The Holidays are coming back to the Disneyland Resort this year, starting November 12.
This year's holiday celebrations at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will run through January 9, 2022 and welcome back many of the resort's holiday traditions. Disneyland fans missed these celebrations last year, when the parks were closed due to the pandemic.
At Disneyland, the "A Christmas Fantasy" parade will return, becoming the first full-sized parade to run at the park since it reopened in April. The "Believe in Holiday Magic" fireworks show also will run in the evenings at Disneyland, where It's a Small World Holiday will return and Haunted Mansion Holiday continues its run.
Over at Disney California Adventure, the Disney Festival of Holidays returns with eight food marketplaces celebrating Christmas/Navidad, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day. Disney ¡Viva Navidad! takes over the Paradise Gardens area once again, with live music and performers starting November 12. Mirabel from the upcoming Disney animated film Encanto will debut at the event, too.
Cars Land also will be getting its traditional holiday make-over, including the return of the Luigi's Joy to the Whirl and Mater's Jingle Jamboree musical overlays.
Finally, Santa Claus will return to his home in the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, where Mickey Mouse and the Holiday Toy Drummers will appear for a dance party several times daily.
To buy discounted tickets to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, please visit our authorized partner's Disneyland tickets page.
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There was a rumor that Disneyland would do a hard ticket event for Christmas. IMO it would be a big mistake to limit the parade, fireworks and other celebrations to a hard ticket event, because I think they get the guests in a spending mood. I'm sure that Disney has figured out that at especially at Christmas time, people spend more when they have the holiday spirit.
In fact, I was just recently at Disneyland, and the crowds were very low and enjoyable, I'm sure Disney is trying to figure out that sweet spot of attendance and customer satisfaction. Before the pandemic, it was terribly crowded and stressful. Of course, lower crowds mean higher satisfaction, but does that higher satisfaction translate into higher spending? I'm sure Disney is studying these things.
Another thing to consider is the reservation requirement with all tickets and passes. Especially with the Magic Key passes, Disney gets their money, and they can still control the attendance. With the old annual passes, they couldn't control crowds or guest satisfaction, now they can have their cake (upfront Magic Key sales) and eat it too (crowd control through reservations and high guest satisfaction).