Family Bliss On The Go to Disney World at Christmastime
We went to Disney around Thanksgiving/Black Friday time in 2025 with an 18yo girl, 10yo boy, and 7yo boy. There are several different ways to enjoy holidays around Disney, and we tried to do as many of them as possible.
First, you can explore the gingerbread displays in several different hotels by taking different Disney transportation to those hotels. This includes at the Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Beach Club Resort, and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. The kids were fascinated by the beautiful and impressive builds, and they also enjoyed buying gingerbread cookies and hot cocoa from the lobbies!
Second, Disney Springs has a Santa if you want. You have to be at the location to be able to join the virtual queue and then can walk around Disney Springs and/or get dinner around there until it's your time to actually join the line. This was stressful for me, but we timed it right and made it work. Do your research and hope for the best! At Disney Springs, there's also a fun Christmas tree scavenger hunt that our kids really enjoyed. The trees are decorated like different Disney movies or themes.
Third is, of course, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We showed up right when you can get in for the party at 4pm and had our rough idea of what we wanted to do for the night. I always suggest researching, making a rough schedule, but also being comfortable with knowing you may need to deviate from it when time comes. Know your must-dos beforehand though! For us, we prioritized all things Christmas party specific because we've been to Disney several times before and didn't necessarily need to prioritize the rides. That being said, we still rode many rides because lines are much shorter, but for us- priority was the Christmas parade, the Christmas shows/performances, the rides with Christmas overlays, and the special yummy holiday treats. We wore Christmasy t-shirts and shorts for earlier, then later in the evening changed into Christmas PJs, and that worked for the weather we had when we went. Look up the weather beforehand because December in Florida can be very variable.
Finally, but for me, most importantly: Epcot's International Festival of the Holidays. I absolutely loved everything about this. Similar to the party, we made a list of must dos, a tentative schedule, and went in slightly flexible. There were definitely some rides we wanted to hit, but our priorities again were the holiday-specific things. We loved the storytellers in the different lands that help to educate the kids about that culture's holiday traditions. WThere's Las Posadas in Mexico, the mischievous Barn Santa in Norway, Chinese lion dancers, La Befana for Italy, traditional holiday figures like Père Noël and Father Christmas, and a man who tells the story behind Hannukah. The Joyful! Celebration of the Season show celebrating Kwanzaa was fantastic, and the Candlelight Processional was absolutely amazing. We booked a reservation at a restaurant that was part of the package which included timed tickets to Candlelight Processional so that we were guaranteed seats and not stressed about missing that. Although it was a little pricey, it came with dinner too, and we felt like it was worth it for our time and the lower stress. There are typically famous people narrating the Candlelight Processional, but they don't release the dates/list until closer to, so it may be hard to specifically target a preferred narrator. At Epcot, there was also delicious holiday-inspired yummy food to get, as well as some ride overlays (like the Living with the Land ride---try to do this after dark if possible for the lights), and an Olaf-themed scavenger hunt. Have I mentioned my kids love a good scavenger hunt?
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