Christmas is only 166 days away, so now is the perfect time to prepare for the holiday season in the Disney parks!

OK, so it’s still a little ways off…but today Disney announced several big changes and returns to the festive season celebrations in Disney World! Here’s all the news you might have missed this morning!

There were several changes to the Disney World holiday festivities this year!

Disney Very Merriest After Hours Replaces Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

The biggest change that Disney World made for the holiday celebrations is that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will NOT be returning to the parks this year! Instead, there will be the Disney Very Merriest After Hours event, which is a four-hour event that takes place in Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

At the Disney Very Merriest After Hours, guests can see character appearances around the park, get special holiday treats, ride over 20 Magic Kingdom attractions (including some that have holiday themes), see the return of Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, and more! The event runs on select evenings from November 8th to December 21st of this year, and tickets will go on sale next month.

Read MORE about the new holiday After Hours Event here! 

Holiday Entertainment Is Returning Around the Parks

In addition to the return of Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, Disney has announced that holiday projections will be returning to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.

We’ll see the Cinderella Castle dressed up for Christmastime, the Tower of Terror decked out to look like a Muppets-themed gingerbread house (and more), and the holiday edition of the Tree of Life Awakening in Animal Kingdom! Each of the holiday projections will be alternating with the 50th Anniversary Celebration projections, which begin on October 1st of this year.

Read more about the return of holiday projections here! 

Dates for EPCOT’s International Festival of the Holidays Were Announced

At EPCOT, the International Festival of the Holidays will be back from November 26th to December 30th of this year!

Disney has confirmed that Holiday Kitchens around EPCOT will return, along with Voices of Liberty performances. The Cookie Stroll will also be back, which has guests walk around the park and try different holiday cookies that have been inspired by countries around the world and attractions around EPCOT in the past.

We can’t wait to experience this festival again!

Read more about the return of Festival of the Holidays here! 

What Are We Missing?

In Disney’s announcement about the return of the Festival of the Holidays to EPCOT, one big event was conspicuously absent: the Candlelight Processional. Although the announcement did NOT state that the processional would be canceled, it also didn’t mention it as returning to the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays this year. Last year, the Candlelight Processional was canceled due to the pandemic. We’ve seen the plans for several holiday events to return to EPCOT from previous years, so we’ll keep an eye out for any more information about this big EPCOT event!

Click Here to See What We Know So Far About EPCOT’s Candlelight Processional.

Another Disney holiday event that hasn’t yet been confirmed as returning is the Cinderella Castle Holiday Dream Lights.

This Disney holiday tradition had Frozen characters come out in the evening and cover the Cinderella Castle with “snow,” which was thousands of white lights all over the Castle. Last year, the holiday projections replaced the Dream Lights. And this year, there will also be 50th Anniversary Celebration projections on the Cinderella Castle (alternating with the holiday projections), so it may be unlikely that we see Dream Lights this year. Disney has NOT yet announced whether Dream Lights will be back this year, though!

Click Here to See What We Know So Far About the Holiday Dream Lights in Magic Kingdom!

Keep following DFB for more Disney holiday news and updates!

Click Here to Read More About the New After Hours Even in Magic Kingdom for the Holiday Season!

Are you heading to Disney World for the holidays? Tell us in the comments!