Welcome And Holiday Game Plan

Nathan 0:03

Alicea 0:20

Hello everyone, I'm Alicea.

Nathan 0:25

And I'm Nathan.

Alicea 0:26

Welcome to episode 254 of Adventures and Mouse Capades. This week we are talking holiday season.

Nathan 0:34

It is the most magical time of the year.

Alicea 0:38

Yep. Mariah Carey has been let out. She has been thawed for this season.

Nathan 0:43

That's right. She is here. She is ready to sing and break all the crystal.

Alicea 0:48

Yep.

Nathan 0:50

Well, we're going to do a rundown of what is going on at all of the domestic Disney parks for the holiday season. And we might even check in on what's going on at Disney Cruise Line as well. So

Alicea 1:05

we might. Yeah.

Nathan 1:06

Yeah. So with that in mind, let's dive in. Alicea, where do you want

Disneyland Resort Holiday Highlights

Nathan 1:12

to start?

Alicea 1:12

Let's start on the best coast.

Nathan 1:15

Ah, West Coast.

Alicea 1:16

West Coast.

Nathan 1:18

Love it.

Alicea 1:19

So the holidays at the Disneyland Resort for this year, 2026, start on November 13th and they run through January 6th. And Disneyland Resort doesn't have a specific Christmas time party per se, but they do have a lot of other things that are going on. And so we're just going to highlight some of that for you. Of course, all the characters are getting new seasonal attire. They have to.

Nathan 1:46

Well, you have to look their best, of course. Yes.

Alicea 1:48

Well, last year was all the 70th holiday attire. So they have to switch it out again.

Nathan 1:55

Sure.

Alicea 1:55

Yeah.

Nathan 1:56

We got to keep those costumers in business. Also, during the holidays, Sleeping Beauty Castle is decked out in icicle lights, wreaths, and festive decor. Each evening during wintertime enchantment at Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle, the patented Disney Snow or Snope will fall, and a nice show of 80,000 lights will come to life with music.

Alicea 2:23

It's very pretty. Yeah.

Nathan 2:24

Yes, it's very pretty. And you don't need fireworks for that.

Alicea 2:28

You don't, however, there is a fireworks spectacular.

Nathan 2:32

Excellent.

Alicea 2:33

It's called Believe… in Holiday Magic.

Nathan 2:37

And that pause is in there for a reason because it's technically Believe ellipses in Holiday Magic.

Alicea 2:43

Yeah. That's I mean, that's that's why I paused.

Nathan 2:47

True, true. Good read, good read.

Alicea 2:49

Thank you, thank you. So Disney flurries along Main Street, USA, near It's a Small World holiday, and along the rivers of America. So that snow-ish, I guess.

Nathan 3:01

Snope.

Alicea 3:02

Snope. No, no, no, no. They import it directly from the Matterhorn itself.

Nathan 3:08

Got it. From the Matterhorn.

Alicea 3:10

Yeah.

Nathan 3:11

Uh huh.

Alicea 3:12

Wherever that is. Swiss Alps?

Nathan 3:15

Uh it's on the border of France and Italy.

Alicea 3:21

Okay. So the Friddly Alps.

Nathan 3:23

Friddly. I could be wrong there. I'll get corrected if I am.

Alicea 3:28

Yes. Samantha will let us know.

Nathan 3:29

Exactly.

Samantha 3:30

You were close. The Matterhorn is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy.

Alicea 3:35

This show is it's 15 minutes long, and it is currently scheduled at 9.30 p.m. at each night, starting on November 13th. But always check the app because things change.

Nathan 3:47

Absolutely. And neighbors get upset. There is a parade. A Christmas fantasy parade, if you will. And they will because that's what they called it. This is your classic Disney Christmas time parade with lots of characters and princesses, the dancing gingerbread cookies, marching toy soldiers, those weird reindeer, although I think they're epic. And of course, Santa.

Alicea 4:15

Well, if you are looking for the holiday fun with Santa and friends at Fantasyland Theater,

Nathan 4:20

and I am,

Alicea 4:21

it does not exist anymore. Bluey has taken this over.

Nathan 4:26

Oh.

Alicea 4:27

Yeah. I don't know if they're doing any type of holiday bluey thing. I didn't see any anything in the print about it. So right now I believe it's the regular Bluey show that they have.

Nathan 4:39

Hmm. Well, I mean, Bluey's from Australia.

Alicea 4:43

Yeah.

Nathan 4:43

So it would be beachy. It wouldn't be wintery.

Alicea 4:47

They could still do holiday stuff. Holiday keepy uppy.

Nathan 4:52

Oh sure. Okay.

Alicea 4:55

Yeah. So there's nothing at the Fantasyland Theater this year. Who knows? That may change in the future.

Nathan 5:00

Yeah.

Alicea 5:00

But Disney also offers holiday time at the Disneyland Resort Guided Tour this year. It is $120 per person and lasts around two hours. You'll learn about the Disneyland holiday traditions, and the tour does include reserve viewing for the Christmas fantasy parade. It includes holiday treats, and you get lightning lane access for Haunted Mansion holiday and of course a collectible keepsake.

Nathan 5:26

Ooh, probably a pin.

Alicea 5:28

Probably no, I bet it's an ornament.

Nathan 5:31

Oh, yeah, that would be in keeping with the holidays. I like that. Speaking of the Haunted Mansion holiday, there are a couple holiday overlays here in Disneyland. One is, of course, the aforementioned holiday overlay at the Haunted Mansion. This is, of course, themed to the nightmare before Christmas. And there is, as you would expect, a ginger house in the ballroom.

Samantha 5:57

That must be where they keep the holiday redheads. Unless he meant gingerbread house.

Nathan 6:01

And then the other one is it's a small world holiday. There are Christmas lights and a seasonal twist on the music that will just burrow itself right into your brain.

Alicea 6:12

Yes. We didn't get to go into Haunted Mansion a holiday this year. We uh they put it up earlier. They put it up around Halloween time for spooky season. But I love going in there because the gingerbread house, it's real gingerbread and it smells amazing in there. Smells fantastic. And they change, they change what it looks like every single year. So I don't know what the theme is this year. Sometimes they do specials on on YouTube on the Imagineering channel or something like that. So I'll have to look that up.

Nathan 6:40

Yeah, yeah. I bet you it's brown though.

Alicea 6:43

Probably.

DCA Festival Foods And Viva Navidad

Nathan 6:46

Let's hop across the Esplanade and take a look at what's going on in Disney's California Adventure Park for the holidays.

Alicea 6:54

So there isn't a party here, but they do have a festival of the holidays. So this is kind of nice because there's, of course, food, entertainment, and festival merch because there's always festival merch. It's like if you think of Epcot and how they have all the food festivals, it's similar to that. There's festival food booths, and you can buy the sip and savor pass to save a little bit when you're going around and having all the delicious treats.

Nathan 7:22

Very cool. And I would imagine you were able to do kind of that pre-order thing that we've done in the past.

Alicea 7:29

Yes, I think that's just a part of the sip and savor pass just altogether. If you want to look at the treats ahead of time, because you know they have a little booklet that shows everything. You just need to go to one place and you can order it all there. And then you don't get all of it there. You'll have to go to the different food booths to get the individual item you're looking for, but you've already ordered it ahead of time. You don't have to go in and pay at each individual place.

Nathan 7:53

Right. It saves you a lot of time of waiting in line and the checkout. You just need to wait in line at the pickup, which is usually much, much quicker. So something to keep an eye on.

Alicea 8:03

Yeah. They have the Mickey's Happy Holidays Cavalcade at DCA. Uh it's a cavalcade, so it's a shorter type of parade, but they have actual holiday toy drummers, like actual drummers, not toy soldier outfits, I guess.

Nathan 8:18

Okay.

Alicea 8:19

Costumes, plastic things. It's like a marching band outfit, real people there, and they drum.

Nathan 8:26

I mean, drummers are people too.

Alicea 8:28

Yeah, I guess.

Nathan 8:29

Justice for drummers. We also over in DCA have Mirabel's Gifts of the Season. It is a Fiesta de Navidad celebration with stories and songs. I'm imagining that is back in the uh in the corner there in uh the Pixar Pier area.

Alicea 8:51

Possibly. Actually, this may be this may be in um no, I'm thinking Epcot, never mind. I'm not sure what this one is because there are a lot of other things that they have going on. Like over near Carthay Circle, there is a musical Christmas with the mariachi allegrea de Disneyland and Miguel. So stories and songs right at that nice little circle area right in front of Carthay.

Nathan 9:15

Oh, yeah, that kind of central hub there. Yep. Interesting. Interesting. Yeah, I bet the Mirabelle one is in the back corner. He pauses to look up on Disneyland.com. A few moments later. So Mirabelle's Gift of the Season actually is located over in the Paradise Gardens Park, which is kind of that main viewing area for world of color. So I was wrong, and I'm glad I paused and corrected myself.

Alicea 9:51

All right.

Nathan 9:52

Now you were mentioning that we have some stuff going on over with the uh mariachi band over the Carthay Circle. That sounds cool too.

Alicea 9:59

Yeah. And there's also the Disney Viva Navidad, which is a street party fiesta. It is hosted by the three cabaneros. So we have Jose Carioca, Panchito, and Donald in their fiesta best. And this is, I think it's over in the Hollywoodland area, kind of up on that main street over there.

Nathan 10:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wonder if when Donald needs to take a break, they just sub in like a little Christmas tree kind of thing, like one of those, like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree that's like really

Alicea 10:28

and put a sombrero on it.

Nathan 10:30

Yeah. That would be amazing.

Alicea 10:32

This is not the Gran Fiesta tour.

Nathan 10:34

I know, I know. Deep cuts with old references.

Alicea 10:38

Yes.

Nathan 10:38

The Disney nerds know what I'm talking about.

Alicea 10:41

And lastly, for DCA, we have Three Kings Day, and that is on January 6th. And it's where the three wise men are honored at Paradise Gardens. That's just only one day. It kind of closes everything out on January 6th.

Nathan 10:56

Very cool. And there are, of course, some holiday overlays going on here in DCA. We have Luigi's Joy to the Whirl, as I like saying it. Will Wheaton likes cool whip. Anyhow.

Alicea 11:14

And he'd probably like Luigi's Joy to the Whirl as well.

Nathan 11:16

Exactly. Exactly. And then we have Mater's Jingle Jamboree. Yes. So all sorts of holiday musical fun at those two rides there in Carsland.

Alicea 11:29

Yeah. And they deck it all out too. That the land. I mean, they do it for Halloween. They definitely do it for Christmas time, holiday time as well.

Nathan 11:36

Absolutely.

Holiday Dining And Gingerbread Displays

Nathan 11:37

All right, let's move on looking at some other things happening there in the Disneyland Resort over at Storyteller's Cafe at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. We have breakfast and brunch themed with Daisy's holiday pajama party. Yes. Oh my. I hope Daisy has some mimosas out.

Alicea 11:59

Uh, probably, I'm sure. Knowing Daisy. Yeah. Yes. And the dinner is Mickey's Christmas time Carol feast. And this features Clarabelle, Mickey, Minnie, Scrooge, and Goofy as Marley one of these days.

Nathan 12:13

Oh.

Alicea 12:14

I would love to see this. Like, he looks like Marley. He's all like that blue color, looks like Marley's ghost and everything. Yeah.

Nathan 12:21

That's awesome. Someday, someday. Over at Disneyland Hotel, we have Goofy's Kitchen celebrates the holidays. Yes, that is the name of the thing. Man, just all of the words must be named or used to name all of the things. Good grief. Yeah. Anyhow, there's Christmas stuff going on at Goofy's Kitchen.

Alicea 12:42

Yes. And both the Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel have some sort of gingerbread slash confectionery thing going on.

Nathan 12:51

All right.

Alicea 12:51

Grand Cal has a big, huge gingerbread house, uh, and it's usually kind of like Pacific Northwest theme type.

Nathan 13:00

Yeah.

Alicea 13:00

Or West Coast woodsy themed. I don't know how you say it, but whatever. Something like that.

Nathan 13:06

Craftsman.

Alicea 13:06

Craftsman. There you go. And over at the Disneyland Hotel, you have the chocolate/slash confectionery creation there. And this is a really cool, I guess, retelling or something of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Nathan 13:19

Oh, very cool. And I'm sure it's probably a life size to the castle that's over in the park.

Alicea 13:23

Good lord.

Nathan 13:23

That castle's pretty small. It should be easy to do. No?

Alicea 13:28

No.

Nathan 13:30

And a short walk away over in the downtown Disney district, we have Chip and Dale's ornament trail. You purchase an activity map and then find corresponding ornaments on decorated trees throughout the downtown Disney district. Yeah. I'm assuming there's some sort of gift or prize at the end if you find them all.

Alicea 13:50

Yes. But pro tip get your gift when you purchase the map.

Nathan 13:55

Yes. Exactly. That way you don't have to hike back and find the stuff. Yeah.

Alicea 14:00

Yeah.

Walt Disney World Holiday Kickoff

Nathan 14:01

Let's hop across the country and look at holidays over in Walt Disney World in Florida here in 2026. This also runs from November 13th through January 6th. And that's pretty awesome because they are going a full week into January, which is very different from last year when they closed up shop on December 31st. So very cool to see.

Alicea 14:27

Let's uh go over to Magic Kingdom Park and we're going to talk about the parties separately. This is just what the parks have. And then we'll go into the parties.

Nathan 14:35

Sounds like a plan. Yeah.

Alicea 14:36

So at Magic Kingdom, guests can join Frozen Friends from Arendelle as Olaf and over 100 of his Snowgy siblings. Is it Snowgy or Snowy? Uh who knows? Okay.

Nathan 14:48

GIF, GIF. It's all the same.

Alicea 14:50

100 of his snowgies add garlands, ornaments, wreaths, and more to Cinderella Castle during the Frozen Holiday Surprise. There are appearances from Anna, Kristoff, and a magical moment from Elsa as she transforms Cinderella Castle into a glowing ice palace. This show is a dazzling nighttime experience that the guests will not want to miss. So Elsa basically turns the lights on, makes it all sparkly.

Nathan 15:16

Wow. Yeah. Hopefully she's figured out how to undo that because it's Florida. She just needs to, you know, go to sleep and the weather will take care of thawing everything out. You'll be good to go. Yep. For day guests, the Magic Kingdom, it is the same regular parade right now, the Disney Starlight Dream the Night Away. And at least that is what's happening on non-Christmas party nights. Although there is, of course, this special parade that we'll talk about when we go into the party details. Now, it's worth knowing that they do end the party earlier in the season. So basically, day guests have access to all this stuff. And then we will see the Christmas time parade in the Magic Kingdom for regular guests as of December 23rd.

Alicea 16:05

Yeah, that's when you can see Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas time parade. And of course, it's all decked out. There's jolly holiday trimmings and touches all along Main Street USA and throughout the park.

Nathan 16:17

And one of my favorite ride overlays happens here at Magic Kingdom. We don't get a lot of overlays at Magic Kingdom, but we do get one for the jingle cruise. You may hear and see plenty of holiday-themed gags along their 10-minute, 10,000 mile journey that goes on for niles and niles and niles. So make sure to keep a close ear as your skipper guides you through the jungle with a boat full of jolly, pun-filled fun.

EPCOT Festival Storytellers And Cookies

Alicea 16:48

Over to Epcot, there is the International Festival of the Holidays. It starts a little later than the rest of the festivities. This starts on November 27th and runs to December 30th. But you do have the Food and Wine Festival going through, I think, November 21st or something. So there is something. It's just not the holiday stuff until November 27th at Epcot.

Nathan 17:08

Exactly.

Alicea 17:09

This is really neat. I do like the Festival of the Holidays because you have the holiday storytellers at each one of the countries around the world showcase. They share their own legends, their lore, and festive traditions from that country.

Nathan 17:22

Absolutely fantastic. And who can go wrong with a name like Foth? Festival of the Holidays. Foth. Foth.

Alicea 17:31

Better than farts.

Nathan 17:32

Absolutely. Next up we have Joyful Celebration of the Season over at Communi Core Plaza Stage. This is a tribute to Christmas and Kwanzaa with gospel, RB, and holiday-themed songs.

Alicea 17:50

The food booths for the Festival of Holidays are called Holiday Kitchens. They're the same booths as all the other ones, but you also have the holiday cookie stroll that you can take part in.

Nathan 18:03

Sign me up. Next up over at Epcot, we have Olaf's holiday tradition expedition scavenger hunt. Olaf is once again hiding all around World Showcase in each pavilion, and it is up to you to find him.

Alicea 18:20

Then you have the candlelight processional at the America Gardens Theater. We still haven't seen this. Someday. Hear the stirring story of Christmas retold by a celebrity narrator and a large choir with a 50-piece orchestra, herald Trumpets, and the Voices of Liberty. New this year for the celebrities are Benjamin Bratt, Robin Roberts, Jason Kelsey, Josh Groban, and Lacey Chabert. Dining packages are available for an additional cost.

Nathan 18:54

And are highly recommended to make sure you get a seat.

Alicea 18:58

Yeah, they guarantee you a seat.

Nathan 19:00

Yes, yes. We also, of course, have holiday overlays on some of the rides here in Epcot. Perhaps the most famous one is Living with the Land. We have glittering greenhouses galore.

Alicea 19:14

Yes, it's really cool in the evening.

Nathan 19:16

All sorts of festiveness as you are on a nice, relaxing boat ride. And then, of course, we have Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind has three specific holiday songs that are laid in this year.

Alicea 19:31

Added. It was just one last year, and now they have three to choose from.

Nathan 19:35

Fantastic. Um, Samantha, what are those songs?

Samantha 19:39

This year, you'll have the opportunity to get festive with three different seasonal songs shuffled to create a fresh experience for every ride. These are the rockin' holiday tracks you may hear November 25th to January 6th, 2027 on the attraction. It's the most wonderful time of the year by Andy Williams, Christmas Eve, Sarajevo December 24th by Trans Siberian Orchestra, and Christmas rapping by the waitresses.

Nathan 20:00

Oh, very cool. Someday we'll have to get over to Epcot and do Foth. Not this year.

Alicea 20:06

Again, but actually take part in it.

Nathan 20:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hollywood Studios Decor And Ride Overlays

Alicea 20:10

Moving over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. The festivities run from November 4th to January 6th. And of course, it is all decked out at Hollywood Studios. And I like, I really like the decor here because it is very vintage. Some of it looks really weird, but it's really cool. And you can't go wrong with Gertie in a Santa hat holding a holiday ornament in her mouth.

Nathan 20:38

I mean, it's just it's mandatory. Yeah. Yes. Get those pictures. We also have Minnie's holiday dine at Hollywood and Vine, which is a fantastic character dinner pro tip. Book late in the evening if you can. The crowds are a little bit less, and you often get a little bit more interaction with some of those characters on a good night. And uh they can be a lot of fun.

Alicea 21:03

New this year is the Attractions Theater at Walt Disney Presents. They're going to showcase some holiday-themed short films, which is kind of cool. I know one of them is the is the goofy ski short. I love the goofy shorts. They're so fun.

Nathan 21:17

Those are amazing. And then we, of course, have Sunset Seasons greetings. This is a festive Yule Tide projection show on the Hollywood Tower Hotel. You know, because when you think warm and cozy and festive, you think about scary drop rides.

Alicea 21:34

Yes. Indeed.

Nathan 21:37

And keeping up with literal overlays on rides, we have Rock and Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets Obligatory Holiday Overlay. We really need to find some more words to throw in there. But uh, this was just announced this week. This looks absolutely amazing. Of course, they have decked out the queue, they have a new pre show uh movie. And then we have four songs that will be in rotation. We have Holiday Road with Electric Mayhem featuring Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear. We have Christmas, Baby Please Come Home with Electric Mayhem and Jennifer Hudson, Silver Bells, which is Electric Mayhem with Cindy Lauper, and Little Saint Nick with Electric Mayhem.

Alicea 22:22

There you go.

Samantha 22:23

Thanks, Casey Kasem. That was great.

Alicea 22:26

We also have the Alien Swirling Saucers Lily Pads Jam. So they just added Lily Pad to the ride queue and right in front of it just a couple of months ago, along with Toy Story 5. But for Christmas, she's gonna do some Christmas time songs. So we have Deck the Halls, Toy Land, Swirling Swirling Saucers, and Joy to the Swirl.

Nathan 22:49

Ah, the puns.

Alicea 22:50

Yes.

Nathan 22:51

Gotta love

Animal Kingdom Moments And Disney Springs Trees

Nathan 22:52

them. Well, let's go over to Animal Kingdom. We have the Tree of Life Awakenings holiday edition. This is a short projection show and music after dark, and approximately every 10 minutes until the park closes, which is probably about 20 minutes later. Seeing as Animal Kingdom doesn't stay open very late.

Samantha 23:14

Animal Kingdom closes as early as 6 p.m. this time of year, with the exception of a few select nights where you might be able to stay until 7 or 8 p.m.

Nathan 23:21

Sad. Yes. Anyway, moving on. That's not what this episode's about.

Alicea 23:27

There's also the Merry Menagerie, which is kind of around Discovery Island area. These are the cutest puppets of Polar Friends. You got penguins, reindeer, foxes, and polar bears. This is really cool to see.

Nathan 23:41

Merry Menagerie should be on your list of things to go see. And then we have Mickey and Minnie in holiday attire over at Adventurers Outpost for a meet and greet.

Alicea 23:53

Yeah, it's kind of like safari holiday or it's like khaki holiday.

Nathan 23:58

Safolida?

Alicea 23:59

Yeah. That's it.

Nathan 24:02

Nailed it.

Alicea 24:04

Good good job. Yeah.

Nathan 24:05

Thank you.

Alicea 24:06

And over at Disney Springs, there is the Christmas tree stroll. All throughout Disney Springs, there are Christmas trees fully decorated and themed, and they're bigger than you think they're going to be. Pick up a map for the hunt. You can match stickers to the location on the map and get a surprise when you found them all. Or get the prize up front, because just do it.

Nathan 24:24

Just do it. Just do it.

Party Season In Florida Begins

Nathan 24:27

Let's talk about the parties because this is what Florida is known for. Well, at least Disney World is known for during the holidays. We have Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, and we have Jollywood Nights, which started up just a few years ago over at Hollywood Studios.

Alicea 24:48

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is a separately ticketed five-hour event during 25 select nights from Sunday, November 8th. So it just started through Tuesday, December 22nd. Tickets run $189 to $229 per person. They upped the lowest price about $20 this year. The top price stayed the same, but yeah. The event starts at 7 o'clock, but you can enter the park as early as 4 p.m. with your ticket to the party.

Nathan 25:24

On the entertainment front, we of course have Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas time parade. This runs from Frontierland over through Main Street USA. It includes characters, festive holiday attire, gingerbread men, toy soldiers, and wraps up with Santa Claus and of course Snoap on Main Street.

Alicea 25:45

Of course. And then you have the fireworks. This is Minnie's wonderful Christmas time fireworks. It is Cinderella Castle wrapped in holiday projections and festive music and you know things exploding in the sky.

Nathan 26:00

What's more festive than explosions? We also have Mickey's most merriest celebration. This is a Cinderella Castle stage show with Clarabelle Cow, Daisy Duck, and Woody.

Alicea 26:14

Yeah.

Nathan 26:15

That is an interesting combination. Combination.

Alicea 26:18

Yeah, yeah. That's, I mean, that's what they list. I'm sure there's other characters, but I think they take main stage on it. I'm not sure.

Nathan 26:24

Huh.

Alicea 26:25

There's also the Frozen Holiday Surprise, and this is similar to what is over at Disneyland. This is a castle lighting show features Anna, Elsa, and Olaf, and other characters from Disney's Frozen. And they prepare Cinderella Castle for Christmas, and Elsa lights it all up in icicles and prettiness.

Nathan 26:44

Yay!

Alicea 26:45

Yay!

Nathan 26:47

What magic kingdom after hours party would be complete without dance parties? We have holiday DJs and friends at multiple locations throughout the park. We have the Disney Junior Jingle Jam over at Cosmic Rays and Club Tinsel over at that stage in Tomorrowland.

Alicea 27:09

Yeah. Now ride overlays. You get ride overlays specifically or exclusively, I should say, for the party. These are only available during the party. And you have the Space Mountain overlay where it's they have, I don't know, it's like Mannheim Steamroller or something like that. And red and green lights flashing inside. It's pretty cool. Tomorrowland Speedway is all decked out in colors and lights, kind of retro ones too. Mad Tea Party has an overlay. Jungle Cruise turns into Jingle Cruise and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor also has a holiday overlay.

Nathan 27:45

Now, of course, Jingle Cruise is going on during the day as well. But

Alicea 27:48

yes, that's the only one.

Nathan 27:50

Yes, that is the only one you get. And of course, we have other stuffs that happen there during the party. We have cookies and festive beverages all throughout the park. We have exclusive character meet and greets, lots of characters like Jack Skellington as Sandy Claus and Sally, of course. We have characters in holiday attire. Santa Claus is there, and the polar bears as well.

Alicea 28:16

Yeah.

Nathan 28:16

The whole menagerie. No, wait, the menageries that anyhow, there's lots of folks to meet and greet.

Alicea 28:23

Yeah. There are somewhat lighter crowds for the very Merry Christmas party. It used to be a lot lighter, but they're selling more tickets now for some weird reason.

Nathan 28:34

Revenue.

Alicea 28:35

And holiday fun.

Nathan 28:37

And exclusive merch.

Alicea 28:39

Yes, you cannot forget the merch, not just for the parties, but for the whole season.

Nathan 28:43

And if you happen to have an annual pass, that just means that you could buy even more exclusive merch. Yes. Just for pass holders.

Alicea 28:50

There are dessert parties available for an additional additional cost. And those do not include parade viewing, although I think there may be two different ones, and one of them includes parade viewing or fireworks viewing. The other one does not.

Samantha 29:03

Actually, there are two options for Mini's wonderful Christmas time fireworks dessert party. Both include treats at Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant and reserved fireworks viewing. The higher priced dessert party allows guests to remain seated at Tomorrowland Terrace to watch the fireworks. The lower priced dessert party offers viewing from the Plaza Garden Viewing Area. There are no options that include parade viewing unless you book a private VIP tour during the event, but that's going to cost you thousands of dollars. You do you.

Jollywood Nights Glam Shows And Tips

Nathan 29:30

Well, let's talk about Jollywood nights. This event started several years ago. Now it is over at Hollywood Studios. This, as well as the one we were just talking about at Magic Kingdom, is a separately ticketed five-hour event on select nights running from November 7th through January 5th. Now it was only through December 22nd last year. So this party actually is extending all the way through the season. So that's kind of cool. Tickets run $169 to $199. That lower end is $10 more than last year. The event starts at 7 30, but you can enter the park as early as 5 30. So a little bit shorter time window than what you get over in the Magic Kingdom. And I don't remember when it ends. It's like a half hour earlier than I thought it was.

Alicea 30:27

It ends at 12:30. It's five hours.

Nathan 30:29

Oh, that would be math. Ta-da!

Alicea 30:32

Ta-da! Jollywood nights is Hollywood glam meets holiday cheer. A lot of people will dress up in fancy duds for this. It's really cool to see people. Yeah.

Nathan 30:43

It's like Dapper Days holiday edition.

Alicea 30:45

Yes. Lots of sequins.

Nathan 30:46

Yes, it's very cool. It's very cool. We have Disney Holidays in Hollywood at Theater of the Stars. This is hosted by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy with appearances by Tiana, Belle, Minnie, and Mickey, and they're all accompanied by singers and dancers and live jazz musicians. This is an amazing show.

Alicea 31:10

Yes.

Nathan 31:10

Love live music. We have seen this. This is a fantastic party. It's probably not as geared towards younger kids as the one is over in Magic Kingdom. I would say this one is older kids, but really this is Disney adult kind of uh holiday party, but it's so much fun. Uh, definitely don't miss this show. It's fantastic.

Alicea 31:33

There's still plenty for kids to do, though.

Nathan 31:35

Sure, sure.

Alicea 31:36

Over where the frozen sing-along usually takes place, it has changed for the party. It is now what's this? Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas sing along. This is really fun. I like how the take that they do on Nightmare Before Christmas for this.

Nathan 31:52

Yes. And the Jack Skellington puppet is incredible. Yeah. And it does say sing along.

Alicea 31:59

Yeah.

Nathan 32:00

You're welcome to sing along. When we've seen this show, nobody was really singing because everybody was like, whoa, this is insanely awesome. Like it's a heck of a production. Yeah.

Alicea 32:14

There are lots of characters around the park, lots of them. Of course, they're all in their holiday attire. You can see Phineas and Ferb, and you can also see Chewbacca celebrating Life Day over in Batuu, which is kind of cool.

Nathan 32:28

Bring your robes.

Alicea 32:30

Yeah. Red.

Nathan 32:31

Yeah, exactly. We have the Twilight Soiree at the Tip Top Club. This is a 1930s swing style celebration over by the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Live musicians, dancers usually come out. There happens to be a bar over in that corner. This is a fantastic place to go. The line does get long.

Alicea 32:56

Yes.

Nathan 32:57

This, perhaps, of anything, might be worth a rope drop for you if you are going to this party. Highly recommended. It's a fantastic area of the park. The music's great. The vibes are immaculate. The drinks aren't half bad either. Yeah.

Alicea 33:13

There's the Pixar Disco over at Pixar Plaza. You have a lot of different Pixar characters that show up. Kind of a mini dance party thing over there, too. And um, we've heard that Sadness is over there and joins the dance party too.

Nathan 33:30

Yes. Uh we meant to go have uh a dance with sadness and we forgot or just ran out of time. Uh and having seen sadness kind of getting her groove on ish with other people on uh on socials, don't miss on this one. This is another must do.

Alicea 33:53

There is Jazzy Holidays at the Hollywood Brown Derby. It is recommended if you want to do this to get reservations ahead of time because this is inside the restaurant itself.

Nathan 34:05

This is a special meal and music and all the rest of that stuff going on in the brown derby. Yeah. New this year, we have the Checking It Twice Lounge. This is over in the brand new animation courtyard. Yeah. So not sure what that is all about as we're recording. The first Jollywood nights is going on right now. Yeah. So I'm sure if we hop onto social media right now, we'll see some stuff, or we'll probably see some YouTube videos tomorrow or in the coming days. Sounds interesting. That is a beautiful area of the park that they have created. So I'm very interested to see what they do with this uh new offering.

Alicea 34:44

There is again the ice skating show titled Glisten in front of the Chinese theater, where you have ice skaters and there's some character appearances as well.

Nathan 34:54

Skippable. I'm sorry. This is skippable. It's

Alicea 34:59

I think for for kids, they would love to watch this though. There's not a great visibility area because it is it's not like elevated a lot. So if you're standing around, it's kind of hard to see. So the kids will go close to it and sit down so others can, yeah.

Nathan 35:16

Right. And the space that they have for ice, and it's not ice, it's the fake ice skating rink stuff, is just not that big. So like it's not very big. They do some leaps and spins and things like that, but it's it's

Alicea 35:29

I don't know how they do all that in that small space. It's it's amazing, honestly.

Nathan 35:34

Yeah. Still, though, I I don't know. For me,

Alicea 35:36

not for us.

Nathan 35:37

Not for us.

Alicea 35:38

Yeah.

Nathan 35:38

Yeah. Uh along the same lines, look, we actually really love Jollywood nights, but these two things are not where it's at for us. The last one is the nighttime spectacular jingle bell, jingle bam. This is projections, fireworks, lasers, and music there in front of the theater. Um, if you're thinking about fireworks like we see over in the Magic Kingdom, you might want to tone down your expectations a little bit. It's just a little yeah, yeah. It's more of like the stuff that they shoot off of the castle over in Magic Kingdom, not the big ones that they shoot off like over the air.

Alicea 36:14

Yeah. No, it's not even that big though.

Nathan 36:16

No, exactly. It's it's oh, that's

Alicea 36:19

they're sparklers. They're nice. Yeah, it's just it's embellishments.

Nathan 36:23

True. But there is so much going on during Jollywood nights. I wouldn't. This is just our opinion. Oh, yeah. Y'all should go do you. But these two things, if you hit them and you happen to see them, great. If you don't, I don't think you miss that much.

Alicea 36:41

Unless you really like projection shows and ice skating, then go for it. Yeah. That's it for the parties.

Resort Rules Changes And Sleigh Rides

Alicea 36:52

Onto resorts. So the resorts do decorate, but Disney has changed their rules. Unless you're staying there or have valid dining reservations, you're not really gonna see the different resorts.

Nathan 37:05

No more resort hopping.

Alicea 37:07

No.

Nathan 37:07

That's a bummer.

Alicea 37:09

It is because I really enjoyed when we were there last time we were there, hopping around to all the resorts and seeing all the gingerbread creations. That was really cool. And there's no gingerbread at Grand Floridian this year. This is the first year that they don't have this. They've had it for the past 25 years. Or no, they've had it for 25 years. Yeah.

Nathan 37:32

Well, they decided to build a bar. Yep. And there's no more room in the lobby there.

Alicea 37:39

So we haven't seen what the bar looks like there. We will check it out at some point. But I know a lot of people were disappointed that they didn't have a gingerbread house this year.

Nathan 37:48

I'm disappointed that that bar doesn't have running water. Like, so they're limited in what anyhow. This is not what this uh episode is about. We're moving on.

Alicea 37:59

Moving on.

Nathan 37:59

You can do holiday horse-drawn sleigh rides at the Tri-Circle D Ranch. That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure you have to go make reservations to go do that.

Alicea 38:11

You can do that online. Yeah, it's you definitely have to make reservations.

Nathan 38:15

And let's just be honest, the sleighs are probably gonna be on wheels. You're probably not gonna find a lot of snow.

Alicea 38:22

This is true.

Nathan 38:24

Yeah. There's only so much Snope can do.

Alicea 38:26

But it's holiday horse-drawn.

Nathan 38:28

Oh, they're holiday horses.

Alicea 38:29

They are holiday horses.

Nathan 38:30

Got it.

Alicea 38:31

Jingle bells, no bams.

Nathan 38:33

Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.

Alicea 38:38

Let's go to the next thing, shall we?

Nathan 38:40

Let's do that.

Disney Cruise Line Very Merrytime At Sea

Nathan 38:42

We're gonna go offshore and look at what Disney Cruise Line does. This is what Disney calls their very merrytime season. This is on most sailings this time of the year, although I don't believe you're going to find merrytime cruising options or whatever you want to call that over on the Disney Adventure sailing out of Singapore. I think this is just on the ships that are going to be sailing out of North America. When you are booking your cruise, make sure that you look uh it will explicitly call out that this is a merrytime cruise. Yeah.

Alicea 39:20

It'll say very merrytime, and there'll be a nice little icon of a Christmas tree.

Nathan 39:23

There you go.

Alicea 39:25

So the ships are all decorated with trees and garlands and lights and wreaths. It's very, very pretty. There's holiday music throughout the halls. So they change all the interior music, music, whatever you would call that. There is still some Disney themed ones, but there's also some non-Disney themed music as well. But it's all holiday themed. Yes. I all I can think of right now is want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Nathan 39:50

Well, there's also an excellent playlist, along with lots of decor updates, over at Castaway Key and Lookout Key. And that playlist happens to be the same at both of those islands because we did a merrytime cruise, I think it was last year, one of our cruises. Yeah.

Alicea 40:09

I think so.

Nathan 40:10

That we hit that uh hit both of those islands or two different crew. I don't know.

Samantha 40:14

Your November 2025 cruise on the Disney Magic from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Galveston, Texas, hit both Lookout and Castaway.

Nathan 40:21

Whatever. It's the same playlist. And Alicea has it published on her Spotify because that's the kind of people we are. And if I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure we spun that while we were opening presents on Christmas morning last week.

Alicea 40:34

Probably. That would make sense.

Nathan 40:36

Yes. That sounds like something we would do.

Alicea 40:40

Also on the ship, there is story time with Santa, and there's themed activities and crafts as well. You can see holiday movies up on Funnel Vision and in the theaters inside the ship as well. And of course, you have gingerbread houses in the ships too. It smells so good.

Nathan 40:58

In each of the grand lobbies, there is a gingerbread house. They do such a fantastic job. And also in those lobbies, there are large Christmas trees, lots of decor, all sorts of fun stuff there. With uh, I mean, Disney goes all out for all the decorations. Just know that that carries over to the ships as well. We do have two special events on these sailings. We have Mickey and Minnie's holiday party. This is a deck party, so your classic song and dance and jukebox party there. And then, of course, we have Mickey and Minnie's Merrytime Tree Lighting, which typically is on the first night of your cruise. It will be in the navigator app in terms of what time this is happening. And guess what happens during the tree lighting ceremony?

Alicea 41:46

It doesn't catch on fire.

Nathan 41:48

One would hope. Yes. No, the lights turn on.

Alicea 41:52

Yay!

Nathan 41:53

I'm sure there is singing and dancing and much merriment.

Alicea 41:56

Yes.

Nathan 41:56

We were probably at a bar.

Alicea 41:58

Probably. There's a lot of stuff that we just don't do anymore because we don't have littles.

Nathan 42:05

Yes, that's very true. Yeah. That's very true. And that's okay. We all move on into different seasons of life. Our season happens to be at the bar.

Alicea 42:15

Most of the time, yes.

Nathan 42:16

Most of the time. Or the spa.

Alicea 42:18

Or the spa. Mainly the bar.

Nathan 42:20

Yeah, main.

Wrap Up And Where To Find Us

Nathan 42:23

Well, with that, as we wrap up, just like our presence, a reminder, we are not affiliated with Disney or any of its subsidiaries. Everything you hear on this show is based on personal experiences, opinions, things we find on Disney's website, and questionable snack choices. We are, however, proudly affiliated with fun. And jingle bell, jingle, bam!

Alicea 42:48

If you're planning a Disney vacation, we always recommend working with a travel advisor or reaching out to Disney directly to help make the magic happen. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please take a second to rate and review the show. It really helps us out and helps other Disney fans find us.

Nathan 43:04

If you have a question, a topic suggestion, or a Disney story you'd love to share, please send us an email at podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Alicea 43:13

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads at OurMousCapades, and on YouTube at OurMousCapades Pod. Also, please don't forget to share us with your friends, your family, and Disney fans of all ages.

Nathan 43:25

Thanks so much for listening. Happy holidays, and we'll be back in your ears next week.

Samantha 43:31

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye-bye.

Nathan 43:41

The dancing gingerbread cookies, marching toy shoulder, marching toy shoulder soldiers, soldiers, soldiers. Shoulders. Marching toy soldiers, those weird reindeer, although I think they're epic, and of course, Santa.