To wrap up all the Christmas festivities I am writing all about Christmas in the parks! Between special events, giant trees, festive characters and holiday overlays the parks are amazing this time of year! There is so much to see and do that you can only see and do this time of year. It will certainly get you into the holiday spirit and ready to find bigger and brighter decorations for your house.
Magic Kingdom
The decorations in Magic Kingdom are so fun!! The giant tree on Main Street USA is decorated with big toys and a glass popcorn garland. There are the cutest toy soldiers all around the tree area and of course Main Street leading to the castle is decked out! There are wreaths, garlands, lights and decorations on each of the shops. The Magic Kingdom cast members all have their holiday best on, the Dapper Dans are singing Christmas Carrols and even the characters are in their holiday finest.
You can hop on the Jingle Cruise here in Magic Kingdom too! This is the holiday overlay for the Jungle Cruise and it is awesome. Even the puns and dad jokes get a holiday makeover. The queue line is decorated in it’s jungle holiday best, the boats have funny holiday names and Trader Sam has some great holiday sales if you’re still looking for those last minute gifts.
Finally, there is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! This is a separate ticketed event on select nights in November and December. There are special treats you can only get at the party, a Christmas parade and stage show exclusive to the event and special photo pass pictures. This is a beautifully done party with 4 ride overlays! Space Mountain, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, Tomorrowland Speedway and Mad Tea Party all get a festive overlay that you can only experience at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. If you are in Disney World while this event is happening I definitely recommend splurging and getting tickets to this event! Theres nothing better than playing in the snoap on Main Street!
EPCOT
Epcot is so much fun doing the holidays! You have the Festival of the Holidays to enjoy with all the food booths and fun activities. There is an Olaf Holiday Traditions scavenger hunt where you are on the look out for Olaf in all the World Showcase pavilions. You will also find signs to tell you how the holidays are celebrated in each country along with some festive performers. One of my favorite things is going to see all the different “Santas” in World Showcase. There is the Barn Santa in Norway and Pere Noel in France along with lots of musical acts throughout Epcot. You can even find the real Santa in the Odyssey Pavilion where you can take a picture with him in giant sleigh, it’s pretty cool.
You can also do the Cookie Stroll! This is part of the Festival of the Arts and who doesn’t love cookies?! You go around to different booths and stops to try a different cookie and once you have 5 stamps on your festival passport you can turn that in for a special Wish themed cookie and a Chocolate Peppermint sundae in a souvenir cup.
Now that the new World Celebration area is open you can watch the holiday light show on Spaceship Earth and enjoy all the lights in this new fabulous area. There is a Frozen themed part of the show as well some others and it is gorgeous!!
One of the best things during Christmas in EPCOT is the Candlelight Processional. This is a beautiful telling of the biblical Christmas story by a celebrity narrator accompanied by an orchestra and choir made up entirely by cast members. We went to this for the first time ever this year and absolutely loved it! Our narrator was Eva Longoria, it was her first Candlelight Processional too, she was great! You can stand in line to get a spot as this is just in the theater by the American Pavilion or you can book a dining reservation that is linked to the Candlelight Processional and then you get priority seating without having to wait in line for a long time.
Depending on which narrator you would like to see, you may need to book that reservation as soon as that window opens because they go quick for speakers like Neal Patrick Harris, Brendan Frasier and John Stamos. It lasts about 40 minutes and is just a really beautiful telling of the story of Jesus’ birth and the first Christmas. Since this is not something you have to spend any extra money on I feel this is a don’t miss if you are in the parks anyway. We loved it!
Hollywood Studios
I do have to say that Hollywood Studios might be my favorite park at Christmas time! I just love the style of the decorations and the old Hollywood, 1920’s flare to them all. Sunset Boulevard has wreaths and garlands and decorations on all the stores, Gertie the dinosaur has on her Santa hat and the placement of the tree is perfect! Even Toy Story land has festive decorations around every corner.
New this year in Hollywood Studios is Hollywood Nights! I was so hoping I would be able to get tickets to this event but it will have to wait until next year. This looks like such a cool event with an old Hollywood Christmas style. There are lots of rare characters out and about, tons of great photo ops, specialty food and drinks! There are special pop up party like the Tip Top Club at the exit to Tower of Terror, a cocktail lounge at the Hollywood Brown Derby and a special Christmas show hosted by Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog. You can even see Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam on Sunset Boulevard and enjoy the snoap. It will be a must do for me next year even though there have been mixed reviews from people on if it was worth the hefty ticket price. It looks right up my alley!
Animal Kingdom
I feel like Animal Kingdom can get overlooked this time of year because there are no special events or snoap flying around. But honestly it is such a beautiful park during the holidays. The decorations are so pretty and match the aesthetic of Animal Kingdom so well. I personally love the decorations in Pandora! They have the mech robot suit by Satuli Canteen that has a Santa beard and lights and it’s just cute. You can also catch the holiday projection show on the Tree of Life and it is beautiful!!!
The real star of the holiday season in Disney World for me is the Merry Menagerie animals here in Animal Kingdom. These are winter animal puppets that travel around Discovery Island interacting with guests and they are literally the cutest thing ever! There are reindeer, polar bears, snow fox, penguins and even birds. The cast members doing these puppets are incredibly talented and the imagineers and designers who made them really out did themselves. These animals are so life like and have so much personality you almost forget they are puppets when you are interacting with them. Definitely don’t skip Animal Kingdom during the holidays!
Conclusion
The holidays are a beautiful and magical time regardless of where you are but Disney really know show to make it extra special. This is our second Christmas living here in Florida and I still feel like I never have enough time to see and do it all this time of year. There are still resorts we haven’t visited, events we haven’t attended and honestly I could go and play with the Merry Menagerie animals all day! I love how unique all the decorations are to each park and how they match the style of wherever they are perfectly.
If you are in Disney World for the holidays you definitely have to pick and choose what is a priority for you and your family because unless you’re here for a very long time, you won’t be able to do it all. But I do encourage you to take a day off the parks and visit some resorts and Disney Springs. I also highly recommend picking one of the parties to attend so you get those extra hours and special festivities.
I hope you all enjoyed this weeks post and my last post about Christmas in Disney World for this year. It’s been fun documenting all our adventures with you. I hope you all have a magical day and a very Merry Christmas in just 3 short days!!
