If your holiday plans include a visit to the Walt Disney World resort area, you’ll be pleased to find a world of spectacular light displays awaits you. Here are our favorite spots for holiday lights in and around Orlando this year.
Holidays are always special at Disney Springs thanks to their special seasonal shopping, dining, and decor. The ticket-free promenade features amazing lights throughout it and twenty uniquely themed Christmas trees that celebrate Disney family favorites like Coco, Frozen, The Haunted Mansion, and The Lion King. Your light experience is enhanced by a variety of live entertainers and performances, and each magical evening here is capped off with nightly “snowfall†at the Town Center.
The Magic Kingdom also dons holiday lights in the form of gorgeous projections on Cinderella’s Castle that transform this iconic landmark into a cheerful animated holiday show. You’ll also find holiday trimmings and other surprise enchantments as you make your way throughout the park.
Nearby, at Celebration, you’ll find noteworthy light displays throughout the town, but most specifically on Jeater Bend Drive. This street has been serving up holiday spirit for more than a decade and its display grows each year. You can drive to the area and then park and stroll the street to take in all the decorations and enjoy the bubble-machine-generated snow. These lights are on every night beginning the day after Thanksgiving and running until New Year’s Day.
Outside of the theme parks, you can take in the City of Orlando’s official Christmas tree in all its glory at downtown Orlando’s Lake Eola Park Washington Plaza, where it will be on display throughout the holiday season. Or head to historic Henry P. Leu Gardens and be immersed in over a million sparkling lights in the Dazzling Nights holiday garden experience. This paid ticketed event runs through January 1 and features a 70-foot-long candy cane path, a laser light show with live singers, and even an inflatable play area for little ones.
Another Orlando-area holiday light display staple is Give Kids the World Village’s Night of a Million Lights. This ticketed nightly event held at Island H2O Water Park showcases a variety of family-oriented interactive activities like a children’s zone, live entertainment, and a strolling a cappella group. Tree-lined pathways, luminous lightscapes, and a dancing lights show on a five-story waterslide come together to make this a one-of-a-kind event that you will only find in the Orlando resort area. Best of all, the proceeds of this shining spectacle go to support the Give Kids the World Village’s mission of providing week-long, cost-free vacations to critically ill children from around the world.
Rest up for your days at the parks and nights of holiday lights at a comfortable area hotel. TownePlace Suites by Marriott Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Fairfield Inn Orlando Lake Buena Vista, and the Residence Inn by Marriott Orlando at SeaWorld are all excellent theme-park adjacent lodging options. Or, check out Wyndham Orlando Resort & Conference Center/Celebration, Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc, or Fairfield Inn Orlando Airport. Close to all the action of International Drive, Aloft Orlando International Drive, Comfort Inn International, Element Orlando International Drive, and Best Western International Drive are also sure bets for a fabulous holiday stay.
