One of the most interesting holiday events is taking place right now at Disney California Adventure and will last until January 8. The Festival of Holidays is truly remarkable holiday celebration that is inspired by different cultural traditions from around the world. The event features delicious food, drinks and special entertainment shows in the spirit of Diwali, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and more.
Food and Drinks
At the time of the event you can find the festive food marketplace, with kiosks spread throughout the park. The food was pretty amazing and it comes with small portions, so it’s a good idea to mix and match several choices. These were some of our favorites:
Adobo Pork Bao (with shaved red onion and crispy garlic chicharon) at Good Fortune’s Feast – the pork bao was insanely tasty! As someone who usually doesn’t eat pork, I was hesitated to try it at first, but I’m so glad I did! The Bao was sweet and light and the pork was well-seasoned and had an enjoyable thin crust.
Chicken & Potato Curry (with kefir cream and Grilled Naan) at Spice Salutations. This dish comes with a delicious Pita that goes with the curry dressing. Yummy!
Cardamom & Saffron Sweet Cheese Tart (with mulled fruit) at Spice Salutations – can you skip a dessert when you eat lunch? of course not! Especially when you have this sweet tart! This great thing about this tart is that it wasn’t too sweet and the fruits add a lot.
Holiday Swedish Meatballs at Misteletoe Morsles – these were the best meatballs at the event. So tasty!! If you haven’t tried Swedish Meatballs this is your chance. The meatballs themselves are great and what’s unique about this – is the combination of the sweet jam that gives the dish its distinctive taste.
Holiday Eggnog Cocktail at Mistletoe Morsels – this innocently looking beverage was as tasty as it was alcoholic (and it was very tasty). Certainly made things happier after just a few sips! Haha
Vegetarian selection – our favorite was Southern Mac and Cheese at Southern Home Holidays – it was so good that we actually wanted to get another one.
Mocha Yule Log at Yuletide Yummies – if you like a sort of mocha, coffee like taste you can’t go wrong with this gorgeous looking cake!
Shows
What’s the best way to rest after all of those festive treats and meals? See a show or meet with Santa of course! Raise attracted a lot of attention while we were there with their captivating cappella sound. Mostly Kosher surprised us by moonwalking to the tunes of Hanukkah songs!
Holiday attractions and one amazing FROZEN show!!!!!
A visit to Disney California Adventure park can not be complete without experiencing some (or all) of the theme park’s amazing attractions. At Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters the cars are dancing to a wondrous Christmas song and World of Color has a unique holiday edition called World of Color – Season of Light.
While not a holiday show (hmm or maybe it is because of its winter setting?) – the one show that was the highlight of our visit was the Frozen- Live at the Hyperion show! Wow! It is a Broadway quality show that’s almost worth the price of admission in itself. It was well acted, and just visually stunning with projection effects, puppetry and other elements. Who are we kidding? The stars are the songs! Let it go!!
A word of advice- go early, very early! as some guests queue up as early as one hour before the show starts.
Holiday magic!
To sum it up- this is one fantastic event! The food, the attractions, the shows! Holiday time is one of the best times to visit Disney California Adventure for an unforgettable unique experience! Don’t forget – it only lasts until January 8!
