How Disney Parks Celebrate Holidays Around the World

Magical experiences await no matter when you choose to visit a Disney Park. However, there’s something extremely special about visiting Disney during a holiday. There’s a noticeable buzz in the air that’s full of extra excitement and cheer.

While most of us are familiar with the different holiday celebrations that take place at Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, holidays are celebrated at the Disney Parks all across the globe!

Follow along with me as I explore how different holidays are celebrated around the world by Disney.

Chinese New Year Celebrations

The Year of the Dragon was celebrated in fantastic ways at both Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Throughout both locations, Guests were able to see a variety of unique decorations, enjoy specialty food, meet characters in special outfits, and watch special entertainment.

Chinese New Year Beautiful Disney Decorations

Decorations included lanterns, a Dragon’s Gate, gold ingots, lucky coins, and Fai Chun – a traditional Chinese New Year decoration. Disney characters, including Chip ‘n’ Dale, Sisu the dragon, and Mickey and Minnie were also incorporated into these decorations. Chip ‘n’ Dale take on the role of a pair of koi fish that are leaping over the Dragon’s Gate, which is a symbol of perseverance, strength, and the ability to overcome the odds when faced with obstacles.

Disney Chinese New Year Offers Great Food

Dining options ranged from limited time snacks and treats to full meals. The menu at Shanghai Disney Resort featured items such as a Sweet Potato Crepe with vanilla ice cream, LinaBell Waffle with hawthorn and vanilla flavored ice cream, New Years Donuts in traditional red, and Milkshakes that were served with traditional lanterns and streamers.

A Mushu popcorn bucket and LinaBell souvenir cup were also available. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Guests could enjoy a Duffy & Friends Mandarin Cupcake, Duffy & Friends Festival Éclairs, and savory dishes such as the Dragon Emperor’s Spring Eight Treasure Cuisine Plate.

Year of the Dragon Features Unique Characters

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Classic characters such as Mickey and his pals, Duffy & Friends, and Winnie the Pooh characters were all adorned in unique outfits for the celebration. Their outfits featured dragon scales and symbols of good fortune.

Other characters could also be seen during some of the specialty entertainment. For the first time ever, Mulan and Mushu joined in for the Spring Festival Drum Ceremony that took place at Shanghai Disney Resort. They could also be seen during the Mickey Avenue Shanghai Swing show. Mushu was also available for meet and greet opportunities along with Goofy who was dressed as the God of Fortune.

Mickey's Year of the Dragon Celebration

At Hong Kong Disneyland, a beautiful stage show called Mickey’s Year of the Dragon Celebration took place. This show included characters, singers, dancers, and an original song titled “Magic is Here”. Along with Mickey and his friends were special characters like Mushu and Raya. Sisu could also be seen during the performance as a dragon kite.

Shanghai Disney Resort also put on a special Chinese New Year fireworks show. During this beautiful display, an extremely impressive moment took place when the fireworks wrote out the Chinese character for “dragon”.

Valentine's Day at Disney

While specialty treats and merchandise items may become available around Valentine’s Day, most of the Disney Parks don’t have a specific celebration for the holiday. However, if you’re looking for a way to celebrate with your Valentine at Disney, you can do so by attending Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’ Nite. This year, Sweethearts’ Nite took place on eight nights, with the final night conveniently falling on Valentine’s Day.

The experience included specialty food and beverage items, entertainment, characters, a dance party, photo-ops, and cavalcade. During the entire evening, Disney couples can be spotted throughout the park.

Valentine's Day Decorations

Projections are used to cast a loving ambiance around the park. These heart-filled projections can be seen on Sleeping Beauty Castle, Main Street, U.S.A., and “it’s a small world”. The photo-op locations also added to the evening’s charm. These special backdrops included things such as the house from Up!, a Haunted Mansion-inspired tombstone that read “Together Forever”, the Kiss the Girl boat from The Little Mermaid, the lantern scene from Tangled, and many more.

Valentine's Day Entertainment

The two main entertainment offerings of the evening were the Royal Ball and Royal Cavalcade. The Royal Ball provided Guests with a very unique experience. During the ball, a variety of popular Disney couples came out and danced along with Disney music. Guests then had the opportunity to join in with them! Not only could you dance with these royals, you could also watch them in a beautiful display during the Royal Cavalcade. As music played, Disney couples made their way down the road in horse-drawn carriages. Other rare characters, such as the mice from Cinderella, were also seen walking the route.

Valentine's Day Dining

Select dining locations are open during the event, offering standard food and beverage items as well as some Sweethearts’ Nite exclusives. Special menu items included Me & U-Bae Beignets, Burning Love Beignets, Tunnel of Love Strawberry Donuts, Fried Heart-Shaped Ravioli, Adorable Pink Heart Slush, and Sweethearts’ Surf ‘n’ Turf Fries.

For more information about Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’ Night, click here to read our full guide!

Easter at Tokyo Disney

When it comes to an Easter celebration, Tokyo Disney Resort has been the place to be in years past. While other Disney Parks offer Easter Egg hunts, meet and greets with the Easter Bunny, and specialty treats for a short time around the holiday, Tokyo Disney Resort has hosted multi-month celebrations.

During the Spring months at Tokyo Disney, the resort is beautiful -filled with lush flower gardens, giant Easter Eggs, and fun Easter scenes that showcase favorite Disney characters. Speaking of characters, many could be seen during the amazing Easter parade that took place at the park called the Hippity Hoppity Springtime Parade. Classic and rare characters, beautiful floats, dancers, and bright, beautiful colors filled the streets along with a spectacular soundtrack.

Unfortunately, the Easter celebration at Tokyo Disney Resort has not been consistently returning for the past few years due to various reasons such as COVID-19 and the 40th Anniversary celebration of the park. Here’s to hoping that this magnificent springtime celebration will return this coming Spring!

While we wait for the return of the Tokyo Disney Resort festivities, we can still take part in Easter fun at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Both parks feature an Egg-stravaganza Easter Egg hunt, novelty items such as popcorn buckets and sippers, merchandise, treats, and special dining options.

Tanabata – The Star Festival

Tokyo Disney Resort has also celebrated Tanabata, a traditional Japanese festival. In accordance with the meaning of Tanabata (Evening of the Seventh), the festivities take place on July 7th. This is a simple holiday that derived from the legend of two star-crossed lovers that were separated by the Milky Way. It is said that this is the single time of the year that these lovers are able to be together.

Tanabata is known to be a romantic holiday. During the day, people write their wishes on colorful pieces of paper and hang them on bamboo branches. At night, the stars are lovingly gazed upon.

At Tokyo Disney, similar traditions were also followed. Upon entering the park, Guests were welcomed with a Tanabata Greeting. Throughout the day, they were able to write their wishes on pieces of paper (that were Mickey-shaped!), and then enjoyed a romantic evening looking up at the stars. When the day came to an end, the Cast Members of Tokyo Disney would wave flashing lights as the Guests exited the park.

On select years, Tokyo Disney Resort has celebrated Tanabata for multiple weeks, calling the celebration Disney Tanabata Days. Specialty decorations, food, and merchandise were brought to the park for the celebration.

Halloween At Disney

Halloween is a big time of the year at all of the Disney Parks. When visiting the parks during the Halloween season, you can expect to see special parades, stage shows, fireworks shows, merchandise, Halloween-themed food and drinks, parties, and an abundance of evil Disney Villains! At the Disney Parks, Halloween is the time for a little bit of spooks and a whole lot of fun.

Howl-O-Ween Festival at Shanghai Disneyland

This year, at Shanghai Disneyland, the citizens of Zootopia celebrated with their first ever Howl-O-Ween Festival. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde debuted brand new costumes for the event. Judy dressed up in a Gazelle costume while Nick was dressed as one of Gazelle’s Tiger Dancers. The other citizens also changed into different species by dressing up in special costumes. Halloween Time at Shanghai Disneyland also included The Villain’s Club stage show, Disney Villain meet and greets, Donald’s Halloween Treat Cavalcade, Treasure Cove Ghost Pirates: “A Trial of Darkness” show, a Coco-themed area, and The Halloween Spook-tacular party.

Disneyland Paris from Halloween Festival

Over at Disneyland Paris, the Disney Halloween Festival took place. This festival is full of bewitching fun such as Mickey’s Halloween Celebration parade, classic characters in fun costumes, and encounters with Disney Villains. For the first time ever, there was a spooky twist to the Disney Electrical Sky Parade. Eerie projections were displayed on Sleeping Beauty castle while haunting drone displays were shown in the skies above.

Thanksgiving

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If you're hoping to celebrate Thanksgiving at the parks, you may be disappointed. None of the Disney Parks go full swing for Thanksgiving. This is due to the fact that they all switch over to their Christmas and holiday celebrations as soon as Halloween is over. However, you can still enjoy your Thanksgiving at the parks. In order to do this, you’ll want to head to Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort.

Again, both parks are going to be in Christmas mode, so you won’t find Thanksgiving-themed merchandise, treats, decorations, or entertainment. However, what you can find at both parks are meals to enjoy on Thanksgiving day. If you’re wanting to visit Disney and still enjoy a Thanksgiving feast, you can do that! Throughout the parks and hotels, there are a variety of locations that will offer simple snacks, quick service meals, or full meals that meet your Thanksgiving needs.

Christmas at Hong Kong Disneyland

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For the first time in forever, World of Frozen, the Frozen-themed land at Hong Kong Disneyland, will be transformed for the holidays. During “A Disney Christmas”, Hong Kong Disneyland’s Christmas celebration, Guests will be able to stroll through Arendelle and take in the sights of the beautiful decorations, listen to carolers singing, and feast on delicious holiday foods. The perfect touch will be added when Elsa uses her magical powers to create a gentle snowfall over the land.

This year, A Disney Christmas also includes “A Holiday Wish-Come-True” tree lighting ceremony, Mickey and Friends Christmastime Ball stage show, Disney characters dressed in holiday attire, and a Duffy & Friends stage show called Wish Upon a Star.

Disneyland Paris Christmas

At Disneyland Paris, there will be another joyous surprise during The Electrical Sky Parade. Cheerful holiday projections will shine bright on Sleeping Beauty Castle as drones fly high in the sky creating beautiful Christmas-themed images.

Disneyland Paris’ Enchanted Christmas will also include Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade!, the Magical Christmas Tree Lighting, character encounters, and the “Let’s Sing Christmas!” stage show.

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