Is Disneyland California Open On Christmas Day? (2023)

The Disneyland Resort in California is magical year round, however, when decorated in holiday decor it feels as though the magic is enhanced even further. Given this, you may be tempted to consider heading to Disneyland over Christmas or maybe even on Christmas Day specifically.

Both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure are open on Christmas Day. As is the entertainment district of Downtown Disney.

In fact, Christmas Day is one of the busiest days you can visit the Disneyland Resort in California with both parks often reaching capacity by 11am.

Is Disneyland California Open On Christmas Day?

Disneyland California is open on Christmas Day with the following opening times;

• Disneyland Park – 8am to 12am
• Disney California Adventure Park – 8am to 10pm

Disneyland California Christmas Day Attractions & Decorations

The holiday celebrations at Disneyland California generally begin the second weekend in November and conclude the first weekend in January. However, exact dates are often provided several months in advance on the website.

There are no special events or decor for Christmas Day specifically. Instead, all attractions, parades and decor remain the same over this period regardless of the day or time you visit.

Therefore if you’re looking to experience the magic of Disneyland California at Christmas but don’t quite want to have the crazy atmosphere that comes with Christmas Day, then visiting in late November is often best.

With that being said, what can you expect from Christmas decor at Disneyland California? Well, to start with, you’ll find over 300 Christmas Trees and more than 100,000 new plants.

However, the holiday magic doesn’t end there. The entire resort is covered in a wealth of festive decorations, and an entirely new Disneyland Christmas Parade that runs along Main Street comes alive.

Some attractions, such as The Haunted Mansion, put on special Christmas-themed shows, while other areas, such as The Redwood Creek Challenge, provide you with a chance to meet Santa and his Elves.

In our opinion, one of the most magical moments at any Disney park is the fireworks, and the special holiday-themed fireworks, complete with a snowfall effect, are simply spectacular and something you shouldn’t miss when visiting over the holidays.

How To Avoid Crowds At Disneyland California On Christmas Day

By now, you’ve likely realised that the Disneyland Resort will be incredibly busy over the holidays and on Christmas Day specifically. As such without the right planning and preparation, a trip to Disneyland over the holidays can often be stressful rather than fun and exciting.

Thankfully, having visited Disneyland over the holidays multiple times over the past decade we have first-hand experience on how to plan and prepare for your magical day(s) at the parks.

1. Buy Your Tickets In Advance

One of the easiest ways to save time at Disneyland California is to purchase your park tickets online rather than waiting until you arrive at the park.

This way, you don’t have to wait in a separate line to purchase tickets and another to enter the park, missing out on those vital first 30 minutes after opening.

2. Avoid The Weekends

Weekends at any time of the year are often the busiest at Disneyland California. However, weekends over the holidays often see the Disneyland California parks reach capacity before lunchtime.

This is often due to many travellers looking to tie in a trip to the parks with visiting friends and family in California. As a result, consider visiting the parks on either a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday when you can.

3. Download & Utilise The Disneyland Mobile App

The official Disneyland mobile app is available for all iOS and Android smartphones; it’s completely free and a must-have download when visiting the Disneyland California Resort.

You can use the app to plan your trip in advance by booking tables for lunch and dinner, for example. However, you can also use the app during your visit as a detailed map of the park or find out live wait times for rides.

4. Start Early

One of the quietest times to visit the Disneyland California Resort is early morning, just as the parks open. Therefore if you want to avoid the crowds, we recommend arriving at the park gates between 30 minutes to an hour before the rope drop.

Keep in mind that the park imposes a capacity limit for safety reasons, and this limit is often met by 11am on both Christmas Day and other popular days over the holidays.

If you’re planning to arrive at the park early, then you must make the most of your first hour inside the park. As such, we recommend deciding what ride you should run to first or what photo opportunities you want to try and achieve with minimal people in the background.

5. Don’t Go, Park Hopping!

Hopping between parks at Disneyland California is something we’d usually recommend, especially if you’re only spending a day or two at the resort. However, we don’t recommend it over the holidays when the parks are reaching capacity.

This is because when you leave one park to go to another, you won’t be guaranteed entry if the park you’re going to is at capacity. Instead, you may find you get to the next park, and you have to wait outside the gates until people leave (which could take hours).

Based on our own experience, we recommend that those looking to visit both parks at Disneyland California over the holidays reserve a single day for each.

6. Decide On Rides In Advance

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that planning would be essential when visiting Disneyland California over the holidays.

In this case, one of the critical planning areas should be around the rides you’d like to go on at the park. We complete the following rides planning process at least two weeks before visiting Disneyland California;

1. We start by making a list of the rides we’d like to go on at the park, highlighting the top three.
2. Then, we group the rides on a park map while also marking up the ride’s general wait times.
3. If any of the rides in our highlighted top three have a general wait time of more than one hour, we mark that ride as the one we’ll head to first at rope drop.
4. We then use that as our starting point as we work our way around the park to the next ride.

The key here is to minimise the time you’re spending walking between rides. For example, the last thing you want to do is head to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge when the park opens, then over to Tomorrowland and back to Mickeys Toon Town.

Keep in mind that while you have your outline for your day, it is likely to change as the day goes on.

In this case, having the wait times for all rides within a short walking distance on the My Disney Experience app is essential. That way, if you notice one of your three highlighted rides has a lower-than-average wait time, you can quickly head to it.

7. Stay On-Site

The cost of staying on-site at the Disneyland California Resort comes at a premium compared to other hotels in Anaheim. However, staying in one of the three resort hotels also comes with some incredible perks that can make your trip to the resort significantly more enjoyable.

The most notable will be the Extra Magic Hour which provides guests with entry to the park one hour before the general public. However, other benefits include the close proximity to the parks, the ability to meet characters in the hotel lobby and access to a wake-up call from a character.

8. Stay Late

Many people leave Disneyland California, after the fireworks. However, those who want to maximise their time at the park stay until the last minute. Based on our own experience, we’ve found that leaving the park after the fireworks often result in queuing to get to your car or taxi and then queuing again to get out of the parking lot.

Instead, you can often use this time to access some rides up to an hour after the fireworks (depending on the park’s closing hours for that evening), and since most other visitors have already left, you’ll find that wait times for even the most popular rides are up to 90% lower than usual.

However, that’s not the only benefit of staying late, as once you’re ready to leave the park, you’ll find that the traffic around the resort has often subsided from its peak. As a result, you should be able to get to your car or get a taxi significantly easier than you would have just an hour or two earlier.

9. Book Everything In Advance

Accommodation in Anaheim around the holiday’s books up quickly, not just with people looking to visit the Disneyland California Resort but with others in town looking to visit friends and family. As such, booking accommodation in advance will likely provide you with the most extensive choice and the best prices.

However, if you’re unsure whether or not the accommodation will be suitable for you nearer the time. Consider booking accommodation that offers a free cancellation. That way, you can capitalise on the affordability while still being flexible.

Meanwhile, if you want to eat at an on-site restaurant during your trip to Disneyland California, over the holidays, you must book your table as far in advance as possible. In most cases, tables at table-service restaurants within Disneyland California can be reserved 60 days in advance.