Christmas Day At Magic Kingdom – What You Need To Know!

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is an incredible place to visit year-round, however, on Christmas day it reaches a whole new level.

Magic Kingdom is open on Christmas Day 2022 from 8:30am (with early entry) until 11:00pm. However, alongside a park ticket or annual pass guests will need to make a park reservation to visit Magic Kingdom (or any of the Walt Disney World parks) on Christmas Day and availability is limited.

While you can try to reserve visiting another one of the Walt Disney World theme parks and then park hop to Magic Kingdom after 2pm, it’s highly likely (based on previous experiences) that there will not be space within the park until late into the evening.

Therefore we’d discourage people from trying to park hop to Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day if you don’t have a park reservation since you’ll likely just spend hours waiting at the park gates.

Is Magic Kingdom Open On Christmas Day?

Magic Kingdom, along with the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort is open 365 days a year including Christmas Day.

In fact, not only is Magic Kingdom open on Christmas Day, but it’s actually one of the busiest days of the year for visiting the park, often reaching capacity by noon.

What Are The Opening Times For Magic Kingdom On Christmas Day?

Magic Kingdom is open for general admission on Christmas Day 2022 from 9am until 11pm.

However, if you have Early Entry (are staying on-site at a Disney resort) then you’ll be able to enter the park from 8:30am.

Magic Kingdom’s Christmas Day Special Attractions & Decorations

Magic Kingdom decorates for Christmas overnight on October 31st with the Christmas decorations going live on November 1st.

These Christmas decorations remain in place at the Magic Kingdom park through until the end of the first week in January.

Fans of both Disney and Christmas will be pleased to note that Magic Kingdom is the park that goes “all out” for the holidays with some of the most incredible and beautiful decor you’ve ever seen.

This includes selected rides within the park receiving special decorations for the holidays such as the Jungle Cruise, which is transformed into the Jingle Cruise, and Space Mountain, which gets a festive red-and-green overlay.

On Christmas Day specifically, guests will be able to enjoy Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, which runs at both 12:00pm and 3:00pm.

The parade is the same at both showings (so you’ll only need to catch one performance) and features a special appearance from Santa Claus himself at the end.

A meet and greet opportunity with Santa Claus is also available throughout the day in Liberty Square.

Another highlight of the Christmas Day entertainment at Magic Kingdom is the incredible Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration Stage Show.

This performance takes place in front of Cinderella’s Castle at 06:15pm, 07:25pm, 08:45pm and 10:15pm and is fun for the whole family!

At 08:15pm on Christmas Day, guests will be treated to the incredible Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks – a special holiday-themed fireworks show over Cinderella’s Castle.

For all parades, shows, and fireworks on Christmas Day, crowds will be extremely high.

Therefore if a prime viewing spot is important to you we’d highly recommend staking out a spot in advance;

• Merriest Celebration: 30 mins in advance
• Christmastime Parade: 1 hour in advance
• Minnie’s Fireworks: 2 – 3 hours in advance

What’s Magic Kingdom List On Christmas Day?

Christmas Day is one of the busiest days of the year at Magic Kingdom.

Be prepared for wall-to-wall crowds and extremely long wait times. However, with a good attitude and proper planning, Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day can be an unforgettable experience.

The first thing you’ll need to visit Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day is a park ticket.

However, before you buy your park tickets it’s important to check that park reservations for Magic Kingdom are still available for Christmas Day.

If there are no park reservations available, then even with a park ticket you’ll be unable to enter Magic Kingdom.

However, if park reservations are still available then you’ll want to go ahead and purchase your park tickets are reserve your entry into Magic Kingdom as soon as possible.

With a park ticket and park reservation, you’re able to enter Magic Kingdom. However, you’d still have the option to park hop to another park at 2pm.

That being said, we would highly discourage park hopping on Christmas Day.

That’s because if you leave the park, there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to re-enter later on due to capacity restrictions. This is despite having both a park ticket and park reservation.

Similarly, if you start your Christmas morning at a different park and plan to head to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get in because the park will have reached capacity.

When it comes to the rides and attractions inside Magic Kingdom, expect extremely high wait times for everything on Christmas Day (even less popular attractions that normally have very short wait times).

Of course, this can make Christmas Day one of the best times to pay for Genie+, Disney’s premium service which allows guests to make Lightning Lane reservations for most rides and experience shorter wait times. 

Genie+ starts at $15 per person but increases based on demand (therefore the price for Christmas Day could be significantly higher).

If you don’t want to pay extra, be sure to make the most of early morning and late at night at Magic Kingdom. These two times of day are when wait times will be the shortest.

Meanwhile, if you don’t mind missing the parade or fireworks, these are also good times to jump in line for rides.

What’s Magic Kingdom Like On Christmas Week?

The days before Christmas Day at Magic Kingdom tend to get busier as the date draws closer, with more locals having time off work and visitors travelling to see family and friends in the area for the holidays.

This often results in there being several days when park reservations have sold out and the park reaches full capacity.

However, unlike other holidays. The crowds don’t tail off after Christmas Day and return back to normal.

Instead, between Christmas Day and New Year’s it’s highly likely that Magic Kingdom will sell out of park reservations and occasionally reach capacity.

When it comes to New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day specifically, these two dates are much like Christmas Day where park reservations need to be made incredibly far in advance, and the park will likely reach capacity by midday – thus we would discourage park hopping.

After New Year’s Day, the crowds at Magic Kingdom begin to drop off and by the end of the first full week after New Year an off-peak season begins.

Where To Have Christmas Dinner At Magic Kingdom

There are a number of table-service restaurants serving Christmas Dinner inside of Magic Kingdom.

However, much like the park tickets, it’s highly important that you make a reservation at the 60-day mark wherever possible.

Table Service Restaurants Serving Christmas Dinner

Liberty Tree Tavern is one of the best places for Christmas dinner at Magic Kingdom.

They serve a family-style Christmas dinner with classics like turkey, pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread rolls, and seasonal vegetables.

If you want to splurge, Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table are two more restaurants that are perfect for a Christmas dinner. Both of these restaurants have incredible ambience.

Quick Service Restaurants Serving Christmas Dinner

For quick-service restaurants, lines for food can get extremely long, especially during peak mealtimes.

For lunch and dinner, expect waits of up to two hours for quick-service restaurants!

However, you can use the My Disney Experience app to take advantage of Mobile Ordering and skip the long lines.

Just be sure to place your order well in advance, and then you can go pick up your food once it’s ready, bypassing the long lines for ordering.

One of the best quick-service restaurants for Christmas Day is Columbia Harbor House, which has a wonderful, cosy atmosphere and ample seating.

If you’re just looking for a quick bite to eat, Casey’s Corner is a great option for hot dogs (including its seasonal Holiday Dinner Dog and plant-based options.)

To satisfy your sweet tooth, be sure to stop at Main Street Bakery, Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies, or Sleepy Hollow, which usually has special Christmas-themed desserts.