Full Guide to the Holidays at Disney World

The holiday season at Disney World is officially from November 14th through December 31st, 2025! However, we saw holiday decor pop up as early as November 2nd, and it should stick around through the beginning of the New Year. 

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom gets all decked out for the holidays! You will see garland and wreaths lining Main Street, U.S.A., as well as a GIANT Christmas tree right in the middle of Town Square.

You can also check out the Toy Soldiers on Main Street and the Dapper Dans in their holiday outfits!

There are actually holiday decorations all around the park! We’ve seen them in Frontierland…

…Liberty Square…

…Fantasyland…

…and Tomorrowland!

You can also enjoy the Frozen Holiday Surprise at the park this year! Olaf and over 100 of his snowgie siblings add garlands, ornaments, wreaths, and more to Cinderella Castle each night. 

There will be appearances from Anna and Kristoff, and a magical moment from Elsa as she transforms Cinderella Castle into a shimmering crystallized palace!

Frozen Holiday Surprise will be performed at 6:15 PM and 8:15 PM on Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party nights. On non-party nights, there will be one performance of the show at 6:15 PM.

Many attractions that get holiday ride overlays for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will keep their overlays for a few days once the parties are over, so they should be starting on December 22nd this year. However, Jungle Cruise turned into Jingle Cruise on November 3rd and is available throughout the entire holiday season for all guests, day or night!

The same goes for some party-exclusive entertainment! Starting December 22nd, all guests can see Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks at 8:30PM each night.

Then, the Fantasy in the Sky New Year’s Eve fireworks will take place on December 30th and 31st at 7:30PM and 11:50PM each night.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

This holiday season, you can enjoy Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom! This is a separately ticketed after-hours event that takes place on select nights from November 7th through December 21st. The party runs from 7PM to midnight.

Here are the event dates for 2025:

• November – 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, & 30
• December – 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, & 21

You are required to have a separate ticket specifically to the party in order to attend. Prices this year range from $169 to $229 per adult (ages 10+), depending on the date.

If you have a ticket, you can get into the park as early as 4PM without a park reservation. Note that these parties are now completely sold out for the year.

The party price includes complimentary cookies and hot cocoa throughout the night, as well as a complimentary ornament you get to take home with you!

One of the big draws of this party is all of the exclusive entertainment and characters!

You can see many characters you usually don’t in the parks, including some favorites in their holiday outfits. Some characters we’ve seen in the past include the Gingerbread Men, Santa Claus, and a polar bear! See the full list of characters we met last year right here.

As for entertainment, there are several exclusive offerings for the party, like the Frozen Holiday Surprise, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration, and Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show.

In addition to the complimentary cookies and cocoa offered, there are also some party-exclusive treats you can purchase! We’ve got a full list of items to look forward to that you can check out right here.

Many of the regular attractions are open during the party as well! They usually have much shorter wait times since the party is limited capacity.

Here’s everything usually open at the party:

Adventureland

• Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Jingle Cruise

Frontierland

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Liberty Square

• Haunted Mansion

Fantasyland

• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• “it’s a small world”
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mad Tea Party

Storybook Circus

• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• The Barnstormer

Tomorrowland

• Space Mountain
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Astro Orbiter
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• TRON Lightcycle / Run

Some attractions get special holiday overlays for the party! They usually include Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Tea Party, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Jungle Cruise, and even Haunted Mansion receives special holiday lighting!

You can also enjoy some special photo opportunities during the party that include props, backdrops, and Magic Shots!

And, the party is home to some exclusive merchandise only available to party guests! Some items include Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Spirit Jerseys, mugs, ornaments, and more.

EPCOT

2025 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays

During the holiday season, you can enjoy the Festival of the Holidays at EPCOT! This year, it runs from November 28th through December 30th. The festival is all throughout the park, and regular park admission will give you access to all of the festive fun.

EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays features special food at the Holiday Kitchens, exclusive entertainment and merchandise, and fun decorations. You can find the giant EPCOT Christmas tree at the front of the World Showcase, but each pavilion has special holiday decor that you should be sure to check out, including another Christmas tree in the American Adventure pavilion.

One of the best parts of the festival is all of the food! The Holiday Kitchens are over 25 food booths scattered around the park that feature festive food themed to different countries and their traditions.

You can also participate in things like the Holiday Cookie Stroll, which is a food crawl where you try a certain number of cookies at the booths and then receive an exclusive treat for free.

Another fun activity is Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt! Throughout the festival, small Olaf statues are hidden around EPCOT, and guests can purchase a scavenger hunt board to look for him and earn a prize!

As for entertainment, the big draw is the Candlelight Processional, which is a nightly series (5PM, 6:45PM, & 8:15PM) that takes place at the America Gardens Theatre featuring a celebrity narrator telling the story of Christmas, accompanied by a massed choir, herald trumpets, a 50-piece orchestra, and the Voices of Liberty. You can see this year’s celebrity narrators right here.

If you want a guaranteed seat for a certain night, you can purchase a Candlelight Processional Dining Package. This will give you a meal as well as reserved seating for one of the shows that night.

Other entertainment includes the Holiday Storytellers, who are live entertainers in the World Showcase that share holiday legends and lore from all around the world! And, you can meet Santa Claus again this year! He will be located in CommuniCore Hall daily through December 24, 2025.

You can also meet Santa Goofy over at the Odyssey!

As for ride overlays, Living with the Land turns into Living with the Land — Glimmering Greenhouses and includes holiday decor such as lighting, ornaments, snowmen, and more throughout the ride.

The outside of Spaceship Earth gets a new or returning sequence of lights and music for each festival. In recent years, we’ve seen it look like a candy cane!

Finally, you can check out the exclusive merchandise for the festival that includes things like ears, Loungefly backpacks, Spirit Jerseys, and more.

Also note that on New Year’s Eve, December 31st, you can see Cheers to the New Year: A Sparkling Celebration fireworks show at 11:54 PM to bring in the new year at EPCOT!

Animal Kingdom

The Merry Menagerie has returned to Animal Kingdom this year! These are artisan-sculpted puppets of arctic animals come to life that can be found in front of the Tree of Life on Discovery Island.

Get ready for penguins, reindeer, foxes, and polar bears that come out throughout the day and are pretty magical.

At Adventurers Outpost, you can meet Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse dressed in their best holiday outfits this season! 

You will also see some lovely holiday decor around Discovery Island, like woodland creatures on the buildings, wreaths, and more.

The giant Christmas tree for Animal Kingdom is located outside of the front entrance to the park.

Holiday decor can also be found in Pandora — World of Avatar…

…and throughout what’s left of DinoLand, U.S.A. This is also where you can meet Santa Claus in the park!

You can also find a small bakery set up in this area to grab some festive treats!

There is also a special holiday projection show that happens during the evening on the Tree of Life. Tree of Life Awakenings Holiday Edition is accompanied by a series of wintry tales and a holiday-inspired musical score.

The show starts after dark each night and happens about every 10 minutes until the park closes.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios gets a bunch of decorations for the holidays! You can see them all throughout Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Echo Lake, Toy Story Land, and more.

The giant Christmas tree can actually be found in the lake in the Echo Lake section of the park, surrounded by giant Christmas ornaments in the water. Make sure to look out for Gertie the dinosaur wearing a Santa hat, too!

You can catch a special projection show each night on Sunset Boulevard during Sunset Seasons Greetings. Holiday magic will transform the famous Hollywood Tower Hotel into a Muppets gingerbread masterpiece, a “Toy Story” toy hotel, a snowy corner of Arendelle, and a Dickensian village from “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.”

During “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration,” you can see the regular show with a holiday twist! There will be celebratory songs of the season and a holiday finale featuring everyone’s favorite snowman, Olaf. 

Some characters will be dressed in their seasonal attire, too! You can see Woody, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear dressed up in their holiday best in Toy Story Land.

For a festive meal, check out Minnie’s Holiday Dine at Hollywood & Vine! This character meal mixes festive music, decor, and menu items to help you celebrate the holidays.

Jollywood Nights

Jollywood Nights is a separately ticketed after-hours event that takes place at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! It takes place on select nights in November and December after Hollywood Studios is closed to regular day guests. You must have a ticket to enter/stay in the park after it’s closed for the day.

In 2025, the party will take place from 7:30PM to 12:30AM, but guests with tickets to the event can get in to the park as early as 5:30PM without reservations. Here are this year’s party dates:

• November 8, 15, 17, 22, 24, and 29
• December 1, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, and 22

The tickets range from $159 to $199 per ticket, plus tax (prices vary by event date), and they can sell out — you can check availability right here. There are also no child ticket prices for this event. Children are allowed at the event, but it does seem to be geared more toward adults.

Many of the popular attractions are open during the party and will have much shorter wait times since the event is limited capacity!

Here’s a list of attractions open for the event in 2025:

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance 
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After
• The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure

Another big part of the party is all of the exclusive eats and drinks you can find around the park! This year, we’ve got things like the new Hickory Holiday Mac, the new Mike-aroon, Birria Taco, the Sandy Claws Dark Hot Cocoa, and the Meatball and Polenta.

Many exclusive characters have meet and greets at the party that you won’t find anywhere else! Some you can see in 2025 include Phineas and Ferb, Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, Stitch dressed as Santa, Baloo and King Louie, Chewbacca celebrating Life Day, Partysaurus Rex, Duffy dressed as Santa, and more. You can see the full list right here!

Exclusive entertainment is another big part of the event! Some of the offerings include the Pixar Disco at Pixar Place, the Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club, Disney Holidays in Hollywood hosted by Kermit and Miss Piggy, and What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along.

The event includes some festive photo ops with props and backdrops, and PhotoPass is included in the price of your Jollywood ticket, so you’ll get to download all of your pictures, including Magic Shots.

Jollywood Nights also has exclusive merchandise, and we usually see things like Minnie ears, Spirit Jerseys, and more.

Disney World Hotels

The Disney World hotels are full of festive fun during the holiday season! Almost all of them are decorated for the holidays with their own Christmas trees.

The largest Christmas trees can be found at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

If you want to see an awesome Christmas village, head on over to Disney’s Yacht Club to check out theirs in the lobby!

Many of the hotels also have special gingerbread displays! These include Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Do note that there is usually a life-sized gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, but it will not be at the hotel this holiday season due to the ongoing lobby renovations.

You can also get a bunch of special holiday menu items at select hotels! You can see the full list right here.

Cake Bake Shop Dinner with Santa

You can celebrate the holiday season at the Cake Bake Shop this year during dinner with Santa! It’s a night of festive cheer, delicious food, and a personal visit from Santa Claus in an elegant and whimsical setting on the following nights:

• November 18th
• November 25th
• December 2nd
• December 9th

This is a 3-course dinner that begins with holiday champagne and cocktails, followed by hors d’oeuvres. The main course consists of entrees created to capture the flavors of the season. Finally, you will end your meal with a sweet, seasonal dessert. You can check out the complete menus here.

This dinner is special because Santa will present everyone with a cookie gift featuring Bubbles the Bear a the end of the night. You will also all get the opportunity to meet Santa Claus and take home a professional photo captured by Disney PhotoPass.

Disney Springs

Disney Springs will be decorated for the holidays and feature a few fun Christmas trees around, like the ones in the Marketplace and Town Center.

And, make sure to also check out the magical nightly snowfall in the Town Center!

Disney Springs also features toy soldier stilt walkers, snowflake rollerbladers, a holiday drum line, and a brass band playing holiday tunes.  

On select nights, guests can listen to a rotating lineup of regional and local bands play live tunes on first-come, first-served seating at the Waterside Stage.

Many of the restaurants will have special holiday items on their menus for a limited time! You can even enjoy the holiday takeover of Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, which is re-themed to Jock Lindsey’s Holiday bar, complete with fun decorations and festive food and drinks.

Christmas Tree Stroll

The Christmas Tree Stroll is back at Disney Springs this holiday season! You can enjoy a festive walk through a bunch of elaborately themed Christmas trees inspired by Disney characters, Pixar films, theme park favorites and so much more, including:

• Coco
• Disney Villains
• Encanto
• Fantasia
• Frozen
• Haunted Mansion
• Lilo & Stitch
• The Lion King
• Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse
• Moana
• The Princess & the Frog
• Star Wars
• Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Toy Story

There will even be a topiary for Disney Cruise Line and a tree honoring Annual Passholders. You can grab a complimentary map highlighting the location of each Christmas tree at various locations around Disney Springs.

Look for trees with a MagicBand+ icon to experience extra festive fun — you can find magical surprises on the Disney Cruise Line Topiary and the following themed trees:

• Annual Passholder
• Haunted Mansion
• Star Wars
• Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

Santa Greetings

You can also meet Santa at Disney Springs! Visit with him at his marketplace near Disney’s Pin Traders from November 13th through December 24th.

To see him, you’ll need to join the virtual queue, as a standby queue will not be available. You will be able to enter the queue on the My Disney Experience app at certain times throughout the day if you’re in Disney Springs, including 9AM, 11AM, 1PM, 3PM, and 6PM.

And, you can visit Once Upon a Toy for Letters to Santa presented by AdventHealth for Children, where you can send a letter directly to the North Pole.

Stay tuned for more Disney World news and updates!

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