2016 Christmas at Disneyland Update

Across the Esplanade in Disney California Adventure, there’s a lot that’s new. I covered this at length in our Guide to Festival of Holidays at Disney California Adventure post, but we’ll touch upon some other elements here. First, there’s the food offerings at the Festival of Holidays. (I keep wanting to call this a “mini-Food & Wine Festival,” but the fact is that it’s bigger than the DCA Food & Wine Festival held last spring.) Beyond that, there’s a whole bevy of new entertainment options.

When it comes to these, I want to first give you all a pat on the back. Last year in our Christmas update, I implored readers: “If you enjoy Viva Navidad, spread the word about it. It would be wonderful to see Disney California Adventure have celebrations throughout the year akin to this, celebrating the diverse culture of California, and the only way that will happen is if Viva Navidad swells in popularity.”

Presumably thanks to your hard work spreading the good word, that’s exactly what has happened. (There’s no other conceivable explanation for Disney adding this. 😉 ) The only difference is that instead of having small celebrations throughout the year, Disney California Adventure opted to do them all at once during the Christmas season. What I had in mind was more focused events back in Paradise Garden (like Opa, Lunar New Year, etc.), but I really can’t complain with what we got.

We’ve experience Festival of Holidays a couple of days now, but we really got the full experience on opening night, when the temperatures dipped a bit and the atmosphere was really heightened with a full slate of musical acts, roaming entertainment, and festive treats. It was a pleasure just to walk around DCA, and far less crowded than Disneyland.

Disney no doubt wants Festival of Holidays to pull locals from Disneyland, to help relieve some of the crowd issues that park faces during the Christmas season, which will undoubtedly be exacerbated this year by the construction. Well, mission accomplished, Disney. I can already tell we are going to want to spend a ton of time in Disney California Adventure this Christmas season.

One issue is marketplace booth food pricing. In our full post, we addressed what we thought was the absurdity of some price points, and if our observations the other night were any indication, others are likewise voting with their wallets.

Aside from the booze and dessert booths, most marketplaces had 0-2 people in line. (The good news is that desserts are priced appropriately, and these are what most people will want to try for the holidays, anyway.)

My prediction is that Disney scrambles and sells an AP lanyard that offers 8 samples for the price of 6 (or something like that). That would get price points to the zone where they belong. I think Disney got a bit over-zealous with pricing after the success of DCA Food & Wine.

Contrast the lack of lines at Festival of Holidays with Pacific Wharf, where we ended up eating dinner, which had 15+ minute lines for every single counter service restaurant.

I ended up getting the seasonal Turkey Pot Pie Bread Bowl and Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding. We also managed to score a front row seat for the Mariachi Divas.

It’s things like this that keep us coming back. It was not an E-Ticket, but it was so fun having a great meal, chatting with friends, and then enjoying one of the best entertainment acts to perform at Disneyland.

Kids were dancing around while Christmas music played, the air was cool, and there was a palpable sense of joviality in the air. This was sublime.

That sublime experience continued as we headed to Paradise Bay after dinner, where we secured spots for World of Color – Season of Light. Despite not caring for last year’s Winter Dreams or Celebrate, I was cautiously optimistic. The press release made no mention of Frozen, and instead highlighted classic films and Christmas music.

If you read our World of Color – Season of Light Review & Tips post, you know we were not disappointed. I still cannot get over how much we enjoyed this, and am really looking forward to seeing it again.

Our options are limited since our Annual Passes are blocked out much of the holiday season, but we definitely plan on seeing it a few more times.

Earlier in the day, we had met Santa Claus in Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. (For a good ‘adult’ chuckle, check out the stock photos of “Naughty Santa” and his elves on the signage right outside the entrance here. It’s…uh…interesting?)

This area is the perfect place for santa, as it has a nice Christmas vibe. Other characters will appear in Christmas finery throughout the day there, too.

Characters we missed, unfortunately, are the Country Bears. I thought they were supposed to be meeting in Redwood Creek, but when we saw, they were at the PhotoPass spot that faces Grizzly Peak near Carthay Circle. Apparently, you give them salmon and other bear gifts before having your photo taken with them.

You may be puzzled that we didn’t meet them. It’s because their line was 30+ minutes long, not because we’ve gone over to the dark side and now prefer Pooh to Big Al. At Disneyland, where they were evicted from their home for an awful ride, guests still love the Country Bears. Nothing is more distinctly patriotic than a long line for the Country Bears.

If you go to Walt Disney World and see the Country Bears right outside their theater, they never have a line and the most common guest interaction is “who are you?” (C’mon, WDW fans, gets your s*** together.)

We didn’t have time for the Country Bears because…please forgive me…we had to see the last showing of Princess Elena’s Musical Grand Arrival. We made this sacrifice for you, so I hope you appreciate it!

Most readers of this blog are puzzled by our Country Bear infatuation, and we know more people care about princesses.

Well, this “Grand Arrival” was cute, and is clearly popular with guests. We saw 10+ little kids in Princess Elena dresses at this ~12 minute show, and if I had to guess, it seems this is the next big thing with kids.

Personally, I didn’t care for any of the songs, but me reviewing this as an adult for adults would make no sense. If you have kids, you’re going to want to see the Grand Arrival. They will love it. (Adults should enjoy the ‘royal dancers’ who are quite talented.)

Finally, in this same area, there’s Viva Navidad, one of Disneyland Resort’s great, unheralded gems. We have a whole post covering the greatness of this event here. Between Viva Navidad and the Princess Elena of Avalor stuff, Paradise Garden is actually pretty busy, which is a strange change of pace from the rest of the year, when this area is dead.

Overall, we were really impressed with the new and returning slate of holiday offerings at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure this Christmas season. Most of what’s at Disneyland is familiar, with some things returning after a year-off. Disney California Adventure, on the other hand, has added a lot to its lineup, and really equalized the holiday entertainment offerings, which used to be heavily skewed towards Disneyland.

As for figuring out the rest of your Disneyland trip, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, whether you should stay off-site or on-site in a Disney hotel, where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!

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YOUR THOUGHTS…

Have you experienced Christmas at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure yet this year? Are you visiting soon? What do you like most about Holiday Time at Disneyland? Hearing from you is half the fun, so if you have additional Christmas tips for Disneyland or any questions, please share them in the comments!