Credit: DisneyThere’s nothing quite like Christmas at the Walt Disney World Resort. The parks, decorations, hotels, and crowds make it an unforgettable experience.
And with so many people desperate to spend the holidays at Disney World, the company has found a way to capitalize on that desire with its two after-hours Christmas Parties: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights.
Mickey’s Very Merry Party at Magic Kingdom is more geared toward families, while Jollywood Nights transports guests into the glitz and glamour of 1940s/1950s Hollywood Christmas time. Despite their appeals to different audiences, they’ve both been widely successful.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party has been sold out for weeks. It offers guests exclusive opportunities at Magic Kingdom for an additional five hours, featuring special holiday attractions, shows, and food items.
Jollywood Nights struggled in its first year, but now, in its third iteration, it has had its most successful year ever, selling out the most parties in its brief history.
With the success of its two Christmas Parties, it begs the question: Will Disney World add a third holiday party to capitalize on the obvious popularity of the parks during the Christmas season? Let’s take a look.
EPCOT
Disney already opens EPCOT for its after-hours events, so this makes the most logical sense. However, what EPCOT lacks for the holidays is a unifying theme like Jollywood or Mickey’s Very Merry.
If EPCOT only opened World Showcase for an after-hours holiday party, guests would be able to enjoy the food, drinks, and holiday traditions of the host nations, but it would be lacking most of the rides and attractions in the front of the park. However, it EPCOT could produce a new holiday production on Showcase Lagoon for the Holidays.
Disney would have to create an unifying theme for the party in a park that encompasses so many different aspects of the human experience. Once Disney figures that out, expect EPCOT to be the next park to get its own Holiday Party.
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom doesn’t necessarily have the same theming issues that plague EPCOT, but it has another issue: the park typically closes by 6 p.m. This is a problem that Disney could easily change, but has chosen not to.
For years, Disney has blamed the early closure on the animals, but there are parts of the park that could remain open after dark for guests during a holiday party. Besides, Animal Kingdom is arguably Disney World’s best park at night, and guests rarely get to see it in the dark.
Disney could create a great Holiday party based on nature and conservation, and keep the park open for guests until midnight. This could ultimately redefine Animal Kingdom, a park that Disney fans adore, but doesn’t get the love it deserves from Disney.
So, with more money to be made, it’s only a matter of time before Disney World opens a third after-hours holiday party. The only question is which park gets the party, and how quickly Disney fans will rush to get the tickets.
Which Disney World Park do you think will get the next after-hours Christmas Party? Let us know in the comments.