What’s new for the 2023 holiday season at Walt Disney World

“Frozen Holiday Surprise” at Magic Kingdom: Nightly Nov. 7 – Dec. 31, 2023

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf — in new holiday outfits — star in “Frozen Holiday Surprise,” a new presentation at Magic Kingdom that combines live characters with projection mapping.

Every night starting Nov. 7, 2023, Elsa will transform Cinderella Castle into a wintry snowscape. Elsa and company are also joined by the “snowgies,” the miniature snow creatures from the “Frozen Fever” short film and Frozen Ever After at Epcot. Teams from Disney Live Entertainment have been busy overnight preparing “Frozen Holiday Surprise” for its debut.

This isn’t Elsa’s first holiday visit to Cinderella Castle, but “Frozen Holiday Surprise” is different from what you’ve seen here in the past. 2007-2019, cast members spent weeks each fall covering the castle in icicle lights, introduced nightly during the holiday season (initially by Cinderella, and later by Elsa. Following the pandemic in 2020 and the castle’s 50th anniversary lighting package of 2021-2022, “Frozen Holiday Surprise” marks the return of a production of its nature for the first time in four years (albeit, with projection mapping instead of icicle lights).

Disney Jollywood Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Select Nights Nov. 11 – Dec. 20, 2023

Disney Jollywood Nights welcomes guests to an all-new after-hours event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios select nights Nov. 11 – Dec 20, 2023. Guests are encouraged to dress in their vintage Hollywood best, especially since Disney PhotoPass captures are included with party admission.

Disney announced Jollywood Nights last summer, and just revealed new details, including attraction names and additional concept art. As guests enter the park, “Welcome to Disney Jollywood Nights” will feature a DJ and a neon sign photo-op.

“Disney Holidays in Hollywood” is the name of the new variety show inside Theater of the Stars.

As previously announced, the show will feature live appearances by Mickey, Minnie, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Belle, and Tiana (who will perform an original song).

“What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along” will take up residence in The Hyperion Theater.

At “Mickey & Friends Holiday Greetings” in Animation Courtyard, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and Daisy will make appearances in new outfits. So the story goes, they’ve just finished production of a new holiday film, and greet guests on the set.

These activities join other previously detailed food and entertainment of Disney Jollywood Nights. On Commissary Lane, Holiday Fiesta en la Calle will be a Latin-inspired celebration.

The evening will feature two exclusive lounges: Twilight Soirée at the pop-up Tip-Top Club outside The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, as well as Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby.

The party’s specialty food will include a Gertie the Dinosaur-shaped cookie at Gertie’s Ice Cream of Extinction that’s already taken social media by storm.

Lastly, “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” fireworks spectacular will return for the first time post-pandemic. We got to hear more about Disney Jollywood Nights last June:

New Décor at Epcot and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

Disney Holiday Services teams cover every Walt Disney World theme park and resort hotel with lavish decorations. New for 2023, two locations will receive updated looks.

At the front entrance of Epcot, new décor will not only celebrate the holiday season, but also recognize The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary. Epcot is home base for Walt Disney World’s Disney100 offerings.

At Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, cast members will install a new art display made of gingerbread. The piece joins returning gingerbread displays at Disney’s Grand Floridian, Contemporary, BoardWalk, Beach Club, and Animal Kingdom Lodge resorts.

“Luminous: The Symphony of Us” at Epcot: Nightly starting Dec. 5, 2023

As announced at last month’s Destination D23, Epcot will debut its long-awaited nighttime spectacular “Luminous: The Symphony of Us” on Walt Disney’s 122nd birthday, Dec. 5, 2023.

The show is not a holiday production, but notable among this year’s holiday calendar nonetheless. “Luminous” will continue performing beyond the new year, planned as Epcot’s new long-term fireworks show. The current show, “Epcot Forever,” will perform for the final time Dec. 4, 2023.

Sometime in December, Epcot will also complete the major overhaul of its central plaza, now called World Celebration and featuring a new statue of Walt Disney.

Returning Favorites with Outlier Operational Dates

The above additions join an already extensive list of familiar seasonal festivities at Walt Disney World. Here are returning the events that hold different dates than the resort’s overall holiday season of Nov. 11 – Dec. 31, 2023:

Minnie’s Holiday Dine character lunch and dinner will return to Hollywood & Vine at Disney’s Hollywood Studios daily starting Nov. 8, 2023 (as Minnie will still be celebrating Halloween through Nov. 7, 2023). Disney did not announce a starting date for the restaurant’s next rotational theme, “Silver Screen Dine, which aligns with the arrival of Hollywood’s awards season.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will happen at Magic Kingdom select nights Nov. 9 – Dec. 22, 2023. Disney has not announced any major new additions to this year’s party.

Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll and snowfall in Disney Springs Town Center will begin Nov. 10, 2023. Disney did not specify an end date.

Epcot International Festival of the Holidays will return Nov. 24 – Dec. 30, 2023. The festival includes storytellers and specialty cuisine at every World Showcase pavilion, as well as the Candlelight Processional orchestra/choir concert and Living with the Land – Glimmering Greenhouses, the holiday overlay of the fan-favorite boat attraction.

New celebrity narrators for 2023’s Candlelight Processional include Chrissy Metz, Luis Fonsi, Ann-Margaret, Brendan Fraser, Eva Longoria, Joey McIntyre, Sterling K. Brown, Jordan Fisher, and Audra McDonald.

Everything Else

We can assume events with unspecified dates will adhere to Disney’s official holiday season calendar of Nov. 11 – Dec. 31, 2023. These include Jingle Cruise at Magic Kingdom, Merry Menagerie at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (pictured below), Sunset Seasons Greetings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Jock Lindsay’s Holiday Bar at Disney Springs, among other offerings.

Again, though, the property-ride roll-out (and subsequent de-installation) may be staggered. Last year, for example, Jingle Cruise debuted Nov. 2, while Magic Kingdom still had its tree up and was playing its holiday background loop on Jan. 13, the Friday of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

For more details about returning holiday events at Walt Disney World, check out our previous story from last summer’s “halfway to the holidays”: