Last Updated on August 26, 2026
Disney locked Holidays at the Disneyland Resort for Friday, November 13, 2026 through Wednesday, January 6, 2027. That window is official as of today, from the Disney Parks Blog and a Disneyland Resort press release.
A regular ticket and park reservation still cover the tree, the castle lights, the parade, the fireworks, the ride overlays, and World of Color. The guided tour, Sip and Savor Pass, character dining, dessert parties, and hotel Santa time are extra.
I care more about the dates that do not match the headline than about another list of returning traditions. Santa in Disneyland park only runs through Christmas Eve. Character dining starts three days late and ends three days early. The 20 percent hotel offer misses the last two weeks of the season, which is when most families actually want to go.
What’s actually new vs returning
Most of this is the same holiday package Disneyland runs every year. The two real news items are a new Santa stop in Toontown and new alpine-travel costumes for Mickey, Minnie, and friends in Town Square.
Everything else in today’s dump is a return: Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle, the 60-foot Main Street tree, “A Christmas Fantasy Parade,” “Believe…in Holiday Magic,” Haunted Mansion Holiday, “it’s a small world” Holiday, World of Color Season of Light, Festival of Holidays, and Viva Navidad.
Fan headlines that say Disney “removed” Santa are doing clickbait. Official language is a move to Mickey’s Toontown Trolley Barn, near Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, plus Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in Disney California Adventure and the three resort hotels.
If you have a toddler who only knows the old Town Square Santa, that is the change to brief them on. It is not a cancellation.
The dates that matter (and the ones that don’t match)
Write November 13, 2026 to January 6, 2027 on the calendar. Then put asterisks on the experiences that do not run the full window.
- Holidays at the Disneyland Resort: Nov. 13, 2026 through Jan. 6, 2027
- Santa in Disneyland park (Toontown Trolley Barn): Nov. 13 through Dec. 24
- Santa at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and at the three hotels: select times during the season (confirm the live app)
- Chip and Dale’s Ornament Trail in Downtown Disney: Nov. 11, 2026 through Jan. 6, 2027 (two days before the official start)
- Holiday character dining: Nov. 16, 2026 through Jan. 3, 2027
- Hotel 20% offer: book from Sept. 22, 2026, for stays Oct. 11 through Dec. 18, 2026, three nights or longer
December 19 through January 6 is still holidays. It is not on the discounted hotel offer.
If you are hunting value, look at mid-November through early December, then read our how early to book a Disneyland trip notes and the 2026 crowd calendar before you pick a week.
Magic Key holders should assume holidays are a blockout fight until Disney publishes the live chart. Start with Magic Key blockout dates explained, not a forum screenshot.
Disney did not include Candlelight Processional dates in today’s announcement. Do not treat last year’s Candlelight calendar as this year’s. We already have a Candlelight Processional page to update when they actually post times.
What’s included with a ticket
Walk onto Main Street, U.S.A. and you get the 60-foot tree and Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle with 80,000 lights. At night the castle does Wintertime Enchantment, and “snow” falls on parts of Main Street, “it’s a small world,” and the Rivers of America.
That snowfall is a ticketed-park effect, not a Downtown Disney-only trick. Downtown Disney gets its own nightly snowfall starting November 13, which you can see without a park ticket.
“A Christmas Fantasy Parade” is included. So is “Believe…in Holiday Magic,” with the castle, small world, or the river as a possible backdrop depending on the night.
I would still not plan a one-day trip around a specific fireworks viewing spot. Read one day with Park Hopper if you are trying to do both parks, and treat fireworks as a bonus, not the spine of the itinerary.
Haunted Mansion Holiday is already running as part of Halloween Time 2026. Holidays keep the overlay, including this year’s ballroom gingerbread house, which Disney says is a monstrous music box for the attraction’s 25th year of those confection displays.
If you want the classic Mansion back, that is a January problem, and Disney has not posted the 2027 removal closure yet. Use our Haunted Mansion guide for the ride itself, not for overlay teardown dates.
“it’s a small world” Holiday is included, with about 400,000 lights on the facade and the Santa hat on the clock. It is a photo stop even if you skip the boat.
Bluey and Bingo are listed in the official holiday guide as continuing at “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!” in the Fantasyland Theatre. A fan site claimed a two-month closure the same day.
I am not treating that closure as confirmed. Check the live calendar on Disneyland.com the week you travel, and use our Fantasyland guide and Disneyland with toddlers notes if that show is a must.
Disney California Adventure: World of Color and Festival of Holidays
World of Color Season of Light returns November 13 at Paradise Bay. Disney named Beauty and the Beast and Inside Out in the 2026 description, set to holiday music.
The show is included. The World of Color dessert party is extra, and 2026 pricing is not in today’s release. Our World of Color dessert party guide is the page to watch once they post the new rate.
Cars Land gets Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl and Mater’s Jingle Jamboree, plus the usual sunset Sh-boom lighting. Pair that with Radiator Springs Racers if you are building a DCA night.
Disney Festival of Holidays is the food-and-culture layer at California Adventure, with six marketplaces. Disney has not published the 2026 menus yet. They say a Foodie Guide is coming.
The Sip and Savor Pass is extra: six digital coupons for select food and nonalcoholic drinks at participating booths. Do not buy it until the actual menu is out, because a pass is only a deal if you would have bought six of those items anyway.
Entertainment on select days includes A Musical Christmas with Mariachi Alegria de Disneyland and Miguel on Buena Vista Street, Mirabel’s Gifts of the Season at Paradise Gardens Park, and the Disney Viva Navidad Street Party. Miguel is a Coco appearance, not the new boat ride.
Mickey’s Happy Holidays cavalcade and the Holiday Toy Drummers are listed as moving entertainment at select times. Select times in Disney-speak means you live in the app that morning.
What costs extra
Start here if you are budgeting, because the free list is long and the paid list is where people overspend.
- Holiday Time at the Disneyland Resort Guided Tour: extra, reserved parade viewing, 2026 price not posted. The 2025 tour was $120 per person plus tax and did not include admission.
- Plaza Inn A Christmas Fantasy Parade dining package: extra, 2026 details later. See our Plaza Inn dining guide.
- World of Color dessert party: extra, 2026 details later.
- Festival of Holidays Sip and Savor Pass: extra.
- Holiday character dining, Nov. 16 through Jan. 3: extra. Reservations at a later date.
- Chip and Dale’s Ornament Trail map: extra, redeem for a keepsake.
- Tenaya Stone Spa holiday treatments: extra. Details on our Tenaya Stone Spa page.
- Novelties Disney already named: Mickey Train Light Up Bucket and Holiday Stitch Christmas Tree Sipper.
Character dining is the one I would book the minute reservations open, if you want it at all. The three named meals are Goofy’s Kitchen Celebrates the Holidays at Disneyland Hotel, Daisy’s Holiday Pajama Party (breakfast and brunch) at Storytellers Cafe, and Mickey’s Christmas Carol Feast (dinner) at Storytellers Cafe.
That is a Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel product, not a park-ticket product. Price history lives on our best character dining and Storytellers Cafe pages until 2026 rates post.
The Grand Californian lobby gingerbread display is included if you are allowed in the hotel. Disney says it is about 7 feet tall and modeled after the hotel’s architecture.
Returning snacks they bothered to name: the Mickey Elf Shake at Schmoozies in California Adventure, the Milk and Cookies tree-shaped macaron at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, and a merry cranberry crispy chicken sandwich at Galactic Grill. Those are menu extras, not ticket extras.
Santa is moving, not disappearing
In Disneyland park, Santa’s listed stop is the Toontown Trolley Barn, November 13 through December 24. After Christmas Day, that park meet is not in today’s announcement.
California Adventure still has Santa’s Holiday Visit at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, with games and outdoor activities around the meet. The three hotels still get Santa at select times: Disneyland Hotel, Pixar Place Hotel, and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.
If seeing Santa is the reason you bought the trip, do not aim for December 26 through January 6 inside Disneyland park and hope. Aim for Toontown before Christmas, or a hotel appearance you have confirmed in the app.
How I’d book this
I would not pay extra for the guided tour unless reserved parade viewing is the only way your group will actually sit down. The parade is included from the curb.
I would not buy the Sip and Savor Pass on announcement day. Wait for the Foodie Guide.
I would look at the hotel 20% offer on September 22 if I can do three nights between October 11 and December 18. If my dates are Christmas week, that offer is not for me, and I would compare hotels under $100 near Disneyland and the on-property hotel ranking instead of waiting for a discount that does not exist.
Crowds from mid-December through New Year’s Eve are the expensive, exhausted version of this season. Mid-November and early December are the version I would actually book, which matches what we already said in best time to visit Disneyland in 2026 and best day of the week.
Decorations go up before the official start. If you only care about the tree and the castle, read when Disneyland decorates for Christmas and consider a quieter week just before November 13.
A lot of the magic is still free once you are on property. The paid layer is optional, and Disney is counting on you forgetting that.
You still need a theme park reservation and a valid ticket for the same park on the same date. Confirm hours, overlays, and character times on Disneyland.com the week you go, because today’s announcement is a season outline, not a day-by-day operating schedule.
People Also Ask
When do Disneyland holidays start in 2026?
Officially Friday, November 13, 2026, running through January 6, 2027. Chip and Dale’s Ornament Trail in Downtown Disney starts two days earlier, on November 11.
Where is Santa at Disneyland in 2026?
In Disneyland park, Disney listed Mickey’s Toontown Trolley Barn from November 13 through December 24. He also appears at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in California Adventure and at select times at the three resort hotels.
Is World of Color running during Disneyland holidays 2026?
Yes. World of Color Season of Light returns November 13, 2026, at Disney California Adventure. The dessert party is a separate, extra-cost add-on with 2026 details still to come.
What is included vs extra for Disneyland holidays 2026?
Included with a ticket: decorations, parade, fireworks, ride overlays, World of Color, Festival of Holidays entertainment, and Viva Navidad viewing. Extra: the guided tour, Sip and Savor Pass, character dining, dessert parties, parade dining package, Ornament Trail map, spa treatments, and the named novelty merch.