Over the years Disneyland has set a precedent that Disneyland Park involves most of the festivities for the holiday season while Disney California Adventure participates mostly in decoration and the occasional nighttime show. This year, as we reported earlier, DCA is breaking that trend and is hosting two new holiday experiences that sound more and more appealing as time goes on: the Festival of Holidays and World of Color - Season of Light. |
Festival of Holidays
The Festival of Holidays is fast approaching and already booths are being set up around the park in preparation for the start of the festival on 10 November. The Festival of Holidays celebrates different cultures and their holidays around the world, like a small-scale Epcot, with cultural shopping, entertainment and food. Disneyland has announced the marketplaces and menus for this year and here's some of what you can expect:
- Heritage Cottage - German-inspired dishes
- Making Spirits Bright - Holiday wines and juices
- Nosh & Nibbles - Russian and eastern European-inspired food
- Good Fortune's Feast - East Asian cuisine
- Spice Salutations - Curries and Indian-inspired recipes
- Brews & Bites - Local beers and cheese
- Mistletoe Morsels - Swedish dishes (lots of fish), eggnog and sherbet
- Southern Home Holidays - Southern American classics
- Winter Sliderland - Traditional holiday faire with a burger twist!
- Fiesta en Familia - Latin America dishes
- Yuletide Yummies - British-inspired holiday treats
- Mosaic Delights - Northern African cuisine
- Abuelita's Kitchen - Tamales, sopes and margaritas
- Treats for Santa - Kid-friendly holiday treats and desserts
For a detailed menu for all the marketplaces, click here.
In addition to great food, street performers and other musical acts will bring DCA to life as they celebrate the season. Expect stilt performers, Bollywood music, R&B, pop, jazz, mariachi, and toy soldier "drills" to commemorate international holidays including Christmas/Navidad, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali and Three Kings Day. Plus little ones will be excited to know that Princess Elena of Avalor will be celebrating her arrival to DCA during the Festival of Holidays! Details on all the exciting entertainment can be found here.
World of Color - Season of Light
This year a new version of World of Color will replace World of Color - Winter Dreams along Paradise Bay, a show which, although fun, focused more on the popularity of Anna & Elsa and less on the season. Instead, World of Color - Season of Light promises to be a celebration of the holidays around the world and throughout the Disney universe. Expect to see your pals from Toy Story, Lilo & Stitch, Lady and the Tramp, Inside Out and even Mickey and the gang! Disney is very excited about this new show and boasts that the grand finale will be "illuminating the lagoon with the light of hope and filling our hearts with the spirit of peace, joy and goodwill to all". Visit the Disney Parks Blog for more details of the new show.