From Grinchmas and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party to the frigid ICE at Gaylord Palms Resort and SeaWorld’s Sea of Trees — there are plenty of parks and attractions to celebrate the holidays.
Walt Disney World
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party: This annual ticketed event is a Christmas sensory overload at Magic Kingdom. Mickey’s after-hours Christmas party promises low ride wait times, strolling for cookies and cocoa around the park, meet-and-greets with characters in their holiday outfits, exclusive holiday treats and merchandise, and a dizzying amount of live entertainment.
The highlights include the beloved Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Parade, which performs twice a night and features life-sized toy soldiers, gingerbread men, festive Disney characters, and Santa Claus. Cinderella Castle gets a festive, frosty makeover with high-tech projections, and then transforms for the epic Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show at the end of the night.
Upgrades are available for an even more VIP experience, including table-service dining with characters and dessert parties for the fireworks finale. The party runs from 7 p.m. to midnight on select nights through Dec. 20.
Don’t worry if you can’t make it to a party, Magic Kingdom is still decked out in Christmas decor for everyone to enjoy. And there are plenty of new holiday treats and items to buy outside of the event.
Jollywood Nights: Hollywood Studios brought back its ticketed Christmas event this year through Dec. 21. Like Mickey’s party, Jollywood Nights also has exclusive character experiences, merchandise, food and entertainment.
New this year is “Glisten!” — a skating show on Hollywood Boulevard featuring a holiday soundtrack of original songs and Disney favorites. The show performs five times a night. There’s also the Pixar Disco dance party, “The Muppet Christmas Carol” photo moment inside the Stage 1 Company Store and a free Wondermade treat when you leave.
Returning shows include “Holidays in Hollywood,” “What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along” and “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” At the park’s Chinese Theater.
Outside of the event, guests can catch the “Sunset Seasons Greetings” projection show on the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
EPCOT
Over at the prototype community of tomorrow, the Festival of the Holidays showcases wintertime traditions from around the world. Stroll through festive decor and hear holiday tales from storytellers at select countries in World Showcase, like Norway’s Barn Santa and Italy’s La Befana.
Indulge in classic and cultural food fare at outdoor kitchens around the park, and partake in the popular Christmas cookie stroll to take home a sweet souvenir.
The festival’s signature experience, the Candlelight Processional, has more than a dozen narrators this year including newcomers Nico Santos, Tituss Burgess and Ralph Macchio. The show features the moving story of Christmas from a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra, a mass choir, herald trumpets and the Voices of Liberty.
The Festival of the Holidays opens Nov. 29 and runs through Dec. 30. Most experiences and attractions are included with park admission, but seating upgrades and food purchases are separate.
Gingerbread displays: One of the coolest holiday traditions at Disney World is the gingerbread houses displayed at some of the resort hotels. The biggest and most famous is the life-sized gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian. There you can buy gingerbread shingles and other holiday sweets seen on the edible creation. This year is the 25th anniversary of the Grand Floridian display, so there are 25 hidden Mickeys to find along with anniversary merchandise. The house is made of over 10,000 pieces of gingerbread and 700 pounds of chocolate.
Other hotels where gingerbread displays can be found include Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club and Yacht Club, the BoardWalk, and the Contemporary Resort. Each hotel showcases its own themed twist on the classic holiday house, such as gingerbread giraffes at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. New this year is a gingerbread Spaceship Earth at Epcot’s CommuniCore Hall — an 8-foot display that lights up and dances to music throughout the day. Be on the lookout for 11 hidden Mickeys honoring the 11 countries of World Showcase.
Universal Orlando
Holiday festivities at Universal Orlando return on Nov. 22 and run through Dec. 31 at both parks and CityWalk. That includes Grinchmas in Islands of Adventure, Christmas in the Wizarding World, the Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s, a new Holiday Tribute Store and new menus of festive treats.
Grinchmas: Have a classic Who-ville Christmas with the mean green one himself – the Grinch. Meet the Grinch and the holiday Whos and hear a live retelling of the beloved Dr. Seuss tale in “Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular.”
Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Enjoy hot butterbeer as you stroll the Christmas decor-covered Hogsmeade and see “The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle” projection show. Then, grab another hot Butterbeer to shop in Diagon Alley and hear magical holiday tunes from Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees.
Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s: Experience the biggest holiday parade this side of the big Thanksgiving Day one in New York City. This one at Universal Studios Florida features characters and stories from Illumination and DreamWorks Animation along with larger-than-life ones straight from the historic Macy’s parade.
Holiday Tribute Store: The retail space gets a holiday makeover with immersive rooms inspired by Christmas in Hogsmeade, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and Universal Holidays icon Earl the Squirrel. Holiday pop-up books showcase season merch and treats, including Earl’s storybook, “The Tale of Earl the Squirrel.” Some of these holiday items are already available through Universal’s online store.
New Christmas food: Indulge in festive food and drinks around the parks, including peppermint cheesecake bars, pistachio holiday wreaths, roasting chestnuts Mont Blanc and Grinch cookies. The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium at CityWalk has an Ugly Sweater Shake — vanilla ice cream with spiced streusel, mini marshmallows, holiday sprinkles and an ugly sweater sugar cookie. Bigfire and VIVO Italian Kitchen also have seasonal menus.
CityWalk and Universal Orlando hotels: Also at CityWalk are holiday entertainment and themed cocktails at The Green & Red Coconut Club and chances to meet Earl the Squirrel on select days from Nov. 29 through Dec. 29 at the Plaza. All eight Universal hotels will have holiday decor and special menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Holiday vacation packages and upgrades are available through the rest of the year, including the Universal Holiday Tour and the Grinch & Friends Character Breakfast. Find tickets and more information at UniversalOrlando.com.
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando’s popular Christmas Celebration features a slate of holiday shows, live entertainment, immersive decor and snow flurries on the Waterfront. The event runs through Jan. 5, 2025, and is free with park admission.
Popular attractions include the “O Wondrous Night” stage show retelling the story of Christmas through life-sized puppets and animal actors and “Mrs. Claus’ Magic Kitchen” cooking show. There’s also the Sea of Trees in the park’s lagoon, ice skating at Bayside Stadium, meet and greets with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus, and the Holiday Reflections Fireworks Finale every night.
Those looking for a more VIP holiday experience can buy tickets for Coasters After Dark: Christmas Edition. On select nights through Dec. 13, get access to seven SeaWorld attractions with lower wait times, free popcorn and smaller crowds to enjoy other holiday activities throughout the park. Tickets start at $49.99 per person.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
SeaWorld’s sister park over in Tampa brings back its Christmas Town event this year through Jan. 5, 2025. There are miles and miles of Christmas lights and decor, including many displays inspired by the park’s famous animal residents.
Shows include Christmas on Ice, Elmo’s Christmas Wish, Three Kings Journey, Storytime with Mrs. Claus and the Holiday in the Sky Fireworks Show. Pop-up outdoor kitchen serve hot cocoa and holiday cocktails, peppermint cheesecake, braised short rib and smoked gouda mac and cheese and more. Christmas Town is included with park admission, but food and drink purchases are separate.
Legoland Florida
Holidays at Legoland presented by Hallmark Channel returns Nov. 29 and runs select dates through Dec. 31. The biggest (literally) new attraction this year is the Lego Christmas Tree — made of nearly 365,000 Lego and Duplo bricks and towering over 30 feet.
Elsewhere, there are dozens of Lego holiday displays life-sized Lego sleigh with reindeer, a giant Lego wreath and Lego Santa, gingerbread man, snowman and nutcracker. Miniland USA also gets in the holiday spirit with festive decor.
Shows and live entertainment include the Elf Training Academy, the Holly Hype Dance Party and the Very Merry Mix-up sing-along. Limited time holiday treats include the Season’s Greetings Swirl cone, the Christmas Crepe, Merry Maple Apple Fries and Holly Jolly Candy Apples.
Holidays at Legoland is included with park admission.
ICE and Christmas at Gaylord Palms
The beloved ICE attraction is back at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee. This year’s exhibit brings 2003’s Elf to frigid life. Inside, guests don parkas to walk through the chilly 9-degree experience that recreates iconic characters and scenes from the movie — including the elf classroom in the North Pole, Gimbels toy shop, the snowball fight in Central Park, Mr. Narwhal and more. The end of the exhibit features live carving demonstrations by skilled Chinese artisans as well as a Nativity scene carved from sparkling crystal clear ice.
Outside of ICE, Christmas at Gaylord Palms features Snow Flow Mountain ice slides, snowball throwing at the Snow Factory, an Alpine Village of holiday shopping, lights and decor throughout the resort and its atrium, the Cirque: Spirit of Christmas show, scavenger hunts, gingerbread decorating, a Christmas tree trail, photos with Santa Claus and seasonal menus of festive food and drinks.
Many Christmas activities are included with your hotel stay, but outside guests can also enjoy deals on tickets to ICE and more at ChristmasatGaylordPalms.com.
Holidays at Kennedy Space Center
Venture to the east coast for an out of this world holiday celebration. Kennedy Space Center’s Holidays in Space runs Dec. 20-30, featuring a Rocket Tree Trail and Starflake’s Holiday Voyage projection show.
The NASA complex gets decked out in Christmas decor, including a 50-foot illuminated tree in the Rocket Garden and 6-foot astronaut nutcrackers. The iconic NASA meatball also, once again, gets turned into a holiday ornament. The Atlantis West Pavilion will also have galactic miniature golf, cornhole and more games — all included with admission.
Starflake’s Holiday Voyage show performs nightly and takes guests on a journey through the stars and familiar places like the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Artemis rocket, the International Space Station and the James Webb Space Telescope. Shows are at 6:50 p.m. in front of Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex.
Holidays in Space activities are included with Kennedy Space Center admission.
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This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2024.