If you are like me, you're always trying to come up with creative holiday gift ideas. I've come up with some Christmas gifts and Hanukkah gifts and experiences I promise your family and friends have yet to receive. If you are heading to Disneyland and other SoCal theme parks before the holidays, besides pins, plushes and Disney shirts, here are a few Christmas gift ideas for 2023. We offer tickets, experiences and gift suggestions for every budget.
Disneyland Christmas Gifts and Hanukkah Gifts
Confession time, a lot of the birthday and holiday gifts I give actually come from Disneyland. The nieces and nephews love Nightmare Before Christmas, Stitch and Winnie the Pooh. Grandma Frog loves the villains. So whenever new merchandise drops throughout the year that are Frog Family favorites, I purchase them for birthdays and holidays. I have a policy of buying cool gifts when I see them because they may sell out and I may never find them again. It makes holiday time a lot less stressful when your holiday shopping is done in advance! I also love to give personalized and dated ornaments to people who have celebrated big events in the past year.
Here are a few unique Christmas gifts for 2023, plus some new ideas for Hanukkah. It's also the last chance to purchase Disney 100 memorabilia.
Personalized Baby, Wedding and Graduation Ornaments
Did any tadpoles join your family this past year? Did any bigger frogs graduate high school or college? Any family weddings? Give the gift that keeps giving joy year after year when the receiver decorates their tree with a dated, personalized baby, graduation or wedding ornament. Head to Plaza Point for your personalization needs and ornaments that signify special events. But you can personalize more than ornaments!
Personalized Ears and Hats
Give the gift of personalized ears, which can be enjoyed year-round! You can have select hats (ear hats, bucket hats, etc.) embroidered in the parks at The Mad Hatter at Disneyland and Kingswell Shop in Disney California Adventure. You can also have select ears and headwear hand-painted at Plaza Point or other items personalized at China Closet.
Glass Etchings
At Crystal Arts, have glassware engraved while you wait. You can also find crystal mementos and tiaras. You can also find etched crystal and personalized cups and pitchers at Cristal d'Orleans.
Silhouette Studio
Here's a lost art that is still kept alive at Disneyland Park. Have your loved ones' profiles cut in person by an artist trained in making silhouettes. People can sit in person or have their image cut from a very clear photo of their profile. You can have multiples made for additional gifts.
Hanukkah Disney Gifts
There's a lot of Christmas-specific merchandise, and Hanukkah is often underrepresented. But in recent years, we've been seeing more and more Hanukkah merch increase with every year — including a Hanukkah Loungefly we can use all holiday season long, or Hanukkah Mickey plushes and Disney gelt that the tadpoles can enjoy. Toadally cute!
This year also brings Hanukkah ears, clothing, home decor and even family-matching sleepwear. There is a bigger selection available at ShopDisney.com.
Holiday Treats
Gift treats from the candy shops. You cannot go wrong with gifting Disneyland peanut brittle or English toffee. They are made fresh in the parks every week year-round, packaged to go and some of the best there is. The themed caramel apples and crispy treats are also very special, and make for affordable sweet-themed gifts.
Special Experiences
They say that people retain joy from experiences longer than they do with physical items because the positive memories bring back a flood of good emotions. Give a trip to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, take someone to character dining or book a guided tour.
These special experiences make special gifts and memories. If you take your "Star Wars" fans to build a droid or a lightsaber, they'll never froget it, especially the lightsaber building, and they also get to keep the items they build!
Theme Park Tickets
There is no better gift than a trip to Disneyland. You can purchase discount multi-day tickets that are good through Jan. 12, 2025! The good part about buying them for others is that they have no blockout dates. Your recipients can book their own reservations when they are ready to visit. Just keep in mind that these tickets generally have to be used within 13 days after the first visit.
Art and Jewelry
If you have a bigger budget, you can find many very special gifts around the parks and Downtown Disney. There are unique Disney Pandora charms and artist paintings, carvings and sketches. Look in Disneyana and La Mascarade d'Orleans in Disneyland, or Off the Page and Embarcadero Gifts in Disney California. In Downtown Disney, locate these special items in the Pandora Jewelry shop and WonderGround Gallery. Find unique galactic artifacts and legacy lightsabers at Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Get unique collector's items for Marvel and Avengers fans at the new Avengers Vault in Avengers Campus.
Knott's Berry Farm Holiday Gifts
While we all find the Jelly of the Month Club subscription a pathetic holiday bonus in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," in reality, nobody is sad to receive Knott's jams and jellies and boysenberry products. Give boysenberry jams and gift boxes to people who cannot get Knott's products where they live. You can shop at the Berry Market online. If you visit Knott's Merry Farm in person, you can shop at the many craft booths in the park to find hand-made unique gifts, some being created right in front of you!
Knott's also sells year-long old-time fun. You can buy pop guns, personalized leather bracelets, geodes and items made by the on-site working blacksmith.
Universal Studios Hollywood Holiday Gifts
There are so many Hanukkah and Christmas gifts from Universal. Get a wizarding robe or an engraved interactive wand from the Wizarding World. What about a Power-Up Band for someone heading to Super Nintendo World? If you know the date someone wants to visit, you can give them theme park tickets. All Universal Studios Hollywood tickets are dated, so you'd need to know the date they wish to visit before purchasing.
SeaWorld San Diego Christmas Gifts
The SeaWorld Christmas Celebration represents so many childhood holiday specials of Christmases past. Give nostalgic gifts themed with Rudolph and The Abominable Snow Monster of the North (Bumble). Hop into the Holly Jolly Marketplace for a special retro gift that will take your recipient back to childhood.
Experiences make the best Hanukkah and Christmas gifts. You can give the gift of SeaWorld tickets or even the whole year with SeaWorld 2024 Fun Cards. Undercover Tourist sells discount tickets and Silver Passes for both SeaWorld and Sesame Place.
Hopfully, you have some holiday gift ideas that your family and friends will love. If you are looking for experiences, besides discount theme park tickets, Undercover Tourist also has great prices for tickets to concerts, shows, theater, cruise and sports. Those also make great gifts, especially for the people ho already have everything.
Related: Undercover Tourist's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide
Hoppy planning!
