It’s the holiday season in Disney World, and there is SO much to do!

It’s the holiday season!

You can see giant gingerbread houses, awesome decorations, and even Santa Claus! There are fun ride overlays to enjoy, an After Hours event to party at, and a ton of delicious foods to try. It’s an exciting time for sure, and if you’re going to be in the Most Magical Place on Earth on the actual day of Christmas, you need to be prepared! So, let’s take a look at what to expect on Christmas Day in Disney World!

Park Hours

If you’re going to be in Disney World on Christmas Day, you need to pay attention to the park hours! Magic Kingdom is open from 9AM to 11PM, EPCOT is open from 9:30AM to 10PM, Hollywood Studios is open from 8:30AM to 9PM, and Animal Kingdom is open from 8AM to 8PM.

Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park is also open from 10AM to 5PM on Christmas Day, and Disney Springs is open from 10AM to 11:30PM.

©Disney

Keep in mind that you still cannot park hop until 2PM and you can only park hop if the park you’re going to isn’t at capacity.

Crowds

Christmas Day is an extremely popular time for people to be at Disney World, so definitely expect crowds! To ensure you stay a little bit ahead of the curve, we suggest you rope drop the park you’re planning on visiting.

Main Street U.S.A.

And, remember, if you’re a Disney hotel guest, you can get into the parks 60 minutes before the parks open with Early Theme Park Entry. People not staying at a Disney hotel should also be aware of this perk, because hotel guests will be able to enter the parks before you, so take that into account when it comes to rope dropping.

Heading into Disney World

But, we totally understand if you want to sleep in a bit on Christmas Day! Just know that you might face a few more long lines than you would if you were to rope drop.

Living with the Land Line

Speaking of long lines, be prepared to find them all around the parks! This is one of the busiest days of the entire year in Disney World, so long lines are to be expected. Come prepared with the mindset that you’re going to be waiting in lines for some rides and maybe have a fun way to pass the time, like playing a game such as Heads Up on your phone!

Frozen Ever After Line

If you want to minimize your time spent standing in lines, consider buying Disney Genie+ to use throughout the day, especially in a park like Magic Kingdom where there are a lot of rides. Genie+ is the paid system that replaced Disney’s FastPass+ system and allows you to make reservations for the Lightning Lanes (old FastPass+ lanes) of 46 different attractions. It’s $15 per day, per person.

Lightning Lane

And, for the really popular rides, you can purchase individual Lightning Lane access! For attractions like Rise of the Resistance or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (which are not included in Genie+), you can pay individually to skip the standby lines. Learn more about how this system works here. A few rides that were pay-per-ride are being moved to the Genie+ list for the holidays as well. 

Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane

If you want an idea of just how busy it’s going to be, let’s take a look at park pass reservations. For regular theme park tickets, only EPCOT and Animal Kingdom still have park reservations available as of this writing, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are completely booked.

©Disney

And, the same goes for resort guests!

©Disney

As for Annual Passholders, the Incredi Pass is the only one not blocked out for Christmas Day and there are still park reservations available for all 4 parks.

©Disney

Going along with crowds, do keep in mind that it’s not uncommon for the parks to hit capacity on Christmas Day. The most popular park is usually Magic Kingdom, so be aware that if you’re planning to park hop there after 2PM, you might be out of luck. We saw Magic Kingdom hit capacity recently on the 50th anniversary, so even with the park reservation system, it can happen if you choose to hop!

©Disney

For your best bet, you can leave the park you’re in that morning before 2PM so that you basically rope drop the park you’re hopping to as soon as you’re allowed in, but there is still no guarantee. You also might see more luck later in the day, closer to the time the park closes, as people could leave the park early.

Festival of the Holidays

Festival of the Holidays started on November 26th and runs until December 30th, but what a better time to take part in the celebrations than on Christmas Day?! Since EPCOT still has park reservations open (as of this writing), you could see fewer crowds there than in places like Magic Kingdom. It’s a great time to indulge in everything the festival has to offer!

Festival of the Holidays

The Holiday Kitchens are scattered around World Showcase and have a ton of different holiday foods from around the world. You can get coquito soft-serve with spiced rum…

Coquito Soft-serve with Spiced Rum

…a mini pumpkin pie funnel cake…

Mini Pumpkin Pie Funnel Cake

…or cheese fondue in a bread bowl!

Cheeeeese

Eating is one of the best ways to celebrate the holidays, in our opinion!

Click here to see our BEST of the FEST for the 2021 Festival of the Holidays

Also at the festival is the Candlelight Processional. This is the telling of the story of Christmas by a celebrity narrator, who is accompanied by music from a choir and an orchestra! The celebrity narrator for Christmas Day is Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman.

Candlelight Processional

Another way to celebrate the day at the festival is by listening to the Storytellers around World Showcase! Each country has costumed storytellers who will tell the stories of their culture’s holiday traditions.

Norway Storytellers

You can also find special musicians around the World Showcase like the Canadian Holiday Voyageurs in Canada and Las Posadas in Mexico.

Holiday Entertainment

As for entertainment around Disney World, Christmas Day should be very festive! Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade will take place in Magic Kingdom at 12PM and 3:45PM.

This parade is the best!

You can see Mickey and the gang in their holiday best coming down Main Street, U.S.A.!

Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade at Disney Very Merriest

And, of course, the parade ends with an appearance from Santa Claus!

Santa!

Speaking of Santa Claus, you can find him in all of the parks on Christmas Day! In Magic Kingdom, he will be in the parade and should be greeting guests throughout the day at the gazebo behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square.

Santa!

In EPCOT, Santa and Mrs. Claus are located at the American Adventure pavilion!

Santa in EPCOT

In Hollywood Studios, Santa comes down Hollywood Boulevard in an awesome red convertible during a special cavalcade.

Santa has a cool ride

And, in Animal Kingdom, you can periodically see Santa come by on a boat! Catch him cruising the waterways on a flotilla.

We’ll yell our Christmas list to you from over here!

Also in all of the parks is the transformation of the park icons into Magical Beacons — holiday edition! The Magical Beacons debuted on the park icons for the 50th anniversary, but they all also now have holiday variations throughout the night. In Magic Kingdom, you can see Cinderella Castle decked out in festive gear…

©Disney

…in EPCOT, Spaceship Earth looks like a candy cane…

So Festive!

…in Hollywood Studios, Tower of Terror gets a holiday makeover…

Holiday Tower Hotel

…and in Animal Kingdom, the Tree of Life has a special showing, too!

Tree of Life Awakenings — Winter Edition

As for other nighttime entertainment like fireworks, there are currently no special shows announced. Instead, the normal nighttime entertainment will take place — Enchantment at Magic Kingdom will happen at 8PM, Harmonious in EPCOT will take place at 9:45PM, and Wonderful World of Animation will run at Hollywood Studios at 9PM.

Disney Enchantment has arrived in Magic Kingdom!

We’ll keep an eye out for any other entrainment announcements and keep you updated!

Holiday Food

Besides all of the holiday food being offered throughout the season, there are a few items that will ONLY be available on December 25th! At Tiffins in Animal Kingdom, you can get the Horchata Mousse Snow Globe, which is golden coffee crémeux, gingerbread sable cookie, coriander chantilly, elderflower meringue, bourbon caramel, and candied pecans.

Tiffins

Also available at Tiffins will be a Pork T-Bone dish, which has apple-brined pork, sweet potato variations, boniato mash, and ginger-pear butter.

Tiffins

Over at All-Star Movies and Music Resorts, you can get the Pumpkin Tart at Intermission Food Court and World Premiere Food Court!

Mini Pumpkin Tarts

Also available at both food courts is the Christmas Dinner, which has ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, and cranberry relish with a choice of apple or pumpkin tart.

World Premiere Food Court

And, at Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, you can get the Roast Rib Eye, which is roast rib eye with jus lie, Tunisian mashed potatoes, green beans with apricot-cranberry butter, and mushroom conserva. YUM!

Sanaa

These foods are available for one day only, so make sure to check them out if you can!

Click here to see ALL of the holiday food at Disney World this holiday season

That’s what to expect in Disney World on Christmas Day this year! Even though it will be crowded, just make sure you have a game plan like what time you’re getting to the parks and some dining reservations scheduled to keep your day organized and running smoothly. And, stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World news, updates, and info!

Click here to see ALL of the holiday food we’ve tried so far this year in Disney World!

What is your favorite thing to do at Disney World during the holiday season? Let us know in the comments!

The post What to Expect on Christmas Day in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.