{"id":65220,"date":"2025-11-30T09:25:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T09:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/65220\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T09:25:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T09:25:23","slug":"heres-whats-happening-in-central-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/65220\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s what’s happening in Central Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something about Christmas in Orlando is just magical.<\/p>\n

All the things that terrorize Floridians \u2014 the intense Summer humidity, the stress-inducing hurricane season \u2014 disappear by December. It\u2019s nothing but perfect 80-degree weather and a season of joy ahead.<\/p>\n

Orlando, the mecca for vacationing, offers beloved holiday traditions everywhere, from the big theme parks down to the smaller attractions. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening this season.<\/p>\n

Disney World, the king of theme parks, has sold out all the dates for its special ticketed nighttime Mickey\u2019s Very Merry Christmas Party<\/a>. If you were lucky enough to snag tickets, you get to see special Disney entertainment not on display during the day at the theme park, including a Christmas parade, an elaborate fireworks show with Cinderella Castle lit up with festive projections, and exclusive meet and greets.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In its second year, Hollywood Studios\u2019 Jollywood Nights<\/a> is back. Guests can join Tim Burton\u2019s \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along\u201d or see the Muppets in a holiday show. This special ticketed event includes holiday merchandise, food and opportunities to see characters that aren\u2019t normally roaming the parks. Jollywood runs on select nights through Dec. 22<\/p>\n

\"\"SeaWorld Orlando\u2019s Sesame Street Land.<\/p>\n

SeaWorld Orlando looks beautiful, with millions of Christmas lights glowing. Festival booths are open, serving everything from turkey and stuffing to Coquito. SeaWorld\u2019s Christmas Celebration<\/a>, which is included in regular theme park admission and held on select days through Jan. 5, also features holiday entertainment, with the grand finale being its fireworks show at park close.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Aquatica Orlando launched a new special ticketed nighttime event<\/a> this year on dry land. The water park is transformed for Illuminate<\/a>, with lit-up lanterns (some whimsical, like a unicorn) and holiday decorations. The event is especially family-friendly, with children\u2019s activities set up to write a letter to Santa. Upgrades are available to make s\u2019mores around a fire pit or ride a train. Illuminate runs on select nights through Jan. 31.<\/p>\n

Universal Orlando<\/a> also likes to play both naughty and nice for the holiday season. The Grinch makes appearances at Universal Islands of Adventure for \u201cGrinchmas.\u201d At Universal Studios, you can experience the giant balloons and floats from Universal\u2019s Holiday Parade featuring Macy\u2019s<\/a>, making you feel like you\u2019re really in the Big Apple. The festivities, with holiday food and merch for sale, are included in regular admission as the event runs daily through Jan. 4.<\/p>\n

Looking for something outside the theme parks? Don\u2019t forget that other attractions carry plenty of charm and are also going all in on Christmas.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You can\u00a0stroll by downtown Orlando\u2019s Lake Eola<\/a> where, starting Dec. 5, a 64-foot tall Christmas tree puts on a musical show next to Instagram-worthy nutcrackers.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the city, the Dr. Center Phillips for the Performing Arts is hosting a one-month free festival<\/a> on its front yard with holiday movies and live performances. The city\u2019s Harry P. Leu Gardens Botanical Gardens is returning the special ticketed Dazzling Nights<\/a>\u00a0from Nov. 28 to Jan. 4 on select nights. The 50-acre gardens\u2019 paths and impressive flowers will be lit up by the holiday decorations and lights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Gaylord Palms, catch POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstance<\/a> or ICE!<\/a> with scenes this year from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.<\/p>\n

On International Drive, SEA LIFE Orlando<\/a> Aquarium\u2019s Deck the Seas<\/a> runs through Jan. 4 with holiday decorations. Scuba Santa will be swimming with the sea turtles, sting rays and sharks on select days. \u201cDeck the Seas is a magical way for families to celebrate the season while learning about ocean life,\u201d General Manager Paul Gould said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Up for a road trip outside Orlando?<\/p>\n

Winter Haven\u2019s Legoland Florida<\/a> is the only place where you can find a giant Christmas tree completely made out of Legos. Holidays at Legoland<\/a>, which runs on select days through Dec. 6 to Dec. 31, is part of regular ticket admission and includes holiday entertainment and decorations that cater to families and children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.<\/p>\n

Even the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex<\/a> \u2014 home of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Saturn V rocket \u2014 gets into the Christmas spirit. Holidays in Space<\/a> features a new drone show from Dec. 21 to Dec. 30. It\u2019s a good time to visit, as the KSC Visitors Complex is debuting the new original live show \u201cFraggle Rock: A Space-y Adventure\u201d starting Dec. 22<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re honored to partner with The Jim Henson Company, known for its innovation, imagination and storytelling for young audiences and families, to create a show that will inspire dreamers of all ages to look up, explore, and picture their own place among the stars,\u201d said Therrin Protze, the complex\u2019s chief operating officer..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something about Christmas in Orlando is just magical. All the things that terrorize Floridians \u2014 the intense Summer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1191,2659,1186,36347,1610,32276,15417,139,141,140,2042,38627,2043,3434],"class_list":{"0":"post-65220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-christmas","9":"tag-disney-world","10":"tag-holidays","11":"tag-kennedy-space-center-visitor-complex","12":"tag-lake-eola","13":"tag-legoland-florida","14":"tag-leu-gardens","15":"tag-orlando","16":"tag-orlando-headlines","17":"tag-orlando-news","18":"tag-orlando-theme-parks","19":"tag-sea-life-aquarium","20":"tag-seaworld","21":"tag-universal-orlando"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}