The entire Disneyland Resort gets decked out for the holidays. This means that both theme parks, all three hotels, and Downtown Disney all have unique decorations for you to check out.
At Disneyland, the best photo opportunities are on Main Street, “it’s a small world” area, and in New Orleans Square. Toontown is also a unique place to grab photos because of the holiday decorations that are themed to each character’s home.
The Christmas tree on Main Street is huge, which means you won’t get the whole tree in your photo. You can try taking a photo from the Main Street Train Station platform to get a great backdrop of the tree and decorations. You can also try a family photo while standing about halfway down Main Street, if you want more of the tree in your photo’s background.
A neat photo idea is to take a picture with one of the Main Street vehicles. The fire truck usually gets a garland and the horse-drawn streetcar adds jingle bells to the horse’s bridals. Little details like these make great opportunities for family photos.
At Disney California Adventure, Buena Vista Street and Cars Land will have holiday decorations this year. We expect these areas will be popular photo spots because they are new, but we also expect that Disney will pull out all the stops with the décor.
The Disneyland hotels are often overlooked, but are among the very best places to take photos. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel has an amazing tree in the lobby and Santa often makes appearances to meet with guests. This is my top pick for taking holiday photos because of the décor and smaller crowds. It is well worth the visit.
The Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel also have their own unique holiday decorations. If you have the time, it is fun to grab a cup of coffee and stroll around the hotels. There are usually several photo opportunities and the less crowded environment of the hotels makes an ideal setting.
New this year will be an ice skating rink in Downtown Disney. The rink will be themed to the new Tinker Bell “Secret of the Wings” movie. Years ago, it was a tradition to see an ice skating rink appear at the Disneyland Hotel. It is nice to see this tradition carry on again in a slightly different form.
If there is once piece of advice I could give to anyone visiting Disneyland at Christmas, it is to bring your camera and take plenty of time to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. Usually a trip to Disneyland is measured in the number of attractions you can ride in a single day. But during the holidays, the majority of the experience comes from walking around the park and taking in the atmosphere, especially in the evenings.
Photos via Disney
