They call it the happiest place on earth, but from November 12th through January 9th, Disneyland becomes the merriest place on earth.
First opening in 1955, this theme park was the only one created and constructed entirely by Walt Disney. It has undergone many renovations over the years to include a plethora of new rides/towns. The park currently has nine towns:
~Main Street U.S.A. – This is where you can shop and admire the 1900s architecture. You can also grab a Starbucks, visit the firehouse, and see Walt’s Disney’s office light that stays lit always. You will also see the majority of the holiday decorations in this area.
~ Adventureland – Here is where you will find Indiana Jones and the Jungle Cruise. Indiana Jones is one of our favorite rides and if you are a Disneyland lover like us, you will notice more flames and more digital lighting the next time you take a ride through the lost temple. The Jungle Cruise is another classic, take a tour around the world’s most dangerous river and see the back side of water, elephant’s bathing, and a safari cruise ship overtaken by gorillas! Don’t forget to grab a Dole Whip while you are here!
~ Frontierland – Located on the eastern side of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America, this old mining town has Big Thunder Mountain. This train roller coaster will take you through a haunted gold mine…hold on tight!
~ New Orleans Square – Here is where you can find the good eats along with Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions. We ate at the River Belle Terrace and the burnt ends grilled cheese sandwich were delicious! After having a relaxing lunch, we headed onto the boat to enjoy the swashbuckling Pirates ride where you ride through the middle of a cannon-shooting ship fight and see all the stolen treasures. Fun Fact – There is one human skull on this ride. It is on the headboard of the bed. After bidding farewell to Jack Sparrow, we went on Haunted Mansion, where we saw a frightfully festive display of both Christmas and Halloween décor. During Christmas, the mansion transforms into Tim Burton’s Night Before Christmas. You will encounter Sandy Claws along with a bunch of ghosts. Beware – they hitchhike!
~ Critter Country – Home of Winnie the Pooh and Splash Mountain! Take a ride in a log and embrace the great outdoors, while you see all kinds of animals roaming around, but hold on for the 50-foot plunge that’s bound to get you soaked! Side note – this ride will be closing on January 10 – it is being rethemed into The Princess and the Frog, so ride it while you still can!
~ Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Opened in 2019, this is the newest land in the park. This was our first time in this area, and it was quite eye-opening. On a personal note, we aren’t all that into Star Wars, so for us to be impressed, you know it is really quite amazing. There are two attractions; Rise of the Resistance and Smuggler’s Run. The Rise of the Resistance takes you on a journey to battle against the First Order and it is incredible!! You truly feel like you are in the movies. Smuggler’s Run takes you on a virtual reality experience where you act as a pilot, a shooter, or an engineer. While in town, you can try a cup of Batuu’s famous blue or green drink. If you’re a soda drinker, get a Coke product as a souvenir…the bottles are neat!
Chewbacca made an appearance!
Troy and our friend, Taylor, being pilots on Smuggler’s Run! 
Batuu’s drinks!
~ Fantasyland – Here you can get in touch with your magical side. Ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds and attempt to avoid the Abominable Snowman, step into a storybook on Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan’s Flight, or Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and if that’s not enough, take a load off and travel the globe on It’s a Small World. You are guaranteed to have the It’s a Small World theme stuck in your head for about six months!! Don’t leave before heading to the Red Rose Taverne to try Beauty and the Beast’s Grey Stuff.
Stitch also made an appearance! 
The Grey Stuff!
~ Mickey’s Toontown – This town features Mickey and Minnie’s homes and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, where you can steer your own taxi! We would recommend heading here if you have a little one, but this town is closing any day now until sometime in 2023, when it debuts it’s new Toontown theme and attractions.
~ Tomorrowland – In this land of the future and outer space, you will find Space Mountain and Star Tours. Race through the stars of the galaxy in complete darkness on Space Mountain, while you take flight to multiple destinations from the Star Wars saga in Star Tours.
There is plenty more to do, and many more rides to experience, but we highlighted our favorites.
While we were expecting more Christmas spirit, there were definitely tons of decorations on Main Street. We also loved the lighting on It’s a Small World, and it was awesome to see Haunted Mansion completely transformed into The Nightmare Before Christmas! There is a Christmas Parade and a Holiday Magic firework show, but we honestly found them to be underwhelming. All in all, there is a lot of holiday spirit, but we did anticipate a bit more since Disneyland typically goes all out for everything. We think that Covid may play a role in this. The other unexpected surprise was that most of the holiday treats are located in California Adventure where they host a holiday food festival. We were under the impression that there would still be plenty at Disneyland since it is the original park, but it was a bit of a struggle to find Christmas treats.
Don’t get us wrong, we loved our trip and always have a wonderful time, but we wanted to advise on both the pros and the cons before you spend about $150/per person. The next time we head to Disneyland during the holidays, we will definitely get a park hopper so we can bounce over to California Adventure and get the full holiday experience.
Either way, you can’t go to Disneyland and have a bad time.
After all, it’s a world of laughter, a world of tears, it’s a world of hopes and a world of fears, there’s so much that we share, that it’s time we’re aware, it’s a small world after all….
We believe in magic, do you?
TnT
