The holiday season at Disneyland Resort is one of my favorite times to visit. The decorations, entertainment, and gingerbread treats are all part of the experience, but I have always been drawn to the attractions.
Disneyland does more than place a few wreaths around the parks. Several attractions receive full holiday overlays, complete with new music, characters, decorations, and seasonal storytelling.
Some are small transformations. Others make a familiar attraction feel like a completely different ride.
Here are the Disneyland holiday overlays I look forward to experiencing—and recording—every year.
Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday is the biggest seasonal attraction transformation at Disneyland Resort.
Jack Skellington has discovered Christmas and brought the residents of Halloween Town along to help decorate the Mansion. As anyone familiar with The Nightmare Before Christmas might expect, the results are not exactly traditional.
The transformation begins before you board your Doom Buggy—or black sleigh for the season. Jack, Sally, Zero, Oogie Boogie, and plenty of Halloween Town surprises appear throughout the familiar Mansion.
The music changes. The decorations change. Even the happy haunts become part of Jack’s unusual Christmas celebration.
One of my favorite details is the gingerbread house in the ballroom. Disney creates a different design every year, turning the banquet table into one of the most anticipated parts of the attraction.
The display is filled with small details that can be difficult to catch as your sleigh moves through the ballroom. That also gives guests another reason to ride more than once.
You can take a closer look at the tradition in our Haunted Mansion Holiday fun facts and our behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 2024 Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread house.
Another wonderful connection appears in Madame Leota’s séance room. Disney Imagineer Kim Irvine portrays Madame Leota during Haunted Mansion Holiday. She is the daughter of Disney Legend Leota Toombs, whose face appeared as Madame Leota in the original attraction.
From Sept. 1–Oct. 31, 2023, Haunted Mansion Holiday during Halloween Time at Disneyland Park features a merry makeover of the beloved eerie estate. Jack Skellington is behind the mayhem, decorating the mansion with frightfully festive touches inspired by “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Dedicated fans of the holiday house will look forward to spotting the annual bespoke gingerbread house on its precarious perch on the ballroom table. Other favorite sights await, including characters from the movie Sally, Zero and other Nightmare nasties on hand. (Disneyland Resort)
That family connection allows the holiday version to introduce new dialogue while remaining tied to the Mansion’s history.
Haunted Mansion Holiday debuted at Disneyland in 2001 and has become a tradition spanning both Halloween Time and the Christmas season. You can see more of its creation in the Making of Haunted Mansion Holiday documentary.
“it’s a small world” Holiday
If Haunted Mansion Holiday is Disneyland’s most elaborate overlay, “it’s a small world” Holiday may be its most beautiful.
The transformation begins outside, where the familiar façade is covered in thousands of sparkling lights. Once the sun goes down, this becomes one of the best holiday photo locations at Disneyland.
My family has stopped here for pictures during several holiday trips. No matter how many times I see it, the moment those lights come to life still feels like the beginning of Christmas at Disneyland.
Inside, the children of the world celebrate the season through decorations, costumes, music, and traditions inspired by different regions.
Guests travel from a Mele Kalikimaka celebration in the South Pacific to Feliz Navidad in Mexico. Holiday and New Year traditions also appear throughout Europe and Asia.
The attraction’s classic Sherman Brothers song is blended with “Jingle Bells” and “Deck the Halls.” Somehow, the music remains unmistakably “it’s a small world” while becoming something completely different for the season.
The holiday overlay debuted in 1997 and has become one of Disneyland’s longest-running seasonal traditions.
You can experience the entire attraction in our “it’s a small world” Holiday full ride-through and discover more details in our “it’s a small world” Holiday fun facts.
The exterior transformation deserves time of its own. Holiday projections and music animate the façade after dark, creating a show that guests can enjoy even without entering the queue.
Watch our “it’s a small world” Holiday projection show for another look at the nighttime experience.
