The Christmas celebration at Walt Disney World is bar none the best way to commemorate the holiday season. The park and resort decorations make this the most magical time of the year to be in Walt Disney World. On specified dates, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party is held in the Magic Kingdom, which adds even more joy to Walt Disney World’s already impressive Christmas celebration. What has made Christmas time so special over the years has been the yearly traditions that Walt Disney World does to make the holiday season even more special. Unfortunately some of these Christmas traditions have been lost over the years.
(Photo Credit: Kathy Werling)
Lights of Winter
Epcot’s Lights of Winter was a popular light show that began in 1994. The Lights of Winter was located in between Future World and the World Showcase and featured a sequence of archways that were filled with colored lights. The lights danced to holiday music, quickly becoming a guest favorite, but unfortunately the display’s last run was in 2009. Disney has said the reasoning was the technology was old and the show had to stop. This reasoning hasn’t sat well with many of the fans of the display. Kathy Werling from the DIS team writes about her fond memories of the Lights of Winter here.
Hanging Garland and Wreaths
My favorite display of the Christmas decorations has always been Main Street U.S.A. The iconic look of Main Street U.S.A. defines what most people think of when they think of Walt Disney World at Christmas time. A major piece of the decorations has always been the hanging garland and wreaths that stretched across Main Street U.S.A. during the holiday season. In 2014, the hanging garland and wreaths disappeared due to the Festival of Fantasy Parade. Due to the height of the floats the garland and wreaths hung too low for the floats to pass through, meaning the garland and wreaths had to go. Due to the popularity of the parade, there has not been a major push back from Disney fans on their removal.
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights
This year it was announced that another classic Christmas celebration is being lost. The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is in its final year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The display was acquired by the Walt Disney Company from the Osborne family of Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995. Before coming to Disney, the show was originally displayed in Little Rock, Arkansas for 8 years. The popular show now shown in the Streets of America area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios is massively popular. This dancing light celebration has a huge following that will surely miss the display. It seem that the show’s cancellation is due to the upcoming construction for Star Wars Land.
