The Holidays at Disneyland celebration is coming up quickly. It all kicks off on November 15 this year. For many, this is a favorite time of year to visit as the parks feel even more magical with all of the festivities and special offerings.
There are several favorite returning experiences this year including popular ride overlays like Haunted Mansion Holiday and “it’s a small world” Holiday, seasonal entertainment including A Christmas Fantasy Parade and the “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks, the Disney Festival of Holidays at Disney California Adventure, and more. There are also some new experiences this year, which we will discuss more below. Here are 5 things you need to know ahead of the holiday time at Disneyland!
1) Visit early in the holiday celebration to avoid the biggest crowds. With all of the special offerings for the holidays at Disneyland and kids out of school on their holiday break, crowd levels can be quite high during this time of year.
If you have some flexibility in when you can plan your trip, we recommend visiting during the start of the celebration in November (avoiding Thanksgiving week) or the first two weeks of December while schools are still in session. This stretch of time in December actually includes what we’ve found to be the surprisingly best weekend to visit Disneyland. See our Disneyland crowd calendar for projected crowd levels throughout the the holiday celebration.
2) Santa will be in a new spot at Disneyland this year. The highly anticipated opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland coincides with the start of the holiday celebration, which means that crowds in Critter Country are expected to be quite high during this time due to demand for the ride. This means that Santa will be at a new location instead of his usual Critter Country spot.
This year, you can find him at Fantasyland Theater in Disneyland Park, where there will also be cookie decorating, craft making, storytelling, and atmospheric music at Fantasyland Theatre during the day. Santa will also appear at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in Disney California Adventure and at the three Disneyland Resort botels.
3) Haunted Mansion Holiday is accessible via Virtual Queue only. While the Haunted Mansion has reopened after being closed for a significant portion of this year, Work continues on the Haunted Mansion’s expanded queue experience and retail shop, and because of this, the ride is accessible only via Virtual Queue instead of offering its usual Lightning Lane access and standby line. If you want to ride Haunted Mansion Holiday this year, there are two distribution times during the day you can request to join the Virtual Queue.
See everything you need to know about joining Haunted Manion's virtual queue here. While the process of joining the queue is straightforward, you’ll still want to make sure you’re prepared.
4) Check out the new Holiday experiences this year. There are some fun new experiences debuting this year including the seasonal themed Character Dining experience “Mickey’s Holiday Pajama Party” breakfast and brunch at Storytellers Cafe. This new offering will feature holiday-themed meals, seasonal decor, and characters in pajamas! A holiday-themed dining experience will also return to Goofy’s Kitchen—you can see our review from last year here.
Also, a new scavenger hunt called Chip and Dale’s Ornament Trail pursuit is debuting in Downtown Disney! Guests can buy an activity map, search for special ornaments throughout the district, and redeem for a collectible holiday keepsake.
5) At the Disney Festival of Holidays, order from one festival marketplace and pick up at another. Some don’t know that you actually don’t have to order from each individual marketplace booth. You can order all your items at once at one marketplace booth, then you’ll hold onto your receipt and use it to redeem all of your foods at the various booths.
This can be a great time-saver as you can bypass the long ordering lines and go straight to the pickup line! See everything you need to know about the Disney Festival of Holidays celebration and details on the Sip and Savor Pass here.
These are just a few of the things you’ll want to know if you’re planning on visiting Disneyland during the holiday celebration. You can see more tips and details about what’s different this year in our full article on things you need to know if you’re visiting this November or December. See also our full guide to Christmas at Disneyland!
At Mickey Visit, we share the most important tips for planning your trips to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Universal, and beyond. Each week, we’ll share some of our top tips here on Laughing Place.