Holidays at Disneyland....which is the best?

[DontSpamMe]

Between the big 3, which one is the best to be at Disneyland for?

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year/NYE. We have 3 day park hoppers that expire the first week of January. I figured we'd use them on a holiday. Just don't know which one.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mseplover]

Please delete

 

[Pluto468]

If you want to be there for the actual holiday, I agree with the previous poster about Thanksgiving. All of the holidays are busy, but of the 3 I think Thanksgiving will be best. The Christmas decorations will be up, they're so pretty.

 

[DLgal]

Christmas is the least crowded of the 3, if that makes a difference (actual Christmas day).

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

They are no Magic Keys during the two weeks of Christmas time this year at all so I think it's going to be really nice. I don't mean to stir up controversy, I am a Key holder, but that is what I think.

 

[Malcon10t]

They are no Magic Keys during the two weeks of Christmas time this year at all so I think it's going to be really nice. I don't mean to stir up controversy, I am a Key holder, but that is what I think.

Christmas has always had minimal AP attendance on Christmas, it is what we call "Newbie Week". It isn;t a bad day at Disney, probably least busy of the 3, BUT the 26th can be exceptionally crowded.

 

[tjmw2727]

Jumping in please

DD will be in Anaheim over the holidays for work and I will be visiting over Christmas. Her only day off is Christmas Day so we plan on Disneyland that day and then possibly NYE, me all day her after 6ish.

We have been at WDW for the past 15 or so NYE (except 2020 of course) usually Epcot or Studios, any advice for a Disneyland newbie on NYE? Do the parks close to capacity as they sometimes do at WDW, is one park preferred due to entertainment, crown capacity etc.? TIA

 

[DLgal]

Jumping in please

DD will be in Anaheim over the holidays for work and I will be visiting over Christmas. Her only day off is Christmas Day so we plan on Disneyland that day and then possibly NYE, me all day her after 6ish.

We have been at WDW for the past 15 or so NYE (except 2020 of course) usually Epcot or Studios, any advice for a Disneyland newbie on NYE? Do the parks close to capacity as they sometimes do at WDW, is one park preferred due to entertainment, crown capacity etc.? TIA

DL has closed to capacity in NYE in the past, so yes that does sometimes happen. With the reservation system now, I don't think it's a possibility.

 

[tjmw2727]

DL has closed to capacity in NYE in the past, so yes that does sometimes happen. With the reservation system now, I don't think it's a possibility.

Ah yes I forgot about that for a minute!

 

[Tinkaboo]

I’d say NYE…beautiful to start the New Year in such a magical place! Crowds will be about the same and you just have to figure out your strategy to deal with it but the fireworks would be spectacular!

 

[Malcon10t]

I’d say NYE…beautiful to start the New Year in such a magical place! Crowds will be about the same and you just have to figure out your strategy to deal with it but the fireworks would be spectacular!

Crowds are unbelievable on NYe. We are there each year. But it is a fun atmosphere.

 

[mich311e]

I've been for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and I didn't see a big difference between those two as far as crowds. The day after Thanksgiving was very crowded though!

I don't know about December 26th (we were there last year) because that was our last day of 5-day park hoppers and we left at noon. (We went December 22-26th).

If I had to choose between those 3 holidays I'd go for Christmas.

 

[DontSpamMe]

Thanks for the responses.

I am looking for a unique atmosphere and something specific to that day. After seeing some videos online, it looks like NYE has a lot going on.

 

[Tanya Tink]

Was anybody at Disneyland the week of Thanksgiving this year? I'm curious what the crowds were like since we're thinking about going at that time next year. Were any days of that week better than others?

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

I’d say NYE…beautiful to start the New Year in such a magical place! Crowds will be about the same and you just have to figure out your strategy to deal with it but the fireworks would be spectacular!

NYE will not be the same crowd level wise as the other holidays. It's busier than the two because everyone would love to start the new year in a magical place. It's a lot of fun, I've done it before and it got to capacity. I don't think I would do it again anytime soon, I've done it twice and that was enough.

 

[Kender]

They are no Magic Keys during the two weeks of Christmas time this year at all so I think it's going to be really nice. I don't mean to stir up controversy, I am a Key holder, but that is what I think.

There are still valid Dreams so there will likely be some MKs. They aren't all totally blocked yet. I know I'll be there with my Dream.