Back from a vacation to Walt Disney World where Christmas celebrations merge traditions, technologies and stories to weave holiday magic.

During the months of November and December, Walt Disney World produces Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom on several evenings. It is a special ticketed event which features limited attendance, holiday shows with Disney characters and fireworks, Christmas cookies and drinks, character meet and greets and Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. The parade cumulates with the big guy himself, Santa Claus.

Santa Claus waves from a Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade float during a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
Nikon D750/50mm, 1/200s, f/2.8, ISO 6400, EV 0.

Epcot presents their annual Candlelight Processional which recounts the biblical tale of Christmas interwoven with rich orchestral music and song by a mix of professional singers, Disney employee choir and high school chorus groups from all over the United States. Each evening a guest narrator tells the story of Christmas in between the music of the season. The night I attended the CP (as Disney fans like to call it), Neil Patrick Harris who starred in such television series as Doogie Howser, M.D. and How I Met Your Mother, was the narrator.

Neil Patrick Harris was the guest narrator for the Candlelight Processional in Epcot’s America Gardens Theatre on Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Nikon D750/28-300VR, 1/30s, f/5.3, ISO 3200, EV 0, 100mm Focal Length.

Over in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney Imagineers mixed fireworks, lasers and projections to create the Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM Holiday Show each evening using The Great Movie Ride for its screen. The story features Pixar’s Prep and Landing crew who need to find Santa Claus and brings in clips from Disney’s extensive film library of Christmas and holiday movies and shorts.

Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM holiday show in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World.
Nikon D750/16-35VR, 46s, f/11, ISO 100, EV 0, 16mm Focal Length, Tripod.

I was able to enjoy all these events with my family which was the best part of the whole trip.

If you are interested in more information on a Walt Disney World vacation, contact my wife at merrie@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com 

(just click her email address above)

She has been booking and planning Disney trips for satisfied travelers exclusively for over 18 years.