Disney World Christmas holiday season 2025 guide
Walt Disney World will celebrate Christmas 2025 and other year-end holidays with familiar events at all four parks, many included with admission.
As usual, the resort near Orlando, Fla., will pull out all the stops. For Christmas 2025, 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. 14 – Dec. 31, 2025, though a few special events come with differing dates (more on all of this below):
- Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (Magic Kingdom): select nights Nov. 7 – Dec. 21, 2025
- Disney Jollywood Nights (Disney’s Hollywood Studios): select nights Nov. 8 – Dec. 22, 2025
- Epcot Festival of the Holidays: Nov. 28 – Dec. 30, 2025
Included with park admission for Disney World’s holiday season 2025
Though two large-scale, separately ticketed events headline Disney World’s 2025 Christmas festivities (more on those below), there’s a ton included with park admission during this time of year of year. To that point, a family could never step foot in either after-hours holiday party and have more than enough to experience in terms of holiday cheer.
A special event in and of itself — but again, included with park admission — is Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, happening daily at Epcot from Nov. 28 – Dec. 30, 2025. The big spectacle here is the Candlelight Processional, involving a celebrity narrator telling the Nativity story (2025 Candlelight Processional narrators include Sheryl Lee Ralph from “Abbott Elementary” and Brie Larson from “Captain Marvel”) backed by a full orchestra and choir. At each of World Showcase’s 11 international pavilions, holiday storytellers share different countries’ traditions and holiday food selections are available for purchase. Elsewhere in the park, the greenhouses of the Living with the Land boat ride are adorned with holiday lights.
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 hosts Jingle Cruise, a kitschy holiday twist on Jungle Cruise. The park also presents “Frozen Holiday Surprise,” a nightly show in which Elsa bedazzles Cinderella Castle with wintry projections (sorry, no actual icicle lights; those retired in 2019).
Photo by Mariah Wild / Disney
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, guests can enjoy holiday projections mapped onto The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror plus holiday tunes from “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” during the live “Frozen” sing-along show.
Photo by Blake Taylor
All four parks display an abundance of holiday décor, custom created and curated for its location.
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
Photo by Blake Taylor
New for 2025 at Disney Springs is the Disney Enchanted Holiday Art Gallery, a store selling holiday- and winter-inspired artwork of Disney characters.
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.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes place select nights Nov. 7 – Dec. 21, 2025, from 7 p.m. – 12 a.m. Partygoers can enter Magic Kingdom starting at 4 p.m.
- Nov. 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, & 30, 2025
- Dec. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, & 21, 2025
Tickets 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.)
The showstopper of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is its world-famous parade, which you may have seen broadcast on ABC annually. Other special entertainment includes the “Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration” castle stage show (2016), and “Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks” (2019).
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 takes place select nights Nov. 8 – Dec. 22, 2025, from 7:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. Partygoers can enter Hollywood Studios starting at 5:30 p.m.
- Nov. 8, 15, 17, 22, 24, & 29, 2025
- Dec. 1, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, & 22, 2025
Tickets 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 include Duffy the Disney Bear, Santa Stitch, and characters from “The Disney Afternoon” ’90s television programming block.
Hollywood Studios rides are open during Jollywood Nights, too.
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