12 Reasons You Need to Visit Disney World Around the Holidays at Least Once in Your Life

Perhaps Disney's biggest holiday event is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, which takes place on select evenings at Magic Kingdom. The party is a ticketed event (meaning you'll have to shell out extra money), but it features exclusive holiday entertainment, snow falling on Main Street, complimentary cookies and cocoa, and shorter lines to attractions (Sign me up!). The ticketed event is offered during select nights in November and December.

Tree trimming is taken veryseriously at Disney World. Huge, themed trees adorn each park and resort, and your kids will be amazed at every carefully thought-out detail. And if that's not enough, Disney Springs has a Christmas Tree Trail, which boasts 25 Disney-inspired trees.

Epcot features one of Disney World's best Christmas events that captures the true spirit of the season. The Candlelight Processional tells the story of Christmas — the biblical tale of Jesus being born in Bethlehem — as told by a celebrity narrator, accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and mass choir. This year, Neil Patrick Harris, Blair Underwood, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jodi Benson are among the narrators. There is no cost to attend, but the event is very popular, so you'll want to secure a seat early.

During the holidays, you'll spot some of your favorite characters dressed in adorable holiday outfits (like Mickey in a Christmas sweater) throughout the park. At Hollywood Studios, guests can meet Santa at the Once Upon a Time shop from Nov. 10 to Dec. 24, and Santa Goofy after Dec. 25. Interested in a holiday character dining experience? Book Minnie's Holiday Dine event at Hollywood Studios' Hollywood & Vine restaurant, where you can see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, and Daisy all decked out for the holidays.

Do you need a Mickey nutcracker? A Disney Christmas spirit jersey? A dozen new Disney ornaments to add to your tree? New holiday pins? Or, better yet, special Christmas Disney ears to wear?! (The answer is yes to all, by the way.) Special holiday Disney merchandise is amazing — and plentiful — during the season.

Cinderella's Castle is beautiful any time, but during the holidays, it's absolutely breathtaking. Disney decorates the castle in shimmering icicles and uses special lights to make the castle a holiday dream come true.

For most people, a trip to Epcot isn't complete without sampling food and drink from around the World Showcase. And it's definitely a can't-miss during the holidays. From late November through the end of December, the park features the International Festival of the Holidays, which showcases the holiday traditions — including traditional holiday foods and drinks — of Epcot's 11 World Showcase nations.

Sure, the parks are beautifully decorated for Christmas, but the resorts are equally amazing, too. One must-see is the Gingerbread House at Walt Disney World's flagship resort, The Grand Floridian. Ingredients to make it include 600 pounds of powdered sugar, 700 pounds of chocolate, and 800 pounds of flour. Although the house itself looks amazing (and larger than some apartments, let's be honest), it also functions as a shop, selling gingerbread and other festive holiday treats.

Christmas isn't Christmas without tasty treats, and Disney has an abundance of them. Throughout the parks, you'll find no shortage of holiday-themed cupcakes, cookies, caramel apples, and popcorn (in adorable popcorn buckets!).

Disney World's Jungle Cruise turns into the Jingle Cruise in the attraction's holiday-themed overlay. The Jingle Cruise debuted in 2013, with the backstory that the skippers have grown homesick over the holidays and added their own Christmas touch to the boathouse and the cruise itself, with a few Christmas jokes thrown in. Disney also announced that its new and popular Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios will get a holiday overlay this year as well.

Disney's Hollywood Studios features Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!, a nighttime show with holiday music, fireworks, special effects, and dazzling state-of-the-art projections. Hollywood Studios also features Sunset Seasons Greetings. And, at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Diwali, which is the Festival of Lights in India, will be featured in the new live show UP! A Great Bird Adventure.

If for no other reason, visiting Disney World during the holidays should be done just for seeing the elaborate decorations in each park and resort. Reportedly, decorating for the holidays means unloading 150 semi-trailer truckloads of decorations, stringing 15 miles of garland and 8.5 million lights, hanging 1,314 wreaths, and trimming some 1,300 trees with 300,000 yards of ribbon and bows.