Why You Can't Trust Disney World's Holiday Dates

The holidays are fast approaching in Disney World, and that means that we’ll start seeing decorations change soon.

Hollywood Studios

Now, Halloween has to come first, of course, but in years past, we’ve often seen an almost immediate shift between Halloween and Christmas (we’ve literally seen it change overnight!), but Disney’s dates are throwing us off this year. Is it possible that Disney will start its holiday season LATER than normal?

This year, Disney World has its official holiday dates as November 14th-December 31st, 2025. So does this mean that we really won’t see any decorations until November 14th, a whole 14 days after Halloween has ended? Well, here’s what we know.

Magic Kingdom

Last year, the official start date of the holidays for the whole resort was November 12th, but Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party started on November 8th, and Jollywood Nights started on November 9th. In 2024, decorations DID go up right after Halloween, so they were largely in place for the parties. You probably don’t want to go to a Christmas party when there are pumpkins everywhere!

Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks

This year, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party begins on November 7th and Jollywood Nights begins on November 8th, so we expect to see decorations up before November 14th.

Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas Time parade

We’re expecting other holiday experiences, such as the Merry Menagerie in Animal Kingdom, the Christmas Tree Stroll in Disney Springs, and special dining options, to begin on November 14th.

Polar Bear Merry Menagerie puppets

Last year, we also saw the holiday decorations stay up past Christmas into January. There were still Christmas decorations up when the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts started January 12th.

Festival of the Arts 2024

They were also up during the runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, which was January 8th. It’s sometimes weird to see the decorations up when in past years, they’ve gone down overnight, but if you ran the marathon, you got to run down Main Street with the giant Christmas tree, which does sound pretty magical.

Christmas in Magic Kingdom

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Everything CONFIRMED for the 2025 Jollywood Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

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