Disney World Christmas 2026 Ultimate Guide
Our guide to Christmas 2026 at Walt Disney World offers tips for Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and hotels. It covers entertainment, crowds, food, free things to do, decorations, tips & tricks. Plus, what’s new & returning for the holiday season, dates & details.
Walt Disney World has not yet released official dates or details for Christmas 2026–but a lot of what happens is consistent from year to year. Historically, Walt Disney World has kicked off its Christmas celebrations over the Veterans Day holiday weekend. As discussed below, that’s changed over the last couple of years and there are some inconsistencies as to start dates.
Before we go down the speculative rabbit hole, we want to underscore that what follows are predictions informed by past precedent and what we’ve experienced over the course of the last 15+ years of visiting during the holiday season. If you want to be notified when official details for this holiday season or other Walt Disney World news is announced, subscribe to our FREE email newsletter!
Let’s start with what we can safely predict. Expect the holiday season to start unofficially on Friday, November 6, 2026 with the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. The day after that (Saturday, November 7, 2026) is likely to be the first Jollywood Nights Christmas Party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
It’s possible these dates will differ, but that’s been one of the few consistent patterns over the last few years. In a normal year, the entire holiday season would’ve officially begun on one of these two days, with all decorations up in 3 of the 4 parks, and entertainment starting. That wasn’t the case either of the last two years, and we don’t expect it to happen in 2026, either.
The Christmas season didn’t officially start until November 14th last year, the Friday after the Veterans Day holiday weekend. Decorations were all up in the parks the week before that, but that’s the date when character meet & greets and entertainment started. Things like Santa Claus in Dinoland and Merry Menagerie at Animal Kingdom, as well as the trio of atmospheric acts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Accordingly, past precedent would suggest that Christmas 2026 will start on November 13, 2026 at Walt Disney World. However, Disneyland has already released its full calendar for the 2026 and out in California, Christmas is not starting until even later–on November 18, 2026.
Honestly, I don’t know if Walt Disney World can “get away” with delaying Christmas until November 18, 2026. Disneyland doesn’t have the hard ticket parties, so that’s when everything will begin. But it would be incredibly lame of Walt Disney World to begin hosting MVMCP and Jollywood Nights the first weekend of the month, but not officially start the included entertainment until another ~2 weeks later. I wouldn’t put it past them, though, so we shall see!
One thing that’s fairly certain is that the 2026 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays won’t start until November 27, 2026. This event always starts the day after Thanksgiving and runs until day before New Year’s Eve. There’s a good excuse for the shorter duration, which is that the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival runs until mid-November. As Walt Disney World’s global theme park, there’s also the fact that Festival of the Holidays is about more than just Christmas.
The most common question we get about the holiday season is When Does Walt Disney World Decorate for Christmas? That’s not particularly relevant with festivities already underway, but for future reference, you’ll hear the sounds and see the sights of Christmas from late October 2026 through early January 2027.
This past year, Magic Kingdom was fully decorated by November 3rd, with Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom getting decked out in the few days that followed. Again, EPCOT is the only exception.
If you’re already planning ahead for Christmas 2026, you can expect the holiday season to follow this same cadence, regardless of whether the season as a whole begins on November 13, 2026, the Friday before, or some other random date.
Unofficially, the festivities will wind down the first week of January 2027, with Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend being when things wrap up and decorations start coming down. Before that, most substantive holiday offerings will end on December 31, 2026.
For reference, last year’s decorations didn’t come down until January 15th in Magic Kingdom. This is slightly later than normal, but it’s due to the WDW Marathon occurring almost a full week late. Next year, we’d expect decorations to come down a tad earlier.
With that out of the way, here’s everything you need to know about Christmas 2026 at Walt Disney World. We visited over Jersey Week and Veterans Day, and have already experienced this year’s offering (yet again, minus the 2026 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays, which doesn’t start until Black Friday).
What’s New for Christmas at Disney World (Last Year)
Let’s start with Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where Disney Jollywood Nights returns for its fourth season. The party was much-improved each of the last two years and we thoroughly enjoyed it–after having an awful experience year one. However, tickets still didn’t sell well, with only a handful of sold out dates.
Not much changed for Jollywood Nights last year. Here’s the list of additions and changes (fair warning–it’s underwhelming):
- Meet Miguel at Holiday Fiesta en la Calle in a new location near Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (my photo above is from DCA, not DHS)
- Meet Bing Bong and Partysaurus Rex
- Enter the park earlier than before, at 5:30 p.m. before Jollywood Nights starts
- Enjoy two new shows, “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” and “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After”
- Snack on the new Backlot Express Restaurant specialty menu (replacing PizzeRizzo, which is now closed for Monstropolis construction)
- New Jollywood Nights merchandise collection
That’s it. There were also some tweaks made to Glisten, the ice skating show that debuted last year. Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same. Be sure to check out our Guide to Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party at Hollywood Studios for full details, dates, ticket prices, and more than a little commentary!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios also has some under-the-radar new holiday offerings:
Juggling Elves with Donald Duck – The Record Setters are a pair of jugglers who perform between Center Stage and Dockside Diner near Echo Lake. These holiday helpers deliver festive cheer with a side of shenanigans as they show off their skills of juggling, comedy and more!
The Record Setters appear through December 22, with performances every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Showtimes are at 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 noon, 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM.
Holiday Spirit Band with Chip ‘n’ Dale – Hollygroove Swingin’ is a dynamic brass group will make everyone in your party want to join in the fun and stroll into Santa’s good graces. This group also performs in Echo Lake near Dockside Diner, from now through December 21.
Hollgroove Swingin’ performs every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM.
For old school Disney fans, one of the more intriguing additions is the Christmas exhibits at Walt Disney Presents. There’s a new display featuring artifacts from heartwarming holiday films, including “The Santa Clause,” “Disney Noelle,” “Babes in Toyland,” and “The Muppets Christmas Carol.”
Guests can also catch a screening of a special holiday collection of Walt Disney animated short films, including “On Ice,” “Pluto’s Christmas Tree,” and “The Art of Skiing.”
Turning to Magic Kingdom, there’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), which will be held several nights per week through the week before Christmas (likely with an end date of around December 20, 2026).
We attended the first MVMCP of the season, taking our toddler for the first time. We’ll have a full photo report and recap first that’ll answer whether Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is still “worth it,” but honestly, that question isn’t all that relevant until 2026, as the hard ticket event is almost entirely sold out for the season.
Finally, there’s the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays, which is highlighted by the 2026 Candlelight Processional. There are a ton of new celebrity narrators for this year, including Henry Winkler. There’s also the Behind the Seeds Christmas Tour and a Gingerbread Spaceship Earth in CommuniCore Hall, but those both debuted last year.
Throughout this guide, we’ll provide our tips and tricks for best-experiencing the Walt Disney World at Christmas-time. This offers helpful advice for everyone from first-time guests to yearly visitors. It covers everything from holiday highlights to hidden gems.
This isn’t merely regurgitated press releases and generic info about Christmas at WDW. Instead, we provide a frank assessment of things and insight so you be best prepared to have a great time during the holidays–including what’s still missing as compared to a normal Christmas at Walt Disney World.
With that out of the way, here’s everything you need to know about Christmas at Walt Disney World. We’ll keep you posted about what, if anything, changes or is added as more announcements are (hopefully) made…
When to Visit WDW at Christmas
November and December are roller coaster months for crowds, with the weeks around holidays (Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve) seeing elevated attendance and other weeks being more moderate. Accordingly, much of November and December 2026 will have elevated crowd levels due to those holidays and school breaks.
However, there will be pockets of low crowd weeks that are ‘sweet spots’ for holiday time trips. Basically, these two months have very high highs–but also some lows. Check out our list of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2026 & 2027. That includes several weeks in November and December. In fact, most weeks make one of those lists or the other!
You can also read more about crowd forecasts in our November 2026 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar and December 2026 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar. (Frankly, the best & worst weeks list is a more useful resource, though!)
On New Year’s Eve, there’s typically special entertainment at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you are thinking of visiting for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we highly recommend reading our Tips for Visiting Walt Disney World at New Year’s to avoid crowds and have a better experience.
Besides the crowds, there are a few other downsides to visiting during these two weeks. First is the room rates for on property hotels. The second is holiday surcharges at buffets and some other restaurants around property. Definitely keep these costs in mind if you’re approaching this from the perspective of savings.
To avoid blowing your vacation budget, it’s important to pack for the colder weather. This might seem like a silly recommendation, and one unrelated to saving money, but it’s not. Check out our Winter Packing Tips for Disney post for more insight on what to take on your trip. Just because it’s Florida doesn’t mean it won’t be cold! You don’t want to waste money buying a bunch of $60 sweatshirts from the gift shops because you only packed shorts and t-shirts. (Ask me how I know this!)
Another way you can save money is by not purchasing Christmas gifts while at Walt Disney World. This is so tempting, and something we have done too many times (it’s Disney’s favorite time of year because guest spending on merchandise is through the roof!).
Instead, check out our Essential Disney Fan Gift Guide for great, money saving gift ideas for Christmas. You can save a ton of money by buying many of the same (and similar) souvenirs and gifts online instead of in the gift shops!
Okay, now that you know when to visit (or now that I’ve further confused you and made the decision even more complicated), let’s figure out what you should experience. Naturally, we’ll start with where to meet the star of the show, the jolly red elf himself, Santa Claus:
Where to Meet Santa Claus
Guests can meet Santa Claus at Walt Disney Presents in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This meet & greet is tucked away, making it one of the easier ways to meet Santa during the holiday season. His appearance times are continuous, from 10 am to 5 pm through December 24th.
Santa Claus is also back on the patio at Restaurantosaurus at Animal Kingdom for one final year! As the guest of honor at the 76th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party, Santa’s invited everyone to join him in this festive location. With the countdown to extinction on, Santa Claus will have to appear elsewhere in 2026–because Restaurantosaurus will cease to exist.
Over in Magic Kingdom, Santa Claus appears in Storybook Circus during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This is part of Santa’s Christmas Carnival, which includes crafts, polar bears, and more. Closer to Christmas, you can expect to see Santa during daily operations at Magic Kingdom, too.
Last year, Santa Claus moved to CommuniCore Hall during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. Previously, Santa had met in the Odyssey Pavilion. Again, Christmas-time doesn’t kick off until November 27th at EPCOT, so Santa will meet from then until December 24, 2026. Showtimes are likely to be between 10 am and 4 or 5 pm.
Being the only free place to see Santa Claus at Walt Disney World, the meet & greet at Disney Springs is also the most popular. Because of this, Santa uses a virtual queue. Join via the My Disney Experience app at 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, or 6 pm. You can only join the queue if you are at Disney Springs; you’ll enter the number of guests meeting Santa upon joining.
Christmas in Magic Kingdom
We’ll start in the Magic Kingdom, which does the most for Christmas out of all of the Walt Disney World parks. No matter what the other parks do, there’s just something to be said for walking onto Main Street and seeing the “town” decked out for Christmas, and that grandiose icicle castle beckoning at the end.
Let’s start by taking a tour of Magic Kingdom at Christmas…
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party – This beloved after-hours party in Magic Kingdom is a special event that requires separate admission from your normal park tickets. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party features all things Christmas, and occurs on select nights throughout November and December 2026.
Normally, there are a few elements of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party that also happen during daily operations closer to Christmas in Magic Kingdom. The major ones are Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade and Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, discussed below.
For more information about MVMCP, read our Guide to the 2026 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks – This show is not to be missed. Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks is a replacement for the Holiday Wishes fireworks show. As the name suggests, this nighttime spectacular is hosted by Minnie Mouse, celebrating the magic of Christmas with medleys of beloved holiday songs.
The fireworks feature “Wonderful Christmas Time” by Paul McCartney and other favorites. Projection mapping also features heavily, with the end result being that Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks evokes heartfelt moments of home and family, and the spirit of the season before an incredible finale. We’d highly recommend consulting our Best Magic Kingdom Fireworks Viewing Locations when it comes to picking a spot for watching Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime.
Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade — During Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, this parade is shown twice at night and features excellent lighting, ambiance, and SNOW on Main Street, USA. Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade also runs during the daytime in the week leading up to Christmas through New Year’s Eve.
While we strongly recommend watching the parade on Main Street for full effect. During the Christmas and New Year’s weeks, you can watch it from anywhere along its route without much of a difference in the experience. The floats are very cute, the music is catchy, and there’s a wide range of Disney and Christmas-y characters featured. It’s a must-see.
Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration Stage Show – In the days before Christmas, Mickey throws a holiday party and invites all of his friends, who sing Christmas Carols before the show is “is Christmas-wrapped up in one sensational, snowy, show-stopping finale.”
We love this stage show. It’s heartwarming, endearing, and a bit goofy (lowercase g). Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration is also incredibly popular, and the viewing area can be frustrating if you’re shorter. During Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, we recommend watching the last showing of Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration. Actually, we recommend the same during daily ops, too.
Jingle Cruise – The Jingle Cruise overlay consists of decorations in the show scenes and a special spiel from the skippers, who are “homesick” and wanting to celebrate Christmas. The queue is decorated and the boats receive Christmas-inspired names. While holiday overlays are divisive, we are big fans of the idea here and think Jingle Cruise is generally well done.
This gets popular during the Christmas season, so prioritizing it in your touring plan can be a good idea (see our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary for more recommendations). However, we prefer doing Jingle Cruise at night to get the full experience of the Christmas lights turned on.
Jingle Cruise is an all-day, every day attraction for regular guests and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party attendees. Starting in early November, experience this wild attraction wrapped with festive jokes and even more fun memories, something guests of all ages look forward to every single year.
Jingle Cruise started on November 3rd and will run through January 1, 2026. (The end date could be unofficially extended. The overlay usually lasts through January 4th or 5th.)
“Frozen Holiday Surprise” – Magic Kingdom will once again host the “Frozen Holiday Surprise” in front of Cinderella Castle, featuring Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and the adorable Snowgies.
“Frozen Holiday Surprise” can be seen during regular park hours and during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. During this brief stage show, friends from Arendelle ring in the season together and help transform Cinderella Castle into a shimmering crystalized palace – projections that remain throughout the evening.
We saw “Frozen Holiday Surprise” a few times last year and it was incredibly underwhelming. I don’t know how they managed to add a stage show component to this and still somehow made the end result worse than the previous projections, but it was quite a feat. The projections at the end are too static.
The version of the show that was performed with the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights through 2019 was far superior. We still miss the Dream Lights, which were the most spectacular Christmas light display at Walt Disney World. Well, at least once the Lights of Winter at EPCOT and Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at DHS were retired. It’s sad that the top 3 light displays at Walt Disney World are all now defunct. Christmas is not what it once was.
Christmas at EPCOT
“Christmas” at EPCOT is technically a misnomer, because Walt Disney World’s global theme park celebrates a wide variety of worldwide holidays during the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays
The EPCOT Festival of the Holidays features marketplace food booths open around World Showcase offering different seasonal snacks from around the globe. You might be tempted to think of this as the “Epcot Food & Wine Festival Lite,” but it’s really so much more.
The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays will run from Black Friday until December 30, 2026. In addition to food, you’ll also find other entertainment options, decorations, and more around both World Showcase and Future World.
There you can also pick up maps for Chip and Dale’s Christmas Tree Spree, which is a paid scavenger hunt (akin to the Figment and Ratatouille ones during other festivals at Epcot). Chip and Dale are collecting ornaments for their Christmas tree, and you go around looking for them as they gather ornaments from holiday decorations in each World Showcase pavilion.
Candlelight Processional — Candlelight Processional is a retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator, along with a mass choir performing seasonal melodies, and a 50-piece live orchestra. In a normal year, Candlelight Processional runs nightly with performances at 5:00 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. You can find the full lineup of celebrity narrators for the Candlelight Processional and more details by clicking here.
One tip for Candlelight Processional is to book a dinner package if you’re visiting when one of the popular narrators is in town. They’re not too much of a premium if you were already planning on eating a table service meal, and will save you tons of time. We were there for the second night of Neil Patrick Harris’ run a couple of years ago, and we saw people waiting in line FOUR HOURS before the show.
Your enjoyment of Candlelight Processional will depend on whether you like the traditional Christmas story and choir Christmas music. We love the music, but if you don’t like either, this may not be for you. Although the narrators show some personality, don’t expect Candlelight Processional to be “Comedy Hour with Neil Patrick Harris.” It’s not.
Holiday Storytellers – Throughout World Showcase in Epcot, there are international storytellers (most of whom are that country’s version of Santa Claus) who share traditions and tales from their native country. These Santas and other characters appear dressed in location-appropriate outfits and describe what happens on Christmas Eve and Christmas in their homeland. In addition to the Santas, representatives at the American Adventure describe the celebrations of Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.
The Storytellers can be hit or miss, and whether you want to spend the time seeing listening to their stories will depend upon your personal preferences. If you are on the fence, we’d recommend starting your tour around the World Showcase in Mexico (instead of Canada) as the most engaging Storytellers are near the beginning of the tour that way. If you don’t enjoy those countries’ Storytellers, chances are that you won’t enjoy any of the rest.
Living with the Land Glimmering Greenhouses – In the Land pavilion, you can take a leisurely boat ride through the greenhouses of Living with the Land for a special, sparkling tour. Enjoy a peaceful cruise and view twinkling holiday light displays throughout the greenhouses.
We absolutely love Living with the Land. It’s one of the Walt Disney World attractions we do the most. We also absolutely love Christmas lights. Put those two things together, and we are squarely the target audience for Living with the Land: Glimmering Greenhouses (previously Merry and Bright Nights).
Unsurprisingly, we absolutely love this overlay. I could go on and on about this, gushing about the calming atmosphere, thoroughness, and understated simplicity of it all. Suffice to say, do not miss Living with the Land: Glimmering Greenhouses!
‘Joyful! A Gospel Celebration of the Season’ – Joyful performs at the front of World Showcase from the end of November until the end of December throughout the day, rotating with other performers on the stage.
It’s a fun show, actually, it’s surprisingly good, but it’s still not an adequate replacement for the gorgeous Lights of Winter that were deemed obsolete a few years ago.
Christmas at Hollywood Studios
Sunset Season’s Greetings – This is a projection show consisting of vignettes from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, the Muppets, and Toy Story, plus appearances by the Prep & Landing characters.
Normally, there are also giant projections on “billboard” screens around Sunset Boulevard, and synchronized lights on palm trees.
Echo Lake “Flurry of Fun” – This consists of decorations throughout the area, including the introduction of SANTA GERTIE! There are also oversized Christmas ornaments in Echo Lake, as well as a giant Christmas tree, and other decor.
There’s also decor on Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, and the park once again feels appropriately festive for Christmas. It’s all very well done, and a nice addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios this Christmas.
Minnie’s Holiday Dine – This Christmas-themed character meal at Hollywood & Vine is a ton of fun. Minnie’s Holiday Dine will once again be a buffet and offer character hugs, autographs, high-fives, etc.
We’ve done this, and shared our thoughts and photos in our Minnie’s Holiday Dine Review.
Christmas at Animal Kingdom
A few years ago, Animal Kingdom upped its holiday game significantly, debuting serious holiday overlays and offerings, with new entertainment and decorations in every single land–including Pandora: World of Avatar.
All in all, Animal Kingdom is great during the holiday season. Walt Disney World has really enhanced this park’s holiday offerings, and the Merry Menagerie in particular is simple yet pure and awe-inspiring.
Tree of Life Holiday Awakenings – Holiday Edition – These are projection-mapping vignettes that begin shortly after sunset and continue until park close. The Holiday Awakenings tell a series of winter tales, complete with a familiar and heartwarming holiday-inspired musical score.
Note that there are many evenings in December when Animal Kingdom closes before sunset. Plan accordingly.
Discovery Island Luminaries – The epicenter of the yuletide fun is on Discovery Island, where the area is in the midst of a celebration of winter. There are holiday decorations hand-crafted by the eclectic community of artists who make Discovery Island their home, including colorful, animal-inspired luminaries on the rooftops, wireframe bird-shaped lanterns, and themed garland adorning the buildings throughout the land.
The merriment on Discovery Island continues long into the night. The rooftop luminaries around Discovery Island create a warm and festive glow throughout the entire village, imbuing Discovery Island with a ‘winter wonderland’ elegance.
Merry Menagerie – During the day, Discovery Island is alive with a life-size “Merry Menagerie” of artisan-sculpted puppets that include reindeer, foxes, polar bears, penguins, birds, seals—and probably other critters we missed.
These winter animals are accompanied by serenading live musicians who mingle amongst guests and the Merry Menagerie of critters to create festive atmosphere. Seriously, these puppets are something special. See photos & video, and read more about Merry Menagerie and why we love it so much here!
Christmas at Disney Springs
Christmas Tree Stroll – This features numerous trees each themed to a different Disney characters (including one dedicated to Mickey & Minnie, The Muppets, Tangled, and more!). Rather than being done as a distinct trail this year, it has returned as the “Christmas Tree Stroll” with spots scattered around Disney Springs.
Aside from the beautiful decorations, you can expect some live entertainment, holiday carolers, a street party, photo ops, and Santa Claus.
During the Christmas season, Disney Springs is insanely busy on weekends. On busy dates, there can be waits to enter Disney Springs. On rare occasion, the parking structures close to capacity.
For a lot of locals who don’t have Walt Disney World Annual Passes, Disney Springs is a way to enjoy free Christmas entertainment during the holiday season. These locals are most likely to visit on weekends. Add to that the normal mix of tourists, and you have huge crowds.
As such, we strongly encourage you to visit Disney Springs on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Arrive by 4 p.m. and stay until just after dusk, or arrive really late (after the parks close). Disney Springs will be busiest between 6 and 8 p.m. nightly. For everything else you need to know about making the trip, consult our Tips for Disney Springs at Christmas post.
Christmas at WDW Resort Hotels
Highlights include the Deluxe Resorts but other hotels are spruced up with wreaths and trees decorated with miles of garland, ribbon and glistening ornaments. The biggest draw of all is edible gingerbread houses, which are a staple of certain hotel lobbies during the holiday season. For where those were located last year, see Giant Gingerbread Houses & Displays for Christmas at Disney World.
We cover the details of each hotel’s display as well as a best plan of attack for visiting the hotels efficiently on our “Free Self-Guided Yuletide Tour” page. Definitely check this out if you want to visit the resorts to see their decorations. This is an itinerary for a single day, so if you’re looking for something longer, check out our 2-Day Yuletide Tour of Walt Disney World. We’ve heard from many readers who found our this to be a highlight of their WDW Christmas vacation!
We love these WDW Yuletide Tours so much that we do them every single year–sometimes more than once. We’ve had a lot of readers tell us they’ve really enjoyed following the steps of that tour, so we’d highly recommend checking it out, and potentially trying it for yourself!
Deluxe Hotels
Several Deluxe Hotels have either a large Christmas tree or a seasonal display that is well worth seeing. The great thing about most deluxe resorts is that they’re in close proximity to one another. You can easily reach the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary from the Magic Kingdom monorail station and Wilderness Lodge via boat.
Similarly, the Yacht & Beach Club and Boardwalk are easily accessible by foot or boat from Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. About the only Deluxe that is worth visiting that’s not easily accessible is Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Moderate & Value Hotels
There are some neat decorations at the Moderates and Values, and the decorations are all themed to the specific resort, which is pretty cool. If you have interest in a specific “style” of Christmas, you might want to check out a specific resort.
Same goes if you’re a really, really big fan of Christmas decorations. Everyone else probably should bother making trips to the Moderates and Values to see their decorations. While neat, it just isn’t worth the time.
The one exception to this might be Fort Wilderness. There are some awesome displays put up by long-terms guests on the campground loop. If you have time one afternoon, take a boat over from the Magic Kingdom, have dinner at Trail’s End, and enjoy some of these cool displays.
We’re already over 5,000 words, so we’ll wrap up this Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World here. Hopefully, it’s everything you need to plan your dream Griswold-style Christmas Vacation to Florida. In case it wasn’t already made clear, we truly love Christmas at Walt Disney World.
The holiday season is our favorite time of year in Walt Disney World. November and December offer a mix of perfect weather, entertainment, festive decorations, great holiday snacks, and so much more. If you’re only going to visit WDW once, make it during Christmas-time!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What are your top tips for enjoying Walt Disney World during the holiday season? Have any questions about the holidays at Walt Disney World that aren’t answered here? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! Do you agree or disagree with our advice? 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!
went to disney 11/9/11 and totally enjoyed it. Came home and decorated the house.. Now has reservations at ak lodge 12/1-12/8. Making our dining reservations in 3 days. can’t wait. Hope we get all our wishes.
Thanks! This site is very useful! I see that this article is focused on Christmas 2012. Will you be updating it for 2013?
Yes. With the exception of dates, the same advice will mostly hold true. Not much changes from year to year.
I’ve been to Disney multiple times, but this is the first time going around Christmas. We’re leaving as soon as we finish our Thanksgiving dinner, and will arrive mid-day on Black Friday, and will go into the park on Saturday. What do you expect the crowds to be like? Will we be able to experience ALL of the Christmas features (we will be there until the 2nd week of December)?
On a side note: I came home at 2pm today and got right on your blog. It is now 5:38pm, and I’m still on it, with no intention of getting off. I’m addicted. I may have a problem HAHAHAH
Crowds that first weekend you’re there will be bad, but after that things die down. Just hope you’re not in the same line as a cheerleading group or Pop Warner football!
Everything will be going on during your trip. Have fun!
Thankyou so much for this post, we are visiting this year 7th-28th December so hoping to get most of the parks done before spending Christmas Day in Magic Kingdom !
Can anyone tell me what Christmas Day is likely to be like ?? Am I to expect to que from an early hour and is the park likely to close if it gets too busy ??? I don’t want to be turned away !!!
Also can anyone recommend somewhere nice and Christmassy to eat for adults and children, I’m not fussed whether it be lunch or dinner but somewhere we can book for Christmas Day in the park !!!
I’m sure I will think of lots more questions before we go !!!
Thankyou !!!!
Expect Christmas Day to be pretty wild–it’s one of the busiest days of the year in one of the busiest weeks of the year.
As for a place to eat that is Christmas-y, I’d recommend Biergarten in Epcot.
I’m planning a large family trip (including kids ages 3, 4, 6, & 8) for Dec 23, 2013 for 5 days. My husband and I have been to WDW twice so we somewhat know what to expect but the others in our group have never been. I’m worried they will be disappointed if they can’t experience all Disney has to offer due to the large crowds during this time. I’m just wondering if it will be as unbearable as some people say.
Yes, it will be. Any possibility you can move the trip forward? Even if you only move it forward by a week, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of headaches.
If you must go that week, make SURE you get to the parks before they open and do as much as you can in those first couple of hours.
I can tell you that we arrived to a pretty nice crowd level on December 11th last year, and we left a pretty crazy crowd level on December 21st. If it got busier, I am glad we were out of there! We had an amazing time and did many of the things you mentioned, Tom. I am not sure I’d want to do it every year, as we are Disney nuts and really missed hearing the traditional park music in lieu of the Christmas tunes. I am a Christmas nut, too, and love all our home traditions… but since we tend toward the 10-day at a time Disney trips, I am just not sure that I can forgo that much of Christmas season to be at WDW during the holidays. But, I did love at least seeing it once.
As always, Tom, I LOVE your photos!!
I’d like to say thank you Tom for creating this blog it has ALOT of useful information. My Family and i are planning a trip to disney Nov 2013 maybe the week before Thanksgiving or The week of Christmas. Haven’t deiced yet. Travling with 1yr old 5 yr old and 10yr old. Which do you think its the best time for us to attend? I want them to be able to enjoy Disney at Christmas this is the fourth trip we have taken the first during the holiday season.
Again i would really like to say THANK YOU for all the time you take to create and maintain this blog.
Lesser of two evils is the week before Thanksgiving. Both are really busy, though. Would any other weeks work? With kids those ages, you’re likely to have some meltdowns during those busy weeks.
Glad you like the blog!
Thanks for the great tips! I was wondering if you knew if the Once Upon A Christmastime Parade is going to be on Christmas week. We booked a stay at the Pop Century from December 23-26. Will the parade still be going on? It seems like it is only from Nov 9-Dec 23. Last time we went it was on Christmas. Please reply and thanks so much for the tips!
Thanks for the great tips. It is my first time visiting during Christmas (10-17 Dec.) and this helped me come up with a good game plan for Christmas touring. My family was going to skip the MVMCP since when we went to MNSSHP last year and showed up without a good plan so missed out on a lot of the fun stuff. Plus we had to leave right after the fireworks because my kids were too tired (15 months and 4 y.o. at the time). However after reading about your experience and applying your suggestions, I think we might just go ahead and get the tickets. I don’t know how many times I’ll get to go to WDW during the Christmas season and the Holiday Wishes and amazing Christmas parade looks like something we shouldn’t miss.
There is so much amazing stuff around the winter holiday in Orlando. Disney really vaps up there shows and events with all these great attractions. I’m so glad I have a season pass. I would say from personal experience getting into Orlando just before x-mas you can get all the fun with 1/4 the crowd. 27-29 of Dec is the busiest time of the year near Disney.
We will be there in about a month and are going to MVMCP on 12/11 for our 1st Christmas trip. This post is full of invaluable information. Thank you so much for all of the great tips!
This is an awesome post, nice work. My husband and I actually live in Florida so we’re only a 3 hour drive away and we’re passholders, however we’ve only lived here about 3 years and we just discovered the greatness that is disney world two years ago. I grew up going to Disneyland so for me Disneyworld is like this whole new world of awesomeness and whatnot! I remember growing up, one could only dream of going to the place with the big ball…
Anyways, we went to Disney World last year from 12/16 – 19th, and the crowds were fairly light. However, the Osbourne lights were packed, the line to have your picture taken by a disney photopass photographer was like 30 minutes, we waited as it was too incredible of backdrop not to. We’re going on the exact dates again this year and I am DYING to go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party on 12/16 hopefully. By the way, your Christmas party review post is excellent and I’ll be using it as a roadmap to create an itinerary, thank you!
You must tell me are the cookies and hot chocolate as good as they look? Because they, and the parade of course, are the motivating factors for me losing weight before I go so I can gain it back while I’m there and not be totally shocked when I get home. Hope that last sentence made sense.
The cookies and hot chocolate are a matter of opinion. Personally, I think they’re great. They’re sugar-y and moist, and the hot chocolate tastes chocolate-y. However, if a pro food critic were scoring them, they probably wouldn’t fair too well. But for “free” and unlimited cookies, they’re pretty great! 🙂
Last year my husband and I (both teachers) practically ran out of our final day of school before winter break on Dec. 16th and headed right for the airport and to WDW for our first Christmas visit. We left the morning of the 20th and found the crowd level to be a non-issue for us.
The highlights for us were definitely the Candlelight Processional dinner package and the Osborne Lights. An unexpected surprise was meeting holiday themed characters in some of the resorts. We stayed at the Beach Club and got to get pictures with Christmas sweater attired Daisy and Donald in the lobby one afternoon. After dinner at Ohana another night, we met holiday adorned Lilo and Stitch in the lobby of the Poly. Did we just get lucky, or are these impromptu character greetings typical?? We’re going down again this Dec. 20th-22nd and I would love to meet more holiday themed characters!
“Found the crowd level to be a non-issue for us.” <- Does that mean it wasn't busy, or that there were crowds, but they really didn't make a difference as far as your enjoyment went? As far as random character appearances in hotels, that's rare, but not completely unheard of. When you get into busier seasons, you'll see a lot of "surprise" entertainment all around the resort. I wouldn't count on going back and standing in that lobby expecting Lilo & Stitch to appear like clockwork, but you'll definitely see holiday-themed characters elsewhere.
“non-issue” for us means the crowds were there (comparable to Memorial Day weekend…less crowded than March spring break week) but they certainly didn’t bother us.
I actually think Disney is at its best when the masses descend bc they are running on all cylinders. I get up early and have a plan so crowds don’t really affect my wait times or my enjoyment of the parks.
I’ll let you know if I see more random character appearances this year!
Not going until next Christmas (well, a year to wait is better than forever!) but this has still got me excited. Great tips, as always.
I have never been before Thanksgiving weekend, but I would guess that Thanksgiving week and weekend might be busier, especially if school is out. And I wonder if the MK new fantasyland area preview openings might make some days more busy, especially on MVMCP nights only in MK?
The weeks before Thanksgiving (besides the first weekend of the Christmas season) are generally lighter than the weeks after. I suspect New Fantasyland will be busy during MVMCP.
I just went one the week prior to Thanksgiving weekend and on Thanksgiving. Needless to say, on Thanksgiving weekend, every park was a nightmare. The waits for rides were for at least an hour to three hours on some rides. The Frozen princess meet and greet was eternal. We were over two hours in line with two three year olds. NIGHTMARE! The decorations were fabulous and the Osborne Spectacle of Lights was simply amazing. It’s well worth going to see. Thanksgiving weekend has large crowds and all the parks were very crowded. The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, was light. Still got your occasional crowds, but a lot more manageable. Definitely a better experience that Thanksgiving weekend, if you want to do more of the ride. Either way, the experience was magical. We are annual passholders, so we will be back the weekend before Christmas. I am assuming that it will be similar to the weekend before Thanksgiving, busy, but manageable!
I am hoping to go to WDW for the first time with my family in November or December of next year. My 3 son’s are all still very young, so crowds worry me. Because of this, I thought if we went in November maybe we could have less crowds and still get most of the Christmas offerings. What week/s would you recommend us going in November, which would have the lowest crowds, but still offer most of the Christmas events/lights/festivities? With young kids is it even worth going during Christmastime for our first visit or are long waits and crowds inevitable?
Thanks so much for your help and your wonderful website. I love reading all your information and pictures!
As far as what you’ll see in early/mid-November, you’ll see Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and the Osborne Lights. You’ll miss everything at Epcot and most decorations in the hotels (this is hit or miss, some might be up).
I don’t think long waits are inevitable during the first couple weeks of December, and don’t mean to imply that. Crowds are still light most of the time. It just isn’t a scenario where every attraction is a walk on or only has a 10 minute wait, as many other blogs and travel guides suggest. That used to be the case, but it has not been true for the last few years. It’s still a slower time of year, but it’s far from “dead.” These days, there aren’t really any “dead” times of year at Walt Disney World anymore.
Hi, if you are still planning a 2013 trip to WDW and are concerned about the crowds check out the following: http://www.undercovertourist.com and click on crowd calendar. Then click on your month (say Nov.). It will show the main events happening at each park. For example, Nov. 28th shows the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (HS). HS stands for Hollywood Studios. Go up to the top of the 28th and click on HS. It will tell you the parks hours on that day and the crowd recommendation. Hope this helps. ENJOY!
I really like your article. I have vacationing at WDW every year the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend. I love everything that you described and I look forward to it every year. Fortunately, AllEars, Reunion2012, and RAPD have their meet and greets then at the same time I am usually there. Thank you again for the excellent photos and article.
The various meets that happen that time of year are pretty awesome. We’ve done Reunion the last few years, but unfortunately aren’t going to make it this year. 🙁
This guide is awesome! Thanks so much for all of the GREAT information!
I’m going this year from the 24th to the 3rd. Might be complete torture, but I’m ready. I’ve lived in florida years ago, and going during christmas wasn’t terrible, but has gotten worse during the years I believe. I’m excited though, we’re staying at art of animation, and I was able to book Be Our Guest for a christmas dinner. Hopefully the crowds will be manageable. I’m going with 7 people, 3 kids, aged 5,10, and 11. I’m printing this guide and your others to have with me. It’s been great for planning! Thanks!
Be Our Guest for Christmas dinner….talk about THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS PRESENT! 🙂
Hello,
I’ve booked to go to Florida 20/12/14-03/01/15 with my husband, 13 year old son and our new baby that will be 9 months old then.
Do you have any tips for me at all. We booked before I got pregnant so a bit worried about crowds etc.
Where would you recommend to eat on xmas day? and what about the candlelight processional? we are going to do a dinner package to avoid ques.
We are not staying in a Disney hotel.
Any advice/recommendations would be a great help. Thank you
Donna x
So we are going then too 😀 I am reading though this and my Mom really wants to go see the Osborne lights Look For hidden mickeys and Haloween decorations My first time going to WDW During Christmas I’m worried it’s gonna be packed because we usually go in February Hope to see you there 😀
The past couple of years when I’ve gone down in December, my mom and I have tea at the Grand Floridian and it’s nice to sit in the Garden View Lounge and seeing the gingerbread house. Depending on where you sit you can smell the gingerbread.
I’ve been down every year since 2008 just for the Candlelight Processional, it’s my favorite thing Disney does and I wouldn’t call myself religious. It’s just the whole experience that makes it magical.
That sounds fun, but my concern would be that it wouldn’t be very relaxing because, whenever we’ve been, the lobby of the Grand Floridian is a zoo with other guests. What has your experience been as far as the lobby being busy?
Agree on the Candlelight Processional being enjoyable regardless of religion. It’s definitely not my favorite thing (I wouldn’t wait in line even an hour for it), but it’s definitely worth experiencing.
I’ve been to WDW more than 25 times, but had never gone for Christmas until 2011. It was AMAZING! We were there Dec. 16-23 were able to get 7 nights at Kidani Village for 88 DVC points. At least for DVC, the week right before Christmas is considered a “choice” week, so the points used is less than many other times of the year. We did attend the MVMCP, and thought it was great, but probably not worth the ticket price. My 11-year old daughter isn’t really interested in characters, so we got to do many attractions with no wait at all. Candlelight Processional was probably the best part of the whole week. Trace Adkins was an awesome narrator, and I would highly recommend seeing him. We did the dining package, which was well worth it to not have to wait in line for hours. And of course, the Osborne lights were wonderful. Overall, this was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken to Disney.
Thanks for your great Christmas guide and your great website. Love it!
How far in advance did you have to book your room, if you don’t mind me asking? I’ve heard from a few people that those weeks are incredibly difficult to book, because Disney originally “under-valued” the points for those weeks, and demand is incredibly high for them because they’re so low (same goes for Food & Wine Festival).
We’ve never tried for those weeks ourselves, so I don’t have any first-hand experience!
AKV is not our home resort, so it was less than 7 months out that I booked the reservation. When I tried to get BLT for that week, even at 11 months out, nothing was available, at least not the lower-point rooms. I was shocked that we could stay that week for so few points though. I’m sure it won’t be like that in the future.
Very interesting. I’ve heard AKV, OKW, and SSR are the least popular resorts at Christmas. The latter two are no surprise; however, AKV looks nice for Christmas! We stayed there two nights last December and at VWL for one night, and in both cases, we only got those nights after being waitlisted. Both were gorgeous for Christmas. I preferred Wilderness Lodge and Sarah preferred Animal Kingdom.
As for the points changing in the future, they can’t. Well, they can day-to-day (a couple years back, weekend nights went down and weeknights went up, but the overall point “cost” for a week stayed the same), but the overall number of points that it costs to book a room for a week can’t increase or decrease. If it could, Disney would be able to render every Disney Vacation Club contract valueless by exponentially increasing the points it cost, which would totally defeat the purpose of DVC “locking in” vacation costs in the future. Annual maintenance fees can increase, but only as maintenance actually costs more. The only real way Disney has to adjust prices is raising the per-point buy-in cost for new members, but even then, if prices get too high, they risk people not buying or buying resale instead.
So, in other words, those cheap nights in December will remain cheap and in high demand among savvy Disney Vacation Club members! 🙂
My husband and I always visit right before Christmas. We usually leave the 23rd and get there around 16th-17th. We have never experienced high dense crowds or any of the parks to be super full. Last year it was so empty we even asked the Cast Members at the hotel and they told us that people think this week is going to be horribly full and it’s not. We did see lots of people checking in on the 23rd.
I usually do our DVC reservations around summer time. I don’t usually have a problem booking a room and YES the points at AKL go a loooonnnggg way. I love staying there so I don’t mind booking their.
Surprisingly, I saw that the Boardwalks points were so much for the same days we are traveling this year. I waited to long to change reservations and of course when I went to change our hotel there were no rooms available.
Thanks so much for posting this! I found it extremely helpful. You can leave the park and come back, correct? If you go early for extended hours and are staying at a Disney hotel you can go back to the hotel and come back when things simmer down a bit again?