This article is your complete guide to the 2024 Disney World Christmas decorations! Like most families visiting Walt Disney World during the holidays, you might be wondering, when does Disney decorate for Christmas? The great news is it’s a lot earlier than you might think! Did you know there are 25 Walt Disney World Cast Members who work all year round on all of the 2024 Disney Christmas decorations found on the property? With that much detail going into each holiday display it’s no surprise it takes almost the entire month of November to decorate the entire property for Christmas. In this article, we are going to break down when Disney plans to decorate all four Walt Disney World theme parks for Christmas, as well as all of the Disney hotels!
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We are going to start this article with the most important question on this topic which is, when does Disney decorate for Christmas 2024? As a general rule of thumb Disney World Christmas decorations always start to go up at Magic Kingdom park on November 1st with this park being fully decorated by November 3rd. The remaining 2024 Walt Disney World holiday decorations will be completed at the other three Disney World theme parks through out November with Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios projected to be completed by November 6th, 2024. The remaining Walt Disney World hotels will be completed throughout the month of November.
So, when do Christmas decorations go up at Disney World in 2024? Officially the holiday season at Walt Disney World begins on November 6th and runs through December 31st. This was once again confirmed for 2024 as Disney announced it will host Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom starting on November 8th, 2022 which means all of the Christmas lights will be up at the Magic Kingdom before then. However as noted above, and described below the Disney World Christmas lights don’t just appear all at once. The Walt Disney Company does give some of the parks priority, specifically the Magic Kingdom Christmas decorations which we will jump into next!
Related Page: Best Time to Visit Disney World During Christmas
Let’s start with the most popular theme park in the world the Magic Kingdom. So as many of you know Disney hosts it’s popular Halloween events through October 31st. So when does Magic Kingdom switch from Halloween to Christmas? Unofficially November 1st -3rd as Disney has had a reputation for transitioning the Magic Kingdom into a winter wonderland overnight. You can even check out this amazing time lapse video on the official Disney Blog. As you can see the Imagineers quickly turn Main Street USA is magically transformed into a winter wonderland, the day after the last Halloween party.
Officially though, the Holiday season at the Magic Kingdom park begins on November 6th. That is really when almost all of the 2024 Magic Kingdom Christmas decorations are up, and Disney lights Cinderella’s castle. Although this date might seem like it’s early to some, it makes complete sense as historically Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party starts November 7th or 8th.
Another question we see come up a lot is when does the Magic Kingdom record its ABC Christmas parade? And yes, it surprised me too that Disney does not actually tape the Christmas Morning special on Christmas. Although I have to admit it makes complete sense, as that sounds like a logistics nightmare. (& who wants a nightmare before Christmas?..sorry I had to!)
Unfortunately the parade taping has become more and more difficult to predict than in years past. However it’s same to assume it will typically be the first or second week of November.
Another very popular question we receive on this topic is, does Disney decorate Animal Kingdom for Christmas? Disney’s Animal Kingdom is one of the Disney parks with a very loyal fan base, and is also the newest Disney park to receive a Holiday upgrade. The holiday decorations at Animal Kingdom include giant wreaths and Christmas trees found throughout the different lands with a nighttime projection on the iconic Tree of Life in the center of the park. The fourth Disney theme park has quickly become one of our favorite parks decorated for Christmas.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom park is very similar to Magic Kingdom as it is decorated for Christmas in early November with the official holiday season starting right around November 6th, 2024.
Related Page: Complete Guide to EPCOT Festival of the Holidays
The question you might be asking is, when do Disney World Christmas decorations go up at Hollywood Studios? Hollywood Studios hosts some of the most amazing nighttime events during the holiday season including the popular Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! They also have some of the most immersive holiday decorations throughout the entire Walt Disney World resort. Just like the previous two parks, Hollywood Studios officially kicks off the holiday season on November 6th. If you have an opportunity to visit to see these Christmas decorations please go. It’s amazing to see what the Imagineers have been able to do with the newly added Toy Story Land and the Hollywood Tower Hotel icon on Sunset Blvd. You don’t want to miss this park for the holiday season!
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EPCOT is the last park to receive it’s 2024 Disney World Christmas decorations makeover. However they make up for it with their popular Festival of the Holidays and Candle Light Processional. EPCOT officially starts to celebrate the holiday season towards the last few days of November. The main reason being that Disney waits until the EPCOT food and Wine Festival to end before decorating. It’s important to note that it’s going to be an interesting year for Disney Christmas decorations at EPCOT. As many of you know, the park has a ton of construction going on. We will have to keep an eye on this park as we get closer to the Christmas.
So now that we have covered all four theme parks, when do Disney Christmas light go up at the resorts? Unfortunately there is no set order when it comes to the Disney putting Christmas decorations up at the hotels. We can say that all hotels receive their decorations within the last two weeks of November. So if you plan on resort hopping to see all of the Disney World Christmas decorations make sure you visit in December! And the truth is we highly recommend visiting the hotels if you love Christmas. The imagination and creativity that goes into decorating the Disney world Resort hotels is amazing.
This is such a tough question to answer because every Disney World hotel truly has such a unique theme. However some of them just become so much more magical around the holidays, specifically after they are decorated with Christmas lights. Below are our favorite Walt Disney World hotels during Christmas:
Below is a quick video we put together answering the question, when does Disney decorate for Christmas?
So when does Disney take down it’s Christmas decorations in 2024? In many cases as fast as the decorations go up, that’s how fast Disney takes it’s Christmas decorations down. We typically see decorations start to come down a few days after New Years Eve with the exception being the lights on Cinderella’s castle. This typically lasts until right after the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend which has been announced to be back in the begging of 2024!
Officially Disney changes from Halloween to Christmas on November 6th, and the first Disney after hours event will typically follow one or two days after. It’s important to note that this is the official date at the Magic Kingdom park, and the rest of Walt Disney World will decorate for Christmas in the following weeks.
Another common question we have been receiving is, will Disney have their Christmas party in 2024? And yes Disney will have their 2024 Christmas party back at Magic Kingdom park. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party returned in 2022, taking over Very Merriest After Hours, which was a temporary event in 2021.
Another very popular question we receive is, is Disney decorated for Christmas in November? And Disney World is decorated for Christmas starting on November 1st, 2024 and will be completely decorated by November 3rd 2024, This is just in time for the official start of the Holiday Season at Walt Disney World which is November 8th 2024, and we will also see the return of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
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