Disney World in December 2025 (Dates, Weather, and Crowds)

For many, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. December is an interesting month to visit Walt Disney World. You might go early and be amazed by the comfortable temperatures, or go late and regret it due to the crowds. It’s pretty safe to say that crowds are inevitable from mid-month through the first of the year. It’s the holiday season, children are out of school, and, for many, it’s the only opportunity to see the parks and resorts decked out in their holiday best.

No matter when you visit in December, the holidays will be in full swing. For an overview of what to expect this season, you’ll also want to read over our 2025 Guide to the Holidays at Disney World. It provides a list of everything confirmed for the holiday season to date. For this guide, we’ll focus on important dates and park hours throughout the month that might affect your itinerary, crowd expectations, and weather. It’s a good deal of information, so we’ve created a timeline that allows you to focus on your specific trip dates.

We’ll start with the weather. As always, it can greatly vary throughout the month. Hurricane season ends on November 30, 2025. The weather, at this point, typically shifts from tropical rainy days to very dry. We recommend packing a rain jacket or ponchos in your suitcase, but you might not need to take them to the parks every day. You should be able to check the weather app on your phone for rain, unlike the hotter months, when pop-up showers make things more unpredictable

We have experienced anything from unseasonably hot to chilly Decembers over the years. It would be rare to have to switch the thermostat on to heat, but not completely unheard of either. My best advice is to bring a jacket and other items you can layer. We’ve experienced cold fronts this time of year with temperature dips that might have you purchasing sweatshirts in the gift shop that you didn’t budget for upfront. I tend to where sweatshirts over t-shirts that I can wrap around my waist, but sometimes that can get hot by midday. Items like scarves, gloves, and hats go a long way in the event of chilly evenings. I don’t know about you, but it is difficult for me to stay out in the parks after dark when I’m cold. So it’s something you’ll want to consider.

We always have readers ask about swimming. We love to swim, and I cannot remember a time in December when we haven’t spent time at the pools. Most days are warm, and all of the resort pools are heated to about 85 degrees. The pools will only close if temperatures dip into the low 60s or lower. This is pretty rare for December, and is more prone to happen in January and February.

From our experience, crowds are minimal in the first two weeks of December. Dapper Days (usually held in November) are moving to December 6th (Epcot) and the 7th (Hollywood Studios) this year. This is a non-Disney event where guests show up to select parks wearing vintage outfits. It’s kind of fun to see, but the actual crowd impact shouldn’t be too bad. We’ve added the dates to the timeline below in case you want to avoid those parks on those select dates.

Speaking of avoiding certain parks on select dates, you’ll want to take into consideration Mickey’s Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom and Jollywood Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We offer the same advice as last month:

Choosing to visit Magic Kingdom on a party day has its trade-offs. The most obvious downside is the early closing time, which means no fireworks or evening parade. For guests with just one Magic Kingdom day, a non-party date is the better choice. On the other hand, if you have multiple Magic Kingdom days built in your trip or a park hopper ticket, a party date might be worth your while. Crowds tend to be lighter on party dates since most visitors avoid using their ticket on a shorter day.

This same advice applies to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on evenings of Jollywood Nights. However, I don’t think that it will work in your favor as much on weekend nights. We’ve tested this out a few times and felt that crowds were still fairly moderate even on a party night. Your mileage may vary. Here are the dates for both parties, and they are listed in the timeline below.

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party December Dates: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21
• Jollywood Nights December Dates: 1, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22

Lastly, if you’re visiting anytime between December 13th(ish) through January 4th, be prepared. The weeks of December 21st through January 3rd will be the worst, with an emphasis on the dates of December 24th through January 1st. Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve are unarguably the busiest days of the entire year.

We’ll likely see a few major changes to the park’s schedule during that time. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for later park hours. Typically, after the 21st (the last party), Disney begins offering the Christmas parade in place of the daily Festival of the Fantasy Parade. This usually continues through New Year’s Eve. They also often replace Happily Ever After (evening fireworks) with Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks. Then, special fireworks are offered on New Year’s Eve.

Please Note: As of publish time, we only have information available up to December 15th because park hours and schedules have only been released up to that date. We will come back and update this information as more details become available. We’ve also added extended evening hours through the 15th. We’ll add the remaining ones when they are published. Here’s what we have so far for December.

Other Reminders for December

Extended Evening Hours are offered twice weekly for deluxe and deluxe villa resort guests. If you would like to learn more about this benefit, see our guide to Extended Evening Hours at Disney World.

Magic Kingdom Temporary Ride Closures This Month: The following attractions are closed for refurbishment:

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed for a lengthy refurbishment and is expected to reopen sometime in 2026.
• Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin is closed for a lengthy refurbishment and is expected to reopen sometime in 2026.

Magic Kingdom Permanent Closures: The Liberty Square Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island, and Rivers of America all permanently closed in July of 2025.

Epcot Ride Closures: Nothing is posted for this month.

Hollywood Studios: The following attractions and restaurants permanently closed in 2025:

• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Pizzerizzo
• Mama Melrose Ristorante Italiano
• Animation Courtyard
• Star Wars Launch Bay
• Disney Junior Play and Dance

Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Kali River Rapids is closed for refurbishment until early December.

New: Zootopia! Better Zoogether opens at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in November.

The following attractions closed permanently in 2025:

• TriceraTop Spin
• It’s Tough to be a Bug
• Chester and Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures
• Fossil Fuel Games
• The Boneyard Playground

See our guide to Dinoland U.S.A.’s Final Closing Dates and Information.

What’s the deal with the holiday parties?

The holiday parties are separate, ticketed events with exclusive entertainment offerings. To learn more about these special events, see our guides:

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Guide (2025 Edition)
• Jollywood Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (2025 Edition)

Final Thoughts

We will update this calendar as more announcements are made. As always, we hope that these timelines will serve not only as a current reference but also as a future one. Here are the other planning guides for 2025:

• Visiting Disney World in November 2025
• Visiting Disney World in October 2025
• Visiting Disney World in September 2025
• Visiting Disney World in August 2025
• Visiting Disney World in July 2025
• June 2025 at Disney World Planning
• May 2025 at Disney World Planning

Or see our 2025 Disney World Month-by-Month Guide.

More Planning

At Resorts Gal, we specialize in helping you plan the perfect Disney World vacation. Start with our Disney World Resorts Guide for an overview of every resort hotel, or explore our Disney World Dining Guide and Disney World Transportation Guide to plan where to eat and how to get around. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.