The holiday season at Disney World has officially kicked off! In this post, we provide an overview of Christmas at Walt Disney World. Particularly, this post covers how Disney World transforms for Christmas, including the decorations, events, and merchandise you’ll only find during the Christmas season. Links throughout give more specific information about Christmas throughout the resort, so if you have questions, click through! Now…let’s see what Christmas at Walt Disney World is like!
Christmas Across Walt Disney World Resort
When does Christmas at Walt Disney World start?
Disney now specifies that the holidays at Walt Disney World run from November 14 through December 31, 2025. November 14 is when you should expect all decorations to be up, merchandise to be available, and most of the holiday offerings in this post to debut.
However, there are a few other dates to know:
November 7 - The first date of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, at Magic Kingdom
November 8 - The First date of Jollywood Nights, at Hollywood Studios
EPCOT’s International Festival of the Holidays is scheduled to run November 28 through December 30, 2025. Until November 22, EPCOT will host the Food and Wine Festival, and on the 23rd through 27th there will be no festival.
Generally, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios have to be fully decorated by the dates their events begin. So while some holiday merchandise, outfits, and snacks might not be available until November 14, decorations will be going up in the first week of November. The first decorations at Magic Kingdom went up overnight between November 1 and November 2 this year.
Hotels more or less move at their own pace. We always hope the November 14 official start of holidays means hotels will be fully decorated by then, but don’t be surprised if some offerings, like the gingerbread features at select hotels, aren’t complete by then.
People are often surprised to find out that there are dates—immediately after Thanksgiving, specifically—during Disney’s Christmas season that are basically at the average price for the year to visit. We love those dates because you’re getting the best version of Disney World at a good price.
What does Christmas at Disney World Include?
The holiday season transformation at Disney World is resort-wide, including seasonal merchandise, snacks, decorations, ride overlays, character greetings, entertainment, and more. We’ll dive into some specifics about the parks below, but everywhere you go you’ll find some holiday touches.
Christmas at the Walt Disney World Parks
We’ll start with an overview of Christmas at the parks.
Christmas at Magic Kingdom
Read More About Christmas at Magic Kingdom Here
Magic Kingdom is home to Walt Disney World’ featured Christmas event— Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This ticketed event is held on select evenings throughout November and December. It features unique entertainment (including fireworks), snacks (including some free snacks), and character sightings.
In 2025, the party will be held on:
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
Prices range from $169 to $229 per ticket, plus tax, depending on date. Annual passholder and DVC discounts may be available.
Magic Kingdom is decorated for Christmas beginning in early November. Most decorations go up the first week of November, with many typically debuting November 1 or 2.
The official kickoff of the holidays at Magic Kingdom is November 14. Magic Kingdom typically offers some unique holiday experiences:
Most notably, Jungle Cruise is transformed to the holiday-themed “Jingle Cruise.”
“Frozen Holiday Surprise,” a Frozen-inspired castle projection show, returns in 2025. It occurs during regular park hours and during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
Other shows, like the Trolley Show and Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire (the castle stage show), may receive holiday touches beginning in early November.
And on select dates Christmas week, you’ll find some of the exclusive entertainment from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party performed during the day.
Christmas at Hollywood Studios
Returning in 2025, Hollywood Studios will host a ticketed holiday event, Jollywood Nights, on select nights in November and December. It will be held on:
November 8, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29
December 1, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22
Prices range from $159 to $199 per ticket, plus tax, depending on date. Annual passholder and DVC discounts may be available. Read more about Jollywood Nights here.
Hollywood Studios will continue to offer holiday fun outside the event, too. We’re huge fans of Christmas at Hollywood Studios. The transformation of the park occurs throughout November and December, and is a park-wide celebration. In 2025, festivities are set to begin November 14.
During the day, there are unique food items (mostly snacks/desserts at Hollywood Studios’ quick service restaurants) and merchandise offerings, decorations, and character greetings. At night the fun really begins, as Sunset Boulevard is taken over by Sunset Seasons Greetings.
You can meet Santa in Hollywood Studios in the character greeting spot in “Walt Disney Presents…” between Toy Story Land and The Little Mermaid show.
Christmas at Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom also gets a thorough holiday treatment! You can expect:
Merry Menagerie puppets in front of the Tree of Life
a Santa Claus greeting at Restaurantosaurus
holiday edition of Tree of Life Awakenings (most nights, check the app)
seasonal décor, with themed decorations across the park
While some of the decorations arrived in early November, the core celebrations begin November 14.
Christmas at EPCOT
EPCOT doesn’t celebrate Christmas, per se. Rather, it hosts the EPCOT international Festival of the Holidays. This festival includes Christmas decorations at most pavilions, as well as special holiday food and entertainment.
Santa Greets in CommuniCore Hall in 2025, and the popular gingerbread Spaceship Earth display is also set to return!
The festival will begin on November 28 in 2025. Along with the usual festive food and beverage booths, the highlight of the festival is the Candlelight Processional, a celebrity-narrated Christmas show held in the American Gardens Theatre.
Christmas at the Walt Disney World Hotels
Several hotels also get gingerbread structures of various types. Grand Floridian has the large, walk-in gingerbread house (not available 2025, due to ongoing resort construction). Beach Club has a gingerbread carrousel. BoardWalk has a gingerbread Boardwalk facade. Here is the list of hotels that will have gingerbread fixtures in 2025:
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Several hotels also have unique holiday merchandise, though honestly we haven’t been able to pin down any consistent pattern for this. Ornaments seem widely prevalent, but we’ve also seen mugs at a few hotels.
Christmas at Disney Springs
In 2025, Santa Claus will greet in Disney Springs near Disney Pin Traders from November 13 through December 24. A virtual queue will be used. Read more here.
Like the rest of Walt Disney World, Disney Springs is heavily decorated for Christmas. Most every establishment has basic decorations, and several have their own themed trees. Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar usually transforms to Jock Lindsey’s Holiday Bar:
If you want one place to shop for all your Disney holiday merchandise, you can’t beat Disney Springs, particularly World of Disney. But the highlight of Christmas at Disney Springs is definitely the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll, which features around 25 Disney-themed trees.
These photos are from previous years, but the basic idea is the same. Click through this gallery for pictures of trees from years past!
What’s your favorite part of Christmas at Walt Disney World?
Learn More About The Holidays at Walt Disney World
Want to learn more about Christmastime at Walt Disney World? For starters, we've got a Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World, which introduces you to everything you need to know.
Need more specifics? You'll want to read about the park that gets the most Magical decorations in our post on Christmas at Magic Kingdom. You'll also want to read about Flurry of Fun—the Christmas celebration at Hollywood Studios, the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, and the Holiday Celebrations at Animal Kingdom.
But the flagship event of the season is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party—and our guide has you covered with everything you need to know. Or check out the quick version in our 12 Tips for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.
Last but not least, let's not forget that the celebrations don't stop at the parks! You can visit our post on Christmas decorations at the Disney World hotels to see how even the hotels get into the spirit!
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Lightning Lane Guide and Strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy, Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategy.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.