Disneyland's Holiday Celebration Showed Me That Even In The Worst Weather, You Can Still Have The Best Day

Anything can happen at Disneyland. It’s a sentiment that Disneyland itself will often celebrate. Every day is different, and you never know what experience you might have, what characters you might meet, or what you might do. Of course, you also can never be quite sure what weather you might get.

One of the reasons Disneyland works so well in Southern California is that the area has pretty nice weather. It never snows, it rarely gets that cold, in fact, even in the winter months, you’ll have many days of t-shirt and shorts weather. It rarely even rains in Anaheim, but it does rain, as it did during the first day of Disneyland’s Holiday Celebration. While many guests will, and likely did, see that as an unfortunate setback to their vacation plans, I’m here to say that a rainy day at a theme park isn’t the worst thing that can happen, and in this case, it was quite fun.

It’s Never Felt More Like Chirstmas At Disneyland Before

I love theme parks and I love Christmas, far more than Halloween, so I, of course, enjoy the “most wonderful time of year” at theme parks. That said, Christmas at theme parks can feel weird. The decorations can be up, the music can be playing, but it just doesn’t “feel” like Christmas when it’s 82 degrees and the sun is shining.

I don’t live where it snows, but I’m used to at least wearing warm clothes when Christmas is coming, so there’s often a weird emotional disconnect when the weather doesn’t cooperate, but here, it very much did.

While the rain came down, it wasn’t constant, which allowed for periods where I could go and buy myself a hot drink off the new Festival of the Holidays menu at one of the quick service restaurants, and walk through the park looking at the decorations and hearing the music under a grey sky wrapped in my Disneyland hoodie.

I’ve been to Disneyland during the holiday season multiple times before, but I’ve never had an experience that felt quite so much like Christmas. I loved it. I’m usually something of a sun worshiper, but I didn’t mind the gray or the gloom or the occasional rain drop. I was celebrating Christmas.

Special shout-outs are due to the Hot Blueberry Cider, found at Rita Turbine Blenders in the Sanfransokyo Pier, and the Cookies & Cream Hazelnut Hot Cocoa from the Brews and Bites booth of Disney California Adventure's Festival of the Holidays. Each truly enhanced my holiday experience. Both are available with a bit of booze for adults, or without for younger guests. If my editor is reading this, I swear I was off the clock.

There Are Downside To Rain At Disneyland

As much as I had some unexpected fun at Disneyland thanks to the rain, there are downsides that everybody should be aware of. Some attractions will close in the rain. The first day of the Holidays at Disneyland coincided with the reopening of the Storybookland Canal Boats, which had just added Rapunzel's Tower. I was able to get on board the ride once during the day, but the weather stymied my attempt to do it a second time at night when the music changed.

Live entertainment also suffers in the rain. Unfortunately, this meant that a lot of the new additions for the Holiday season, like the parade, the fireworks, and even the returning Storytime with Deadpool, didn’t happen. In some cases, an attraction cancellation is replaced with something else.

In the case of the cancelled parade, we got a Christmas Cavalcade, Disney Parks' word for a much smaller event moving down the street. All the characters we would have seen on massive floats are instead put on three Main Street U.S.A. (covered) vehicles, and they drive by slowly to wave at guests. It’s not a lot, but it’s better than replacing it with nothing.

In the end, if you wake up the morning of your Disneyland visit this holiday season and see rain clouds, maybe don't despair. You may not have the experience you were planning, but you can still have an incredible day.