a special Christmas themed makeover at Disneyland this year. Jack Skellington takes over the Haunted Mansion, and this hot ticket ride becomes even more popular for Christmas…so plan on getting a FASTPASS or waiting in long lines… Although I personally wouldn’t complain about the longer wait time, because, keeping with Disney tradition, the queue lines for this ride are filled with themed fun.
It’s a Small World (Disneyland)
The second ride that gets a real holiday transformation is the It’s a Small World ride. As your boat sails through this 10+ minute ride, you’ll see holiday celebrations around the world while listening to classic Christmas songs, such as Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls. The facade of the ride is as equally decked out for the season. Just after sunset, it illuminates with over 50,000 twinkling lights.
Characters Dressed for the Holidays (Both Parks)
You can visit all your favorite Disney characters, and many of them will be decked out in their holiday best. The most likely location to spot the classic characters, princesses, and villains is at the Disneyland Town Square at end of Main Street USA. You can also check the Disneyland App for real time map pins of character meet-and-greets.
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (Disneyland)
Sleeping Beauty’s iconic castle, inspired by the films original artwork and the Neuscheastein Castle in Bavaria, becomes Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle for the holidays. At night the castle sparkles, covered in twinkling snowcapped icicles, and accented by giant colorful wreaths and garland...and if you time your visit right, you might even get to see it snow here!
Main Street, USA (Disneyland)
Of course Main Street is festive. You’ll smell sweet candy cane and cocoa scents wherever you go along with all the yummy holiday treats. Over 100,000 flowers are used to create the seasonal decor. The center piece everyone is eager to see is the giant 60 foot Christmas tree covered in over 1800 ornaments! There are plenty of Disney photographers ready to capture a family picture for you here, but don’t stop with a picture of one tree.
Christmas Trees (Both Parks)
Both Disneyland and California adventure are brimming with all sorts of holiday trees. You will find over 300 decorated trees here, from a car tower tree in Cars Land to the beautiful Buena Vista Street Christmas tree, which has a special lighting ceremony every evening.
Cars Land (California Adventure)
In California Adventure, Cars Land really goes all out for Christmas. Car themed carols play all day above you here, and while the Radiator Springs Racers ride doesn’t change for the holidays, you’ll feel like a kid again on Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl ride and Mator’s Jingle Jamboree. Beautiful tire wreaths and gorgeous garland hang above you all throughout the land, and Mator will greet you for pictures wearing a Santa hat!
Festival of Holidays (California Adventure)
The Festival of Holidays at California Adventure is enough to keep you busy all day. From holiday toy drummers and a Bollywood dance party, to Disney’s Viva Navidad and an ‘a cappella’ singing group, you’re sure to stay entertained. My absolute favorite part, however, of the Festival of Holidays is the food!
Festival Foods Marketplace (California Adventure)
Purchase a Sip and Savor Pass to enjoy all the Festival Foods Marketplace has to offer! To avoid waiting in multiple lines, I recommend ordering all your food at once. Then you can simply show your receipt at any of the 8 marketplace locations carrying your selections (just don’t lose your receipt, because it’s the only way to redeem your food at the different stations). There are so many food and drink options celebrating Christmas, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Navidad.
Nighttime Celebrations
At night, the holiday theme grows. The Disneyland fireworks show becomes the Believe...in Holiday Magic fireworks spectacular. The World of Color puts on a special Season of Lights show at California Adventure. You’ll see Mickey, Minnie, and all your favorite Disney characters and princesses (as well as Santa!) ride by at Disneyland’s A Christmas Fantasy Parade.
Before You Go Tips!
• Arrive early. The parks get more crowded as the day goes on, and sometimes the parks will open the gates before the scheduled time. (During our recent visit, they opened the gates to non-hotel guests at 7:30am instead of the scheduled 8am)
• Download the Disneyland App to see wait times for rides in real time, show times, and park maps with just about all the info you’ll need during your visit.
• I’d recommend purchasing the MaxPass on the Disneyland App. It’s $15 per person, and you have access to FASTPASSes on your smartphone (without having to go to the actual ride to acquire them). You also get all the photos taken of you by the cast member photographers, as well as all the ride pictures taken of you, delivered directly to your smartphone.
• If there are multiple members in your party using MaxPass, be sure to link your accounts in the Disneyland App. This allows you to grab FASTPASSes all at once, rather than individually.
• Take screen shots on your phone of your FASTPASSes and MaxPass Photo QR code, so you can quickly access them when needed (rather than searching through the Disneyland App).
• With your MaxPass, be sure to grab FASTPASSes first thing in the morning for the show you want to see in the evening. This won’t prevent you from gathering more FASTPASSes in the meantime. In our recent visit, we nabbed FASTPASSes for the World of Color Season of Lights right after entering the park in the morning, and then proceeded to get more passes to Space Mountain immediately afterwards!)
• If you purchase MaxPass, make sure to take advantage of the Cast Member photographers placed throughout both parks. Rather than trying to take selfies or asking a stranger to take your pic, these professional photographers will take your group photos with backdrops that don’t have a bunch of people in them! A digital copy will be sent to your phone in under an hour, sometimes within a few minutes! (Below is an example of one at the Disneyland Christmas Tree.) The images are sent to your account on the Disneyland App, where they will eventually expire…so make sure to download them all to your phone’s photo library.
In Summary & Behind the Blog Video
Thanks for exploring Disney at Christmas with me! For more views of this year’s Disney holiday season, see my Behind the Blog video below…and I hope you have a blessed and happy holiday season!