It’s the most wonderful time of year at Disney California Adventure Park because the Disney Festival of Holidays has returned!

The Festival features unique merchandise, special entertainment, and (of course) all kinds of food. We’ve shared the full festival menus, and reviews of ALL the booths, but what if you’re looking for a quick list of the TOP items you cannot miss. Well, now we’ve got you covered with that too!

Here are our picks for the very BEST items at the Festival of Holidays!

Best Eats and Drinks at the Festival

1 — Loaded Yucca Fries at Paradise Garden Grill

We begin our adventure at Paradise Garden Grill — a permanent spot that gets seasonal items during the Festival. And what a delicious seasonal item it got this year! The Loaded Yuca Fries are $12.49 and are topped with arbol chile cheese sauce, carne asada, guacamole, sour cream, and pickled red onion.

These are awesome! The fries are crispy on the outside but SUPER fluffy on the inside. The ingredients on top all taste incredibly fresh, and the combination of the fried and fresh flavors makes for a perfect snack. Don’t overlook these!

Click here for our full review of the Paradise Garden Grill booth

2 — Holiday Ham Slider at Winter Sliderland

Want to try an INCREDIBLE slider at the Festival? Look no further — the Holiday Ham Slider is IT. This snack features ham, cranberry-bacon jam, and Grueye on a salt & pepper brioche bun. It’s priced at $9.

This thing is delicious! It has a generous portion of ham, the cheese is nice and melty, the cranberry jam delivers both tart and sweet flavors, and the bun really brings everything together. It might be something you’d otherwise skip, thinking “I’ll eat ham during the holidays! Why eat this?” but we’d encourage you to reconsider!

Click here to see our full review of the Winter Sliderland booth

3 — Tiramisu Yule Log Cocktail at Winter Sliderland

Winter Sliderland does it AGAIN with the Tiramisu Yule Log Cocktail, made with Vodka, hazelnut liqueur, oat milk, tiramisu syrup, and chocolate bitters, garnished with Valrhona chocolate powder. This one is priced at $16.

This was Christmas in a cup in the BEST way possible. Someone grab us a cozy sweater, a fireplace, and this drink and we’ll be sooooo happy. There was just a hint of chocolate, the drink wasn’t overly strong, and the flavors worked great together. If you want some major cozy holiday vibes, this is the drink to get.

Click here for our full review of the Winter Sliderland booth

4 — Guava Melon Lassi at A Twist on Tradition

If you’re looking for a sweet and delicious drink at the Festival, we’ve got just the thing for you! The Guava Melon Lassi is a non-alcoholic drink priced at $7 that has a delicious yogurt and cinnamon whipped cream on top. That cuts through some of the sweetness from the melon/guava flavors in the drink itself.

Oh, and it’s topped with honeycomb cereal for an extra fun touch. We were worried the drink would be too sweet, but it ended up really impressing us!

Click here for our full reviews of the A Twist on Tradition booth

5 — Esquites Carnitas Mac & Cheese at Merry Mashups

A controversial pick from our 2021 Best of the Fest list has returned! We had this Mac & Cheese last year and it wowed some of the members of our team, while others felt it had too many textures mixed together.

The Esquites Carnitas Mac & Cheese is Esquites-inspired mac & cheese with carnitas, salsa macha, spiced puffed rice, freeze-dried corn, and chopped cilantro, and it’s priced at $8.50.

This year, the controversial pick has returned. Our team member who tried the dish this year said it was one of the BEST things they had at the entire festival! They think the flavors are incredible and well-balanced, and the portion size is pretty good.

But be warned, if you don’t love dishes with a lot of textures, it might be one for you to skip.

Check out our full review of Merry Mashups!

6 — Pork Belly Adobo at Holiday Duets

At Holiday Duets, you’ll find another one of our FAVORITE snacks — the Pork Belly Adobo, which is made with garlic fried rice, braised pork belly, chicharron pieces, and green onions, priced at $8.50. This is one we loved in 2021 (and years past) and once again it’s a winner!

This dish is flavorful, the pork is moist and easily just pulls apart. Though the rice is fairly standard, the meat makes this snack stand out!

Click here to see our full review of Holiday Duets!

7 — Impossible Chorizo Queso Fundido at Brews & Bites

Next, we have a returning favorite — the Impossible Chorizo Queso Fundido topped with Chopped Cilantro and served with house-made tortilla chips for $7.50. This made our best of the fest list in 2021 and it has once again earned its spot in 2022! Seriously, y’all — this thing is NOT to be missed.

The Impossible chorizo is incredibly flavorful with a bit of a kick (we can’t tell it wasn’t real meat!), the cheese is perfectly warm and melty, and the tortilla chips are fresh with just the right amount of salt. Talk about a win, win, win!

Click here for our full review of Brews & Bites!

8 — Blood Orange Pom-Limeade at Grandma’s Recipes

This drink is priced at $6.59 and made with Pomegranate and Lime Juices, and Cookie Butter & Blood Orange Syrups, and is garnished with a Lime Wheel. And while the cookie butter might throw you off in that description, don’t stress — the drink is FANTASTIC.

It is tart and sweet with a great combination of flavors, and you can’t really taste that cookie butter, so be sure to give this one a try!

Click here for our full review of Grandma’s Recipes

9 — Impossible Meatloaf at Grandma’s Recipes

We know, we know — another Impossible meat dish? Yes, ANOTHER Impossible meat dish! This snack is made with Impossible Meatloaf and mashed potatoes with classic gravy and shallots, and priced at $8.

If we hadn’t seen the name, we seriously would not have known that this wasn’t real meat — the flavors and textures are PERFECT!

Add in those delicious mashed potatoes and you’ve got one seriously great dish. If you love meatloaf, take our advice and get yourself one of these!

See our review of Grandma’s Recipes here!

10 — Curry Mac ‘n Cheese at A Twist on Tradition

For $8.25, get ready to eat up some tasty mac n’ cheese with a STRONG curry taste, crunchy garbanzos, and a great texture in the Curry Mac ‘n Cheese at A Twist on Tradition.

While the cilantro oil is mild, there is a decent amount of spice in this dish! Overall, if you love curry/spice and mac ‘n cheese, do NOT miss this one!

Click here for the full review of A Twist on Tradition

11 — Sweet Potato Stuffed-Corn Muffin at Visions of Sugarplums

A sweet potato-stuffed corn muffin with red beans and rice and green onions? Yes, yes, and YES. This snack is $7.25 and worth every penny!

The corn muffin is moist, the sweet potato filling is creamy and tasty, and the beans and rice have a nice flavor. We really enjoyed this one, and if you like these ingredients we think it’s one you’ll like too!

Click here for our FULL review of this booth!

12 — Cherry-Mango Punch at Winder Sliderland

This non-alcoholic drink is a winner in our book! It’s made with cherry syrup, mango, and peach nectars with lemon juice and garnished with a frozen peach, and is priced at $6.50.

This is heavy on the peach flavor — almost like a peach Shirley Temple — but that isn’t a problem for us! We think the drink is super refreshing without being too sweet — a great balance of flavors.

Click here for the Winter Sliderland review

Best Booth at the Festival

Best Booth — Winder Sliderland

Our winner is…Winter Sliderland! The Holiday Ham Slider here was absolutely fantastic, we loved the Tiramisu Yule Log Cocktail, and the Cherry-Mango Punch was fantastic and heavy on the peach flavor.

The Brisket Slider was our only “miss” here as it was a little too smokey, but the pretzel roll was tasty and the meat on its own with the roll was also good.

Again, the Brisket Slider was probably our least favorite thing here, but overall we still think the booth delivers some great flavors with the other items!

See our full review of Winter Sliderland here

Runner-Up — Grandma’s Recipes!

Though Grandma’s Recipes has been hit-or-miss for us in the past, this year it was pretty much a FULL hit! It’s more tied with Winter Sliderland for first than a true second place. We especially liked the Impossible Meatloaf. The Pumpkin Layered Cheesecake was wonderful too, and both of the drinks were super tasty too.

If you’re looking for a booth with a bunch of choices that will satisfy you, this is one to visit.

See our review of Grandma’s Recipes!

Best of the Festival for Kids

Mickey Mouse-shaped Gingerbread Cookie at Making Spirits Bright

A Mickey-shaped gingerbread cookie with a thin icing glaze and sprinkles — what’s NOT to love?! Unsurprisingly, this has been a popular pick from us for kiddos in the past and it’s one we’re definitely keeping on the list this year.

The cookie totally delivers on taste and texture, with just enough sweetness from the glaze to balance out the fall spices. It’s a great choice for kids (and kids at heart) for $7.50.

See our full review of Making Spirits Bright here

Santa’s Milk & Cookies Hot Cocoa at Making Spirits Bright or Treats for Santa

The Making Spirits Bright booth does it AGAIN with its delicious Hot Cocoa! Seriously, friends, this could have made our standard best picks list above — it is NOT just great for kids.

The drink is made with whole milk with flavors of cookies & cream and white chocolate, topped with flavored whipped cream, and priced at $6.50.

This was one of the BEST hot cocoa drinks we’ve ever had in Disneyland, and the combination of the chocolate with the cookie flavor creates a hot cocoa masterpiece! If you love hot cocoa, do yourself a favor and try this ASAP.

Click here to see more of our review of the Treats for Santa booth

And those are our picks for the very BEST of the Fest at the Festival of Holidays in Disney California Adventure Park. What items do you think you’d most want to try? Tell us in the comments!

For our reviews of all the snacks we tried at this year’s festival, click here. And stay tuned for more news.

Which of these items do you want to try? Tell us in the comments!

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