Halloween is over and America’s theme parks are about to switch to another holiday season. Get ready for the joys of Christmas popping up everywhere at Disney, Universal and beyond, making your trip to the theme park even more special than usual. Here’s what you can expect from some of the biggest parks in the area.

First, the Disney vacation makeover will be complete by November 12 at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The festivities begin that day and continue until January 9, 2022, at both stations. Expect unique seasonal goodies, festive music, and elaborate holiday decorations at all six parks in Disney World and Disneyland, as well as Downtown Disney and Disney Springs. You will also be able to see some of your favorite Disney characters dressed in their finery.

You can also expect a variety of special events and attractions during the holiday season. At Disney California Adventure at Disneyland, you can see and hear how different cultures celebrate their major winter holidays, including Hanukkah, Diwali, Christmas, Three Kings Day, and Kwanzaa, during the music and dance celebrations at the Disney Festival of Holidays and Disney Viva Navidad !. Also at California Adventure, the Festival Foods Marketplace will offer a variety of holiday meals and drinks, while Santa and his elves will chair seasonally themed games and activities at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail until Christmas Eve.

The original Disneyland, which sits across from the California Adventure Esplanade, becomes the best possible version of itself around Christmas time. The entire park is transformed into a beautifully decorated holiday treat, with Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and It’s a Small World being particularly gorgeous. And for the first time ever, Disneyland will be hosting its own special after-Christmas event; the separate-ticket Disney Merriest Nites event will run for five nights in November and December, and unfortunately all dates are already sold out. If you weren’t lucky enough to get tickets and are still hoping to get to Disneyland before Christmas, be aware that you’ll need to leave the park by 6 p.m. on these dates: November 11, 16, 30 and Dec. 7 and 9. These are the dates for Merriest Nites, which runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and features six exclusive parties throughout the park. Mickey will oversee a traditional Victorian Christmas party on Main Street, USA, while Buzz Lightyear and a DJ lead the way for the Tomorrowland Party. Fantasyland will host a Frozen party with Elsa, and the Adventureland tropical party is hosted by Lilo and Stitch. Finally, Miguel de coco will guide you through the Feliz Navidad Party in Frontierland, and Tiana from The princess and the Frog is in charge of the jazzy New Orleans Holiday in New Orleans Square. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to celebrate Life Day in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge; it will be closed during the party, along with Mickey’s Toontown and Critter Country. In addition, the special Christmas Fantasy Parade and “Believe…. The In Holiday Magic fireworks show will take place daily, both during Merriest Nites events and during regular opening hours the rest of the season.

Walt Disney World, meanwhile, has its own parties planned. Expect all four theme parks to be decked out in gorgeous vacation outfits, with seasonal food and drink specials available everywhere. The Magic Kingdom will host its own special after-hours event, Disney’s Very Merriest After Hours. It takes place on select evenings in November and December and tickets are still on sale. Its first night is Monday, November 8, and then it happens almost every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday until December 21. It’s a shorter event than the one at Disneyland, which lasts four hours and starts at 9:00 p.m., which means it’s going to be a late night for the kids. At EPCOT, you can enjoy the EPCOT International Holiday Festival from November 26 to December 30, learning how the different countries of the World Showcase are celebrating the season through decorations, music and special treats. EPCOT is also Disney World’s home for the Candlelight Processional, a celebrity-hosted recitation of Christmas history, with musical accompaniment by an orchestra and choir. Disney’s Hollywood Studios will host a festive screening show and the Santa Claus Parade, while Animal Kingdom will see the return of the spellbinding animal puppets of the Merry Menagerie, who somehow seem to have a life of their own even with their puppeteers standing there. in full view.

Universal, of course, also has its own special holiday events, both at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal Studios Florida is home to a daily parade inspired by Macy’s Thanksgiving tradition, with elaborate floats and giant balloons featuring some of your favorite characters. The park is also unveiling another of its intricately designed tribute stores, themed around Santa’s Workshop and the Grinch’s lair. The holidays are coming to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, with the Christmas Magic at Hogwarts Castle nighttime show, hot butter beer, and Christmas decorations and merchandise in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. At Universal’s Islands of Adventure, The Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular is a music-filled live show based on the Dr. Seuss classic, and the Grinch himself is available for a meet and greet. If you want to guarantee the best locations for all of those holiday events, you can even splurge on Universal’s Holiday Tour, which is available for select dates between November 21 and January 2. Universal Studios Florida Christmas events run from November 13 to January 2. Universal Studios Hollywood, meanwhile, will also present the Hogsmeade Christmas celebration, complete with the Hogwarts light show, as well as the photo-filled Who-tacular Grinchmas party; Hollywood events run from November 26 to January 2.

Before I leave Christmas, I want to say a good word about two other great theme parks that make the holidays well. Dollywood’s Christmas Smoky Mountain has all the great holiday music and goodies you expect, along with the park’s world-class roller coaster collection and the Merry & Bright nighttime fireworks show. If you haven’t been, Dollywood is worth a visit in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., And there’s no better time to go than Christmas. In California, Knott’s Berry Farm makes its annual conversion to Knott’s Merry Farm on November 19 until January 2; Expect seasonal decorations, an ice skating show featuring Snoopy and his friends, another show filled with traditional Christmas carols, and a variety of other holiday surprises.

I know it’s a lot information, but hey, the holidays only come once a year. And if you ever get into the holiday spirit – or need help getting there – few things are better than theme parks at Christmas.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s latest featured attraction is a baby zebra. A Hartmann’s mountain zebra was born on October 13 and can be seen regularly following its mother. Meanwhile, Disney’s announced a digital pin swap event for December 4; the Disney Heroes vs. Villains Digital Pin Experience is a paid online event with art classes, trivia games, and a host of villains and heroes themed pins available for purchase. Some packages are sold out, but others are still available. In our last Disney review this week, everyone knows that price increases are a constant at Disney parks; Carlye Wisel takes a closer look at recent Disneyland price increases in her weekly Syfy column, and how they encompass not only park entry or food, but parking at parks and hotels as well. Disney’s price escalation continues to accelerate, and yet it has yet to appear to be impacting demand.

And finally, one final note Universal: Fear Factor Live, the long-running Universal Studios Florida show that survived the TV show it’s based on for a good fifteen years, has finally come to an end for good. It’s during Halloween Horror Nights, as usual, but won’t reopen. Every attraction is someone’s favorite, and I think this one will be missed, but it was clearly high time to swap that idea with something else. No word on what will happen here, but there are rumors that it could be the site of another Wizarding World expansion.

And that’s it for one more week. If you work in an amusement or theme park and would like to keep me and our readers updated with your latest news, please feel free to email me or on Twitter. And if you’re heading to an amusement park this week, stay safe and have fun!

Editor-in-chief Garrett Martin writes about video games, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and whatever gets in his way. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.