Walt Disney World’s Christmas season began November 13, 2026, with holiday décor, seasonal entertainment, character appearances and treats across the parks and resort hotels. But returning visitors will find several longtime traditions missing or substantially changed.
At Magic Kingdom, Cinderella Castle no longer receives the physical Cinderella Castle Dream Lights display, which used more than 200,000 lights and ended after the 2019 holiday season. This year, the castle hosts Frozen Holiday Surprise, a projection-based show with characters from Frozen and nighttime effects.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa also will not have its large lobby gingerbread house in 2026. The display, offered since 1999 and known for selling treats from the structure, did not return in 2025 during lobby renovations. Disney has said smaller gingerbread displays will be placed around the resort instead, citing traffic flow in the redesigned lobby.
Changes at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are tied to the closure of DinoLand U.S.A. Chip and Dale’s dinosaur costumes are gone, and the Santa meet-and-greet formerly held near the Dino Institute will not return in its original location. The final portion of DinoLand closed in February 2026 as Disney transforms the area into Tropical Americas.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the June 2025 closure of Muppets Courtyard ended that area’s holiday decorations. The Muppets still appear in the gingerbread-themed segment of Sunset Seasons Greetings on the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
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Guests attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will find a new dance-party lineup at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Disney Jr. Jingle Jam has been replaced by Stitchmas!, featuring Lilo, Stitch and Angel. The separate toy soldier marching-band performances also remain absent, though toy soldiers still appear in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.
Other holiday offerings continue, including Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Disney Jollywood Nights, Animal Kingdom’s Merry Menagerie and EPCOT’s International Festival of the Holidays, which begins November 27 and includes seasonal food, international traditions and the Candlelight Processional.
