Between Halloween and New Year's Day things get a little crowded on the holiday calendar. When it comes to celebrations, Thanksgiving has been practically muscled out entirely as it largely feels like we all go straight from celebrating Halloween to celebrating Christmas. At Disneyland and Walt Disney World, that's not just a feeling, that's basically what happens, as both parks have already begun celebrating the season.
Halloween only just happened, but barely a week later, both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World are both ready to celebrate Christmas, and the rest of the winter holidays for that matter. The official start of the parks' holiday celebrations began this past Friday, and that means both parks are already well decorated, including, the castle centerpieces of the parks. Check out Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland and Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom.
If you've ever seen the Disney castles decorated for Christmas this is going to look pretty familiar. Thousands of lights simulating ice and icicles while illuminating the castles in an amazing way has been part of the design for a long time. And if you're a fan of Christmas lights in general, it's hard to not be blown away by the way these castles look. There's a reason they're being shown off on the Disney Style Facebook page.
This year, the early holiday makeover has already been put to good use. Walt Disney World spent this past weekend doing its filming for the Disney Christmas Parade that will air on ABC on Christmas Day. It's a fairly early start for that work, which traditionally happens later in the month.
This will be what Disneyland and Walt Disney World look like for basically the next two months. At both parks the holiday festivities last well into the first week of January 2020, so there's plenty of time to plan to find your Christmas cheer. In addition to the beautiful decorations lighting up the various parks, each resort has Christmas themed parades, after hours events, special food selections, and other dedicated celebrations that you'll only see at that time of year.
A few attractions get Christmas themed overlays. At Walt Disney World the Jungle Cruise becomes the Jungle Cruise, and all the jokes receive a holiday makeover of their own.
One place that doesn't undergo a major transformation at Christmas time is Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday. It received a Nightmare Before Christmas Makeover for Halloween that will last through Christmas, returning to its classic form in January.
If you haven't been to Disneyland or Walt Disney World at Christmas time, it's something to behold. Only the largest Scrooge is going to be able to fight the palpable joy that permeates the parks, and most of the people in them. Main Street U.S.A. decorated for Christmas, with its massive Christmas tree in the square, will take you back in time. Nevermind that the time in question never really existed.
If you are one of those people who doesn't care for Christmas, or at the very least doesn't care for Christmas starting the day after Halloween ends, then you'll need to avoid making vacation plans to the parks for the next month or so. All this will still be going strong in early December.
