Holiday Magic Starts at Walt Disney World Resort with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

Holiday Magic Starts at Walt Disney World Resort with Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. As the holiday season quickly approaches, the Walt Disney World Resort has some festival and magical events planned for guests.

Mickey Makes it Snow on Main Street USA

There's only a little bit of time left to visit the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. The Eat to the Beat concerts continue through the end of the festival on November 11, and include performances by the Spin Doctors on November 1, Christopher Cross on November 2 and 3, Hanson on November 4-5, Dennis DeYoung on November 6-8, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy wraps things up on November 9-11.

Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend coincides with the last weekend of the Food and Wine Festival. The weekend's events include the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K, and the first Disney Wine and Dine Pre-Race Taste on November 8 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

A Killer Finishers Medal

Over at the Magic Kingdom, the Halloween decorations are coming down and the park will be transformed for Christmas just in time for the first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on November 8.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is hard ticket event takes place on select dates in November and December. Guests get to enjoy a stage show with Disney characters in their holiday best, a holiday parade, and even snow flurries on Main Street U.S.A. The dates for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party are: November 8, 11, 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, and December 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20.

Cinderella Castle Transforms with Winter Magic

Each park at the Walt Disney World Resort will be celebrating the holidays with special events. In addition to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom, Cinderella's Castle will be aglow with 200,000 shimmering white lights, and guests can also take a cruise on the Jingle Cruise as the Jungle Cruise gets a holiday makeover.

In Epcot, guests can celebrate Holidays Around the World throughout World Showcase, while Disney's Hollywood Studios celebrates with The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights from November 8 through January 5. And Disney's Animal Kingdom will be rings in the holidays with Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade.

The new Glow with the Show Ear hats are going to add some holiday magic of their own beginning in November at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Holiday Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. The ear hats illuminate and change colors with the dancing lights and musical notes in both shows.

The Osborne Lights Create Holiday Magic

The Candlelight Processional takes place at Epcot on select nights beginning November 29. The show features celebrity narrators reading The Christmas Story, accompanied by a 50-piece live orchestra and a mass choir.

The celebrity narrators for 2013 are:

• November 29 - Dec. 1 - Gary Sinise
• December 2-3 - Neil Patrick Harris
• December 4-5 - Ashley Judd
• December 6-7 - Whoopi Goldberg
• December 8-10 - Sigourney Weaver
• December 11-13 - Dennis Haysbert
• December 14-16 - James Denton
• December 17-19 - Edward James Olmos
• December 20-22 - Trace Adkins
• December 23-25 - TBA
• December 26-28 - Blair Underwood
• December 29-30 - Amy Grant

Performances of the Candlelight Processional take place at 5, 6:45, and 8:15 p.m. at the America Gardens Theater. Guests can purchase a Candlelight Dining Package that combines lunch or dinner at select Epcot restaurants with guaranteed seating for the Candlelight Processional.

New Year's Eve at Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World Resort guests can ring in the New Year with special meals at the parks and at some resorts. The Biergarten Restaurant in Epcot's Germany has lunch and dinner New Year's celebrations, and La Hacienda de San Angel in Mexico has a New Year's Eve dinner. Le Cellier is offering three seatings for guests, while Monsieur Paul in France starts the New Year's celebration at noon with available seatings throughout the day and evening.

The Tomorrowland Terrace at the Magic Kingdom will be the location of a New Year's Eve fireworks dinner and dessert party.

Special New Year's Eve dining is also planned at Flying Fish Cafe at Disney's Boardwalk, Citrico's, Victoria & Albert's, and Narcoossee's at Disney's Grand Floridian, California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort, and Whispering Canyon Cafe at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. A New Year's Day brunch is planned for Chef Mickey's, while a New Year's Day breakfast is on the menu at Boma.

What part of the holiday magic are you most looking forward too? Leave a comment and let us know!

Story by Traci C., Source