Snow in So Cal: It’s Holiday Time at the Disneyland Resort!

(Last Updated On: November 12, 2019)

Celebrating the holidays with Disney has always been a treat. With such beloved holiday traditions as “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, fireworks and snowfall on Main Street, U.S.A.  Nov. 12 through Jan. 6, 2013, return holiday visitors to the Disneyland Resort won’t be let down. But this year there is even more to celebrate and experience. The newly expanded Disney California Adventure Park gets a spectacular seasonal makeover and guests will enjoy a new ice rink for the holidays at Downtown Disney.

Here’s what you can expect from Holidays at Disney California Adventure Park 2012:

• Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, the new lands of Disney California Adventure, will be decked out in unique and festive seasonal decor.
• A whimsical “snowcar” (the Radiator Springs version of a snowman) will stand at the entrance to Cars Land, and each address along Route 66 — Flo’s V-8 Cafe©, Fillmore’s, Cozy Cone Motel, Luigi’s Casa della Tires and more — will feature holiday decor that reflects the personality of the “Cars” character who lives there.
• A dazzling, 50-foot Christmas tree will adorn Carthay Circle along Buena Vista Street. The tree and surrounding buildings, inspired by Los Angeles as it appeared when Walt Disney arrived in the 1920s, will be decorated with vintage-style ornaments.
• The classic department store Santa Claus comes to Buena Vista Street. Children of all ages may tell Santa what they want for Christmas by visiting him at Elias & Co., the main department store along this thoroughfare, reminiscent of 1920s Los Angeles.
• New wintertime fun rocks the night at “Mad T Party” as Alice and the Mad Hatter add their own brand of off-kilter holiday spirit to the nighttime celebration in Hollywood Land.
• The nightly “World of Color” water and effects spectacular on Paradise Bay  welcomes special holiday guests Lanny and Wayne, elves from the television show “Prep & Landing.”
•  ”a bug’s land” transforms as Flik and his bug buddies spread giant Christmas lights and oversized ornaments throughout their realm.
• The holiday scene along the Paradise Bay boardwalk includes a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and lampposts decked out with seasonal wreaths.
• A Holiday edition of the street show, “Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party,” includes festive décor, costumes and holiday tunes. The show invites guests of all ages to “seize the day,” dancing and singing on Paradise Pier with the Disney Channel’s inventive animated boy geniuses.

Here’s What Makes the 2013 Holidays at Disneyland Park Special:

• At Disneyland, holiday guests will find the traditional snowdrifts and icicles adorning Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle.
•   The 60-foot-tall Disneyland Christmas tree is specially designed to present a nightly holiday light show like no other with more than 62,000 energy-efficient LED lights.
• The Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle presentation unfolds throughout the evening in three acts, each of them featuring a touch of winter snow on Main Street, U.S.A. The finale of the show includes the legendary “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks show.
• “A Christmas Fantasy” parade features Disney characters celebrate the magic of the season, wrapping gifts, baking holiday treats and preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus.
• “It’s a small world” Holiday becomes  a worldwide celebration of the season, boasting more than 300,000 glittering lights on its facade and transformation inside.
• Haunted Mansion Holiday presents a madcap celebration as the traditions of Halloween and Christmas collide.  The ghoulish but well-meaning Jack Skellington from the film “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” has come to Haunted Mansion to transform it with his skewed vision of the holidays.
• Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus greet Disneyland guests at Jingle Jangle Jamboree in Big Thunder Ranch, Frontierland.
• A celebration of Three Kings Day, also known as Dia de los Reyes Magos, from Jan. 4-6, 2013, with special decor, food and entertainment that showcases this Latin American holiday tradition.

Guests may book guided “Holiday Time at Disneyland” tours that provide entry into “it’s a small world” Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday along with reserved seating for the Disneyland “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, a view of the new holiday decor in Disney California Adventure, a keepsake remembrance  and entertaining information about the history of Disneyland holiday traditions.

Even more fun at Downtown Disney with Ice Skating, Holiday Shopping, Resort Hotel Decor and Themed Menus:

• For the first time during a Disneyland Resort holiday season, guests in the Downtown Disney district will be able to go skating on an outdoor “The Secret of the Wings” ice skating rink, located near ESPN Zone and AMC Theatres.
• Holiday shopping at Disneyland Resort offers an array of merchandise available exclusively at Resort theme parks and the Downtown Disney district.
• Along with ornaments, holiday-themed Mickey Mouse ears, jewelry and tasty holiday sweets, guests can discover a new line of Cars Land holiday-inspired merchandise.
• Disneyland Resort hotels join in the holiday festivities with twinkling lights and ornaments, special entertainment and holiday dining with themed menus.  Expanded hours at both Disneyland Resort theme parks extend the family fun and offer more time for guests to enjoy all there is to see at do at Disneyland Resort.

For more information about Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com/holidays.  For ticket and hotel offers, visit www.disneyland.com/offers.