When Does Disney World Decorate for Christmas?

Halloween is almost here, but like Jack Skellington, we’re starting to get a little curious about Christmastime.

Currently, Disney World is busy celebrating Spooky Season with lots of Halloween decorations, snacks, and, of course, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. But as much as we LOVE Halloween time in Disney World, we’re sure many people are starting to wonder when Disney decorates the parks for the winter holidays.

It’s wild to think that October is already halfway over and that we’ll soon be celebrating Thanksgiving and then Christmas and the other winter holidays! Where has this year gone? As you may know, Disney World is a place for celebration, and it moves quickly from celebrating Halloween right into Christmas.

In fact, we often see winter decorations appearing BEFORE Halloween is even over! In 2022 and 2023, we saw the first Christmas decorations show up in Disney’s Animal Kingdom on October 25th and October 24th, respectively. The classic animal lanterns made their appearance in the parks before Halloween was even over. That means we might start seeing some of these same decorations SOON!

Then, just a couple of short days later, we saw Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ first set of decorations in 2023. On October 26th, the famous Sunset Boulevard stars appeared, leading the way to the Tower of Terror.

Finally, on November 2nd, 2023, Magic Kingdom followed suit with decorations of its own. The Main Street Train Station and the light poles along Main Street, U.S.A. got their holiday decor!

EPCOT was the last park to start getting its Christmas decorations. They began popping up on November 5th, 2023! Creations shop decor and the snowflakes in the France pavilion were the first to go up.

So, all of that to say, we could be seeing Christmas decorations popping up in the next week or two around Disney World! As we get near the end of October and into November, Disney could be planning the big swap over soon. Keep your eyes out for the decor at the parks and hotels because some of the hotels have the very best holiday decorations in Disney World!

For example, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort is known for its life sized gingerbread house that appears each year in the lobby of the hotel. Last year, construction began on it at the end of October, and it officially opened on November 8th! So we might start seeing the beginning of the construction process soon.

Over at Disney’s Beach Club Resort, you can see a giant gingerbread carousel! In 2022, the carousel opened on October 31st, while last year, it showed up on November 8th. Several other resorts have amazing gingerbread displays. Disney usually announces which hotels will have them, so we’ll keep you updated once we learn where to find them this year!

We’re getting ready to trick-or-treat on Halloween, but then it’s time to play some Mariah Carey and eat all the tasty holiday baked goods. You can still get your Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or Jollywood Nights tickets, so don’t miss out on all the holiday fun coming soon around the parks!

For more Disney news, keep following AllEars!

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Are you excited for the holidays in Disney World? Let us know in the comments!