Event Recap: What It Was Like Attending Disneyland's Overnight Recording of "The Wonderful World of Disney" Holiday Spectacular

This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in the overnight recording of ABC Network's The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration at the original Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Below you'll find my recap of what the experience was like.

First of all, I should note that I was able to register to attend the event through D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, and participation was open to both regular and Gold Members.

The biggest caveat in attending the event was that it took place overnight, but I had enough time to prepare myself for a unique adventure at The Happiest Place On Earth, and made sure to drink my share of caffeine before it was time to check in.

Speaking of checking in, that took place around 11:00 PM to the left of the main entrance to Disneyland itself after attendees were instructed to park their cars in the Pixar Pals parking garage. We had to fill out waivers and were given wristbands to wear for the night.

Then the waiting game started-- we weren't let into the park until around midnight, but at that point we were walked over to a waiting area between the Matterhorn and Alice In Wonderland / Mad Tea Party attractions. A good half hour or so later, we finally moved to a stage in front of "it's a small world." Note: we were not permitted to take any photos or video inside the park during our visit that night.

This is where we saw our first performance of the night: Nicole Scherzinger (from The Pussycat Dolls, The Masked Singer, Broadway's Sunset Boulevard, and Disney's Moana) singing "O Holy Night" mashed up with the song "Mary, Did You Know?" She did about four takes of the song-- one of which featured Chip n' Dale watching along-- and though she apologized for her voice being off because she hadn't been feeling well, she sounded great. In-between takes we were entertained by a funny warm-up artist, and we were also distributed finger lights to wear and wave back and forth during the song.

After Nicole Scherzinger's performance wrapped, the audience was walked over to the Tomorrowland Theatre where we were served snacks, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, juice, and popcorn while we watched Disney's beloved 1992 movie The Muppet Christmas Carol in its entirety. While I was personally surprised that the break between the two recordings was so long, I suppose the crew needed time to set up for the next segment.

At around 4:45 AM we headed over to the other stage, which was set up in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. By the time we got there, Gwen Stefani and her band and dancers were already set up-- I'm guessing they were rehearsing their routine while we were watching the movie. At this point it was really emphasized that we could not record anything during the performance (in fact, we had to put our phones and other devices inside security pouches) because Stefani would be performing a brand-new holiday song called "Shake the Snow Globe," which won't be released until next week. The song is really upbeat and catchy, but since you can't listen to it right now, below I've embedded a video of Gwen's previous holiday song "You Make It Feel Like Christmas."

After a few takes of that song, which features horn players and a whole choreographed dance routine, it was time to wrap up for the night. We departed Disneyland around 6:00 AM, and I made it home to Burbank to go to sleep a little after 7.

As swag for participating in the recording, I walked away with a nice set of Disneyland 70th anniversary mouse ears and a cool Mickey Mouse ornament. Obviously staying up all night is never ideal, but for a fun and unique experience like this at my favorite place in the world, I feel like it was worth it.

The air date for The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration 2025 has not yet been announced, but you can probably expect it to run on ABC around late November or early December.