It’s officially Christmas time as far as the Disneyland Resort is concerned and they are well under way with their busiest time of year with the Disney Holidays. This year, there’s a ton of food options but not much new in the way of entertainment or offerings. The return of favorites such as the parade and fireworks are great and the Festival of Holidays dominates the holidayscape at Disney California Adventure. A host of new food options did debut this year at Disneyland proper. We’ll take a taste of that, too!
Aside from the return of classics and favorites for the Disney Holidays, there’s a bunch of projects still on going at the Happiest Place on Earth including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the new Mickey and Friends Parking Structure, and more. Refurbishment continues at the Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction which is getting a new entrance setup.
We’ll also get a look at Pixar Pier, new Disney Walls for your selfie-taking needs, and also a nice merch run for you at the end with both holiday and non-holiday purchaseables. All of this and much more in a gigantic pictorial update! ENJOY!
Holidays Begin Here
Ready?
Holiday Feasts
The holidays are a time of joy, merriment… and FOOD. We hit the Disneyland Resort to get our first taste of the new offerings at the Merriest Place on Earth!
MORE INFO: FIRST TASTE: New food options make things tasty and bright for the 2018 Disney Holidays!
Holidays at Disneyland
A special winter frost has taken over the main entrance once again this year. It’s paint scheme is much less heavy on the blues than in previous years and it looks great.
“it’s a small world” Holiday
You can now embark on the merriest cruise that ever sailed on “it’s a small world” Holiday.
Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday continues to haunt with its quirky blend of two holidays.
Parade and Fireworks
A Christmas Fantasy Parade is back once again to enchant twice daily. Then at night you can look to the skies to takein the snowfall and firework presentation of Believe… in Holiday Magic.
Christmas Tree
Disneyland’s 60-foot Christmas Tree got a new set of decorations this year. For the most part, the decorations are quite nice but the overall look is a bit more sparse to years prior. While it all comes together rather nicely from a far-away view, we absolutely do not like the giant plastic candles. They add a cheapness that doesn’t match any of the other decorations on the tree. What’s worse, they don’t scale smaller towards the top of the tree, instead they just get shorter and shorter.
Very pretty!
Not so pretty. Nostalgic yes, does it look good? We argue: No.
More Holiday Decor
Holidays at Disney California Adventure
Festival of Holidays returns once again to Disney California Adventure with a great assortment of holiday cheer.
Viva Navidad
The beautiful masterpiece that is Viva Navidad returns once again this year with its traditional street party, entertainment, and dining options. Princess Elena of Avalor is also back greeting guests.
This is the first year we’ve seen female drummers in the show. Love it!
Santa’s Holiday Visit
There’s always a bunch going on inside Redwood Creek. This is such a great holiday getaway.
It now randomly snows at night along the trail!
Cars Land Holiday
Although neither attraction had their marquees in time for the start of the Disney Holidays this past weekend, both Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl and Mater’s Jingle Jamboree returned adding holiday tunes to their lineup.
Festival of Holidays
The popular food festival celebrating different cultures of the world returns once again with food, entertainment, and general merriment.
The 2018 Festival of Holidays Sip & Savor Tasting Passport is available for regular guests ($54) and Annual Passholders ($49) which gives you eight total vouchers good on basically all food and non-alcoholic offerings at the festival marketplace booths.
To get the most value out of the passport, you’ll just want to make sure you don’t get any of the items that cost less than $6.75 (regular) or $6.13 (passholder). Considering the prices, that shouldn’t be terribly difficult as long as you avoid desserts and drinks.
Henna, face painting, crafts, boutique shopping carts, entertainment and more await you as part of the festival.
Holidays at Downtown Disney
Downtown Disney didn’t have all of its holiday decor up for opening weekend but the shops are certainly ready!
More Holiday Decor
Holiday Novelties
Around Disney California Adventure
In memory of those lost at the shooting in Thousand Oaks and the wildfires in California, Disneyland Resort had the flags at half staff.
Two new Disney Walls are ready for your selfie-taking needs.
Carthay Circle Restaurant now offers Lounge seating downstairs and now also upstairs. The full drink menu is available in both lounges but the dining menus ARE different.
The bites on the Terrace are essentially the same ones available as appetizers inside the restaurant. The menu downstairs is a little broader.
For either lounge, you wait in a single line and when you get to the front you are asked for your preference.
Firecracker Duck Wings were previously only available with seated dining. You can now enjoy the popular appetizer in the upstairs terrace lounge.
Pixar Pier continues to move along with its new Jessie’s Critter Carousel timed closer to an opening with next year’s Toy Story 4.
Bing Bong Watch continues. Will it go into the new year?
World of Color is also in a race to completion. Will it debut before year’s end? New barges appeared last week on the bay.
Inside Out: Emotional Whirlwind is still quite a ways from completion. Demolition hasn’t even finished yet.
“a bug’s land” slowly moves towards demolition to make away for the new Marvel-themed land.
Around Disneyland
Waterfall is back on at the Matterhorn. The new entrance setup is still coming along…
Walls are still up around rockwork on the Nemo lagoon.
Evidently very popular and yet confusing to find.
“it’s a small world” Toy Shop is now free of refurbishment walls.
Tropical Hideaway continues along.
MORE INFO: Disney confirms ‘Rosita’ debuting at Disneyland’s new TROPICAL HIDEAWAY
Whatever they are planning to separate Main Street from Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room seems to be quite large.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge continues along with most of its progress hidden from view.
Around the Resort
Disney Home window displays have been pretty delightful since it opened.
World of Disney window displays are a little bland.
Napolini got its marquee.
Wetzel’s Pretzels speeds along while Ballast Point and Black Tap hurry towards their opening for this year.
The new structure also speeds along at Mickey and Friends. Lots of speed.
Merch Run
Disney Holidays
The designs on this pattern were turned into actual ornaments:
Regular Merch
See it for Yourself
The Disney Holidays take place now through January 06, 2019.
MORE INFO: Find more news and info about the 2018 Disney Holidays.
Tee Time!
If you are looking for a way to help support the site so we can continue to bring you more info about the mouse, feel free to browse our TeePublic Store! Aside from tees, you can also find coffee mugs, phone & laptop cases, and more!
Find more designs at our store: mouseinfo.com/tees.
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