Disneyland at Christmas is a favorite time of year to visit for many. This year is extra special due to some new offerings, and there are several reasons why you will want to consider a multi-day trip that overlaps with weekdays and the weekend.
This year, Disneyland is really pulling out all of the stops for its Christmas celebration. In addition to the numerous popular offerings that are returning like holiday ride overlays, foods, and entertainment, there are some brand-new offerings this year that may impact how you should structure your trip.
Keep reading for three reasons why you should plan a multi-day weekday/weekend visit this year during the holidays! MUST-READ if you are planning a holiday visit! Don’t miss the Disneyland Black Friday ticket sale going on right now! See details and how you can access exclusive lower pricing in our guide to the Disneyland Black Friday tickets sale.
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1. Holiday Entertainment Schedule
Disneyland introduced some exciting new holiday entertainment this year, including two new shows at Disney California Adventure for the Disney Festival of Holidays. This is in addition to the great lineup of entertainment that is normally offered during the holidays including A Christmas Fantasy Parade, the “Believe… In Holiday Magic” Fireworks, World of Color – Season of Light, the Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party, and more.
While we already would recommend a multi-day trip so that you're able to enjoy both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure's holiday nighttime spectaculars, the new holiday offerings based on Encanto and Coco, as well as one of our favorite shows, the Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party, will not be offered every day of the week. To see all of these shows, you will have to plan your trip accordingly.
Here is a look at these new Disney California Adventure shows from our recent trip and when they will be playing…
New Encanto Show -Weekday Afternoon/Evenings
The new Encanto show at Disney California Adventure, “Mirabel’s Gifts of the Season,” features favorite characters and songs from the film like “Family Madrigal,” “Colombia, Mi Encanto,” “Surface Pressure,” “What Else Can I Do,” and “We Don't Talk About Bruno.”
This cute show features Mirabel and her three friends, who all want to be like certain members of Mirabel's family, as they engage in their own Fiesta de Navidad celebration. It highlights the main songs of Luisa, Isabela, and Bruno, who make appearances throughout the show as they all contribute something different when decorating the tree and celebrate the gift of family and friends coming together during the holidays.
The show is about 15 minutes long and takes place outside the entrance of Paradise Gardens Park on weekdays with showtimes in the afternoon through the early evening during the holiday celebration (November 15 through January 6).
New Coco Show – Weekday Evenings
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The other new show at Disney California Adventure is the Coco show “A Musical Christmas with Mariachi Alegría de Disneyland & Miguel!” This show features beautiful bilingual performances of holiday songs, dancers, and an appearance by Miguel.
The performers in the show really shine, and it's overall a really warm and special offering. It's a great mix of higher-energy songs that ends on a sweet note with kids and audience members being invited up to participate in “Silent Night.”
The show is only offered on weekdays in the evenings during the holiday celebration, so you will want to keep this in mind if you are also planning on seeing other evening entertainment like World of Color – Season of Light or offerings at Disneyland Park like the evening parade or fireworks.
Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party – Weekends Only!
Keep in mind that the popular Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party is only being offered on weekends. This is one of our favorite shows that you should not miss! This joyful performance features authentic folklórico dancers, mariachis, Brazilian samba dancers, drummers, 12-foot-tall mojiganga puppets of Santa and Mrs. Claus, and appearances from Disney characters. These are the Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party dates during the holiday celebration below:
- November 16, 17, 23, 24, 30
- December 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
- January 4, 5
Why You Need a Trip Overlapping With Weekend/Weekdays for Holiday Entertainment
All of this is to say that there is a significant amount of holiday entertainment offerings this holiday season, and one day is not enough to do and see it all. To have enough time to fully enjoy all of the holiday entertainment at Disney California Adventure, you'll want to plan your trip to include both weekdays (for the new Disney California Adventure shows) and weekend days (for the Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party).
Keep in mind as well that if you want to secure prime viewing for entertainment, this will also take up a chunk of time and potentially prevent you from seeing more than one show in one night, depending on the timing of the shows you're trying to see.
This is a great time to enjoy a 3-day trip if your schedule allows so you can space out all of the holiday entertainment at both parks and have enough time to enjoy the other holiday highlights across the resort.
2. Special Disneyland Christmas Foods
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There is more than enough to enjoy during a full day at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure each during the holidays, but one of the biggest reasons to consider a multi-day trip is all of the special Christmas foods that are available! There are hundreds of special items that we counted when putting together our Disneyland Christmas foods printable this year. See all of this year's Disneyland Christmas foods here.
There are so many adorably decorated seasonal foods that you'll want to try during your visit, and a multi-day trip gives you the flexibility to enjoy as much of these as you can. This includes…
Disney Festival of Holidays Marketplaces
The Disney Festival of Holidays has a huge selection of marketplace offerings (see our Disney California Adventure Festival of Holidays foods ranking here) and you could easily spend days going through and trying all of these offerings. If you're planning a multi-day trip with more than one day visiting Disney California Adventure, you can get a Sip and Savor Pass that you can use across the different days of your trip to sample all of the foods you're interested in trying.
3. Several Holiday and Seasonal Character Dining Experiences
One of the most exciting parts of the holiday celebration this year is the number of special holiday dining experiences being offered. Between Goofy's Kitchen Celebrates the Winter Holidays, Mickey's Holiday Pajama Party breakfast and brunch, a holiday tea with Santa, and Breakfast With Santa at Naples Ristorante e Bar, there are a lot of fun options to choose from!
If you're looking to splurge during your holiday trip, you might even consider doing more than one holiday Character Dining experience over the course of a multi-day trip. Note that Breakfast With Santa at Naples Ristorante e Bar is offered on specific dates that are mostly weekends, so you'll want to plan your trip accordingly if this is a priority. Reservations have filled up quickly for some of these special holiday dining experiences, but you can see our tips on how to secure Disneyland dining reservations here.
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