The holiday season has officially arrived in Disney World, and we’re gearing up for the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Disney Springs

It’s all SO EXCITING! But you can’t have Christmas in Disney World without the dude in the red suit, right? Well, if you need to have a chat with that jolly old man, you can do so RIGHT NOW in Disney Springs. Yep, we just recently visited Santa Claus, and we’re taking you along to experience it with us.

You’ll find the Santa Claus meet and greet at the marketplace near Disney’s Pin Traders, where the Star Wars Trading Outpost used to be (it recently closed). You can check hours on the Disney World website or My Disney Experience app, but it’s usually from 10AM to 10PM from November 8th through December 24th. 

Old Star Wars Trading Post

Once you’ve arrived in Disney Springs, you’ll want to use the My Disney Experience app to enter a virtual queue to meet Santa. You’ll be able to apply for spots in the virtual queue at multiple times throughout the day: 9AM, 11AM, 1PM, 3PM, and 6PM. You’ll receive a notification when it’s time to get in line. Note that the maximum party size is 10 people. Also, there is no standby queue: you must apply for a virtual queue spot to meet Santa. When you arrive, you’ll see signs that say where to enter the line.

Enter here

Because there is a virtual queue, you shouldn’t have to wait TOO long to meet the guy in red.

Waiting in line

Soon enough, you’ll be able to chat with Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas! You’ll also be able to get photos with him (because that’s what we’re REALLY here for, right?). Disney PhotoPass photographers are also on hand to get that perfect Santa photo for you. HI, SANTA

Ho Ho Ho!

The meet-and-greet is sponsored by Bauducco, a company known for its Italian sweets, such as biscuits and cakes. Each visitor will get a free sample panettone just for meeting Santa. Sweets AND Santa? SCORE!

Free mini panettone

You’ll also have an opportunity to buy some sweets to take home. Disney holiday merchandise is available, too!

Disney merchandise is also available

So if you’re visiting Disney Springs, be sure to make time to pop in to say hello to Santa! He’ll be there through December 24th (after that, well, you know, he’ll be a VERY busy guy).

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

EPCOT Has a BIG Festival of the Holidays Problem, and I’m Formally Requesting a Solution ASAP

DON'T MISS A MOMENT
OF HOLIDAY MAGIC

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Holidays at Disney World: DFB's Merriest Guide is a one-of-a-kind resource that will help you get the most out of your holiday vacation at Walt Disney World.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating the holiday season at Disney World, including:

• The COMPLETE schedule of events for the Holiday Season
• How to avoid the crowds on Disney World's busiest days (and when Disney World closes their parks due to capacity!)
• ALL of the events, activities, and holiday additions in Walt Disney World. ALL. OF. THEM.
• And, of course, we'll tell you where to eat!

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MORE Disney World Holiday INFO!

• Learn About Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

• Get All the Details About Disney Jollywood Nights

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Will you be visiting Disney World during the holidays? Is meeting Santa a must for you? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of the Santa Claus meet and greet in Disney Springs. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ