Best Disney Advent Calendars for Christmas
This holiday season for us is all about creating new traditions. While we’ve done Advent calendars to count down to Christmas before, it was one thing when it was just the two of us. We didn’t always remember to open a window each day–it was more just a thing to do to get into the spirit of the season.
Now, the stakes are so much higher…but still pretty low given that this is only an Advent calendar we’re talking about. And sadly, the stakes can’t be that high since the powers that be keep refusing to make Country Bear Christmas or Figment (or, better yet, Country Bear Christmas and Figment) Advent calendars. Perhaps they’re worried that would sell out too quickly, or there would be stampedes in stores. That unprecedented level of awesome could be dangerous and have unforeseen consequences.
All joking aside, I actually have been doing a lot of Advent calendar research–probably too much–wanting to make Megatron’s first Christmas as special as possible. We know that it’s not like she’ll remember, but we will. Not only that, but we take tons of photos of every little thing she does, and opening Advent calendars seems like a modest milestone. (Admittedly, half of the motivation for this post is sharing the Advent calendars I’ve found…the other half is soliciting feedback from seasoned parents about which ones your kids love.)
The good news is that every possible Advent calendar you can possibly imagine, exists. Back in my day, they only made like one Advent calendar, and every kid had that. It was filled with little pieces of candy. If you didn’t like candy, too bad (every kid likes candy, so it worked out).
This isn’t entirely accurate. Advent calendars have been common in the United States since President Eisenhower popularized them while being photographed opening an Advent calendar with his grandchildren. In the ~70 years since, Advent calendars have proliferated, setting new Guinness World Records for price and size, among other things. (If you care, here’s an interesting history of Advent calendars.) Regardless, there are a lot more Advent calendars than there once were.
Nowadays, there’s an Advent calendar for every person and niche interest: coffee, jams, lipstick, cat/dog treats, jerky, “cheesemas,” wine, soap, and so forth. This is also the bad news. It can be difficult to find just the right Advent calendar, especially if you’re indecisiveness and spend inordinate amounts of time doing product research on the internet.
Anyway, here are the Disney-related Advent calendars I’ve found that are interesting and/or on sale ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Note that we receive a small commission from Amazon for your purchases, so buying through these links helps support the site. However, neither the price you pay nor our recommendations (or lack thereof) are impacted by that. Let’s dig into the list…
Funko Pop! Disney Advent Calendar – I won’t rehash my thoughts on the dead-eyed Funko Pops. (Suffice to say, we will not be buying this!) Setting aside personal aesthetic preferences, it’s impossible to deny the quality of the Funko figures. It’s with that in mind that we recommend this.
While we aren’t the target audience, we nevertheless think this looks like a better option than all of the Advent calendars with too many stickers and paper items. For only a few dollars more, the Funko option appears to be much, much nicer.
Star Wars Funko Pop Advent Calendar – Same idea as the above, but with a fun Star Wars-meets-Christmas Advent calendar. These aren’t the only Funko Advent calendars–here are other options that look cool:
- Nightmare Before Christmas Funko Advent Calendar
- Marvel Funko Pop Advent Calendar
- Harry Potter Funko Advent Calendar
- Pokemon Funko Pop Advent Calendar
The Funko style actually “works” pretty well with Nightmare Before Christmas! I’m not a fan of either brands, but if I were, that’d be the one I’d get.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse Plush Advent Calendar – As the name suggests, this is a plush Christmas tree Advent calendar that can be hung on the wall. It features a ruffled base with embroidered Mickey and Minnie art, and 25 pockets with embroidered numbers.
I love mid-century style of this Advent calendar, and would absolutely go for it if the price were lower. But even at the current discounted price on Amazon, it’s too much for me–especially without more clarity about what’s inside. Are all of the prizes little plushes? If, that makes it more appealing…but a mix of plushes and paper goods or other junk would not.
Marvel LEGO Advent Calendar – Now we’re speaking my language! The LEGO Advent calendars are my absolute favorite. Not necessarily this Marvel one, it just happens to be one of the few Christmas LEGO sets that isn’t sold out and is available at a deep discount (40% off).
Other LEGO options include:
- LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar
- LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar
- LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
- LEGO Friends Advent Calendar (43% off)
Although not Disney-related or even theme parks-adjacent, I’m particularly partial to the LEGO City Advent Calendar series. This is actually the one I’m leaning towards buying. It seems to me like that’s the most practical option, as the LEGOs in the Advent calendar can be added to Megatron’s collection and used in the years to come. Maybe it’s kind of silly to buy LEGOs for a newborn, but I think of it as similar to savings bonds. Except way more fun, and arguably a better investment!
Ceaco Disney100 Mickey & Friends 12 Days Of Christmas Advent Calendar Puzzles – This one seems a bit atypical, but it’s intriguing because it’s: 1) cheap, and; 2) has a practical element in being puzzles that you can assemble. Much better than stickers or other random junk-paper.
Here’s the description: Mickey’s 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar contains one 300 piece Christmas tree shaped puzzle and eleven 100 piece ornament shaped puzzles. Featuring your favorite Disney characters – Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Woody, Simba, Elsa, Moana, Buzz Lightyear, Tinker Bell, Tiana, Sulley, Lightning McQueen and more!
Mickey & Friends Advent Calendar Box – Family Christmas Traditions – This Disney Mickey & Friends Advent calendar celebrates family holiday traditions and features a large hardcover picture book with an all-new original story. Notations throughout the book will prompt the reader to join in the fun with their family as Mickey and the gang swap holiday stories and share their favorite Christmas traditions with one another.
Each of the 12 Advent calendar perforated windows holds a single ornament that correlates to a Christmas tradition discussed in the story. As each family tradition is completed, you can hang the included ornament to decorate your very own 3D Christmas tree. This one is tempting for us, probably in no small part due to “traditions” being right there in the name. But for that, this one probably wouldn’t be in the conversation, since it sounds like a bunch of paper.
Bluey’s Advent Calendar – I don’t know if this technically counts as Disney, but whatever, it’s on Disney+ and everyone seems to love Bluey. (We’ve watched a couple of episodes and are already fans–saving the rest for a little later.) This seems like a nice option in that it’s reasonably priced and has actual accessories and items…and, unfortunately, several stickers. Can’t win ’em all.
Disney Storybook Collection Advent Calendar – This is from the same product line as our recommended autograph book replacement for Walt Disney World.
This countdown to Christmas features 24 books, each of which are 24-pages. Unwrap a new tale every day from December 1st through December 24. Includes both holiday-themed and everyday stories featuring beloved Disney and Pixar characters.
Disney Princess Storybook Collection Advent Calendar – Exact same idea, but with princesses instead of a wider range of animated characters. Reading a new bedtime story each night before Christmas sounds like a great tradition…but is it ideal or even necessary to combine that with the Advent calendar? I dunno.
Disney Doorables ‘Olaf Presents’ Advent Calendar – I’m pretty sure Jeffrey Dahmer was given this Advent calendar one year as a child. That would explain a lot. Let that serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of being too cheap.
Seriously, there is a reason this is over 50% off and “only” $9.99. Straight-up nightmare fuel. I’ve personally called my Congressional representative about getting this banned.
It hopefully goes without saying, but this is not an Advent calendar that we’re considering. (Maybe for when she’s a little older, and for Halloween, though?) But I had to see it, so I’m paying it forward and subjecting you to it.
Disney Munchlings Advent Calendar – I’d sooner buy that weird Olaf calendar than this despite the Munchlings being absolutely adorable. For us, it all comes down to price. There’s literally no Advent calendar that’s worth $150 to us…unless it’s one filled with $10 bills.
On the plus side, if you’re looking for something with actual collectible keepsakes rather than throwaway items…this is a great option. The Munchlings are cute and this calendar is huge–I saw it at Walt Disney World and was surprised by the size!
For more on the holiday season in the parks, see our Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World or our Guide to Christmas at Disneyland. We also have tons of content in our Christmas category of posts!
If you are planning a Walt Disney World or Disneyland vacation, check out our planning resources! The best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide or Disneyland Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you have experience with Advent calendars, are there any recommendations that you or your kids love? Have you already bought your Advent calendar to count down to Christmas? If so, which one did you buy? Anything on this list, or something else? Adding any to your Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping lists, hoping they go on sale? 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 have a lot of nostalgia for the simple chocolate ones you can buy in the supermarket (which is what I grew up with myself), but for my own family we love our reusable advent calendars bags that you can stuff yourself, along the lines of this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1332678349/advent-calendar-kit-24-bags-cord-and
My fear with some of the ones you mention are that you end up with a lot of lot of plastic junk that you didn’t really want or need, including tiny parts that will get lost (or swallowed). With the reuseable models, you can alternate between consumables (chocolate, candy canes, bath bombs, special tea bags or hot chocolate packs), small gifts that you have specifically chosen/know your kids will love (can be Disney or not) and even coupons (we include some every year for the day we decorate holiday cookies, the day we put up/decorate the tree, or do a fun activity like ice skating, seeing Christmas lights). It’s a bit more work, but also fun for the person preparing the calendar and the gifts are a huge treat for our kids – 1 December is one of the most eagerly anticipated dates of the Christmas season in our household! If gift giving is one of your love languages, this could be a fun tradition for your family.
We’ve done lots of Lego ones! The city are my favorite, but the boys in my family also really like the starwars and marvel ones. Play mobile and the Disney princess books have also been loved by the girls in my family
For our “every year” do the same thing tradition, we have a manger scene out of felt and every day we get a little figure to add to the scene. I’m not sure that’s super popular though. It’s not Lego. 😀
We have opted for a reusable advent calendar. Our kids look forward to seeing it every year. The calendar itself has become part of our tradition. It has little drawers that can fit several small trinkets or candy for each day. It isn’t Disney, specifically, but you could fill each drawer with a pin for trading or a mini lego set or clue to a “in-park” scavenger hunt. Good Luck in your search!
This is what we do too! It’s a wooden train with little doors. Sometimes we fill with little things that fit, other times notes, maps or clues to find something else (like a book). It’s fun!
The Mickey and Minnie Plush calendar is similar to what we have and use every year. It is one plush that you move each day. While this means there isn’t a new, fun surprise each day, it does mean you can use the same calendar each year making it an annual tradition. My son (6) gets really excited each year when we hang the calendar and looks forward to moving the plush each day. The cost ends up being justified by it’s buy the calendar once and use every year nature.
We’ve gotten the star wars lego ones for my (now 9 yr old) daughter the last couple years. They’ve been really fun to put together and display every season!
We also often get the pokemon mini figure one which is SO CUTE and reasonably priced seeing how expensive those little figures usually are on their own.
*not funko, the little battle figure pokemon guys.
I bought the puzzle one for my childless sister (who is about your age). She loves it. We did one of the ornaments together. The puzzles are nice and it could be repeated every year. We generally get the Lego ones (we’ve done all but Harry Potter). They are fun, but do tend to have some bummer days (just a small “model” that is about 5 random lego pieces). One of them did come in real handy for potty training bribery a decade ago, so something else to keep in mind in a few years.
I’ll join the chorus of people recommending the book one. We had that for our 1 year old a couple years ago and still have all the books and read them. Last year we got one with little plastic toys and they’ve already been scattered to the winds or neglected. The book one is also really big, which is fun for the littlest kids. I’m glad to know there’s a princess one! We might do that this year.
Books, Legos and Playmobile were a hit here over the years. And quite honestly as our kiddo has gotten older (11 now), she enjoys an inexpensive Trader Joes calendar with little chocolates inside…I miss the Legos though!
Just came here to say…I scrolled through the calendars quickly and when I saw the Olaf one, I thought “OMG that one is adorable! If I were going to buy one, it would be this one.” Then I read your commentary on it LOL I still think that one is the cutest, also because I loved the “Olaf Presents” shorts. From a parent perspective, I do have one that we reuse every year (it’s a wooden Christmas tree with little doors for each day that “magically” get filled with candy each night by their Elf on the Shelf)- the kids love it and get excited as soon as they see it come out for the season. So I’d recommend one you could re-use each year, if possible. Good luck with baby’s 1st Christmas!!
My household has been through many kinds of advent calendars over the years. The Disney book bundles are the only ones whose pieces didn’t get scattered to the wind before Christmas actually arrived. I’ve learned that when a Playmobil set boasts “100 pieces!” that generally means “15 pieces of substance and 85 tiny accessories like flip flops, food items, etc. that you’ll lose in the carpet the day you open it!”
Tread cautiously into this toy market. Consider what you’ll do with the items in the long run when you purchase things like these. A set that includes lots of stickers might not be a bad thing. Thanks for the link to the Bluey set. My 6 year old will love it.
Of the advent calendars listed here, I’d go with one of the book ones. You can read them to Megatron this year, and if you keep the books she’ll like seeing them year after year. My kids love the Christmas books they’ve been hearing/reading since they were little. When mine were young we’d get cute Advent calendars with no candy, or the kind you can fill yourself. That might be really fun for a baby~ more reasons to buy cute little socks or toys or accessories for Megatron.
On the subject of Calendars, if you and Sarah haven’t already bought one I’d suggest buying a first-year calendar for Megatron. For every day of her first year, you write down what she did. First step, first trip to Disneyland, or even little things like, “Looked at a squirrel today,” or “Learned to hold a spoon.”
Happy Holidays!
We have the plush calendar – I got it from shop Disney a few years ago. It doesn’t come with anything for you to open; you simply move the plush gingerbread man from day to day. It acts more as a Christmas countdown calendar than a traditional gift each day advent calendar. But it is large and nicely made!
Don’t forget the Nuimos advent calendar on ShopDisney. Costco, Aldi and Walmart have discounted Lego advent calendars (or clearance, closer to December). Playmobil is great for smaller kids. Costco also has Lindt chocolate and beer advent calendars, the latter not for kids!
Being from Europe, I still love the simple just chocolate ones that are traditional. Simple, tasty, and nothing leftover to store lol
I’m pretty sure that plush tree one is the type where you just move the little marker from day to day…no “prizes” so to speak.
A few years back there was a wishables advent calendar on shop Disney that was magically in stock on a day when they had a big 30 percent off sale (or somthing along those lines, I’m fuzzy on the exact details). I managed to snag one and it was FANTASTIC. I still use the, in my Christmas decor around the house.
Yes, the wishables one from a few years ago! My kids LOVED opening it and beg to get out all the adorable plushies early every year. (They’re 10, 9, and 7 and still treasure it). We’ve done many various advents (several lego, build a bear, candy, charms, etc) and wishables is hands down their fave ever!
Thanks Tom! This is great. I vote for books. Every year when we put up our Christmas tree I pull out all our Christmas books and put them under the tree. We read them throughout the month. The girls are 24,14 and 12 and we still read all the same books. They love it and remember all the years of reading them together.
Happy Thanksgiving US and Merry Christmas to us all.
We do LEGO advent calendars every year-Star Wars, HP, sometimes a mix…
There’s been a Cars one the last few years that’s also been great-die cast mini racers and “set pieces”.
This year, however, in addition to a
LEGO one for the adults, we opted for the Playmobil Back to the Future III Advent calendar for each kid (we did the original one a couple years ago). Obv not Disney themed but they adore BTTF (ages 4 and 7) so we’re going with it and high fiving a parenting win!
Oh and I forgot-the storybook calendars (the big hard sided cover with 24 smaller stories in them) are great for 1 Christmas and then to pass on to another family. We got it from a friend, who’d signed their names in 2022, who got it from her sister, who signed theirs in 2021, and we’re about to sign it for 2023 and hand it on to another family. It’s pretty fun to think this might still be going on 10 years!