Disneyland is beautiful during the Holidays, but the increase in crowds, lights and noise can often make it less successful for families that include individuals with sensory processing difficulties. Here is a review of Disneyland during Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas holidays.
Times to go: Halloween time during the week is much slower than on weekends, and way better than after Thanksgiving. We went during Thanksgiving, and due to torrential downpours on Thanksgiving day, the Wednesday and Thursday around Thanksgiving were EMPTY. However, due to the rain, many of the outdoor rides were closed as well. Fret not, rain allows you to ride some rides multiple times (hello, Guardians of the Galaxy; note – four times in a row is a bit much.) Times to avoid: We have found that the week between Christmas and New Years is very, very difficult.
Holiday Decorations:
Some people LOVE all the lights and holiday decor, while others avoid it. While it is difficult to avoid all the holiday lights walking down Main Street in Disneyland, Disney California Adventure (DCA) Park tends to have less Christmas decor overland, except for Cars Land – more on that in a different post about DCA during the holidays. . At Disneyland, both Galaxy’s Edge and Tomorrow Land feature no holiday changes.
Holiday Ride Overlays:
Haunted Mansion:
Several attractions change during the holidays, the most notable one being The Haunted Mansion. Themed after “A Nightmare before Christmas,” the entire Mansion inside and out is themed after this award-wining animated Halloween meets Christmas film where the main character, Jack Skellington, tries to take over Christmas by being “Sandy Claws” in a misguided effort to bring joy. Changes to note are that this brings on heavier crowds than usual for this attraction (we saw waits up to 120m minutes over Thanksgiving) and that while noise level and lighting levels are similar, the overall theme is a bit scarier than the cute and funny usual Haunted Mansion theming. If you like the movie, you will love this overlay, but those who don’t know the movie may be confused by the mix of Halloween and Christmas Decor. This attraction begins it’s theming at Halloween and goes through Christmas.
Sensory Team Ratings for Haunted Mansion Holiday:
Sound: 4/5 (wear headphones)
Light: 2/5 (not overly bright, dark in places)
Tactile: 0/5 (you sit in a slow moving triple seat vehicle that moves continuously)
Smell: 2/5 (there is a wonderfully delicious but quite strong smell of Gingerbread part way through the ride)
Proprioceptive: 1/5 (the vehicle tilts slightly backward at one point, and at the beginning the room appears to stretch making some uneasy)
Temperature: Indoors
It’s a Small World Holiday:
It’s a Small World gets a huge holiday overlay inside and out. The outside is one of the hallmarks of Disneyland during the holidays: Not only is there an incredibly detailed display of Christmas Lights, but an animated light-show appears on the face of Small World throughout the evening. On the inside, the entire attraction is themed for the holidays with a Peace on Earth message and A LOT of lights. new this year is the addition of more scents, from “Cherry Blossom” scent in Asia, to the Cinnamon scent in South America and Coconut in the South Seas area (along with lots of bubbles!). Europe still features Pine and Peppermint scents.
Sensory Team Ratings for Its a Small World Holiday:
Sound: 4/5 (Fairly loud holiday music, headphones recommended)
Light: 4/5 (There is a lot of lighting: most of it is non-flashing Christmas lights, but there is a lot going on which may be overstimulating for some)
Tactile: 0/5 (there is nothing to touch)
Smell: 4/5 (multiple smells, including: pine, peppermint, tropical, cinnamon and cherry blossom)
Proprioceptive: 2/5 (The ride is experience in a small, flat bottomed boat)
Temperature: Indoors
Christmas Parade:
Parades are often Sensory Overload, and this one, while beautiful and festive, is no different. If you have Sound sensitivities (our team rated this as 5/5) or crowd difficulties (also 5/5) , we recommend you avoid, watch from afar or access the parade with headphones in the Disability section.
Believe In Holiday Magic Fireworks
Like all Disney Fireworks shows, this is truly beautiful and spectacular. There are the usual fireworks explosion sounds, so we advise headphones if there are sound sensitivities. The Holiday Magic Show is 13 minutes long and ends with “snow” falling all the way down main street. The show is edited when high winds are in effect. More relaxed places to watch fireworks from are Galaxy’s Edge and Small World.
What are your favorite, sensory accessible holiday events/attractions at Disneyland?