Well, two weeks ago I was writing about Halloween at Disneyland Paris, and then last week about Christmas gifts – so it seems right to now talk about them together! The Halloween and Christmas seasons at Disneyland Paris are both very popular fixtures in the annual calendar, and a lot of guests seem torn about which one they should do. We’ve been lucky enough to experience Christmas season last year and Halloween this, so we’re weighing up the pros and cons of both to help you decide!

Halloween – overview

Halloween season typically runs at Disneyland Paris throughout October into the first couple of days of November. For the season Main Street USA and Frontierland in Disneyland Park are decked out in their Halloween best.

Main Street USA goes for a vintage look with themed ghosts and autumnal garland. Over in Frontierland there’s a split between Dias de los Muertos decor inspired by Coco, and a western Pumpkin vibe. The Disney Hotels also get in on the decor action with autumnal garland and giant pumpkins outside.

A centre piece of Halloween is Mickey’s Halloween Celebration – a calvacade with show stop in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle celebrating the harvest and spooky vibes with a Phantom Manor float. This typically runs twice a day. Many Disney characters come out in their Halloween best, and unusual character meet and greets include Jack and Sally from Nightmare before Christmas, Miguel from Coco, and an array of villains – some with set meet and greets, and some that roam Fantasyland interacting with guests.

There’s a variety of seasonal treats to enjoy. This year also saw the introduction of the Unlucky Nugget overlay in Frontierland to tie in with Phantom Manor, and a scavenger hunt for mysterious doors around the park. And projections on Main Street USA at night brought the spooky vibes to life.

If you’d like more details on Halloween season 2025 check out our previous blog and video all about it!

Halloween season pros

Here’s some pros for Halloween season at Disneyland Paris!

• Lots of great opportunities for photos, from the unique character outfits to the decor in Main Street and Frontierland
• Mickey’s Halloween Celebration is a great show that runs twice a day, plus you also get the main parade (Stars on Parade) as well once a day
• Lots of lovely sweet treats to try!
• Disney keep adding new offerings such as the Unlucky Nugget, Main Street Projections and Mysterious Doors Scavenger Hunt, so you never know how the event is going to be plussed up each year
• Soundtracks on Main Street USA and in Frontierland add to the spooky vibes
• It’s a chance to meet some Disney Villains that rarely come out otherwise! (Aside from Captain Hook who always seems to be around…)
• Unusual character meet and greets – notably in this case Miguel from Coco and Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas
• It brings some great Halloween vibes but without anything scary or gory as you might find in other theme parks around this time of year (looking at you Universal!)
• On Halloween itself there are extra offerings like a Villains Celebration, and adult guests being able to attend in costume, without any extra charge – it’s included in your ticket unlike some offerings elsewhere. (In this case looking at you Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the USA!)
• You can visit in a UK school holiday (October half term) with lower crowds and lower prices than you can in the school holidays around Christmas
• Weather tends to be milder and (maybe…) drier than you’d get during Christmas season
• If you’re not into Halloween really, aside from Main Street and Frontierland in the main park and some pieces of decor around Disney Village and the hotels, the rest of the parks tend to be very much business as normal!
• There’s unique merchandise that’s only available around Halloween season itself
• The Halloween season dates are very consistent year on year, so you know if you book in October you’re likely to catch the season even if Disney haven’t announced anything yet!

Halloween season cons

While we love Halloween at Disneyland Paris, the spooky season does have some drawbacks too:

• Halloween season is very short – only about a month. This means that the crowds tend to be very busy during this time as people flock in during the short time period to experience the offerings. This year the parks are sold out on a number of days throughout October, even earlier in the season.
• Visiting for Halloween itself is quite expensive with higher hotel and ticket costs (although still cheaper than Christmas itself for sure!)
• Outside of Main Street USA and Frontierland, and the Villains in Fantasyland, there’s not much Halloween apparent elsewhere in the main park, or at all in the Studios Park aside from some snacks. So if you’re expecting all Halloween all the time, you’re going to be a little disappointed.
• Mickey’s Halloween Celebration is extremely popular so it can be hard to grab a good spot without waiting a very long time
• Also, neither the Disney Villains or the Nightmare before Christmas characters appear in Mickey’s Halloween Celebration, which takes some folks by surprise!
• The Halloween soundtracks in Main Street USA and Frontierland include some special effects of loud laughing, screaming etc which could be tough for those with sensory issues. The projections on Main Street USA in the evenings could also be an issue with some thunder and lightning effects at times (although it’s by no means constant throughout).
• While the merchandise for Halloween is cute, there’s really not that much – especially compared to what you find in other Disney parks around the world. And also compared to Christmas!
• The lines for the characters are looooooong, and for those on virtual queue it’s challenging to get a spot so there’s no guarantee you might get to meet those characters at all.
• If you’re not into very sweet treats, you might not find much you’ll like on the Halloween menus!
• Weather can be very hard to predict, and change throughout the day – it could be very cold in mornings and evenings and then ice cream weather at lunchtime! Layers are the way to go.

Christmas season – overview

Christmas season typically starts in mid-November, and then runs until early January. Disneyland Paris tends to go all out for Christmas with decorations in the theme parks, Disney Village and the resort hotels.

Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade features a number of floats featuring Disney characters in their festive best, including a number of the Princesses, and performs a show in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Also on Main Street USA there are regular ‘snow’ falls throughout the day, as well as the huge Christmas tree in the Town Square. This is lit in a ceremony each day.

The Disney Princesses also perform in a Christmas show once a day, and there’s a festive show also over in the Hyperion Theatre in Discoveryland. Character wise of course Santa (and for the first time this year Mrs Claus) meet and greet with guests, and many other Disney characters are around for meet and greets in their festive best!

Of course there’s an array of Christmas treats to enjoy, and special menus in the restaurants on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. And there’s a range of merchandise too (as you’d expect)! And speaking of New Year’s Eve, a special fireworks show occurs on Midnight helping guests to welcome the New Year.

Christmas season pros

There’s a lot of positives for the Christmas season at Disneyland Paris!

• While the centrepiece of the Christmas celebrations is Disneyland Park, you’ll find a lot of festive decorations all over the resort. It’s all Christmas all the time during this season!
• Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade has won a number of theme park industry awards, and for good reason – it’s amazing! Especially if you catch it after dark.
• There’s a lot of entertainment offerings for Christmas as well as the parade – multiple shows and character meet and greets are available to enjoy!
• The ‘snow’ (I mean it’s actually soap but hey ho) on Main Street USA adds a real festive touch to the proceedings – it occurs at regular intervals so it’s easy to catch.
• There are a lot of photo opportunities here too, especially as the decorations are all over the resort!
• While for Halloween the Villains might be the character showcase, for Christmas it’s more the princesses – which is likely to be a lot more popular with some folks!
• The season is longer, which gives you more chance to experience all its offerings. It also gives a wider range of prices to experience the season in (generally mid November tends to be cheaper with prices going up a lot around Christmas and New Year themselves).
• The longer season also means less concentration of crowds, so you’re more likely to be able to catch the offerings with less people (again, mainly in mid-November as long as you avoid the weekends and armistice day).
• There tends to be a wider range of treats available for Christmas across the resort for snack fans!
• There are special menus in the restaurants available for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve – you don’t get special menus for Halloween day (sadly!)
• There’s a lot of merchandise for Christmas and it tends to be everywhere across the resort, so it’s easy to find a souvenir you’ll love!
• You may actually get snow! (The real kind, not the soap kind). Of course this is very much down to luck but it certainly adds more magic to the proceedings.

Christmas season – cons

While there are many positives to Christmas season at Disneyland Paris, there are some cons too!

• Here’s the big one – the cost if you want to go around Christmas and New Year itself. This is the most expensive time to visit Disneyland Paris in the entire year!! So you need deep pockets. (See our previous blog on the cheapest and most expensive times to visit Disneyland Paris in 2026 for more details).
• You also need patience as Christmas and New Year is also one of the busiest times of year for the parks – expect them to be sold out in advance so make sure you get your park tickets or reservations in early. And expect to be fighting a lot of crowds in the parks. But as noted above, if you can go outside the holiday itself you may be able to experience the magic with less people. (Expect it to still be popular though).
• During Christmas season because of the other shows, the main Stars on Parade doesn’t run.
• While the Princesses being out more is great, they are also very popular so expect any shows or appearances to be overwhelmed with people. Patience will be needed for sure. The same also goes for the Dazzling Christmas show – you need to stake out spots well in advance to get a good spot!
• Not all the offerings run throughout the season – the Princess show often doesn’t start with the beginning of the season, and the tree lighting this year only starts from 25th November on. So while earlier in the season is likely to be cheaper and quieter, you might miss out on some offerings! Also Santa’s only available up until Christmas Eve, although to be fair after all that travelling and present giving the guy could probably do with a rest!
• As with Halloween, any special character appearances for Christmas will be super busy, with either long lines or virtual queue slots going in seconds – be prepared to be patient and potentially disappointed if you can’t secure that virtual queue spot!
• The exclusive menus for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are VERY expensive compared to typical meals at the resort (and that’s saying something).
• Note that you can’t get a traditional Christmas dinner on site – although if you were seeking to escape the turkey and Brussel sprouts that might be a good thing.
• Christmas merchandise is great but feels a bit less exclusive than Halloween because some is available year round.
• The weather can be VERY cold!
• If you don’t like Christmas then note that there’s no escaping it – there’ll be Christmas decs, Christmas music, Christmas snacks and Christmas merch everywhere you go. Maybe don’t come this time of year if that’s not something you’ll enjoy!

So which is better, Halloween or Christmas?

So here’s the million dollar question – which is better? Which should you do on your Disneyland Paris trip? Well here’s the honest answer, although it’ll seem like a bit of a cop out – it all depends on you.

A big decider for you might be if you’re tied to the school holidays or not to visit. If so then my preference would be Halloween during October half term over Christmas for the Christmas break – mainly because of the price! It is VERY expensive to visit over the Christmas holidays themselves, and the crowds are no joke (although they can be pretty big for Halloween to be fair). However if you can afford it, are prepared to handle the crowds and love Christmas then the Christmas season might be the better fit!

The other thing you might want to consider are the vibes. Are there people in your group likely to be freaked out by encounters with the Disney Villains, or ghostly decor, or spooky sound and lighting effects? If so then Christmas would be the way to go. However if you’ve got in your group a true Scrooge who hates all things Christmas then I’d opt for Halloween – and note that it’s a lot harder to skirt around anything Christmas during the season (I’d go as far as saying I don’t think you can) whereas you might be able to adapt around the Halloween decor – as long as you spend minimal time in Frontierland and Main Street! If you’re a true festive fan though then Christmas would be the natural choice, and you do feel like you’re getting more bang for your buck here with a lot more offerings for Christmas.

You might also want to consider the weather – while it could be wet and chilly during either season, it’s more likely to be so during the Christmas season (we had a week of sun and warmth in early October for Halloween). If you’re not a fan of the cold, then Halloween is probably better – although note that Disney doesn’t control the weather! (Unless you count the projected storm effects in Halloween and fake snow at Christmas I guess).

From our perspective? Honestly we love both, and I’d do either again in a heartbeat. As hardcore Phantom Manor fans we loved the spookier vibes for Halloween, and a lot of the offerings are truly wonderful. Christmas does feel like the fuller experience though as it’s literally everywhere, and there’s something extra magical about walking in the snow on Main Street and soaking up the festive vibes.

So ultimately? It’s going to come down to you and your group. But we don’t think you can go wrong with either!

So there’s our thoughts – what are yours? Let us know in the comments! If you’d like to stay up to date with our blogs please subscribe below, and you’ll also receive a free copy of our digital guide to Disneyland Paris attraction accessibility (normally £3). We’d love to see you over on our YouTube channel too! And finally if you like our content do please consider leaving us a tip – it’ll help us to keep this website and our videos going. Thank you!