Holidays at Disneyland Resort

I'm super excited to share with you my experience at the Disneyland Resort this past week, experiencing the start of the Holiday season.  The Christmas trees were decked out and I loved seeing how each of the different lands celebrated.   Over in California Adventure, the Festival of the Holidays included foods, beverages, music and activities to celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Hanukkah, and Navidad.

The festival of the Holidays is offering the Sip & Savor Pass is $56, and includes 8 coupons to use at the food kiosks in the park.  You can use the coupons on the food and non-alcoholic beverage items from the participating Festival kiosks.  Most items were priced $7 or more, so you will save some money if you are wanting to purchase at least 8 items.  The good news is you can share your coupons among a few people - so if you have a group going, and each person wants 2 or 3 items, share a pass between you to get the best deal, and still experience the fun of the Sip & Savor pass.  I tasted a few options and they were all great.  My favorites were the Stuffing Mac & Cheese and the Navidad Punch. 

Over at Disneyland Park, the Christmas Fantasy Parade offered up marching Reindeer, Santa, characters dressed up and lots of fun.  Since I was on the guided tour, we had reserved seats for the parade, so we were able enjoy the parade while sipping on some hot chocolate and nibbling on the gorgeous gingerbread cookies.  I enjoyed learning about the decorations in the park, but my advice would be to skip the guided tour and check out the park decorations on your own time.  The parade happens twice on most days, so pick the one that works best within your schedule and grab a spot for viewing.  We watched back near 'it's a small world' and there was much less crowding back there than what you will experience over on Main Street.  If you have someone in your group that can run and grab food while one person sits to guard your spot, you can find a great set up.  The parade is a good time to rest your feet and plan out the rest of your day.

Something unique to Disneyland Park when comparing it to the parks over at Walt Disney World is the overlays.  'it's a small world' has a beautiful Christmas overlay - inside and out.  The outside facade of the ride comes to life with colorful lights and the inside gets an overlay as the characters and animals sing Jingle Bells - or Jingle Shells, if you're a mermaid. 

Jack Skellington moves into the Haunted Mansion and takes over through the Halloween and Christmas season - Sandy Claus and the gang all take over the Haunted Mansion and the grand ballroom has a Giant Gingerbread house - with a new design every year.  

One tradition is the nightly lighting of the tree on Main Street - which is beautiful.  The lights twinkle as they anticipate the full lighting of the tree, and people gather on main street to watch it.  Disney has the ornaments larger on the bottom, and they get smaller as they get bigger, to give the illusion of the tree being even bigger than it actually is. 

I also snapped some photos of the fun merchandise they have throughout the parks right now - and in Downtown Disney and the hotel gift shops.  The ears I purchased for myself are in that first image - I couldn't resist the buffalo plaid!  Here's a few of my favorites from the shops:

Now that I'm back home I'm missing my favorite mid day snacks, Character visits and all the magic that Disney has to offer.  It's not too late to plan a quick getaway during this holiday season, or start planning your 2020 Holiday trip!  Reach out to me today to get started!  Use the link to the side to request a quote, or email me here: kerry@cupcakecastlestravel.com