Disney World announces holiday plans, changes

[Disney4me]

Walt Disney World announces 2021 holiday lineup for 2021, including fireworks but not Candlelight Processional or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

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Walt Disney World has announced its holiday lineup for 2021. The list includes themed fireworks but not Candlelight Processional, and there’s a new after-hours Christmas offering at Magic Kingdom in lieu of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Disney Very Merriest After Hours will debut Nov. 8 and continue on select nights through Dec. 21. A limited number of tickets will be sold, Disney says. Very Merriest will include “Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks,” which debuted in 2019. Tickets go on sale sometime in August for the event, which will feature characters across the park, holiday décor and treats.

Not on the “Very Merriest” list: a holiday-themed parade.

The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays will run from Nov. 26 to Dec. 30 and include holiday kitchens and performances by Voices of Liberty. Not on the list: Candlelight Processional, the mass choir/live orchestra/celebrity narrator event that retells the Christmas story.

Neither Candlelight nor Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade were held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also absent again for 2021 are the thousands of twinkling white lights upon Cinderella Castle, which has been undergoing a months long transformation tied to the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World.

According to the official Disney Parks Blog, the previously announced “Beacons of Light” treatment will be in place on four iconic structures at the theme parks on select nights during the holidays. These looks are part of the anniversary celebration, which begins Oct. 1.

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Tower of Terror again will be the canvas for holiday-themed projections, alternating with its Beacon of Magic presentation. The park will also host characters and Santa Claus in a motorcade on Hollywood Boulevard.

Disney currently is selling tickets for its Disney After Hours Boo Bash at Magic Kingdom, a Halloween gathering running on select nights between Aug. 10 and Oct. 31.