2021 Christmas Disney World Dates & Details: What’s Coming & Cancelled
Walt Disney World has announced Christmas dates & details, with new info about some of the entertainment, decorations, food, etc. at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, and the hotels. In this post, we’ll share everything revealed today as part of the “Halfway to the Holidays” celebration, and offer commentary about what’s coming, what’s (likely) cancelled, and what’s still unknown.
This year, Walt Disney World will celebrate Christmas beginning on November 12, 2021. Our expectation was that Christmas would begin one week earlier, which is roughly the normal start. No end date has been provided, but it’s still early. Last year, the holiday season ended on December 30, but with the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon returning, it makes sense to restore the post-New Year’s end date. We shall see, though.
We’ve been nervously and anxiously awaiting this news, and are fairly excited. However, we should caution you now that this holiday time announcement is a mixed bag. With Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in only its second month when the Christmas season begins, there are unsurprisingly some cuts and compromises to the normal lineup. So brace yourselves for that. Let’s dig into the details!
We’ll get the bad news out of the way first. There will be no Cinderella Castle Dream Lights nor will Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party be held in Magic Kingdom. Pretty disappointing, but anyone who has followed our recent posts knew the writing was on the wall for both.
This is the second consecutive year both will not be held, which is undoubtedly disappointing for Walt Disney World fans who make annual Christmas-time trips. However, one silver lining here is that this year’s rationale differs from last year when both were cancelled out of necessity due to health and safety concerns. As such, we don’t really view this as concerning precedent–but more on that in the commentary section below.
Now, let’s turn to what is coming back, and new-for-2021 Christmas entertainment at Walt Disney World.
At Magic Kingdom, special holiday projections will appear most nights on Cinderella Castle, alternating periodically with the castle’s transformation into a Beacon of Magic for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
Additionally, in place of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Disney Very Merriest After Hours will be held on select nights in November and December 2021.
See Disney Very Merriest After Hours Coming to Magic Kingdom for full details and more than a little commentary!
Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Sunset Seasons Greetings returns to the Hollywood Holiday Tower Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. This park icon will twinkle with projection effects, transforming into a snowy corner of Arendelle, a Muppets gingerbread masterpiece, a Toy Story toy hotel, and a Dickensian village inspired by “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.”
As with the Cinderella Castle projections, this holiday show will also alternate with the tower’s nightly transformation into a Beacon of Magic.
Also at DHS, Minnie Mouse will be hosting a yuletide feast at Hollywood & Vine at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with the return of Minnie’s Holiday Dine (which we absolutely love). Santa Goofy will be there, along with Minnie and others in their holiday finery.
Continuing with characters, Santa Claus will bring some North Pole cheer to a motorcade down Hollywood Boulevard. You will also be able to enjoy “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration,” with its festive finale featuring Olaf.
Animal Kingdom will bring back its seasonal décor and festive Disney character flotillas sailing down Discovery River to the sounds of joyful songs of the season.
Tree of Life is another Beacon of Magic most nights during Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. However, the holiday or winter wonderland edition of Tree of Life Awakenings also will take place most nights.
The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays will return this year, from November 26 through December 30, 2021.
This will feature Holiday Kitchens around the park, performances by Voices of Liberty, the Cookie Stroll, and more.
At Disney Springs, the Christmas Tree Stroll will once again return. These elaborately decorated, Disney-themed trees will consist of returning favorites plus some new and some inspired by the World’s Most Magical Celebration.
Additionally, nightly snowfall will add a touch of wonder for holiday shoppers in Town Center.
Finally, Walt Disney World resort hotels will be decked out for the holidays, with their lobbies featuring iconic trees and other festive flourishes. Definitely good news for fans of Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom, and other holiday favorites.
Additionally, a guest favorite will return for Christmas 2021, as select gingerbread displays will once again be part of the holiday season at Walt Disney World! Select resorts will also offer holiday menus and specialty food & drink at their restaurants.
This still leaves several unanswered questions. What about all of the following?
- Christmas Decorations in Magic Kingdom
- Merry Menagerie (critter puppets) at Animal Kingdom
- Candlelight Processional at Epcot
- World Showcase Holiday Storytellers (Santas) at Epcot
- Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- A Frozen Holiday Wish at Magic Kingdom
- Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade at Magic Kingdom
If we had to guess, our prediction would be that most of this, save for 2-3 things, will return. It’s still very early (last year, this announcement was not made until September 8!), and there are still a lot of unknowns about this Christmas season. As with Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, we expect a lot of the details and specifics not to fall into place until the last minute.
With that said, it will be a lighter-than-normal Christmas at Walt Disney World. This is in part due to the 50th Anniversary taking center stage and overshadowing the holiday season. It’s also in part because of ongoing labor shortages and cost-cutting.
Merry Menagerie and Candlelight Processional are the the big things that are up in the air, from our perspective. If Merry Menagerie doesn’t happen, it’s entirely a matter of cost-cutting. There was barely sufficient health safety justification for not offering that last year. This year, there’s none.
Candlelight Processional is a different story, as it involves more moving parts and elements that are outside Disney’s control. However, those dinner packages are a cash cow for Walt Disney World, so we’re more optimistic that the 2021 Candlelight Processional will happen. It’ll probably just take more time to firm up the specifics and make an announcement. (See our Guide to Candlelight Processional at Epcot for more.)
One big wildcard is Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.
While cavalcades were announced for Boo Bash from the get-go, they are conspicuously absent from the Very Merriest After Hours event announcement. It’s possible there won’t be Christmas cavalcades or parades at all, but it’s also possible that Walt Disney World is holding off on making an announcement about parades until the details are finalized, and the intent is to run Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade during the day for all guests throughout the holiday season. This is totally speculative, so don’t hold your breath.
As for what likely won’t be back, the World Showcase Holiday Storytellers probably will not return. Even before last year, these always felt like they were on the chopping block, often not mentioned in the initial press release about Christmas. Yet somehow, they always ended up in Epcot once the season got started.
With so much other entertainment at Epcot being slow to return, it seems like the Holiday Storytellers luck has probably run out. If Walt Disney World were going to add more atmospheric entertainment to World Showcase, it would probably make sense to restore any of the beloved regular performers that have been missing since reopening. Our expectation and fear is that the Holiday Storytellers are gone forever. Here’s hoping we are wrong about that.
The other thing that probably won’t return is A Frozen Holiday Wish at Magic Kingdom. For those who are unfamiliar with this, it is the hugely popular “stage show” with Elsa and other characters from Frozen who transform Cinderella Castle into a brilliant, wintery wonderland.
A Frozen Holiday Wish draws colossal crowds and I’ve always wondered what guest satisfaction is on this, as some people wait for an hour or more to watch a quick performance that’s over in a few minutes. The big reveal is undeniably impressive, but it’s also impressive without being anywhere near the stage. It’s Cinderella Castle’s transformation that wows guests, not Elsa waving her hands around. In any case, with no Cinderella Castle Dream Lights, there’s really no reason for A Frozen Holiday Wish to be performed.
As for the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights, this one is a big blow–but an expected one. (Not that that makes it any easier!) With Cinderella Castle getting a “Royal Makeover” for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary and receiving animated enhancements via projection mapping and nighttime lighting, it was a foregone conclusion that the Dream Lights would be on hiatus for another year.
Our only fear here is that with two years of no Cinderella Castle Dream Lights, that makes it easier for Disney to axe this display in the future. While the holiday scenes last year were a fun one-off, they didn’t hold a candle to the physical icicle lights that brilliantly glow on the facade of the Magic Kingdom icon.
Those lights usually begin installation several months in advance of Christmas, and are undoubtedly more expensive from a labor and maintenance perspective. Disney getting a taste of that cost-savings and wanting to continue it is what worries me. Conversely, the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights being a huge holiday draw that probably pay for themselves several times over just in PhotoPass sales is what reassures me that they’ll likely return.
Ultimately, these details of Christmas-time at Walt Disney World don’t have us too excited. Right now, this is pretty much the same slate as last year, plus the After Hours event and gingerbread houses–but minus cavalcades and other details. Of course, the differences between last year and this year should be obvious–last year we were happy just to get anything and have the parks open.
With that said, it’s still early. This is not presented as an exhaustive lineup of Walt Disney World’s Christmas-time entertainment and offerings. Several more things will almost certainly be announced in the coming months, so let’s not be too quick to grab the pitchforks. This is merely a teaser for this #HalfwaytotheHolidays (or Christmas in July), but honestly, I honestly wonder why they bothered with this announcement at all given how light it is on details–and likely to leave fans disappointed and discouraged.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? What about Christmas entertainment, decorations, and various offerings this year? Will you be disappointed if there aren’t lights up for the holidays? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I will be the menagerie’s personal Flavor Flav if it only takes hype to bring it back. Haven’t been to Disney in 30 years and want to take part in this Animal Kingdom magic. Those artists and the puppets are beyond spectacular-from the videos I’ve seen 😉
I guess if the Halloween decorations go up there should be no reason the Christmas ones don’t.
Tom, what are your feelings on New Years Eve at Epcot? We love the celebration and fireworks they do there for the New Years.
One thing Disney has done right is to be inclusive. Please learn to understand and include people who are not like you.
I may have missed a comment mentioning this but did Disney take the word “Christmas” out of the title of event so as not to “offend” the 2% of the population who might not like it? That would be so disappointing and I hope that’s not true!
I wouldn’t read anything into that. Boo Bash also doesn’t use the words “Halloween” or “Party” in its name. I think that’s a deliberate effort to distinguish these new events from the past parties.
My hope is that Candlelight Processional wasn’t included in the announcement because it’ll get it’s own announcement in the next month or so with a few of the presenters named at the same time.
We enjoyed the storytellers but I’d rather some of the regular entertainers return if it’s an either/or thing.
Merry Menagerie looks labor intensive. I was so excited about WDW bringing back enough hospitality employees to open all of the resorts by December that I forgot that many of the entertainment Cast Members have not returned.
Labor intensive and it never generated the same hype among fans as other Christmas entertainment. That’s really a shame, as it was one of the coolest pieces of Christmas entertainment that Walt Disney World has done in recent memory.
I heard Jim Hill mention years ago in a podcast that the Imagineers didn’t like the castle lights because they throw the projections out of focus. So I’m not surprised to see these go, and while I loved them, I look forward to sharper projections (we always go in November so I’ve rarely seen the castle *without* the lights).
Any word yet on any discounts that will be available for December?
My favorite is the Christmas parade. I did not see anything mentioned about that. I am assuming it is not going to happen. 🙁
I went on Walt Disney World website and checked the date for Disney very marry Christmas party on Nov 8.. tickets sell next month in August.. can’t wait, will be in WDW Resort in November 3rd through the 10th …. Monday July 12,2021
I’m pretty excited for
The gingerbread display coming back
I’m normally very anti-anything-Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but this year I’m glad Disney starts early! We’ll be there the week of Thanksgiving, and I’m so excited to see Disney decorated for Christmas!
Why do the other blogs notated the after hours Christnas begin November 8th but this says the 12?
Just to make sure I’m reading this right….the after hours Christmas Party begins on 11/8, but this says Christmas at Disney doesn’t start until 11/12. Our trip is scheduled for 11/7-11/13/21 so I’m just trying to plan accordingly
That’s correct.
I’m very disappointed that Christmas in Disney will not be starting until November 12th! I can only go from November 2-7 due to my work schedule and we could not go last year for Christmas due to Covid. Christmas always starts right after Halloween so we were really hoping that we would catch some of the Christmas decorations at least. My 7 year old daughter will be very upset now as we will not be able to afford to go to Disney again for several years and she really wants to see some of the Christmas decorations. Why is Disney starting Christmas stuff so late this year? Not cool at all!
Christmas decorations–to the extent that they’re put up this year–will almost certainly start going up the same night Halloween stuff comes down, especially in Magic Kingdom. There will likely be little to no difference there, it’s just that they won’t start the projection shows, etc., until November 12.
Super bummed! We are going Oct 29 to Nov 8 and were banking on making both holiday parties and seeing the parks decorated for both seasons. With the later Christmas party start and no Cinderella castle transformation, it’s sounding like we won’t get to feel any of the Christmas magic during our trip. Ugh!
So disappointed that everything is starting later this year. Our trip is 11/1- 8. Usually we get to see at least some of the holiday offerings during the first week.
Will annual passes be available in 2022?
Yes! We are going for 2 weeks in Nov, so I guess we will check out some of the 50th activities before the changeover to Christmas – but I can’t lie that I’m disappointed it’s not starting earlier! Also keeping my fingers crossed that Jingle Bam will be back!!!
So disappointed they are starting Nov 12 instead of Nov 5 (first Friday in Nov) like past years.
I’ll be anxious to follow your reports of anything new that they add to their offerings- I specifically am hoping for the magical menagerie puppets to return to AK!
Yeah, I was really surprised by that one, too. Wonder what the reason is–seems like it would’ve been savvy to start it a week earlier when crowds would’ve been slightly lighter (or at least as “light” as they’re going to get this year).