10 Disney Park Rides That Completely Change During Holidays

Disney Parks are magical places. But you know what makes them better? The holidays!

Well, sometimes. Mind the crowds, everyone. Remember to mentally prepare for that. But considering all the holiday-themed, limited-edition food and merch, it’s probably worth it in the end. And of course, we all throw away hours of our lives to experience those sweet, sweet holiday overlays.

It’s Disney tradition to decorate certain attractions, most notably during Halloween or Christmas time. And in true Disney fashion, they pull out all the stops. Here are 10 Disney Parks attractions that completely transform during the holidays.

10 Tomorrowland Speedway - DisneyWorld, Magic Kingdom

Tomorrowland is getting its holiday on! Because seriously, it’s not like society as a whole is gonna stop celebrating holidays in the far-off, 1960s-esque future. This marks a first for a Tomorrowland overlay.

The Speedway takes the top spot because, well, it’s the Speedway. It’s a classic, but only if you can survive the fumes.

9 It’s A Small World Holiday

No, the song doesn’t change much. Sorry.

It’s A Small World Holiday adds festive cheer to the annoyingly classic attraction. This includes the addition of a variety of Christmas lights, snowflake decor, and a rendition of Jingle Bells mashed up with the usual song. It’s good festive fun, but are you ready to sit in this slow-moving attraction just to listen to the soundtrack on repeat at least six times?

8 Mater’s Jingle Jamboree

Admittedly, the Jingle Jamboree puts very little effort into its overall decorations. There are some wreaths here and some tinsel there, fitting in with the rest of CarsLand without being over the top. No, what makes this is the one and only Larry the Cable Guy, also known as Mater himself.

The attraction cycles through some Cars-themed Christmas songs sung by Larry the Cable Guy and it’s honestly the best thing ever. The only recording that rivals the wongs is Larry the Cable Guy speaking in Spanish. Seriously, he goes through the attraction regulations in Spanish.

7 Space Mountain - Ghost Galaxy

Here we go, Halloween overlays! Usually, these go from around mid to late September to the beginning of November, changing to Christmas decorations with the rest of the park.

As one of the more high-thrill attractions, you’d expect Ghost Galaxy to get as scary as Disney’s willing to go. But the narrative of the ride gets muddled and it suffers the same flaws as the Star Wars overlay: you can see the track. Most of the magic of Space Mountain comes from not seeing what comes next and any overlay that takes away from what an attraction is known for gets some points off. Nevertheless, it’s a big departure from the mystical adventure through space.

6 Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Holiday

A first for the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the attraction is now included in the holiday festivities of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

It feels like a nice effort was put into this one. Both Mike and Roz have new dialogue and because of the way the Laugh Floor functions, the overlays include new backgrounds and animation for the characters to interact with. Generally, it’s a great time and really enhances the attraction.

5 Country Bear Christmas Special

It doesn’t exist in the US anymore, but you can still enjoy this holiday overlay in Tokyo Disneyland! Known as the Jingle Bell Jamboree over in Tokyo, Country Bear Jamboree still goes strong and continues the Christmas tradition with a mix of songs in English and Japanese.

All the bears get decked out in holiday outfits and continue the tradition that ended in the US in 2005. Not sure if you want to go to Japan over the holidays, but it is a must if you’re a longtime fan of the Country Bear Jamboree.

4 Pirates of the Caribbean - Captain Barbossa

With the advantage of being built later, DisneyWorld has a larger Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which means they can do a little more with it. For the Disney Villains After Hours extravaganza, the park added a live actor to the attraction to play Captain Barbossa.

So maybe this isn’t a true holiday overlay, but it’s Captain freaking Barbossa. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty much the only successful movie franchise based off a Disney theme park attraction and Barbossa was a legend. Seeing him integrated so well into the attraction is just icing on the cake.

3 Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark

Ok, this totally counts. The holidays include Halloween!

After the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout!, Disneyland decided to give it a proper glow-up for Halloween. Possibly, this was done as an homage to California Adventure’s late Tower of Terror, what Guardians took over.

Monsters After Dark continues the story where Mission Breakout! leaves off. Your elevator has to go back into the Collector’s headquarters in order to rescue baby Groot. But all the monsters are loose and Rocket’s grand master plan involves you acting as bait for the monsters. How selfless.

Using the attraction’s mechanics to their advantage, this version of the ride features all new security camera footage (including a ghost Yondu), elevator scenes, and harsher drops.

2 Jingle Cruise

Cheesy fun for everyone! The Jingle Cruise remains a fan favorite for the adjusted script and sorta tacky decorations on the already sorta tacky models and animatronics. As with any Jungle Cruise, the skipper makes the experience. Like with the normal script, the skipper has opportunities to ad-lib and go off-script with whatever new holiday puns they can think of. However, that doesn’t stop the old-time fans from repeating the script in its entirety.

2017 was a sad year for Jingle Cruise fans as the Jingle Cruise didn’t make an appearance. This travesty has since been rectified in both Disneyland and DisneyWorld.

1 Haunted Mansion Holiday

Even if you’re not a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, you’ll be impressed with how the Haunted Mansion transforms to fit the theme. Jack Skellington and the citizens of Halloween Town (not to be mistaken with the Disney Channel original movie, Halloweentown, which is definitely going on Disney+) take over the Haunted Mansion from late September all the way through the first week in January.

This isn’t just any normal overlay, Disneyland goes all out in transforming this attraction. The Haunted Mansion gets shut down for two weeks while cast members install animatronics, overlays, and of course, the annual giant gingerbread house. Jack, Sally, Oogie Boogie, and Zero all make an appearance, along with the obvious star of the show: the Christmas countdown clock.

Keep in mind, this all takes only two days to take down. Disneyland has this down to a science.

NEXT: 5 Reasons To Visit Disney In The Winter (5 In The Summer)