When it comes to the holiday season at Disneyland, there are a few questions we receive more than any others. One of those is “when will Christmas decorations go up in the parks & resorts?” That’s what we’ll answer in this post, with a look at decor in Disney California Adventure, Disneyland, Downtown Disney, and beyond.
Just in case you’re curious, the other common questions are revolve around when the holiday overlays end on Haunted Mansion Holiday and “it’s a small world” (see the Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar for updates on those), whether there’s a California version of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (there is not), and when the Christmas decorations go down (gradually in mid-January).
As people plan their Christmas trips months in advance, it makes sense that this would be important information. This year, Disneyland Resort officially kicks off Christmas on November 15, 2024. This is a full week later than normal, which has many people who planned in advance for their “normal” dates in early November wondering whether they’ll see any holiday offerings during their California vacations.
The good news is that the answer is yes. Even though Halloween Time at Disneyland runs through October 31, the Holiday Services team always gets a jump start on the holidays by putting up the more ambiguous decor beginning in mid-October. You can expect that time-honored tradition to continue in 2024, 2025, 2026, and beyond.
In fact, we’ve been in the parks the past couple of weeks, and have already started to see “winter” decorations going up. To the best of my recollection, this started even earlier than normal, before the midday point of the month. As of October 25, Sleeping Beauty Castle is dusted with a light layer of snowfall:
They’ve been doing this for years, and I still do a double-take every time I turn the corner on Main Street, round that gigantic pumpkin Mickey Mouse head, and see Sleeping Beauty Castle with snow-capped roofs. In the words of the Haunted Mansion Holiday narrator, it’s what happens when two holidays collide!
Perhaps Disneyland’s justification for this is that Sleeping Beauty Castle towers so high into the sky, and the weather at those altitudes is simply different up there. Sure, it’s 90 degrees on the ground, but way up at (checks notes) ~65′ feet in the troposphere where those turrets are located, it might be, like, 88 degrees. I dunno.
I’m guessing the actual story justification is that snow isn’t tied to a particular holiday and, not only that, but the nearby Matterhorn is snow-covered year-round, so it’s not that far-fetched. If you’re looking at that scene instead of Main Street and the pumpkin decor, it’s completely congruous.
Not only that, but even though Disneyland exists in California, it’s inspired by Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri and arguably set in the Midwest rather than the West Coast. As someone who hails from the Midwest (albeit farther to the north, in Michigan), it wasn’t the least bit uncommon to see snow on our Halloween decorations.
As for the practical justification, it’s almost assuredly that Holiday Services needs multiple nights to install the snow-capped turrets and then the twinkling lights that top those. Given that Walt Disney World used to bust out the cranes to install the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights in late July, mid-October isn’t that bad!
After losing the gorgeous lights on Cinderella Castle, I’m certainly not complaining about Disneyland doing this a few weeks into the Halloween season. I would much rather have this than the alternative, just to be clear. It’s just an interest juxtaposition that takes some getting used–that’s all I’m saying. But after two full months of Halloween, most Disneyland locals are “over” the holiday by mid-October anyway.
Regardless, the end result is more than worth it:
Once finished, Sleeping Beauty Castle is decked out in 80,000 icicles lights, wreaths and festive décor in a display known as Wintertime Enchantment. Each evening during the holiday season, guests can gather to see the iconic edifice shimmer to life.
As snow falls and music fills the air, watch thousands of twinkling lights illuminated in stages. It’s a truly breathtaking sight, but it’s also show. Not a major one, but this is nevertheless a meaningful distinction because things like this are included in the entertainment guide and, for whatever reason, don’t typically start far in advance of the official holiday season kickoff.
Meaning that even if Wintertime Enchantment at Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle looks done by November 8, it probably won’t be illuminated that early with Christmas officially starting on November 15, 2024. (Also, there’s a chance it won’t actually be finished. Looking done and being done are two different things.)
However, it is common for Wintertime Enchantment to be illuminated a night or two in advance as a surprise & delight offering. With media previews for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure on November 13-14, it’s our expectation that Sleeping Beauty Castle will start being lit-up on November 12 or 13.
That’s just a guess, though. No guarantees until November 15!
If you’re hoping to see daytime Christmas decorations throughout the lands at Disneyland, the good news is that they go up earlier than you might expect. This is definitely not a turkey before tree situation, as decorating usually begins shortly before Halloween, accelerating once the clock strikes midnight on October 31 and overnight the first few days of November.
One of the common misconceptions about Disneyland and the holiday season is that all of the decorations appear overnight, all at once. There are a variety of reasons why this is a persistent urban legend. For one thing, it used to be true. Indeed, Disneyland used to put up decorations faster than they do now–the process is definitely more drawn out.
For another thing, a lot of people confuse Disneyland with Magic Kingdom. The transformation in Florida still happens faster. That’s in part because there are fewer decorations in Magic Kingdom, making that one park easier. It’s also in part because Walt Disney World as a whole is larger, meaning the Holiday Services team has less time for each individual location!
Finally, it’s a matter of guest perception. You can leave Disneyland one night and see Halloween decorations on your way out and enter the next morning to see the scene magically transformed to Christmas. It’s an impressive sight to behold, and one that you might be convinced happens “all at once.” However, not all of the details are there at that point, nor is everywhere totally decorated.
Basically, what happens in that one overnight is one-to-one swapping of Halloween decorations for Christmas decorations, meaning the pumpkins and fall leaves get removed, with lights and garland going up in their place, and the giant Christmas tree replacing the Pumpkin Mickey by the flagpole. Those changes alone make an indelible first impression upon entering Disneyland, hence the perception that it happens all at once!
Anyway, perception aside, the reality is that Christmas decorations go up pretty early in both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Despite the Christmas 2024 season not officially starting at Disneyland Resort until November 15, the reality is that decorations will go up before then. While there isn’t any recent precedent of the holiday season starting this late, we’d still expect the two parks to be fully decorated by the end of the first week of November 2024.
As for the attraction overlays, the good news is that Haunted Mansion Holiday has been operating since late summer. While diehard Disneyland fans and Ryan Gosling might argue that it’s a Christmas overlay, the fact of the matter is that it’s up starting with Halloween. That overlay lasts until mid-January, typically.
The other big overlay is “it’s a small world” holiday, and that’s scheduled to open on November 15, 2024. There are no guarantees that it’ll debut ahead of that, as it’s really dictated by the project progress, but Disneyland usually aims to have it open a day or two early. Our guess is that it’ll soft open on November 13 this year.
It’s a similar story with the Cars Land ride overlays. Most of the decorations in that land go up as the Halloween decor comes down, so the land itself is a fast transform. The rides are a bit hit or miss, but it’s mostly just “flipping a switch” on the soundtracks for those attractions.
The resort hotels are the true wildcard. It used to be the case that the decorations weren’t up until Thanksgiving, but in the last few years, it’s been increasingly common for Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, and Pixar Place Hotel to be decorated by the official start of the holiday season.
We are anticipating that this trend will continue, with the trio having their Christmas trees, gingerbread displays, etc. up by mid-November. There are sometimes displays and step-in vignettes that aren’t done right away (I’m thinking specifically of the mid-century scenery at DLH as well as elevator area displays), but that still arrives before Thanksgiving.
With that said, this is the one thing that’s not consistent. It’s also our lowest area of confidence–we spend more time in the parks than checking out what’s happening in the hotels (and Pixar Place Hotel is technically “new” this year, so who knows what the plan is there).
With all of that said, if you’re visiting on or after November 1, you’ll start to see some decorations at Disneyland. By around November 4, you will typically find both of the theme parks are either partially or fully decorated. If you visit a week after that, you’ll have the same amount of in-park decorations, now the resorts and Downtown Disney will also be decorated.
By the official start of Holiday Time at Disneyland, everything will be done, with the occasional (possible) exception of the gingerbread house in the Grand Californian and vignettes in Disneyland Hotel–but even that has been ready to roll by the mid-November in recent years. Suffice to say, almost everything at Disneyland Resort will be decked out for Christmas before Veterans Day weekend. The lights may not be illuminated yet, but it feels festive any time after Halloween.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Disneyland’s ‘process’ for getting decked out for the holidays? Is mid-October too early to see snow on Sleeping Beauty Castle, or does it ‘work’ for you since snow signals winter and Matterhorn is also snow-capped? Are you excited to experience the holidays at DLR? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
