The holidays are just around the corner at Disney Parks! This is our favorite time to visit Walt Disney World and now Disney has announced more entertainment to enhance the festive atmosphere. In this post, we’ll cover the news about what’s coming to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios this holiday season before adding our commentary to the end.

Meet Santa Claus at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park 

Over the last few years, you may have seen Kris Kringle waving to guests as he sailed around the waterways of Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the holiday cavalcades. This year, you can meet Santa Claus at the 75th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party on the patio at Restaurantosaurus. As the guest of honor himself, Santa’s checked his list twice and invited everyone to join him in this festive new location as the students and faculty of the Dino Institute celebrate the season in (pre)-historic fashion from November 12-December 24. Bring the whole family, because a Santa sighting is perfect for the little ones! 

After stopping by Restaurantosaurus to say “ho ho ho” to Santa, be sure to hoof it back to Discovery Island for the return of the happiest little animal herd around – the Merry Menagerie. These enchanting puppets feature winter animals of all sorts.

You can also meet the holiday hosts with the most, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, dressed in their festive finest together at Adventurers Outpost. 

And, after a full day of shopping for your gift list (Merry Menagerie merch, anyone?) and sampling delicious goodies (stay tuned for a holiday Foodie Guide coming soon!), stop by after dark for sensational, seasonal Tree of Life Awakenings that bring the spirits of winter animals to life. 

Fresh Festive Entertainment at Disney’s Hollywood Studios 

We all know Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a festive place to be with the retro holiday decorations – and this year, there are three new entertainment acts to fill the whole family with joy, all starting November 12! My Disney Experience will have the details as far as days and showtimes to catch the new acts. 

Marvel at the skills of Juggling Elves – these holiday helpers deliver festive cheer with a side of shenanigans as they show off their skills of juggling, comedy and more! 

Catch the jaunty jolly tunes of the Holiday Spirit Band. This dynamic brass group will make everyone in your party want to join in the fun and stroll into Santa’s good graces. 

And pick up your feet and march along with Seasons Jukebox as they bring all the performance and pep of a collegiate marching band. Hard-hitting horns, rocking drummers, and dazzling dancers will bring to life everyone’s favorite holiday classics and more.   

Of course, other beloved Disney’s Hollywood Studios holiday fun also begins on November 12 – like the holiday overlay to For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration; another fabulous place to find Santa greeting guests at It’s A Wonderful Shop; and Sunset Seasons Greetings – with festive projections on The Hollywood Tower Hotel and magical snowfall – all along Sunset Boulevard once the sun sets on Tinsel Town.  

Commentary

Some unexpected good news is always nice! Disney World has been bringing back live entertainment as of late and these new additions should add to the atmosphere. There’s not a significant amount of commentary I have to add about the news but I did want to mention each park individually.

Animal Kingdom sneakily has some of my favorite holiday festivities already. The aforementioned Merry Menagerie is some of the most charming atmospheric entertainment Disney has ever featured. Walking around Discovery Island when those puppets are out is so delightful. Combine that with the beautiful Tree of Life Awakenings and subtle decor elsewhere around the park makes for a fantastic day!

Adding in Santa over at the soon-to-be-closing Dinoland makes sense. There’s just nothing else over there currently so adding something to do after people stop by Dinosaur will help spread people around. On top of that, the small backstory they’ve created works. It’s a perfect spot for St. Nick to come into Animal Kingdom.

Moving over to Hollywood Studios, Juggling Elves is very funny and will probably draw crowds thousands deep! Who wouldn’t want to see elves juggling? Rumor is Legolas is planning to showcase his talents there every now and then.

The other acts don’t lend themselves to as many jokes but I am more excited about them. Hollywood Studios badly needs live music and Holiday Spirit Band and Seasons Jukebox address that head on. I’m curious on where the former will perform, assuming they aren’t a roving band. If elves can juggle though, I won’t count anything out!

All in all, this is great news that will add to a wonderful time of year at Disney World. I’m tempted to book a quick weekend there the more and more I think about it. Unfortunately, that isn’t the cheapest proposition so I’ll probably pass this time around as we were there just about a month ago. Still, if anyone is considering a last minute trip for the holidays then we’d highly encourage it!

Are you excited for these new holiday additions? Let us know your thoughts or any questions you might have in the comments below. Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide to help you out. Looking for discount tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!