What's new at Disneyland for the holiday season this year?
Reading the parks' press releases, the answer might seem like, "not much." The "A Christmas Fantasy" parade has been running in its current form since 2008. Haunted Mansion Holiday debuted in 2001. The "Believe... In Holiday Magic" has been going since 2000. It's a Small World Holiday began its run in 1997. These have become beloved holiday traditions in Southern California, which is why Disneyland hasn't bothered replacing them.
But what do you do if you're longing for something fresh at Disneyland this holiday season?
Here's what I did yesterday. I took a day off. Yes, that's what a day at Disneyland is suppose to be - a break, a vacation, a day away from the real world. But too often, Disneyland visitors end up treating their day in the park like a second job.
I get it. When you're paying up to a couple hundred dollars per person to park, get in the gate and then eat and drink during the day, you want to get your money's worth. Especially during the holiday season, when everything seems amplified. People queue ready to attack the park like a problem to solved or an enemy to be vanquished.
So how about this, instead? Treat Disneyland like your Christmas present. Give yourself the gift of just trusting that the park will reward with a good time if you make no more investment in it than a ticket and your time. (Okay, and some money for food, too.)
The opening of the new Adventureland Treehouse drew me to the park yesterday before opening. [See my report on that here: New attraction opens at Disneyland.] But once the rope dropped and the park was open to all, I chose not to follow the crowd to Star Wars Rise of the Resistance or Indiana Jones Adventure or Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.
Nope. I decide that since it was 8am, it was time for a leisurely breakfast. So I walked over to Frontierland and joined the queue for Disneyland's breakfast chimichangas.
Available whenever they get there and only until they're gone, this is the breakfast for those Disneyland fans willing to go with the flow. But they're worth it. At $7, they're tasty, filling, warm, and offer some protein instead of the carb bomb most people end up getting for breakfast on the go in the parks.
Laurie opted for Starbucks, so after she returned from Main Street's Market House, we started our Disneyland day with a relaxing picnic on the now-available Frontierland benches. [Disneyland cracks down on bench-hogging pin traders] Laurie had not been on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance yet, so even though we were starting 45 minutes after the park has opened, we walked over to Galaxy's Edge to give it a go.
Seeing the queue's start halfway back to Black Spire Outpost made me question our decision not to attack the day with a more sensible plan. But we lucked into a glitch-free morning and were admitted to the first pre-show room with BB-8 and Rey just 35 minutes later. We did get the B-mode with Kylo Ren just before the escape pod, but Laurie loved the ride nevertheless.
Twelve hours and more than 10,000 steps each later, we had seen two live theater shows ("Tale of the Lion King" and the "Beauty and the Beast" vaudeville show at the Royal Theatre) and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, walked that new Treehouse, and ridden Runway Railway, Snow White, Peter Pan, Autopia, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion Holiday. (It's a Small World Holiday was down for almost the whole day, creating some nasty lines at the Mansion, including a Genie+ return line that once extended all the way up to the bridge in front of the former Splash Mountain. We rode later.)
We also had enjoyed a nice lunch at Tiana's Palace and dinner at the Plaza Inn. Then Laurie hauled us through pretty much every shop the park, too, checking out the themed purses and new holiday souvenirs.
This is how you find the holiday spirit - not by chasing it, but by taking a breath, widening your focus, going with flow, and letting it find you. And, oh yeah, being in a place as beautifully decorated and filled with fun as Disneyland certainly helps, too.
We had so much fun at Disneyland that we never did make it over to Disney California Adventure, with the returning Disney Festival of Holidays, Disney ¡Viva Navidad!, Cars Land ride overlays, and World of Color - Season of Light holiday nighttime spectacular. So that's another present - to be "unwrapped" on another lovely holiday-season day.
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The castle projection seemed a bit boring tbh
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Wow, a great article! I know it's so tempting to rush around and get so much in but often the best part of a Disney park is taking time to appreciate the sights and feel, especially at holidays.