Disneyland’s handmade candy canes have been a Christmas-time tradition for decades, developing a loyal fan-following as a result. This buying guide covers holiday 2024 dates for scoring one of these coveted sweet treats, tips & tricks for getting one before they sell out, and a bit of history as to what makes these hand-pulled candy canes special.
A tradition since 1968, Disneyland’s famous candy canes are handcrafted during the holiday season. They’re made from scratch as part of a two-hour process that involves mixing the ingredients to hand-pulling, rolling, and twisting the candy. The result is colorful swirls of oversized sweetness that are 18-inches long!
This over 50 year history of tradition produces candy canes that have a superior taste and texture to those that are made by modern machines, which is almost all others. To the best of my knowledge, the only other candy shop in Southern California where you can purchase meticulously hand-made candy canes is Logan’s Candies, which also has a passionate fan following among locals.
Hand-pulling candy canes is a lost art, and some of the Candy Makers at Disneyland Resort have been practicing their craft for decades. At one point, the longest-tenured Master Candy Maker had been with Disneyland for over four decades. Unfortunately, Rob McHargue passed away in December 2017 after spending 43 years devoted to the craft of making sweet treats at Disneyland. (Rob is featured in the video below.)
Hand-pulling candy canes is the traditional way to make a candy cane from scratch, but it’s a difficult process that takes talent, knowledge and patience. As you can also see in the video below, most of the Disneyland Resort Candy Makers are old timers–we can only hope they’re passing their knowledge down to younger Cast Members to keep this art from truly becoming lost to the sands of time.
The Disneyland Resort Candy Cane makers begin the 2-hour process of making candy canes by hand at 5 a.m. by mixing corn syrup, sugar, and water cooked to 313 degrees before adding food coloring. Once it’s sufficiently cool, the Candy Makers then pull the candy on a hook and add the peppermint flavor, along with the stripes.
Here’s a cool video showing the whole process for making the candy canes at Disneyland:
A very limited number of these impressive candy canes will be produced by the Disneyland Resort Candy Makers during the Christmas 2024 season. Below are dates when the candy canes will be sold inside Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
Candy Palace & Candy Kitchen at Disneyland:
- November 29, 2024
- December 1, 2024
- December 3, 2024
- December 8, 2024
- December 10, 2024
- December 15, 2024
- December 17, 2024
- December 22, 2024
- December 24, 2024
Trolley Treats at Disney California Adventure:
- November 30, 2024
- December 2, 2024
- December 4, 2024
- December 9, 2024
- December 11, 2024
- December 16, 2024
- December 18, 2024
- December 23, 2024
- December 25, 2024
For a chance to purchase one of the candy canes this year, wristbands or a mobile waitlist system will be used, as quantities are very limited. Once the mobile waitlist is activated, you can add your name and phone number at the location to receive a text back with a time to return to the location for the opportunity to purchase your candy cane, subject to availability.
To be very clear, Candy canes are NOT available through the Mobile Order feature in the Disneyland app. Although Disney refers to this as a mobile waitlist, the more apt term to avoid confusion is virtual queue.
An extremely limited number of candy canes will be available for each release date, while supplies last. In-person purchase required. Limit 1 per guest. Subject to restrictions and change without notice, including but not limited to, change of release dates and prices. No discounts apply. No exchanges or refunds. If mobile waitlist is used, data and message rates and other restrictions may apply.
Both valid admission and theme park reservation for same park on the same day are required for park entry. Park reservations are limited, subject to availability, and are not guaranteed for any specific date or park. Other restrictions apply. Attractions, experiences, entertainment and offerings may be modified, limited in availability, or unavailable, and are subject to change or cancellation without notice.
Turning to tips & tricks for successfully scoring Disneyland’s handmade candy canes, arriving early is the big one. Both parks open at 8 a.m. throughout November and December, with the turnstiles opening prior to then. There’s no exact time, but you can expect that to occur roughly 45 minutes in advance. (I haven’t cross-checked the Early Entry schedule with the 2024 candy cane dates, but it’s irrelevant–the turnstiles and Main Street/Buena Vista Street open at the same time for everyone; checkpoints are beyond that.)
In an ideal world, you’ll want to be among the first ~100 guests at the turnstiles. In our experience, this is considerably easier if you’re staying on-site or at an off-site hotel within walking distance of Disneyland. Having to park and deal with the trams adds (at least) two additional layers of friction to the process. See our Guide to Rope Drop at Disneyland for more info about arriving early, getting through bag check, etc.
When it comes to demand, our anecdotal experience is that the most popular days are those closer to the beginning and end of the candy cane ‘season.’ This shouldn’t be too surprising, as Disneyland fans love to be first. Once you get closer to Christmas, there are heavier crowds as a result of tourists taking trips. On the plus side, almost all Magic Key Annual Passholders are blocked out then, so less competition from locals.
Although I’m not completely certain of this, it also appears that demand is lower in Disney California Adventure. This is another thing that, intuitively, makes sense. Many Disneyland diehards have family traditions of getting these candy canes for years or decades. That wouldn’t have even been possible in DCA until more recently, so Disneyland remains the iconic, traditional, or historical destination for the handmade candy canes.
In terms of commentary, we love that Disneyland still does this. It’s one of those “little things” that makes Disneyland a special place, with a deep sense of history and attention to detail. Even though there’s no direct Walt Disney connection here, the tradition dates back to a bygone era when Disneyland was a more intimate place that did a lot of stuff like this, putting thought and careful consideration into every element of the guest experience.
Nevertheless, I’ve heard plenty of Disney fans scoff at these candy canes over the years: “Why waste valuable vacation time for a piece of candy?” “What kind of idiot would spend $20 and all that time to buy a candy cane in a theme park?” The list of cynical sentiment like that goes on and on.
These Grinches completely miss the point. This is about the experience, the fond memories made in the process, and the tradition–both on Disneyland’s end and for the families who love buying these candy canes on Main Street (or Buena Vista Street, as the case may be). Yes, $20+ is a lot of money for a candy cane, and there’s little justifying that on a value for money perspective.
This is bigger than that, though. It’s the Disney theme park difference–and Disneyland more so than anywhere else–in a nutshell. It’s the attention to detail, sentimentality, and small things that make a meaningful impact on the guest experience and leave people with a lasting impression. If you only care about riding as many rides as possible, that’s your prerogative. But it’s pretty much everything else, other than the big rides, that distinguishes Disney from other theme park operators.
I worry that, eventually, this really will become a ‘lost art’ at Disneyland. Either because the skilled Cast Members who do it will no longer be around, or because even at $20+ each, Disneyland is still losing money on the endeavor given labor costs on the time-consuming process. (There’s a reason why few other places do this–it’s inefficient!)
Sarah and I are big on traditions, and are trying to think of new ones to embrace as Baby Bricker gets older. I can think of few better than getting up at the crack of dawn on some chilly morning every December, playing games while waiting in line, and getting her picture with a gigantic candy cane in front of the Christmas tree on Main Street…and then watching as those candy canes get smaller and smaller each year as she gets bigger and bigger. I really hope we have the opportunity to do that every December for the next decade. To each their own, but I’ll remember that far better than if we went on Peter Pan’s Flight or whatever at rope drop.
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
Is getting up at the crack of dawn for a Disneyland hand-pulled candy cane a tradition for your family? Think these live up to the hype, or are they overpriced and overrated sweet treats? Will you be buying a handmade candy cane during Christmas 2024 at Disneyland or Disney California Adventure? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
