New Holiday Entertainment Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in 2024

Oct 15, 2024 in "Holidays at Disney's Animal Kingdom"

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Meet Santa Claus at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2024

Posted: Tuesday October 15, 2024 3:10pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

As the Walt Disney World holiday season approaches, Disney has revealed some new details on the festive line-up at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom for 2024.

At Disney's Hollywood Studios, holiday activities kick off on November 12 with three new entertainment acts designed to add fresh energy to the park's seasonal atmosphere.

2023 Holiday Decorations at Disney's Hollywood Studios

The Juggling Elves bring lighthearted comedy and impressive juggling skills to Echo Lake, while the Holiday Spirit Band, a brass ensemble, will perform festive tunes that encourage guests to join in the fun. For those who love high-energy performances, the Seasons Jukebox marching band delivers hard-hitting horns, percussion, and dancers performing holiday classics with a modern twist.

Alongside these new acts, guests can also enjoy returning seasonal highlights. The Frozen Sing-Along Celebration will once again feature its holiday overlay, offering a wintry take on the popular show. Santa Claus will also be making appearances at It's A Wonderful Shop, giving guests the opportunity to meet him in a more intimate setting. As the sun sets, Sunset Seasons Greetings transforms Sunset Boulevard into a winter wonderland, complete with festive projections on the Hollywood Tower Hotel and magical snowfall.

Sunset Seasons Greetings at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Santa Claus will be making a new appearance at the 75th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party on the patio of Restaurantosaurus, where he will greet guests as part of the students' and faculty's festive celebration.

Meet Santa Claus at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2024

The Merry Menagerie returns, featuring a collection of life-sized animal puppets that roam Discovery Island, interacting with guests in a playful, whimsical way.

Merry Menagerie at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Mickey and Minnie Mouse will also be available for meet-and-greets at Adventurers Outpost, dressed in their holiday best. After a day of exploring the park, guests can end the evening with the Tree of Life Awakenings, where seasonal projections of winter animals light up the iconic tree, creating a peaceful close to the day's celebrations.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Christmas Holiday decor 2022

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DCBaker13 hours ago

More details have been released for The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular, airing December 1 on ABC: Hosted by Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro, ''The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular'' returns for its ninth year with a sparkling spectacle of new musical performances from Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland Resort in California and Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko'Olina, Hawaiʻi. Narrated by Kristen Bell, who will share the tale of how the Disney Parks kicks off the most magical holiday ever, "The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular" airs SUNDAY, DEC. 1, at 8:01 p.m. EST/PST on ABC and is available the next day on Hulu and Disney+. Performances include the following: - Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro – "Deck the Halls" / "Holly Jolly Christmas" - Auliʻi Cravalho – "Beyond" (from "Moana 2" in theaters Nov. 27) - Elton John – "Your Song" - John Legend – "Always Come Back" / "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Seth MacFarlane and Liz Gillies – "White Christmas" - Ava Max – "O Holy Night" / "1 Wish" - Leslie Odom, Jr. and the Imani Milele Choir – "Little Drummer Boy" - Carly Pearce – "Let It Snow" - Pentatonix – "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Anika Noni Rose – "Milele" (from "Mufasa: The Lion King" in theaters Dec. 20) - SEVENTEEN – "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" https://abc.com/news/25053aa3-b551-465d-b350-178720964326/category/1138628

wdwmagic17 hours ago

And December 13

HauntedPirate18 hours ago

wdwmagic18 hours ago

And Nov 21 is now sold out.

bmr159119 hours ago

Is this a sign of lower demand for the party as a whole or just an off night? Certainly parties not sellling out will be a point of concern for WDW. Maybe it could lead to improved offerings next year?

wdwmagic19 hours ago

Yeah this will be a first in a while if it doesn't sell out. There is still time though

DCBaker20 hours ago

Here's a look at the Annual Passholder hoodie, pin, magnet and ornament available during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays:

DisneyDreamer0821 hours ago

Interesting that tomorrow’s party still has availability. Has there been a Halloween or Christmas party that hasn’t sold out in recent years?

DCBaker1 day ago

December 12 is the next Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party date that has now sold out. Dates with tickets still available: November 21 and December 13, 15, 17 and 19.

Comped1 day ago

History and public sentiment disagrees with you on park based entertainment declining starting in the 1980s... If anything, up until that point non-third-party or atmospheric entertainment on both coasts was rather lacking - for 25+ years if you wanted to see any kind of Disney put on entertainment you were effectively limited to Kids of the Kingdom-style shows, all the way up until, really, MGM opened and things started to get experimented with in terms of stage shows (and even then it took until Dick Tracy in Diamond Double Cross to get anything close to the shows we see still being staged internationally). Things didn't start to decline until 2001 when Eisner shut down the "fiefdom" (his words not mine) that was Walt Disney Entertainment and brought all in park entertainment under operational control within each park instead of having an independent executive level part of the company dedicated to it and other live entertainment ventures. As someone who has written about this academically and otherwise, some of the only in-depth material really available on the subject of the history of Disney's live entertainment within the parks, I know about this far too much... It's really quite sad because DLE was neutered specifically because folks in park ops were unhappy entertainment was getting a good amount of money out of Eisner and his successors, and it's spiraled from there. And that's about 90% of your issue. If entertainment had priority again, we would see some really good efforts.

MisterPenguin1 day ago

One time use. It's how they get you to renew your AP every year to keep stencils in stock.

Bocabear1 day ago

It's a freebie...how durable does it need to be? Make a batch of cookies, use it and you are done... I think the days of very nice giveaways are long gone... Magnets, recipe cards...these sort of paper goods will be the new normal...but they don't really have to give away anything...we obviously continue to pay for our passes...

HauntedPirate1 day ago

And how useful is a thin paperboard stencil for making cookies? I think it says something about "reusable" on the envelope but I wonder how reusable they will end up being. At least the silicone stencils are washable.