I LOVE Christmas at Disneyland!
I’m betting you do, too. If you’ve visited the park during this festive time of the year, you know there are far, FAR more than 5 reasons to be excited about coming to the Disneyland Resort. From attraction overlays, to holiday food, to holiday fireworks, the reasons seem endless. But these are the five reasons I think you should be especially excited this year:
1. Holiday Time at Disneyland Resort Tour – My favorite guided tour of them all. And one of the few left. The fun thing about it is that it’s exclusive to this time of the year. Not only do you get exclusive treats, an exclusive pin, and premium VIP seating at the parade, but you also have front-of-the-line privileges to all the holiday overlay rides! I don’t know what will change this year, but I’m sure it will be equally fun.
2. Special Holiday Rides – Speaking of ride layovers, there are four this year. In addition to the classic ones at Disneyland – it’s a small world holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday, there are two NEW ones on the Disney California Adventure side – Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl and Mater’s Jingle Jamboree. Both of the DCA rides will be similar to their Halloween counterparts, just different songs and decorations, but with all the decorations it should put you even more in the Christmas mood. The only sad part is that Jingle Cruise won’t be coming back this year. If this is permanent it’s hard to say, although they are doing it at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
3. Festival of Holidays – If you’re a Disney foodie like me, this in particular is a real holiday treat! Featuring tons of different holiday food offerings from different cultures and celebrations, this is a holiday treat for your taste buds, too. But more than just the awesome food, there are tons of entertainment options also. The Three Caballeros appear as part of Disney Viva Navidad! – a celebration of Mexican cultural traditions during the holidays. Holiday Sunset Concerts happen Monday – Friday at Paradise Park. And Redwook Creek Challenge Trail becomes Santa’s Holiday Visit where you can decorate cookies, play elf games, and maybe meet Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick himself.
4. Freshly Made Candy Canes – You might think, really? Why would you look forward to this? Go down to the store and buy some for a dollar. But this is a holiday tradition and for those in the know (and that means you), you don’t want to miss out on this. Only 120 are made per day, four days a week, and you have to get a wristband just to buy ONE!
5. Candlelight Processional – Simply an amazing, AMAZING show. The wait is not for the feint of heart if you’re hoping for a good seat (or just where you can see the stage), but if you’ve never seen it and Christmas is a special holiday for you, it’s definitely worth it. This year you can see this special show on December 2nd and 3rd only. Unlike Walt Disney World, the processional takes place outside right on the steps of the train station on Main Street USA and is a tradition that began by Walt. More than just Christmas songs, it’s a blend of lights, voices, and storytelling that is beautiful.
These are my top five reasons to be excited about Christmas at Disneyland this year. Hope to see you at the Park and Merry Christmas!!!
Disney Nerds 
I’m really looking forward to your report about the new holiday Jungle Cruise! That and the World of Color. We let our annual passes lapse earlier in the year but we’re seriously thinking of renewing them so we can go to the parks multiple times during Christmas.
Definitely worth renewing, but I’m sure you know that during the week of Christmas only Premium Passholders can get in. I’m definitely going to try and get some candy canes this year!
We activated our new SoCal passports on Dec. 5 so we can do two Christmases at Disney this time for the price of one. I was blown away by this year’s World of Color, even if it was two-thirds Frozen. (Hey, I like Frozen!) Haven’t the Haunted Mansion holiday overlay yet or the Christmas fireworks, though we did do the Jingle Cruise and Small World, but fingers are crossed that we’ll get to them, along with the castle lighting (can’t miss the artificial snow) before the blockout starts. And I’m blogging myself silly in my Into the Infosphereblog and filling SD cards with photos to document the experience. I’m tired but happy just thinking about it.