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Christmas at Tokyo DisneySea features beautiful decorations, a short harbor show, street performers, and festive merchandise and treats.
The Christmas offerings are less extensive than at Tokyo Disneyland, but it’s still a lovely time to visit this always wonderful park.
In this post, I share what to expect at Tokyo DisneySea Christmas in 2025 after we visited the parks for the first five days of the season.
Contents
When is Tokyo DisneySea Christmas in 2025?
The Tokyo DisneySea Christmas celebration runs from 11 November to 25 December 2025.
Merchandise went on sale a day early on 10 November.
Seasonal food and the Christmas popcorn bucket went on sale on 1 November.
When is Tokyo DisneySea Christmas in 2026?
Next year, Tokyo DisneySea Christmas runs from 11 November to 25 December 2026.
Christmas at Tokyo DisneySea Tips
Christmas at DisneySea is lowkey compared to Tokyo Disneyland. You don’t need to get a place far in advance for the parade, and there are no Christmas rides or shows that require a wait.
Tickets can sell out. If you can’t find availability in the app, or have problems with international cards, check out authorised reseller Klook. We’ve often bought tickets from them and it’s very easy (prices are the same or occasionally discounted).
As at Disneyland, you’ll want to make reservations for table-service restaurants a month in advance (and even then, I couldn’t get Canaletto).
Use mobile ordering in the app for counter-service restaurants to avoid long lines.
You’ll likely only need standby passes for the shops if you visit at the beginning of the season.
See my guide to Tokyo Disneyland Christmas for more tips that apply to both parks.
And my best DisneySea rides post has general advice for exploring the non-Christmas attractions.
Decorations
Tokyo DisneySea is decorated at Christmas with trees, banners, and garlands.
Most of the decorations are at the park entrance, in Mediterranean Harbor, and in American Waterfront.
The rest of the park doesn’t feel Christmassy, which is a shame. The Frozen area of Fantasy Springs seems an obvious choice for festive decor (but perhaps they don’t want to encourage even greater crowds).
After entering the Main Entrance, you are greeted by a Disney Christmas 2025 banner and beautifully decorated trees in red and gold on either side of the passageway that leads into the park.
The passageway features smaller trees under the archways, wreaths, and Christmas banners with Disney characters.
In Piazza Topolino, the main piazza overlooking the harbor, the shops are decorated with small trees and garlands, and banners hang from lampposts.
Facing the volcano in the harbor, if you go right, you’ll pass more shops and Zambini Brothers’ Ristorante, decorated for the season.
On the way to Soaring is another row of Christmas trees.
Turning left from Pizza Topolino takes you past the Venice canals and into American Waterfront. The two main streets here are beautifully decorated with garlands.
McDuck’s Department Store (featuring Duffy merch) looks particularly stunning, like a real New York department store.
The biggest Christmas tree (15 metres tall), alongside two smaller ones, is found in the square outside the SS Columbia ocean liner. This feels like the heart of the Christmas celebrations at DisneySea with various street performers.
Crossing the red bridge leads you to Cape Cod (officially part of the American Waterfront port), one of our favourite areas for atmosphere.
It’s always decorated excellently at Halloween, and Christmas is lovely too, with several trees. The Duffy shop here has long queues.
Continuing to the rest of the park (Port Discovery, Lost River Delta, Fantasy Springs, etc), there are no more signs of Christmas, except in some shops.
Entertainment
There is much less Christmas entertainment at DisneySea compared to Disneyland, and no attraction overlays or major shows.
Disney Christmas Greeting Harbour Show
Each season brings a different Harbor Greeting to DisneySea. These days, sadly, this consists of only one boat/float looping around Mediterranean Harbor for 15 minutes, with characters and a catchy tune.
Disney Christmas Greeting is the Christmas version and takes place twice a day at 11.40am and 2.15pm (but check the app to be sure).
It features Santa along with characters in festive outfits—Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Duffy the Bear and ShellieMay.
It’s cute, and the Christmas songs add to the vibe, but it’s not overly impressive.
I recommend trying to see it, but you don’t need to turn up very early to get a good spot—10 minutes was fine.
Dazzling Christmas in New York Street Performers
Dazzling Christmas in New York is DisneySea’s name for the Christmas street entertainment in the American Waterfront area.
There are three groups performing Christmas songs, but there are no set times or locations to see them, so just hang out in the area as much as you can.
- Holiday Wonder Band – We loved this band of four horn players and a drummer in colourful, vintage suits. We saw them playing at 11.30am outside the Broadway Music Theatre (which previously hosted Big Band Beat).
- Holly Jolly Trio – This cute trio consists of two clarinettists and an accordionist who serenade people with Christmas songs. We caught them one afternoon around 2pm.
- Christmas Carolers – Sadly, we missed seeing this a capella group in their Victorian-style outfits.
Tokyo DisneySea Maritime Band
The excellent DisneySea maritime band perform Christmas songs at this time of year.
We saw them in front of the Christmas trees at the park entrance at 12pm, but there are no scheduled times.
They also perform at the official park opening time in Piazza Topolino to welcome guests.
Starbright Christmas Fireworks
During the holiday season, there’s a different version of the nightly fireworks display set to classic Christmas songs.
Starbright Christmas is at 8.30pm (30 minutes before park closing) and lasts five minutes.
It can be seen anywhere from both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, and is not something you need to go out of your way to see.
We caught the show from the Arabian Coast (one of our favourite areas at night).
Christmas Merchandise at DisneySea
Christmas merchandise is hugely popular at Tokyo Disney.
In 2025, there are two main collections—Lil Ring Ring (a cute Christmas fairy) and Mickey and Friends (the more classic characters)—available at both parks.
For more details, including prices and our favourite items, see our guide to Christmas at Tokyo Disneyland.
In addition, DisneySea sells a winter Duffy collection (see below).
Are Standby Passes Needed?
For the first few days or week of the Christmas event, standby passes may be needed to enter the main shops that sell Christmas merch.
This includes Emporio at the entrance and all the Duffy stores.
Check the standby pass page for which stores require it. It’s best to check the app when you enter the park and get a pass as soon as possible.
Where to Find Christmas Merch at DisneySea
This is where to find the Lil Ring Ring and Mickey and Friends Christmas collections:
- Emporio – This is the largest store and has the full Christmas range (not including Duffy). It’s on the right as you enter the park. No standby pass was required on day 4, but it was busy.
- The Sleepy Whale Shoppe – This store inside a whale’s mouth in Mermaid Lagoon has the full Christmas range. Go at night for a quiet shopping experience.
- Agrabah Marketplace – In Arabian Coast, this store has the Lil Ring Ring collection plus some unique glass ornaments you won’t find in other DisneySea shops. You can get them engraved.
- Fantasy Springs Gifts – If you are staying at the Fantasy Springs Hotel or Toy Story Hotel, you can do your shopping here before exiting the park at this end. They don’t have the whole collection, though.
Duffy Merchandise
DisneySea also has a winter range of Duffy merchandise called “Duffy and Friends’ Secret of a Snowy Day”.
We’re not super into Duffy, but we did have a look inside McDuck’s Department Store in American Waterfront (after a long queue had died down), and the bears do look cute in their cosy winter attire.
You can also buy Duffy merch from Aunt Peg’s Village Store in Cape Cod (expect a queue to get in) and Galleria Disney at the park entrance.
Check out the Duffy Christmas range here (you’ll need to translate from Japanese).
Food and Drink
Some restaurants offer special set menus or cute, decorated desserts, but the food isn’t Christmassy as we think of it.
Most of the offerings are the same in both parks, so see my Tokyo Disneyland Christmas guide for details on all the sweet treats and drinks we tried.
Zambini Brothers’ Ristorante is a counter service restaurant in DisneySea that’s a good place to try many of the Christmas desserts and the strawberry milk drink.
It also offers souvenir plates and mugs you can add to your order for a reasonable price.
The strawberry cake cup was our favourite dessert, but we preferred the souvenir plate that comes with the chocolate cake (which is decent).
Make sure to do a mobile order in advance for Zambinis as it’s very popular.
Another of our favourites is the Hot Apple Ginger Drink. A good spot to buy it is Hudson River Harvest, a stand in American Waterfront.
You can skip the line by making a mobile order. Enjoy your warm drink sitting under the Christmas tree opposite or while watching festive entertainment in the area.
See the list of Christmas menus at DisneySea and the Christmas food souvenirs to see where everything is available.
Is Christmas at DisneySea Worth It?
If you are looking for the most Christmassy vibes, I would choose Tokyo Disneyland over DisneySea as it has more entertainment, decorations, and attraction overlays.
Tokyo DisneySea is our favourite theme park in the world, though, so I would not miss it.
Just manage your expectations about how festive the whole park is and focus on Mediterranean Harbor and American Waterfront for the Christmas spirit.
Holiday activities won’t take up too much of your day, but there is plenty more to enjoy at this beautiful park.
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