Christmas 2021 Coming to Disneyland: “Free” Fireworks, Parade, Castle Lights & More!

Christmas is coming to Disneyland Resort, with the holiday season starting November 12, 2021 and running through January 9, 2022. This post will cover what’s returning, including Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle, fireworks, and parade–all of which are included for “free” with regular admission. Plus, why this announcement has us optimistic for Christmas 2022 at Walt Disney World!

Holiday Time at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will begin less than two weeks after Halloween Time ends, heading into the busy Veterans’ Day weekend. Both the start and end date are pretty consistent with the schedule in “normal” years, although we wouldn’t have been surprised if Christmas started a week earlier, on November 5.

Throughout the parks, guests will see Santa and Disney characters dressed in their holiday best. There will be seasonal sweet treats to enjoy at food and beverage locations, plus memorable gifts for at the various shops around the resort. Additionally, the holiday celebration will extend to Downtown Disney District and Hotels of the Disneyland Resort with traditional décor and festive entertainment adding to the merriment…

Guests entering Disneyland will be greeted by a magnificent 60-foot-tall Christmas tree on Main Street, U.S.A., decorated with nearly 1,800 ornaments. The classic tree is an iconic symbol of Holidays at Disneyland Resort, as well as an ideal location for holiday photos.

At the entrance to Fantasyland, the holiday magic will shine brightly each evening when Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle begins to sparkle with light and music fills the air illuminating the night in an enchanted wintertime spectacle. The return of Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle is a relief, since Cinderella Castle’s Dream Lights display is on hiatus this year.

Additionally, guests will be able to see “A Christmas Fantasy” Parade, which will be performed “several times a day” per Disneyland. This is also reason for relief, as Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is behind a $200+ paywall at Magic Kingdom.

Seasonal attraction transformations will once again occur with “it’s a small world” Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday. Favorite Disney characters and princesses will appear throughout Disneyland, dressed in their seasonal finest with a few surprises this year.

As day comes to an end, guests will find the perfect finishing touches to their holiday memories with a magical “snowfall” along with colorful projections on Main Street U.S.A., and the façade of “it’s a small world” during the “Believe in Holiday Magic” fireworks spectacular.

The heartwarming finale is a “kiss goodnight” moment from several beloved characters, dressed in their pajamas and waving goodbye from the balcony of the Disneyland Railroad Train Station in Town Square.

Disney California Adventure will once again feature its Festival of Holidays celebrating the sights, sounds, and tastes of a diverse season of celebrations, including Christmas, Navidad, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day.

The festivities include live entertainment, shopping for themed merchandise and 8 food marketplaces where guests will sip and savor culinary delights. A team of Disney chefs drew on inspiration from their own unique stories to handcraft some of the festive foods on the marketplace menus.

The celebration continues with “¡Viva Navidad!” This is one of our favorite things about the holiday season at Disneyland Resort, and it’s a true gem. Disney characters host a fun street party featuring Mexican folklórico dancers and Mariachis, Brazilian samba dancers and percussionists, giant mojiganga puppets and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in their fiesta best.

In Paradise Gardens, guests will enjoy festively themed food and beverages plus live music and performers starting November 12, 2021. Later in the Holiday season, the debut of newly-featured Mirabel from the Walt Disney Animation Studios upcoming film “Encanto.”

At Pacific Wharf, guests will find holiday-themed menus with special food and drink to be savored while listening to live musical entertainment.

Younger guests will discover craft stations and cookie decorating kits to add to their holiday fun in Pacific Wharf, as well.

Radiator Springs will be pulling out all the stops with their holiday décor in Cars Land. The yuletide spirit will shift into high gear beginning with a snow-covered billboard at the land’s entrance and stretching all the way to the hubcap-studded tree decorating the front of the courthouse.

Guests will enjoy a plethora of cleverly themed automotive ornamentation all along Route 66 where two attractions will rely on a little festive magic to transform into Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl and Mater’s Jingle Jamboree.

Guests of all ages will be delighted to see Santa Claus in his rustic home at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Guests may share their holiday wishes with the jolly fellow and take souvenir pictures in this scenic location.

Adding to the merriment, Mickey Mouse and pals celebrate the season with a joyful party and dance along to the magical rhythms of the Holiday Toy Drummers several times daily.

In terms of commentary, this news is exciting because it’s more or less a normal Christmas season at Disneyland. The only major thing missing is World of Color – Season of Light.

Sadly, that was to be expected. As we said earlier this summer in What’s Returning to Disneyland in 2021 & 2022, it’s unlikely any version of World of Color will return before 2022.

Pretty much everything else returning is cause for optimism given how little is coming back for Christmas 2021 at Walt Disney World.

Magic Kingdom won’t have its signature Cinderella Castle Dream Lights and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is being replaced by the pricey Disney Very Merriest After Hours event. Some Florida fans are concerned that these two things will never return.

Pointing out that Disneyland is bringing back its Christmas Fantasy Parade and Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks and including them for “free” with regular admission is not meant to be a cheap dig at Walt Disney World. (Well, not entirely.)

It’s more to reinforce our previous point that a lot of the changes and cutbacks at Magic Kingdom are being necessitated by Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. The crowds that’ll draw and the entertainment it’ll emphasize are somewhat incompatible with Magic Kingdom’s normal holiday season lineup.

As we’ve now pointed out countless times, higher holiday season crowds are the reason why Disneyland has never done a hard ticket Christmas party. They’ve toyed with the idea over the years, but never followed through on it. This is the same reason Oogie Boogie Bash moved over to DCA once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge debuted.

Including the parade and fireworks with regular admission is not done because Disneyland embraces the spirit of the season more than Walt Disney World. It’s a simple matter of logistics and problems with crowd displacement that occur with 2 parks versus 4 parks.

This is also the same reason why Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party doesn’t occur the weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Eve (and instead the parade, fireworks, and some of the shows switch to daytime ops, and are shown to all guests without upcharge).

It’s also why there’s no Boo Bash during the week of October 1, 2021. It’s all a matter of crowd management.

This is also why we expect Walt Disney World to bring back most of its on hiatus holiday offerings in 2022. Even though the 50th Anniversary will still be underway, it won’t be the opening months of that milestone event.

Celebration crowds likely will have subsided by late 2022. A return of the “Christmas Classics” after two years of them being missing will provide a nice boost to holiday attendance. (Not bringing back Disney Very Merriest After Hours will be an even easier decision if it doesn’t sell out.) At least, that’s our hope.

Ultimately, this announcement is great news for Disneyland, but also our “theory” that Walt Disney World wasn’t making cuts to Christmas for budgetary reasons but due to operational realities. (California’s local leadership arguably “cares more” than Florida’s, so that also plays a role.)

That’s probably little solace to anyone planning a Christmas vacation to Walt Disney World this year, but it should be at least mildly reassuring in the long run. In the more immediate future, we cannot wait to experience Disneyland and Disney California Adventure this Christmas season!

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

Your Thoughts

Are you excited for the return of Christmas at Disneyland and DCA? Disappointed that Walt Disney World isn’t having a similarly normal holiday season? Is that reassuring that Walt Disney World will have “normal” Christmas next year or in 2023, or is it just salt in the wound? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!