Walt Disney World Christmas holiday season expands for 2026
Walt Disney World has expanded its holiday season for 2026, with the annual celebration now scheduled to run from Nov. 13, 2026, through Jan. 6, 2027. The extended season adds nearly a week of festive offerings after New Year’s Day compared with last year’s holiday calendar.
The holiday season at Walt Disney World is getting a little longer in 2026. Disney has announced that this year’s celebration will begin Nov. 13 and continue through Jan. 6. The resort near Orlando, Fla., will pull out all the stops. For Christmas 2026, Disney World will stick to the hits, bringing back favorite events rather than introducing anything significantly new.
Officially, the holiday season at Disney World spans Nov. 13 – Jan. 6, 2027, though a few special events come with differing dates (more on all of this below):
- Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (Magic Kingdom): Nov. 8 – Dec. 22, 2026
- Disney Jollywood Nights (Disney’s Hollywood Studios): Nov. 7 – Jan 5, 2027
- Epcot Festival of the Holidays: Nov. 27 – Dec. 30, 2026
Included with park admission for Disney World’s holiday season 2026
Though two large-scale, separately ticketed events headline Walt Disney World’s 2026 holiday season (more on those below), there’s also plenty included with regular theme park admission. Families can skip the after-hours holiday parties and still find no shortage of seasonal entertainment, decorations and festive experiences across the resort.
One of the biggest holiday offerings included with park admission is the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, scheduled to return, though dates have not been confirmed. The festival’s signature experience is the Candlelight Processional, where celebrity narrators retell the Nativity story accompanied by a live orchestra and mass choir. Disney has not yet announced the 2026 narrator lineup.
Throughout World Showcase, holiday storytellers share seasonal traditions from around the world, while special food and beverage offerings are available for purchase at Holiday Kitchens. Guests can also enjoy festive décor throughout the park, including the holiday light displays inside the greenhouses of Living with the Land.
Included with park admission for Christmastime at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the Merry Menagerie, a troupe of winter animal puppets roaming the park’s Discovery Island central plaza.
Photo courtesy of Disney
Magic Kingdom usually has the Jingle Cruise, a holiday twist on the Jungle Cruise full of decorations and festive jokes. The park also usually presents “Frozen Holiday Surprise,” a nightly show in which Elsa bedazzles Cinderella Castle with wintry projections.
Photo by Mariah Wild / Disney
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, holiday projections mapped onto The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror give a festive twist and awesome photo backdrop to an otherwise terrifying facade. Songs from the holiday special “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” are added to the live “Frozen” sing-along show.
Photo by Blake Taylor
There are decorations galore throughout each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks, as well as Disney Springs (which is free to visit). Magic Kingdom has the most traditional decorations, while Epcot’s World Showcase is packed with decorations that represent each of the countries represented in the individual pavilions.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is often a favorite among fans for its festive Tinseltown motif with decorations inspired by the golden era of Hollywood. Perhaps there will be new festive decorations in the Walt Disney Studios courtyard.
And lastly, Disney’s Animal Kingdom gets in the holiday spirit with cultural decorations in the Asia and Africa lands, and winter animal motifs around Discovery Island. Dinoland U.S.A. is no more, which means the lights and decorations of this part of the park will not be part of the 2026 holiday season.
Photo by Dani Meyering
Beyond the theme parks, Disney Springs hosts its Christmas Tree Stroll, featuring a collection of different holiday trees distinctly decorated by a different Disney character. Every Disney hotel is decorated with its own Christmas tree, too.
Photo by Attractions Magazine
After-hours Christmas parties
Walt Disney World hosts two after-hours special events during the Christmas season, each ticketed separately from daytime operations.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Held at Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party presents an evening of fairytale holiday cheer with the most magical place on Earth as its backdrop.
- November: 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 24, 25, 27, 29
- December: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes place select nights, Nov. 8 – Dec. 22, 2026 from 7 p.m. – 12 a.m. Partygoers can enter Magic Kingdom starting at 4 p.m. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party increases from 24 to 25 nights.
Tickets last year cost $169-$229, depending on the night. (This is a slight increase from 2024’s $169-$219 ticket range, and from 2023’s $159-$199 ticket range.)
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is its world-famous parade, which you may have seen a version of broadcast on ABC. Other special entertainment includes the “Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration” castle stage show (2016), and “Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks” (2019).
Photo by Dani Meyering
Magic Kingdom attractions are open during the party, including four decked out with exclusive holiday flair: Space Mountain Holiday Run, Tomorrowland Speedway Race Through the Holidays, Mad Tea Party, and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.
Other activities during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party include free cookies & cocoa, dance parties, and meet & greets with Santa Claus.
Photo courtesy of Disney
Disney Jollywood Nights
The newest of Disney World’s Christmas tentpoles, Disney Jollywood Nights is back for its third year in 2025. The after-hours party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios presents a glitz-and-glamour Tinseltown interpretation of the holidays; guests are encouraged to dress in their dapper best.
Disney Jollywood Nights will return for its largest season yet in 2026. The after-hours event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is scheduled for 15 nights, up from 13 in 2025, and will extend into January for the first time with parties planned for Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, 2027. The expanded schedule aligns with Walt Disney World’s longer holiday season, which will continue through Jan. 6.
2026
- Nov. 7, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28
- Dec. 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 23
- Jan. 3, 5, 2027
Tickets last year cost $159-$199, depending on the night. (This is a slight increase from 2024’s $159-$179 ticket range.)
Jollywood Nights is known for its themed party zones, such as the Tip Top Club (1939 jazz atmosphere) near the Tower of Terror to La Fiesta en la Calle (Latin-inspired street fair) near Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Live entertainment exclusive to Jollywood Nights includes a fireworks spectacular (“Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam!”), an ice-sating show (“Glisten!”), a variety stage show hosted by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy (“Disney Holidays in Hollywood”), and a live sing-along show featuring tunes from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Special character greetings during Jollywood Nights will include Duffy the Disney Bear, Santa Stitch, and characters from “The Disney Afternoon” ’90s television programming block, all returning for 2026.
Hollywood Studios rides are open during Jollywood Nights, too, including the new Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets.
As Walt Disney World prepares for a longer holiday season in 2026, guests will have additional opportunities to experience festive entertainment, seasonal food and beverage offerings, holiday décor and special-ticketed events across the resort. Disney is expected to share more details, including entertainment schedules and additional holiday offerings, in the coming months.
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