Walt Disney World has published its plans for Christmas 2026. The holiday season runs from 13 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, with decorations, festive shows and characters in Christmas outfits across all four parks. Two separately ticketed evening events start a little earlier, in the first half of November, and some Christmas changes to rides begin in early November too.
Magic Kingdom
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is on 25 nights between 8 November and 22 December. The dates are 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 24, 25, 27 and 29 November and 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 22 December. The party runs from 7pm to midnight, and ticket holders can go into the park from 4pm. It has its own parade, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, and its own fireworks, Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks. Santa meets party guests in Storybook Circus.
On party nights Magic Kingdom closes early to everyone else, so the Happily Ever After fireworks and the Disney Starlight parade don’t run on those evenings. On other nights both run as normal. Frozen Holiday Surprise, the evening show in which Elsa turns Cinderella Castle into an ice palace, is on throughout the holiday season.
The Jingle Cruise, the Christmas version of the Jungle Cruise, starts on 3 November. The boats, queue and skippers’ jokes all get a festive makeover, and it runs all day for every Magic Kingdom visitor, not just at the party.
EPCOT
The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays runs from 27 November to 30 December and is included with a park ticket. It brings Christmas food and entertainment from around World Showcase, and the Candlelight Processional, the retelling of the Christmas story with a celebrity narrator, an orchestra and a large choir, is on every night of the festival.
During the festival EPCOT closes at 9pm, and the Luminous fireworks start at 9.15pm. Rides and shops shut at 9pm, but visitors can stay in the park to watch the show. From 25 November to 6 January, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind plays three Christmas songs as part of its soundtrack.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Disney Jollywood Nights, the separately ticketed Christmas evening event at Hollywood Studios, is on 15 nights from 7 November to 5 January, running into January for the first time. The dates are 7, 14, 16, 21, 23 and 28 November, then 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21 and 23 December, then 3 and 5 January. The event runs from 7.30pm to 12.30am, with entry from 5.30pm. New this year are a meet with George Sanderson and Needleman from Monsters, Inc. and appearances by Donald, Daisy and Genie in the Glisten! skating show.
For all visitors, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets and Alien Swirling Saucers both switch to Christmas music from 4 November to 6 January. Each evening the Hollywood Tower Hotel is lit with Christmas projections in Sunset Seasons Greetings.
Animal Kingdom
Santa meets visitors in Santa’s Holiday Grove, a trail with bursts of artificial snow at Theater in the Wild, opposite the Finding Nemo show. Puppets of penguins, reindeer and polar bears appear around Discovery Island, and the Tree of Life has a Christmas version of its evening projection show.
Disney’s hotels decorate for the season as well.
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