ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Even though summer has just started, Walt Disney World has announced the dates and plans to ring in the 2026 holiday season and keep the celebrations going into early 2027.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party launches the season on Nov. 8, with the first night of the separately ticketed event, and the festivities pick up after that.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
The party will run on select nights through Dec. 22 at the Magic Kingdom. The event doesn’t officially begin until 7 p.m., but guests will be able to enter the park as early as 4 p.m. The specific dates are:
- Nov. 8-9
- Nov. 12-13
- Nov. 15
- Nov. 17
- Nov. 19-20
- Nov. 24-25
- Nov. 29
- Dec. 1
- Dec. 3-4
- Dec. 6
- Dec. 8
- Dec. 10-11
- Dec. 13
- Dec. 15
- Dec. 17-18
- Dec. 20
- Dec. 22
Each night, highlights will include Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Parade, when dancing gingerbread men, ballroom dancers, marching toy soldiers, characters decked out for the holidays and, of course, Santa Claus, will travel from Frontierland and continue down Main Street U.S.A.
The evenings will conclude with Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, when Cinderella Castle will light up with holiday scenes and lighting effects and fireworks will shimmer in the sky over the park. The display will be synchronized with holiday music.
Cinderella Castle will be the hub for two stage shows featuring live performers and Disney characters, Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration and Frozen Holiday Surprise. At Storybook Circus, Santa will entertain guests, and they will be able to create Christmas crafts.
Some of the Magic Kingdom’s most popular rides — Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Tea Party, Jungle Cruise and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor — will feature makeover themes just for the holidays, while some other classic rides also will be open.
Holiday lights and decorations, sweet yuletide treats and festive music from DJs will set the scene throughout the park, and character meet-and-greets will add to the cheer at Princess Fairytale Hall and at the Town Square Theater.
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. (Courtesy of Disney Parks)
Jollywood Nights
Hollywood Studios will host its own seasonal event — Jollywood Nights. It also is a limited capacity, separately ticketed event on select nights beginning Nov. 7. The festivities kick off at 7:30 p.m., but people with tickets can enter the park at 5:30 p.m., and the party continues until 12:30 a.m.
In November, Jollywood Nights are held on select Saturdays and Mondays: Nov. 7, 14, 16, 21, 23 and 28.
The schedule expands in December to select Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays: Dec. 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21 and 23.
The last nights will be Jan. 3 and Jan. 5.
The Chinese Theater will be the center of the celebration at Hollywood Studios. The Glisten skating show will be performed to holiday tunes in front of the theater. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! is a highlight of the evening as fireworks, lasers, projections and holiday music synced up to MagicBand+ effects light up the theater and “snowfall” will dazzle on Hollywood Boulevard.
The Chinese Theater in Hollywood Studios will be the site of Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! in the holiday season. (Photo Courtesy of Disney)
Parties in the park will include the Twilight Soiree at the Tip Top Club, a 1930s-style swingin’ celebration with live holiday music in the courtyard of the Hollywood Tower Hotel; Pixar Disco at Pixar Plaza; and an adult-oriented retreat at Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby, where advance reservations are recommended.
At the Hyperion Theater, holiday cheer combines with a little spookiness for What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along. It’s topped off with “snowflakes.”
Parkgoers will be treated to a musical stage show featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and appearances by Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Belle and Tiana at the Theater of the Stars
A variety of characters will make appearances throughout the park — including Stich dressed as Santa, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Specific locations will be announced at a later date.
Tickets for both Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights will go on sale July 9 for people staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels, the Swan and Dolphin hotels ands Shades of Green. For all others, tickets will be available starting July 16. Special prices will be available for annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members. They will be available online or by calling 407-934-7639.
EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays
EPCOT waits to start its celebrations until the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and it will wrap up on Dec. 30.
Entertainment, special light displays and holiday cuisine are the focus there.
The internationally known tradition of the Candlelight Processional is performed a few times each night at the America Gardens Theatre. The celebrity narrators for the retelling of the Christmas story have not been announced yet, but as always, it will be accompanied by a mass choir and orchestra.
Disney World’s Candlelight Processional as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. (Courtesy: Disney)
An added musical twist, JOYFUL! A Celebration of the Season, combines gospel, jazz and rhythm and blues to include Kwanzaa and Christmas numbers.
The Voices of Liberty Dickens Carolers also will perform classic holiday tunes while dressed in the garb of Victorian-era England.
EPCOT will be dressed up with yuletide decor throughout the park, and one holiday lighting extravaganza this year will put the focus on one of its most iconic landmarks with the Gingerbread Spaceship Earth display. A celebration countdown will be presented every 15 minutes, when the creation will sparkle with a light show and music.
Once the sun goes down, Spaceship Earth itself will shine with holiday colors and dynamic effects.
In the Living with the Land boat ride, Glimmering Greenhouses will sparkle with seasonal decor and lights for a unique twist.
Many other holiday experiences will be part of the day at the park, including Santa sightings and World Showcase storytellers regaling visitors with holiday tales and stories of how diverse cultures celebrate the season at the Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, United Kingdom and Canada pavilions and between the Morocco and France pavilions. Along the walkway between the Imagination! Pavilion and World Showcase is a holiday-scented garden decorated with snow globes.
Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt is a purchased experience to help him find holiday traditions from around the globe. Those who complete it will receive a holiday keepsake.
Spectrum News Staff
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