Holiday Cheer Spreads Throughout Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as The Happiest Place on Earth Gets Merrier

Themed entertainment, sparkling decorations and tasty treats add magical warmth to the holiday fun at both parks. The Disneyland Resort hotels shimmer with holiday cheer and guests will enjoy a new ice rink for the holidays at Downtown Disney.

Holidays at Disney California Adventure Park

Celebrating their first Disneyland Resort holiday season, Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, the new lands of Disney California Adventure, will be decked out in unique and festive seasonal decor.

• A whimsical “snowcar” (the Radiator Springs version of a snowman) will stand at the entrance to Cars Land, and each address along Route 66 – Flo’s V-8 Cafe, Fillmore’s, Cozy Cone Motel, Luigi’s Casa della Tires and more – will feature holiday decor that reflects the personality of the “Cars” character who lives there.
• A dazzling, 50-foot Christmas tree will adorn Carthay Circle along Buena Vista Street. The tree and surrounding buildings, inspired by Los Angeles as it appeared when Walt Disney arrived in the 1920s, will be decorated with vintage-style ornaments.
• The classic department store Santa Claus comes to Buena Vista Street. Children of all ages may tell Santa what they want for Christmas by visiting him at Elias & Co., the main department store along this thoroughfare, reminiscent of 1920s Los Angeles.
• New wintertime fun rocks the night at “Mad T Party” as Alice and the Mad Hatter add their own brand of off-kilter holiday spirit to the nighttime celebration in Hollywood Land.
• The nightly “World of Color” water and effects spectacular on Paradise Bay  welcomes special holiday guests Lanny and Wayne, elves from the television show “Prep & Landing.”
• “a bug’s land” transforms as Flik and his bug buddies spread giant Christmas lights and oversized ornaments throughout their realm.
• The holiday scene along the Paradise Bay boardwalk includes a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and lampposts decked out with seasonal wreaths.
• A Holiday edition of the street show, “Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party,” includes festive decor, costumes and holiday tunes. The show invites guests of all ages to “seize the day,” dancing and singing on Paradise Pier with the Disney Channel’s inventive animated boy geniuses.

Holidays at Disneyland Park

At Disneyland, holiday guests will find the traditional snowdrifts and icicles adorning Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle.  After dark, a sensational holiday lighting and special-effects show carries the magic of the holidays from the castle all the way to the Christmas tree in Town Square.  The 60-foot-tall Disneyland Christmas tree is specially designed to present a nightly holiday light show like no other with more than 62,000 energy-efficient LED lights.

The Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle presentation unfolds throughout the evening in three acts, each of them featuring a touch of winter snow on Main Street, U.S.A.  The finale of the show includes the legendary “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks show, which takes guests on a journey of sights and sounds of the season and ends with a touching rendition of “White Christmas,” along with a climactic snowfall swirling down on Main Street, U.S.A., “it’s a small world” Mall and New Orleans Square.

“A Christmas Fantasy” parade has become a holiday tradition in Disneyland. Guests enjoy watching as Disney characters celebrate the magic of the season, wrapping gifts, baking holiday treats and preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus, who shouts a jolly greeting to spectators along the parade route.  Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse even take to the ice for some skating fun.

More holiday favorites return to Disneyland, adding to the merriment.

• “it’s a small world” Holiday becomes  a worldwide celebration of the season, boasting more than 300,000 glittering lights on its facade. Along with the children of many nations in their holiday attire, the attraction features a sparkling snowman dressed in a gold top hat, golden scarf and hundreds of twinkling lights for its finale.  A frosty snowflake mobile twirls over his head, and his “Happy Holidays” sign is sculpted out of ice that changes color.
• Haunted Mansion Holiday presents a madcap celebration as the traditions of Halloween and Christmas collide.  The ghoulish but well-meaning Jack Skellington from the film “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” has come to Haunted Mansion to transform it with his skewed vision of the holidays.
• Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus greet Disneyland guests at Jingle Jangle Jamboree in Big Thunder Ranch, Frontierland.  Kids and their families can chat with St. Nick, meet Disney characters, and enjoy games, music, crafts and seasonal entertainment.
• Disneyland will celebrate Three Kings Day, also known as Dia de los Reyes Magos, from Jan. 4-6, 2013, with special decor, food and entertainment that showcases this Latin American holiday tradition.
• Guests may book guided “Holiday Time at Disneyland” tours that provide entry into “it’s a small world” Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday along with reserved seating for the Disneyland “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, a view of the new holiday decor in Disney California Adventure, a keepsake remembrance  and entertaining information about the history of Disneyland holiday traditions.  For information and reservations guests may visit any Disneyland Resort Guest Relations location or call (714) 781-TOUR (781-8687).