Guide to Christmas 2023 at Disneyland Paris
Disney’s Enchanted Christmas runs from November 11, 2023 until January 7, 2024 at Disneyland Paris, and features holiday entertainment, decorations, and special food. This guide offers our best tips for visiting France during yuletide season at Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney Village, hotels, and Disneyland Paris. (Updated February 28, 2023.)
Before we get to the rest of the details and our report on Disneyland Paris at Christmas, we recommend checking out our 2023 Disneyland Paris Vacation Planning Guide (no matter what time of year you’re visiting). Disneyland Paris at Christmas is much like Magic Kingdom or Disneyland in California, but with its own twists. One big one is the weather! Christmas at Disneyland Paris has weather you’d actually associate with winter, and a real snowfall in late November or December is not uncommon.
This post has been updated with new photos and information for Christmas at Disneyland Paris, but it’s worth noting that these photos are from our previous visits to Disneyland Paris at Christmas, and not this year. (Obviously, as the holiday season is still several months away). We’re hoping to head back to France for Christmas 2023, and will update with no photos and a report once we do. For now, here’s what we know about the holiday season at Walt Disney Studios Park and Parc Disneyland…
At this point, the only thing that Disneyland Paris has officially announced are the dates of Enchanted Christmas (November 11, 2023 through January 7, 2024). Otherwise, Disney has not revealed any other details. Our expectation is that the event is largely the same, with Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade almost certain to return along with other entertainment and festivities. Perhaps a stage show and some decorations will differ.
Last year, not much happened at Walt Disney Studios Park. Hopefully that’s one of the big things that changes for 2023, and Disney brings back Mickey’s Christmas Big Band. This fantastic live show featured a big band orchestra, fast-paced tap dance acts, and a drum solo by Mickey Mouse. We’d also like to see the Goofy’s Incredible Christmas projection show make a return for Christmas 2023 at WDSP.
On a positive note, L’Hiver Gourmand will likely return to Walt Disney Studios Park. This winter market consists of stylish chalets that serve gingerbread, crepes, hot chocolate, and other delicious treats. Four new chalets will be added this year, with three of them installed for the first time at Disneyland Paris.
Speaking of which, Disneyland Paris is the heart of the holiday season.
During the day, guests will be entranced by the majestic glittering Christmas tree that stands 24 meters high as soon as they step foot on Main Street! With Christmas music, garlands and snowflakes flying in the air… an enchanting atmosphere will envelop the area.
Before we go any further, let’s set the mood. No, I’m not going to dictate that you turn down the lights, pour a cup of eggnog, and light the fireplace. But I’m not going to tell you not to, either.
I do think it would “enhance” your enjoyment of the rest of this post if you read and viewed it while listening to the greatest Disney theme park Christmas song known to mankind: Chante, c’est Noel.
This song is the unofficial theme song of Christmas at Disneyland Paris. It was once (apparently) played during a Christmas parade at Disneyland Paris. Then it was played at the close of the previous Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
Now, I think it’s just played back in Santa Claus Village at Cottonwood Creek Ranch. Why it’s no longer prominent is beyond me, because it rocks.
Another highlight is in Videopolis, where Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy will celebrate the magic of Christmas carols several times a day on stage with the musical show “Let’s Sing Christmas!”
This year, Minnie will also have a special surprise in store for Mickey and Guests, as she will perform a cover version of a famous song entitled “All I want for Christmas is… Mickey”.
There’s another nighttime spectacular in addition to the Disney D-Light drone display, which was designed for the Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary celebration.
Lighting up the sky every night, guests will enjoy the triumphant return of Disney Dreams of Christmas. This beloved nighttime spectacular, which dazzled a generation of Disneyland Paris guests, returns more beautiful than ever.
Disney Dreams of Christmas combines fireworks and dancing fountains around Sleeping Beauty Castle set to a seasonal soundtrack. The nighttime spectacular also features projections of Christmas scenes immersing guests into the wintry worlds of Disney.
The show will be even more dazzling and elevated for the Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary celebration, with new technical enhancements. Sleeping Beauty Castle’s rooftops will be even more sparkling thanks to a brand-new LED technology that makes it possible to create synchronized effects that have never been seen before in a Disney theme park.
Earlier in the day, there is a decent amount of other Christmas entertainment. Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade is the other “big” thing done for Christmas in Disneyland Paris, and it’s a recent addition.
Disneyland Paris teams secretly developed this new parade and debuted it last Christmas. Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade is composed of five gigantic floats, featuring Mickey & Friends, Disney Princesses, Santa Claus & Tinker Bell, and more characters.
Each of these floats in Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade represents an idyllic Christmas scene with traditional decorations and parade performers will be dressed in luminous costumes specially designed for the occasion. (Since it’s relatively new, expect to see Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade in 2023, too.)
There are multiple showings of Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade per day. Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy will open the procession of magical, colorful floats. After them, you’ll see Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Chip & Dale, the Three Little Pigs, and many other characters. Of course, Santa will end Disney’s Christmas Parade on a high note from his sleigh!
Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade will deliver two unique experiences! Its colorful and illuminated floats will celebrate the magic of winter, both during the day and at night. The unique theme of each float will immerse Disneyland Paris in the magic and wonder of Christmas.
These floats will be synchronized with Christmas music and will feature Mickey and his friends, along with princesses and Santa Claus. The performers’ shiny costumes, which have been specially designed for the occasion, will make it possible to create sparkling effects on Main Street.
The icing on the cake: characters will light up the Christmas tree in Town Square to create even more magical moments during the nightly performance of Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade!
Presumably, this means there won’t be a standalone lighting ceremony for the Christmas tree on Main Street at Disneyland Paris.
Speaking of characters, there are a variety that meet in their holiday finery, including Thumper, Miss Bunny, Stitch, Duffy, and select Princesses in Town Square and locations throughout the park. While we like character meet & greets, the lines for these tend to be long, so we usually skip them.
You can enjoy a wintery wonderland in a holiday lodge that’s home to Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse. This is the perfect opportunity for guests of all ages to drop off their Christmas letter to Santa and capture the moment.
‘Tis the season to eat, drink, and be merry!
Specialty food and beverage items to indulge in will be available throughout the Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris, Disney Village, and the hotels.
While taking in every moment of the holiday season’s offerings, it’s also the perfect opportunity to do a bit of holiday shopping.
Browse the festively decorated boutiques and stop by La Boutique du Château and Merlin l’Enchanteur, both of which are dedicated to the season.
Phantom Manor does not receive a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay like the other Haunted Mansion attractions, and Disneyland Paris no longer does it’s a small world holiday or celebration.
In other words, there are no Christmas attraction overlays at Disneyland Paris.
Disneyland Paris’ lands are decked out for Christmas. In general, these decorations are more subdued than their US counterparts, with a notable exception: the restaurants. Holy cow! Seemingly every single restaurant had uniquely decorated Christmas trees, and its fair share of on-theme decorations.
Much like the other Disney theme parks, Main Street is the most decorated of any land in Disneyland Paris. Beyond the Christmas tree and Sleeping Beauty Castle icicle lights, there are strands of garland strung from one side of the street to the other, and many shop windows feature beautiful Christmas displays.
The rest of Disneyland Paris Resort gets in the Christmas mood, but not to the same extent. Walt Disney Studios Park has been doing more and more for Christmas, but it still doesn’t compare with the holidays on Main Street, USA.
The hotels also put up Christmas decorations, with Disneyland Hotel being the highlight. Sequoia Lodge is also pretty good, and that hotel “feels” more like a Christmas-y place. The rest of the hotels and the Disney Village had Christmas decorations up, but nothing really noteworthy.
Overall, a Disneyland Paris Christmas is definitely something worth experiencing. It’s not as extravagant as what you’ll find in Disneyland or Walt Disney World, but the incredible standard substance of the park compensates for that. There are a handful great seasonal shows and the decorations are wonderful, but it would be nice for the parade to ‘grow’ at a faster rate.
Regardless, we really enjoy Disneyland Paris at Christmas, and I would say it’s the perfect time for an American to visit Disneyland Paris for the first time (as long as you don’t mind the cold weather). Nothing is missing from the park as a result of the Christmas season (like Haunted Mansion is “missing” from Disneyland), and there are a number of Christmas enhancements that are icing on the cake!
For the basics of planning a visit to Disneyland Paris, check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Planning Guide. Find the best place to stay in Disneyland Paris Hotel Reviews. Check out 101 Disneyland Paris Tips for some (101, to be exact) of our best random tips for doing DLP like a pro. See Disney Park Tickets Tips & Tricks for ways to save on tickets. 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. Finally, for advice beyond Disney, check out our Ultimate Travel Guide to Paris, France.
Your Thoughts
Are you visiting France for the holiday season? Have you ever experienced Disneyland Paris at Christmas? Are you interested in visiting in November or December 2023? How do you celebrate Christmas at Disneyland Paris? Any other ways to embrace the spirit of the season? Wish the Walt Disney Studios Park did more to honor the holidays? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!
I have been to Paris before (and to DLP), but am looking to plan a trip for 2022. Our dates are either October 6-8, 2022, or November 14-16, 2022. Would it be better to go in October and potentially enjoy much better weather?? Or wait till mid November for the Christmas stuff but colder days?? We are planning to book at Hotel Cheyenne. Thanks for any info/advice!
Halloween is a lovely time, Id definitely choose that.
Hi I have just heard a rumour that this December there will be no parades or fireworks display is this true we are booked for 3vnight from the 3rd of December and was so looking forward to the displays
Are most of the attractions open in December at Disneyland Paris? I can’t find information about it on the disneylandwebsite yet.
Thanks for this post – does the date of the 6th January include the Christmas in the park or would it be all done on the 5th? Trying to work out 2 days over the park and hope to include a Christmas day! Thanks!
Does anyone know if they do fireworks show at Disney land Paris ? In December 19 ?
Hi Tom, I,’m Irma from Indonesia, I am planning to go to Disneyland Paris for Christmas.
I am wondering will the daytime parade will be playing when there is a christmas parade? Looking forward to your answer.. thanks a lot before
Hi, We have just got back yesterday from DLP and had a wonderful time but was wondering if anyone knew where we can get hold of the Disney Christmas parade song for 2016, it has lots of different songs all mixed together etc (joy-land, toy-land, and jingle bells etc) My 3yo daughter absolutely loved it and i would love to find it again, when we went a good few years ago they were selling the CDs from that year’s song which was ‘Chante c’est noel’, which we bought for our son, so would love to get this one, but they wasn’t selling it this year! 🙁
Will the fast passes help me on December 25 2016 to ride the top atractions in Disneyland Paris? I will visit only one day for 2 park but spending more time ino Disney Land .
Love this post, we’re going for new year and absolutely cannot wait! We love DLP but have never been for the Christmas season 🙂
Hi Tom,
as you just posted this update for christmas at dlp 2015 i wanted to add 2 things: first, the christmas tree lighting ceremony features mickey and minnie, santa and sing-along christmas songs this year! 🙂
also, “it’s a small world” is currently closed due to renovations! maybe you could update these two things for the 2015 repost! 🙂
Do disney still do the winter wonderland show with the horse and sled and the bears in the cave?
love the update! I see a lot of new pictures. Did you guys recently go back?
The three times I visited Paris I didn’t get a chance to go to Disneyland (have never been to any Disneyland either) and so when my friend invited me for Christmas, I thought it’d be good to make a trip there, since this would also be my first Christmas away from home. Do you have any thoughts/ advice for a potential solo traveler (but I hope my friend can take some time off from work!)? Do you recommend staying overnight? (In your other post you suggested 2-2.5 days. Although I’m not a hardcore Disney fan, I would love to see the lights and decorations!). I only have about 3 days before Christmas though so I’m wondering how much time I should spend here vs. in Paris, whether I should visit both parks, etc.
Thanks for the great guide!
Hi,
many thanks for the wonderful review.
my daughter has an exalted view on christmas and hence wanted in a nice place. trust Disneyland Paris is good.
a question, are the rides open during christmast time ? does it rain / snow then ?
many thanks
jaspal
It does snow in Paris in the winter, and that can affect attractions (especially the outdoor ones), but most are fully operational regardless of weather. The park was built with France’s weather in mind.
I am thinking of visiting disneyland paris at christmas time (19th dec-22nd dec) with my 4 year old daughter. I wanted a magical christmas trip hence going so close to Christmas. Is it wise going so close to Christmas? Would the experience be effected by bad weather conditions? Or is it better to go earlier in December? Iv never been to Disneyland and we are really looking forward to it but i have worries all the rides and attractions wont be open late December…Can anybody offer me some advice 🙂 thank you x
I really can’t give too much advice beyond the research I’ve done, but I do think you’re more likely to run into snow and heavier crowds then. Then again, you might have perfectly normal weather! Either way, I’m sure you’ll have fun, and there’s definitely a certain “magic” to going right at Christmas rather than over a month before the actual holiday.
Been looking forward to reading this since you got back – great report 🙂
Your pictures are just fabulous as always. What’s the next ‘foreign’ trip for you guys then? Are you definitely doing Tokyo in 2013? We are doing Tokyo in September 2014 and then HK and Shanghai (if it does open on schedule!) in 2015.
Thanks for your very accurate report! DLP has it’s own charm during the Christmas season but we certainly miss the elaborate decorations, parades or shows you find in Disneyland and Disneyworld. I love the ‘Christmas Cavalcade’ but it’s too small to make an impression(the idea is that this parade will expand into a real Christmas parade over the years). I love Small World Celebration’s music but the references to different ways of celebrating Christmas throughout the world are too subtle, it simply needs much more christmas lights! The Snowmen on Central Plaza are cute but they lack quality. Overall it’s great to celebrate the season in Disneyland Paris but I miss the American superabundant Christmas..
Hope you had a great time in our homepark and my favorite hotel& thanks for the high quality photography!
If they flesh out Christmas Cavalcade a bit each year, it could definitely become a solid parade. The floats that are there are good.
I’ve been waiting for this report since you got back, and it certainly does not disappoint. I can’t WAIT to go back..some year….during the holidays. It was beautiful in July, but it looks AMAZING during the holidays. Great report and photos! I’ll head over to smugmug to see the rest! Glad you and Sarah had a great time!
The holidays are definitely a great time to go. Even if it’s not as extravagant as Disneyland, it’s a great “plus” to justify taking a trip at Christmastime versus some other time of year.
You mentioned that Phantom Manor does not receive the Nightmare Before Christmas holiday overlay “like the other Haunted Mansion attractions”–I wasn’t aware that the Haunted Mansion at WDW does this. I thought that was unique to Disneyland. Perhaps I am incorrect??
It didn’t seem so a year ago on my trip to WDW at Halloween time.
Love your pictures. Disneyland Paris is truly magical. I’d love to go back sometime.
Sorry, Walt Disney World doesn’t do Haunted Mansion Holiday, either. Tokyo and Disneyland both do it, making Walt Disney World the only Haunted Mansion attraction that doesn’t.
It simply wouldn’t work in Phantom Manor. It’s too dark of an attraction and really unlike the other Haunted Mansions.
Hi Tom,
First, thank you for the link! and overall think you summed up things at DLP for Christmas pretty well (although there are more decorations in WDS LOL). One thing that Dan pointed out on Facebook that I wanted to further mention is that it’s a small world celebration is a pretty big change from the normal it’s a small world. I think every doll has a different outfit and there are a lot of other added items… some might not be obviously “Christmas” as they are designed to match the holiday celebrations of the area of the world that particular scene celebrates. But for example here is a picture of a normal scene in it’s a small world:
it’s a small world
and here is the celebration version (which doesn’t look Christmasy)
it’s a small world celebrates
Yeah, it’s clear based upon your and Dan’s comments that we missed some of the changes to IASW. I guess I shouldn’t have been so critical. That said, it does appear to me that Disneyland does more in the way of set decorations.
I realize not everything is going to be themed to Christmas given the nature of the attraction, but it *seemed* like there wasn’t much done, in general. We definitely missed the costumes, but were there a lot of set decorations we missed? I know there were definitely some set pieces, but nothing like the finale room of Disneyland’s finale room or even their UK room, certainly. Right…?
Couple of things…. First, thanks for linking to us in there!
Second, the unique Christmas Trees at the restaurants across the whole resort have always been a massive thing for me. I am a Christmas Tree NUT and LOVE each and every unique design!!
Third, I’d like to point out that unless you really KNOW “it’s a small world” in DLP, or are “European enough” to know their many different holidays, then you wouldn’t have maybe noticed at the changes, but believe me, nearly EVERY doll gets a new costume, and there are many new props installed throughout. Just a heads up so you know
Four, Tree Lighting.. a huge thing for DLP, and always very popular. I LOVE it. Can vary form year to year, but is basically the same.
Five, the Castle lights. You’re right, it is mainly due to Dreams, but also because they spent a year refurbing the thing, filling in the holes made by past-years decorations. They never again want to ruin it with drilling and nails!
Six, you didn’t mention the Christmas band entertainment – in particular Mickey and the Jingle Bell Boys over at the Videopolis… Did you not see that?
I’m sure there was more, but I lost my trail of thought… If I remember I’ll add another comment LOL!
Thanks for the feedback, especially about IASW Celebration.
Didn’t see Mickey and the Jingle Bell Boys in Videopolis, unfortunately. Didn’t even know they were there! 🙁
Tom, your visit overlapped with mine and Mickey & the Jingle Bell Boys weren’t on until the following week’s schedule, I believe. So whilst you didn’t get to see them, at least you technically didn’t “miss” them!
Thanks for the info! I don’t remember hearing anything about them while we were there, and it’s good to know we didn’t miss them…even if the end result is the same!