
Holiday crowds have abandoned Disneyland Park, favoring the second Southern California Disney park: Disney California Adventure Park. The change comes days after wait times and crowd levels skyrocketed at Disneyland Park, where festive entertainment and Christmas decorations draw seasonal crowds.
The week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day is often the busiest of the year at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. Annual Passholders and Magic Key Pass holders are largely blocked out of the Disney parks, which historically have hit total capacity on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

Credit: armadillo444, Flickr
This Christmas, crowds abandoned Disneyland Park in favor of Disney California Adventure Park. Redditor u/CoasterCar shared these screenshots from the Disneyland Resort app, showing wait times for family-friendly rides at both theme parks. Goofy’s Sky School at Disney California Adventure Park had a 100-minute wait, while Disneyland Park’s Storybook Land Canal Boats had no wait at all:
Wait Times Giving Mixed Signals Today
Wait Times Giving Mixed Signals Today
byu/CoasterCar inDisneyland
The day prior, u/gilbert2gilbert shared another Disneyland Resort app screenshot showing a 65-minute wait for The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure at Disney California Adventure Park:
Can You Imagine Standing In Line For 65 Minutes For The Little Mermaid?
Can You Imagine Standing In Line For 65 Minutes For The Little Mermaid?
byu/gilbert2gilbert inDisneyland
In response, many Disney Parks fans said wait times like these make them avoid Disneyland Resort during the holidays.
“Ahh the Holidays at Disney probably the worst time to go,” said u/jacoblaue.

Credit: HarshLight, Flickr
“In the past I made the mistake of going in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and I’ll never do that again,” u/tyrone_shoelaces_esq replied.
Use the official theme park app to track wait times and dining availability to make the most of your Christmastime Disneyland Resort visit. Guests can also purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Lightning Lane Single Passes, or the limited Lightning Lane Premier Pass for quicker access to Disney Park attractions.
Have you visited Disneyland Resort during the holidays? Share your tips for beating the crowds with us in the comments.