The holiday season will be here before you know it! And Disney just dropped all the holiday announcements for Disney World!! We got some dates and details on returning favorites and even a sad announcement. One of our favorites that is not returning this year or in the future. The holiday season is so magical in Disney World! Let’s tale a look at all that’s coming this year!
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
The holiday announcement for Disney World wouldn’t be complete without Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! This party in Magic Kingdom is the ultimate Christmas party! It will run on select nights from November 8th – December 22nd. The party runs from 7pm to midnight but your ticket will get you into the park as early as 4pm. Tickets range from $189-$229 per person and there are small discounts for Annual Passholders and DVC Members. Tickets for this event go on sale July 9th for Disney Resort guests and July 16th for the general public.
Available dates are:
- November 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 24, 25, 27 and 29
- December 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22
The event includes all kinds of event exclusive fun! Mad Tea Party and Space Mountain get a holiday overlay for the party. You can also get some extra holiday magic on the Tomorrowland Speedway and the Jingle Cruise but those are open during regular park hours. Party guests can sip hot chocolate and apple cider with different cookies all included with your party ticket. There is also a special parade, stage show and fireworks show AND it snows on Main Street. That right there is worth the price of admission! Haha!
Jollywood Nights
This is my all time favorite holiday party in Disney World! I always hold my breath for these holiday announcements for Disney World hoping it will return. I loved this party because there were tons of things to do and experience but it was all very accessible and you could easily do everything without having to run from one things to the next! Jollywood Nights happened in Hollywood Studios on select nights from November 7 to January 5th! Tickets go on sale for resort guests on July 9th and the rest of us peasants on July 16th. Ticket prices range from $169-$199 per person with small discounts offered for Annual Passholders and DVC Members.
Party dates are:
- November 7,14,16,21,23 and 28
- December 5,7,12,14,19,21 and 23
- January 3 and 5
Jollywood Nights always has a ton of great characters to meet with shorter lines. The only one that was super long was Duffy Bear, the rest you could really just walk up to! There are some really great shows, including the Muppets show at the beauty and the Beast theater that has the best choreography I have ever seen in Disney World! There are exclusive snacks and drinks, amazing photo ops, short wait times for rides and even a 1920’s jazz club at the exit of tower of Terror! I will say I feel like Jollywood Nights does have more to offer the adults that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party while still having tons to offer the kids. This is a must do for me!
EPCOT Festival of the Holidays
We can’t get holiday announcements for Disney World and not get an EPCOT festival announcement! the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays will run from November 27th through December 30th. This is such a fun festival! They have the cookie stroll throughout the festival kitchens where you can try different cookies and get a prize for trying 5 or more. If they ever get rid of the Linzer cookie I will riot! Throughout the World Showcase pavilions there are different Santa’s from those respective countries telling about their traditions. I love this so much, barn Santa in Norway is my favorite! And we can’t forget about the Candlelight Processional! This is such a beautiful event and worth the trip to EPCOT on its own. You can read more about it here, if there is a celebrity narrator you really want to see, I highly recommend doing a dining package so you have a guaranteed seat!
Animal Kingdom
While Animal Kingdom does not have any special parties or festivals happening, it is beautiful during the holidays! And in the holiday announcements for Disney World they did confirm that the Merry Menagerie puppets will be returning!! These are the most magical creatures that roam around Discovery Island throughout the day. They are so real it’s crazy!! Other than that, Animal Kingdom offers great decorations and a the Tree of Life Awakening holiday edition projection show at the end of the night. it is really beautiful!!
Sad News
As I mentioned in the beginning, there was some sad news to come out of the holiday announcement for Disney World yesterday. The beloved giant Gingerbread house that you could buy a shingle from in the Grand Floridian lobby has been permanently retired. It did not open last year due to the construction happening in the lobby, but we all thought it would return once that was complete. Sadly, Disney has stated it will never return and instead the culinary team will create smaller displays throughout the resort. This is terrible news as that gingerbread house had become such a tradition! It was so majestic and so fun to walk up to a giant gingerbread house to buy cookies and treats. Plus it made the lobby smell so good! I am obviously not a fan of this decision at all. You can read about the history of this tradition and the over 25 years it was part of the holiday season at the Grand Floridian here! I’ll be raising a glass of hot chocolate to the memory of the Grand Floridian Gingerbread House this holiday season for sure!
Conclusion
The holidays in Disney World are so special and magical! No matter which event you choose to visit you will love it, and if you get to do them all then even better! I didn’t mention Disney Springs as we didn’t get any announcements really for that location. but there are always super fun holiday activities happening over there. Including Jock Lindsay’s Holiday Hangar Bar! So make sure you carve out some time to visit Disney Springs on your holiday vacation. You just really can’t go wrong, Disney does the holidays right! You can head over to the Disney World site to get your tickets for the parties and click the links throughout the blog to see a more POV perspective on these holiday events. I hope you all get to experience the holidays in Disney World this year and that you have a magical day!
