The final days of 2024 are upon us, and with Christmas and New Year’s Eve right around the corner, families across central Florida are looking for ways to make this holiday season feel a little more festive. It’s always a hard sell in Florida, where our winter months are so warm our snowbirds come down here in board shorts. That’s why theme parks like Walt Disney World work extra hard to give families as much festive cheer as possible!
And with just a few days left until we ring in the new year, there’s still time to cram in as much holly-jolly as we possibly can, to make this Christmas feel a little more merry – and no one gets more Disney fun than Annual Passholders! With a few extras on Santa’s cookie plate this year, Disney is making sure that their Passholders feel the cheer with these exclusive perks:
While you might not need an annual pass to see the stunning Tree Walk at Disney Springs this year, passholders do get a little something extra under the Christmas tree this year! With their own dedicated tree and special Disney PhotoPass experience, there’s no better place to take family Christmas photos or just goof around and make some memories with friends and family! This Passholder-exclusive experience can be found in the Marketplace Stalls in Town Square, and the Disney PhotoPass experience operates daily from 10 AM to 10 PM, so there’s plenty of time to check out this offering! And be sure to bring your MagicBand+ to experience everything that the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll has to offer! This offering is available until December 30th, so be sure to head down to Disney Springs before then for a dazzling night of lights and themed Christmas Trees – if you stop at the exit of the LEGO store, you can even grab a map to complete the tree scavenger hunt across the property!
If you’re in the parks visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you may also be able to find the Merry Menagerie! This yule-tide offering features a variety of arctic animals roaming around, as puppeteers pilot artisan-crafted puppets of some of the arctic’s most endearing little critters – and some not so little critters – at Discovery Island. From polar bears to arctic foxes, reindeer, and even a rookery of penguins, these beautiful creatures will be an unforgettable experience!
Be sure to get there early, though! This experience is an all-ages display, but closes at 5 PM. Don’t miss these beautiful puppets and the talented puppeteers who bring them to life!
Or, if the Animal Kingdom isn’t on your agenda for the day, maybe check out the Sunset Seasons Greetings show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This beautiful show features music and projections against the Hollywood Tower Hotel at the back of the park, and offers guests some mesmerizing merriment once the sun sets on Hollywood Studios; starting at 6 PM and running until 7 PM (or until 12:30 AM for those with a Jollywood ticket!), this is the perfect way to close out a long day in the theme parks, or just to say goodbye to Hollywood Studios before park-hopping to The Magic Kingdom.
And speaking of The Magic Kingdom, another nighttime spectacle awaits guests at this flagship park; Frozen Holiday Surprise is the perfect way to close out a long day at the parks, with a dazzling new show set against the centerpiece of the park at Cinderella Castle. Watch as Cinderella’s castle is transformed into a shimmering palace of ice by Queen Elsa and her friends; Olaf and over 100 of his snowgie siblings are there to help deck out the castle in garlands, wreaths, and ornaments to complete the festive look!
This show starts at 6:15 PM, so be sure to get there early for a good spot! In addition to the projections against Cinderella Castle, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf will be appearing on the stage at Cinderella Castle, so be aware that there is a live show element to this experience as well!
And most importantly, be aware of the varying closing times for this season – with New Year’s Eve just a handful of days away, Walt Disney World Resort has posted their modified hours for the big day! You’ll be able to ring in the new year at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, but Animal Kingdom closes at 8 PM on New Year’s Eve. With so many animals on property, celebrating in that park becomes a hazard – so if you’re interested in ringing in 2025 at a Disney Park, make arrangements to be in one of the other parks when the ball drops!
Magic Kingdom and EPCOT are both open until 1 AM, but Hollywood Studios closes at 12 AM. For those of you looking to avoid the mass exodus of thousands of guests all trying to leave the park at the same time, opt for one of the parks that close later. This will give guests a chance to trickle out over the hour after the new year, which makes exiting less of a “canned sardine” experience.
Also be aware that Disney’s Boardwalk closes at 10 PM, and Disney Springs closes at 11:30 PM on New Year’s Eve! If you’re looking to ring in the new year, you’ll have to be in the parks rather than one of their public properties.
2025 is almost here, and it’s going to be incredible! Disney has already announced tons of new offerings that are going to debut in 2025, which you can read about below:
So, really, what better way to usher in the new year than with Walt Disney World Resort? There’s already a whole new world at Disney planned for us! Who wouldn’t be excited to see it?
