Best Disney Advent Calendars for Christmas
Disney Advent Calendars are a great way to count down to Christmas with seasonal stories, holiday gifts, and other fun in the 24 days leading up to December 25th. We’ve down these for a while, but are doing more now that we have a daughter. This lists the best LEGO, book, collectible and other countdowns to get into the spirit of the season.
We originally wrote this post prior to last Christmas partly as the fruits of extensive research we had done into Advent Calendars and partly to solicit feedback from seasoned parents about which ones your kids love. The consensus was that ones with books were best and that was 100% correct. We did a few different calendars and, without a doubt, the one with books was the top pick.
Not every story was a winner, but about 75% were hits, and the illustrations were lovely in all of them. Not all of the stories were holiday-themed, which I didn’t love at the time, but that has meant we’ve gotten mileage out of them post-holidays. They’re the perfect length and just all-around winners with Baby Bricker. So we’ll definitely be picking up more of those for Christmas.
We’re back with one final post-Christmas update that a lot of Advent Calendars are sale as retailers clearances out inventory now the holiday season is over and the countdown to Christmas 2026 won’t begin for another 330+ days. Many of the options below are discounted as a result, and will likely soon be sold out and only available via the secondary market (often at a higher price).
Most notable is that Walmart has several Advent Calendars on sale for $5 (most were previously $25). What’s on sale varies by your local market–we actually played around with having calendars shipped to us, as well as our parents in Indiana and Michigan, and the results were completely different when we changed the locations. With that said, highlights include the following:
- Bluey’s Advent Calendar
- Disney Munchlings Advent Calendar
- Disney Stitch Advent Calendar
- Disney Tsum Tsum Advent Calendar
- Disney Doorables Advent Calendar
- Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Advent Calendar
There are probably others in different markets, but that’s what I saw when searching locations that are relevant to us. We bought all of those (except the NBC one, since we’re not Tim Burton fans), so we should have new Advent Calendar reviews for Christmas 2026!
Amazon sales don’t appear to be as good, although the LEGO Frozen Advent Calendar is still on sale for 47% off. We bought this earlier in the season and plan on using it next year (maybe? hopefully?) once Megatron ages into LEGOs.
With the latest updates out of the way, here’s a recap of this year’s list…
LEGO Disney Frozen Advent Calendar (2025) – The LEGO Disney Frozen Advent Calendar building set features 231 pieces across 24 buildable surprises, such as a seesaw, gingerbread house, Sir Jorgenbjorgen, fireplace with stockings and a wreath, presents, Olaf’s sleigh, a wreath with candles, a micro bell and letter, an ice table, and and much more.
Kids can dream up pretend play adventures with the included Elsa, Anna and Kristoff minidolls, attach Sven to Olaf’s sleigh for high-speed fun, put presents under the ice tree and hang stockings on the fireplace. After the countdown to Christmas ends, kids can transform the LEGO advent calendar box into an interactive game board where up to 5 players can help Disney characters collect holiday treasures.
LEGO Disney Advent Calendar – Surprise kids aged 5 and up with a 253-piece buildable toy packed with 24 days of characters, activities and surprises. Each day offers a new festive build or character to inspire play, plus the Advent calendar box turns into a game board. This Advent calendar includes Elsa, Tiana, Ariel, Mirabel and Moana LEGO Disney micro doll figures, plus Pua, Snowgie and Sven characters, presents and much more.
We bought this one last year on Black Friday for a deep discount, and are now holding onto it until Megatron is old enough for LEGOs. We may or may not have purchased a lot of LEGOs over the last couple of years with this excuse in mind. The “we” in the previous two sentences might be just me, as I try to nudge our daughter towards my favorite fascination as a child. (Next up, Ghostbusters and TMNT!)
Star Wars LEGO Advent Calendar (2025) – This one is also awesome, perhaps the best of the bunch–but probably only if you have a bunch of other Star Wars sets.
Other LEGO options include:
- LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar (2025)
- LEGO Friends Advent Calendar (2025)
- LEGO Marvel Advent Calendar (old version)
- LEGO Friends Advent Calendar (old version)
Sometimes past-year versions will pop-up at a deeper discount, so it’s worth checking the LEGO Advent Calendar listings on Amazon to see everything that’s available.
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.
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 is a great tradition.
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.
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
- Funko Pop! Pixar 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.
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.
The bottom line 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. We hope this list helped the Disney fans out there find the right Advent calendar for their family’s Christmas countdown!
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 shopping lists? 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!
you missed the droid factory advent calendar in the festive sandcrawler packaging!
it is a must-have for any droid lovers…
https://www.disneystore.com/star-wars-droid-factory-advent-calendar-417133255250.html?isProductSearch=1&searchType=regular
Hahaha . . . Your Lego collection will grow bigger than you can imagine once Mega hits 5+ and year after year you’ll think the advents & sets can’t get any better, yet . . . they will!! Enjoy it!! (If there’s a second love to Disney in our house it’s Lego even though both are under a different phase with older teenagers v littles!)
We bought the puzzle calendar last year. I’d recommend it still, but it’s worth mentioning that all the puzzles have the same pieces and just a different picture. I’m sure that saved manufacturing cost, but it’s a little disappointing as it makes them easier to put together
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!