Disneyland has the winter holidays down to a science, but that won’t stop the Anaheim theme park from adding a few new festive surprises to this year’s lineup of tried and true traditions running from now through Jan. 6.

St. Nick has set up shop in a new location at the Fantasyland Theatre in Disneyland for cookie decorating, craft making and storytelling. The jolly old elf is also back for photos at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and each of Disney’s three hotels. And if that’s not enough, Santa will ride his sleigh in the finale of A Christmas Fantasy parade at Disneyland.

The new Chip and Dale’s Ornament Trail will run through Downtown Disney from Nov. 22 through Jan. 1. Treasure hunt maps and stickers will be sold for $10 at select shops in Downtown Disney and the Disney hotels. Completed maps can be redeemed for a collectible holiday keepsake.

Storytellers Cafe in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel will offer the new Mickey’s Holiday Pajama Party meal with Disney characters dressed in pajama outfits while you feast on holiday-themed breakfast and brunch dishes starting Nov. 19.

And to kick off the winter holiday season, Disneyland just opened the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure water ride — you’ll get wet! — in the rethemed Bayou Country land.

Holiday ride overlays are back for It’s a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Rollickin Roadsters. And you’ll find festive touches — a 60-foot-tall Christmas tree on Main Street U.S.A., massive gingerbread houses at all three Disney hotels and more — throughout the parks and Downtown Disney.

The “Believe … In Holiday Magic” fireworks show with “snoap” returns to Disneyland, while Disney California Adventure will see the return of the “World of Color — Season of Light” water show.

Expect plenty of holiday food and drinks at the Disney Festival of Holidays and Disney Viva Navidad food festivals. And if you have any money left, seasonal merchandise will fill the shops in the parks, hotels and Downtown Disney.

Barbecue returns

Fans of pork spareribs, beef brisket, pulled pork and sausage links have reason to celebrate with the return of Southern-style barbecue to the Anaheim theme park for the first time in nearly a decade.

I sampled the menu at the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree during the revamped eatery’s soft opening late last month. The new Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree brings a thematic, musical and menu overhaul to the Hungry Bear restaurant near Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

Disneyland has been without a true BBQ joint since Big Thunder Ranch closed in 2016 to make room for Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. Now they’re serving up Sparkling Strawberry-Pickle Lemonade ($7.29), Southern-style Banana Pudding ($7.29) and a Smoked Barbecue Combo Platter ($21.49) which includes two house-smoked meats, including pork spareribs that were the star of the show. (Skip the other meat options and order the double ribs.) The combo includes baked beans, house slaw, white bread and terrific bread and butter pickles.

Vegetarians and omnivores alike will enjoy the Corn Ribs Plate ($14.99) served with chile-lime aioli, crispy onions, house slaw and beer-battered fries.

The Disneyland chefs slice corn on the cob lengthwise into strips, a clever presentation that lets you eat corn like you do ribs and toss away the “bones” when you’re done. Skip the ketchup for those fries, and go for the trio of bold and delicious barbecue sauces instead.

A spellbound bar

Disneylanders searching for a hideaway to exchange a true love’s kiss with their Princess Aurora or Prince Phillip will find a new romantic lounge in the Disneyland Hotel redesigned with the help of the good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather.

The Broken Spell Lounge in the Disneyland Hotel lobby will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight

The “enchanted woods” setting of the Broken Spell Lounge decor draws inspiration from Disney’s 1959 “Sleeping Beauty.” The menu ranges from charcuterie pizza ($24) and a Wagyu cheeseburger ($26) to a New York Strip steak frites ($42) and molten chocolate cake ($15), with a full bar and whiskey flights ($26-$68).

The space was previously occupied by Steakhouse 55, which closed in 2021. It spent the next years as the hotel’s “Lobby Lounge” before the latest transformation into a romantic nightcap spot.