Christmas at Walt Disney World starts this week, with Magic Kingdom trading its Halloween decor for holiday wreaths, garland and the Town Square Christmas tree beginning November 1, 2026. Jingle Cruise returns November 3, Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets: Obligatory Holiday Overlay debuts November 4 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the first Disney Jollywood Nights party is Saturday, November 7.
Disney’s official holiday season does not start until November 13, but the parks never wait for the calendar. Here is everything you can see this week, what starts next week and what we have learned from covering the switchover every year. Daylight saving time also ended this morning, so the sun goes down earlier tonight and the lights on Main Street, U.S.A. get a longer evening.
Magic Kingdom Christmas Decorations Go Up Overnight – Magic Kingdom flips first because Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party starts Sunday, November 8. The changeover follows the same pattern every year. Crews pull the pumpkins and fall garland after the last Halloween party, and the Christmas decor goes up in phases over the first few nights of November.
The giant Christmas tree in Town Square goes up overnight while the park is closed, and Disney recently shared a time-lapse of crews raising it. Main Street, U.S.A. gets its wreaths, garland and lights, toy soldiers stand guard near the tree, and Cinderella Castle picks up holiday projections after dark. Frozen Holiday Surprise returns this season too, with Elsa turning the castle into a glowing ice palace, so check the My Disney Experience app for this week’s showtimes. Our Magic Kingdom guide has the rest of the park.
Jingle Cruise Returns November 3 – Jingle Cruise comes back to Adventureland on Tuesday, November 3, ten days before the official start of the holiday season and five days before the first Christmas party. That makes 2026 the third November 3 opening in four years. The skippers swap in a full set of holiday jokes, the queue and river scenes pick up homemade holiday decorations, and the ride is included with regular park admission, so you do not need a party ticket to take a holiday cruise.
Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets Gets Its First Holiday Overlay November 4 – Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets: Obligatory Holiday Overlay runs November 4, 2026 through January 6, 2027, and it is the first holiday season for the Muppets version of the coaster. Holiday music plays in the courtyard around the guitar marquee. Inside G-Force Records, Dr. Teeth, Animal, Floyd, Janice, Zoot and Lips are deep in rehearsals for their holiday spectacular while a few Muppet friends drop by to help. Scooter and his penguin audio engineers are still trying to get the band across town in time for the show.
The Electric Mayhem recorded four holiday songs for the overlay, and each ride plays one of them. “Holiday Road” features Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear. Jennifer Hudson joins the band on “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” and Cyndi Lauper sings “Silver Bells.” The Electric Mayhem takes “Little Saint Nick” on its own. More on the park is in our Hollywood Studios guide, and Disney posted the full set list on the Disney Parks Blog.
Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams also switches to holiday music on November 4. DJ Lilypad spins “Toyland,” “Deck the Halls,” “Swirling, Swirling, Saucers” and “Joy to the Swirl” through January 6.
Disney Jollywood Nights Opens Saturday, November 7 – The first Disney Jollywood Nights of 2026 takes over Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Saturday, November 7. The party runs 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., ticket holders can enter as early as 5:30 p.m., and November 7 tickets are $179 for adults. This year the event runs 15 nights through January 5, the first time Jollywood Nights has gone into January.
Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy host Disney Holidays in Hollywood at Theater of the Stars, with Mickey, Minnie, Belle and Tiana joining the show. What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along, Pixar Disco, Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby and the Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club all return, and Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! closes the night over the Chinese Theater. New this year is the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge in Animation Courtyard, with a live DJ and specialty drinks. Holiday Fiesta en la Calle is not on this year’s list.
The Muppets holiday overlay and Alien Swirling Saucers both run during the party, so Jollywood guests get the new holiday rides with shorter lines. Dinosaur Gertie also gets a full merchandise lineup this year, including a Loungefly bag, a Spirit Jersey, an ornament and a headband she shares with Duffy and Ollie the Gingerbread Man.
Our Take: We have seen Glisten! every year since it opened. The skaters are amazing, but the show always felt like it was missing something. This year Donald, Daisy and Genie join the skaters for the first time, and that is exactly the missing piece. We will be at the opening night on November 7th with our own photos, plus separate stories on the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge and on George Sanderson and Needleman from Monsters, Inc. meeting guests.
Holiday Merchandise Is Already in the Parks – You do not have to wait for the parties to shop. Holiday merchandise is already on the shelves in the parks, and World of Disney at Disney Springs is fully decorated for Christmas. The Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party collection, including T-shirts, a pullover, an ear headband, an ornament and a magnet picture frame, is sold at the Emporium on Main Street, U.S.A.
Popcorn bucket collectors are still waiting on Walt Disney World’s holiday lineup. Disneyland has confirmed a Mickey Train light-up popcorn bucket and a Holiday Stitch Christmas Tree sipper, and we will add every Walt Disney World holiday bucket to our Disney Popcorn Buckets guide the day it drops. Last year’s lineup is in our final 2025 bucket list.
What Starts Next Week at Walt Disney World – Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party opens Sunday, November 8, the first of 25 nights through December 22. Parties run 7 p.m. to midnight with entry from 4 p.m., and Disney Starlight does not perform on party nights. On November 10 and 11, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade steps off at 2 p.m. for the annual ABC holiday special taping, a rare chance to see the party parade with a regular ticket. Annual Passholder reservations for Magic Kingdom on November 11 are already full.
Disney Springs starts its holidays on November 11, when the Christmas Tree Stroll returns with new Hallmark, Bluey and Monsters, Inc. trees and nightly snowfall comes back to Town Center. Santa also returns to Disney Springs on November 11 with a virtual queue. The official holiday season begins November 13, and that day Santa’s Holiday Grove opens at Disney’s Animal Kingdom across from the Finding Nemo show at Theater in the Wild. Our Animal Kingdom guide has more on the park.
Later in the month, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind adds a holiday playlist on November 25, the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays opens November 27, and Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True premieres on Hallmark Channel November 28.
Walt Disney World’s official holiday season runs November 13, 2026 through January 6, 2027, and we will be in the parks all season. For daily updates, follow our Walt Disney World news.
