Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - Magic Kingdom Holiday Decorations Walkabout With Hosts Josh And Jay

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

Hello Travelers! This week join cohosts Producer Josh and Jay as they kick off the holiday season by checking out new Christmas decorations at a crowded Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Enjoy a festive decoration walkabout from Main Street and the Hub, through Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, and end our time in Storybook Circus.  Walkabout the World is now on TikTok! Come follow our visual companion to the audio podcast at Walkabout.the.world.pod on TikTok   Visit us at walkabouttheworld.com - find links to all the things - attraction episodes, Insta accounts of all the hosts, and even how to buy your own Walkabout shirt!   Look us up at @WalkaboutWDW on Instagram and drop us a note to say hi.   You can also drop us at line at [e-mail]. Say hi, tell us how you found us, and give us some suggestions on things you'd love to hear. Please consider giving us a rating and review wherever you listen - it really helps.

Well, hey there, travelers. Welcome back to Walk About the World. As you can hear, Halloween has come and gone. And here at the Magic Kingdom, things are getting festive. We've got the music. We've got the garlands on the train station.

We're about to walk in through the left-hand tunnel. I tend to be a left-hand tunnel guy. And we're going to explore. and this early in the season. They just changed out all the all the decorations from fall to Christmas.

So we're going to walk around the park and see what we can hear, see what we can see, and just enjoy some of the early festivities before the season gets into full swing here. So let's go see what we'll see. can hear. We're in Town Square. You've got wreaths, you got garlands. Of course, the first of all the parks to put up the tree here in the middle of Town Square. It's lovely. It's making me smile. It's

making me happy. I love me some Disney parks at Christmas time. We're here in the early evening. The sun is setting, glimmering on the castle. Always beautiful. Toy soldiers are all over here and around surrounding the Christmas tree and town square. I'll stop yapping. Let's listen. Park the Harold Angels sing. Park, hey look over here, it's Jay. Yes, we met up just like I said we would.

And we're going to enjoy Christmas here at the park together. It's just what I need right now. And I think we both feel that sentiment. that this is just a little bit of happiness. Yes. The beginning of the season. And I'm sure we'll be back several, several more times before the end of the year. So let's just walk around and see what we can hear.

Come on, Jay, let's go. Let's go. Come here to help us light our Yuletide tree. So on their county three, everyone will be said, Well, that was lucky holidays. Ready. One, two, three. Well, that was lucky.

So... So we're here at 615. 515. 515. Yeah. You need to change your clock back, Jay. I'm still stuck in the past. Trust me.

Yeah, so it's 515. And that's where we were surprised to hear the announcement, the Atlantic trees. So, assuming, hey, look, here comes the omnibus. It's a pretty crowded Main Street. The red car right behind it. So walking down a pretty crowded Main Street today, and Jay and I were just discussing,

how do you feel about the wreaths instead of the garlands? Disneyland still has their garlands that go across Main Street. They do. We used to have those two, but several years back, they changed them to these little overhangs on each side of the street for the parade but the parade doesn't need it anymore so I have feelings about it

but probably not as strongly as the dream lights they really need to figure out to bring the dreamlight because that was the centerpiece of the beautiful part and I just I really wish they would bring the dream lights back as really you know as as fun as Castle Light projection shows are and I get the technology thing. Nothing beats good old-fashioned twinkly lights.

But they still did castle projections even with the dream lights. So it's not a one thing or the other. You could have both and they're both magical and they're both beautiful. And I think it was something that made the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World special. And, yeah. So if anybody's listening. Josh, tomorrow, if you're listening to Walk About the World, I know you do.

I mean, obviously. Hey, bring them back. Right, look, Josh, I know how to make a very good copy can of the Tom Cruise coconut cake. So if that's what it will take, I will make you a Tom Cruise coconut cake in exchange for the Dreamlights. I'm just letting you know if you're listening. Coconut cake.

What's a Tom Cruise coconut? Oh, my goodness. I need to make it for you because it is, he's famous. So every year, Tom Cruise gives all the people on his guest us on his Christmas card list, get this cake, this coconut cake that is made by a bakery in L.A. And it is amazing. And it is now become legend because he does this every year. You learn something new every day on Walk About?

I bet Josh Jamarro knows about the coconut cake. You think he ever got one? Maybe. Tom Cruise does like Disney World and Disney. All right. So if you can hear, the music has changed a little bit, different festive tunes, but we've now reached the hub. and which way are we going to go, Jay?

You're going to go right? I think we should go right because I heard that they did decorate Liberty Square and Adventure Land for Christmas. Well, they've decorated all of the lands which is something they have not done in years. So you want to go right?

Let's go left. Oh, he meant left. I meant left. It's been a long time. I know, it's been a long day. We're both teachers. It's one of those days where two teachers have to say in the middle of the day,

I think it's a Disney day. It's just a, you know, a middle of the week kind of thing. It's not even the middle of the week yet. It's not, but it does feel like a Thursday. Not to give away, you know, we don't like to necessarily date ourselves and, you know, keep these episodes evergreen, but I'll just tell you it's not even Wednesday yet. Look, good call, but I'm telling you,

there's a Thursday and a Wednesday and a Tuesday in every single week. of every single year. All right, we are going left toward Adventureland. Let's go. Nothing fairly new or standoutish around the hub. It's just a bunch of wreaths around on each of the light poles, every other light pole. Yeah, it's pretty standard. I've always loved the color combinations of the lights.

For Main Street, it's a very nostalgic. C-9 color combination. Right, headed into Adventureland. We've got Club 33 right in front of us. About to go over the bridge, which the sign is back. It was gone for a little bit. He did a little polishing. Skulls are still there, though.

I was thinking they might have got rid of the skulls, but there they are. I don't know if it's a Christmas party exclusive, but they are bringing back the pastrami egg rolls. They were delicious. They were only here for a short time, and I am very excited to be doing that. Decorations in Adventureland, maybe it's only Liberty Square and... Yeah, so far no tier. No decorations yet.

Is Jingle Cruise started yet? We're about to find out. I think that it might... Passing Skipper Canteen on our right and the Swiss Family Treehouse to the left. Coming around the bin. Coming around the bin. I think the first holiday party is this weekend. Look at that beautiful sunset and adventureland.

If you're gonna have a beautiful sunset at Magic Kingdom, might as well be an adventure line, right? It is the best. The Tiki Tower. No, it looks like I see the sign. Yeah, Jingle Cruise is up. There it is. Don't think we're going to ride jingle today. We're just going to kind of look at decorations today,

but I will bet you later on, toward the end of the season, you're going to get yourself a good old-fashioned jingle cruise ride. You better. Magic carpets to the right. Leaky Teekies to the left. Let's get you a little water feature in the Leaky Teekies. the leaky tis the season for Nigel Greenwater to visit the jungle cruise if you know you know oh Nigel Greenwater chanted Tiki room to the right somebody's

very excited about the Tiki room and they should be I think that wouldn't it be fun if they did like Christmas songs during Christmas they should teach the parrots new songs they tried that once they sang Gloria Estefan, then they burned the place down. They did not. You never got to see that show? No, is that for real? You didn't get to see it under new management with I doago and Zazu?

I did not. Oh my goodness, Jay. Yeah, that's why they ended up going back to the original enchanted Tiki Room. I guess I'm going to have to go down a rabbit hole on YouTube tonight. Look at your videos of that. Maria Estefan. Nothing says Tiki Room like Gloria Estefan. I think it was just more like at the end

I don't remember I remember it was a it was a bunch of different songs like they did in the still of the night like the Tiki sang in the still of the night which was kind of funny I think that would like that and then

you know I think it was at the end it was get on your feet and that was the whole thing Oh well that's definitely got the punny Disney thing going on get on your feet so I get that I get that

passing pirates on the left. Jay got to experience Pete as well have so far the crew who have visited the new bar lounge. Beacon and barrel. Beacon barrel.

And one of them had a great experience and one of them apparently not so much. It was a great experience. I just wish they'd stop reminding us that we had to leave in 45 minutes. Ah. But the room is amazing. And the anonotronic parrot is awesome. And this

sinking pirate ship in the jar was awesome. So, like, as far as I'm concerned, the ambiance of the room was an out-of-the-park hit. It was so good. It was a home run. All right. Coming into Frontierland, Golden Oak Outposts left. And Decorations. Yeah.

Pecos Bills has some decorations up, so. Frontierland's got a little bit. I can't tell, Jay, if the garlands, do they have something that's kind of themed on them? Oh, absolutely. Southwest themed, is that what it is? Yeah, we've got, like, some Mexican dancing dress, um, uh, embroidery on the ribbons. We definitely have, not Quincetas are actually a flower of Mexico.

And then we got in the little, in the little sprays underneath the lights, they've got cactus and cactus flowers. It's really pretty. Oh, those are cute. I like those. Have they always done this or is this new? No. Okay.

So that's the whole thing, is they have not decorated the other lands of Magic Kingdom, only Main Street, and the cats. for like a very long time. So the fact that they are decorating all these different lands is a new thing. And a pretty cool, pretty cool thing. They've also, I've heard, started decorating the restaurants again. This is also something that they have not done in a very, very long time. Jeremy, I feel like you'll really like these little garlands on the lights and frontier land.

They're very, very plantiferous. Absolutely. That's a word, right? Oh, there's old big thunder with the scaffolding up through the trees. Not that I don't love the music that we have here in Frontierland, but I cannot get. Get on your feet. I can't get that out of my head now. It's stuffed there.

Oh, the lights are all on now. Yeah, this is nice. Getting to see all the lights all the way down Frontierland on all the buildings. You know all we need now Is if they would just bring back A new show for Country Bears A holiday show for Country Bears Wow, walking down

Frontierland Toward the Castle In the moon It's beautiful Full and is right behind the castle I'm going to try and capture it with my tiny stupid iPhone camera but you know it's not gonna pay it justice.

It's just like a big cookie in the sky. It's pretty cool. Coming into Liberty Square, diamond horseshoe on the right. Very traditional over in Liberty Square. It's really cute. Of course, outside of the diamonds. They've got horseshoes with diamonds in them. And then Liberty Tree has some bells on their garlands.

Yeah, but they're woven bells. Like they actually would have done. passing by ye old popcorn cart it'd be funny if they spell that hot and fresh H-O-T-E and fresh

Ye H-O-T-T-E it's not really called Ye old popcorn I'm just saying that because of you know, seeming because it's hilarious Oh, it's hilarious, I'm funny And look, if we were in charge

it would be named Ye old hot Well, because there's ye old Christmas shop So we can't have too many Ye-oldies You know Christmas shop

Ye oldish Christmas shopping. Which is where we are passing right now, around the actual Liberty Tree with its lanterns. 13 of them, to be exact. All the presidents has bells in their garlands as well. Some flag ribbon. So we have to be those people and be picky about the decorations, but over at the Liberty Square ticket office building,

building, you know, right next to Hall of Presidents by the rocking chairs. Beautiful, beautiful wreaths on each of the windows. Beautiful, beautiful little ribbons with roses on them and just like gorgeous. But clearly they're meant to be seen at nighttime because

you can see all the wiring. The wires are everywhere. All over the building. On the bricks, on the sashes, on the walls, hanging some of the lights. So either it was a rushed job or they just didn't think about it and they're like, ah, nobody will pay attention to this. Oh, my gosh. Clearly, you don't have an audio podcast. cast with us. No.

Or people who are Uber picky about the Christmas decorations and expect Disney to provide the best Christmas decorations. Yeah. That checks out. It'll be dark. Nobody'll see it. But they're white. The courts are white. They are still beautiful, though. All right.

Passing Liberty Square Market. We're heading in the direction of Tomorrowland, Fantasy Land and Tomorrowland. Pass the haunted mansion. Now, there's what we're missing, Jay, for holidays. Where's our mansion overlay? Give us Muppets, you cowards. I would still choose the Dream Lights over.

Why not both? But both could be amazing. I guess I immediately went to night before Christmas. But a Muppets' Hunted Mansion overlay would be amazing. That's what I'm saying? Not during Christmas. During Halloween. Give us Halloween.

They have Christmas and Halloween. Speaking of a mansion, the standby entrance is all the way out by the former Liberty Bell dock. Yep. A lot of Hanna Mansion fans out tonight. It would seem? A lot of everybody out tonight. Excuse me, pardon me, pardon me. It is beautiful out.

I mean, you have to, if there was a night to come out to Disney, tonight would be the night. It is gorgeous. There's the mansion, glowing in purpose. purple. With one... Let's go this way and get... Lonely candle in the window. Get a little bit of a... Get a little mansion noises, shall we?

There's an hour... ...front of the mansion exit. Next to the pet cemetery. Ghost hearse. Well, I was waiting for the howl, and I never heard it. They turned it off. All I heard was a bunch of crowd noise. And some thunder.

I could use thunder noises. It is thunder noises? It's quite busy. And there's a child and a mother on top of a fence. Why don't know why we have weird rules at Disney World? Well, that's all. They are standing on top of, what did you call it? Like a column.

Yeah, it's like a brick column. The brick column over by the punsy potty. Yeah, and it's a good three and a half feet, four feet in the air. It's very tall, and they're both sitting up there. And hopefully they're getting a good talk into by the custodian. Just walk by. All right, we are now in the sea of Fantasyland. No Christmasy stuff in Fantasyland, Jay.

Not yet. I don't see any... We don't get a small world overlay for Christmas like Disneyland does. No, we don't get any overlay. You get jingle, that's all we get. We get jingle, too, don't they? They used to. I don't think they do anymore.

Well, at least we have something. Small world to our left, Peter Pan to our right, which is currently at 50 minutes. Which is less than Hutted Nation, which almost ever happens. The Nokia Village House and the carousel straight ahead. Continuing through New Fantasy Land, back of the castles to our right, and we are walking through the, I don't know, what do you call this? The courtyard. The land where Dumbo used to be? Yeah, whatever you want to call that.

I'm sure there's a fancy name for it. with the extension of the towers and whatnot from the castle. I will tell you the little weenie over here is there's a Christmas tree set up in Seven Doors Mine Train. There is a Christmas. Look, look at that. Look at that. Okay, so Fantasyland technically does have some, but it's not until you get to this side. There's a tree right outside Seven Doors Mine Train. And Winnie the Pooh across the way is all lit up too.

And Winnie the Pooh is lit up too. That rhymes. What the? Lights just went out. Just as I went to take a picture of the tree. All the lights over here went out. That was weird. They're back. I know somebody found the light switch and they're having some thoughts. 65 minutes standby for mine train right now. Hard to get a picture of the balloon, but there's a balloon or there's a balloon or ornament, a little red balloon ornament over the sign, over the way of the Poo sign, the entrance sign, but there's an umbrella in the way. Can't get a good picture. All right, Jay, shall we head over to Storybook Circus?

I think you should. And then we'll wrap up there. I'm really excited to see what they did over there. I do know that they did decorate Storybook Circus, so that sounds like an awesome place. To finish up. Mad Tea Party. Right ahead of us. Can you feel the dizziness?

Can you feel the nausea? Spilling the tea, as it were. That's spill the tea. Also might have to check out the sweets at Storybook Circus because... Oh, no doubt. You know. No question. Crowds thinned out a little bit once you get over to this side.

Oh, look, they're candy canes. So the Storybook Circus. Entrance marquee sign flanked with tall tinsel garland candy canes. They are like holding it up. That is adorable.

Smelophants are doing their thing. They are smelisending. Or is it smelifonting. Oh, those are cute. So they have the wreaths around their lamps with Dumbo. It's like a little drum that's lit up with Dumbo's image on it.

It's adorbs. Kind of a mid-century kind of feel to it. Yeah, like a gas lamp. Trees are lit up red and green. Yeah. Just a solid red and green. The Barnstormer got red and green trees, which is adorable. Although I do feel like it's a missed opportunity,

I think they should have changed the smell ofense to, like, Christmas smells. Oh. Let's go, Sensi. Because we know, again, once again, Sensi listens to us. I'm sure that they do. And if they don't, I'm scared. I'll only take small royalty scenting, so...

Give us some pine and some, uh... Some peppermint. Wintergreen, sugar cookie. They turned off the water in the Casey Jr. water area. So yeah, it looks like that's about it they got over here. The Dumbo peppermint drum lights, drumhead lights. All right. That brings us to the end of another walkabout.

Oh, I hate ends. But hey, thanks for coming along with us today as we scoped out the new decorations, the new holiday decorations at the Magic Kingdom. So don't worry, we will be back again during this season. Oh, absolutely. I'm sure. I don't know about you, but I love Christmas.

So, and the Magic Kingdom is definitely the place to come for Christmas. It's not that the other places aren't good as well. Studios is pretty darn good. It is. And I also like the merry menagerie and the Han of a Kingdom. Okay, they're all cute. They're all great. So, thanks for coming along with us, guys.

And hey, if you're following along on Instagram, guess what? You already know this, but some of you might not. Hey, guess what, travelers? We are on TikTok. Tickety-Tock. Womp, yeah, I know it took us a while, but... And we have no idea what we're doing. So we need some followers.

Come check us out. We'll be posting as much as we can a little bit from all over the resorts, just like we would on Instagram. We'll still do some lives with Pete. We'll still do videos. And, you know, who knows, we'll even do some silly TikTok dances or something. Oh, we're definitely going to do some silly somethings. I don't know. I don't know.

We'll see. Whatever. Videos are fun. It's something new for us. You know, we're not usually on the video side of things. We're just the audio of those things. So we thought we'd bring you some stuff on the TikTok. So give us a follow.

You know, we want to kind of interact with you guys a little bit more besides just on the Instagram. So stop on by. We are at, what is it, walkabout dot the, dot world. Dot pod. Yeah. So just look us up. We're there. Promise.

We are. And with that, hey, as Jeremy, fearless leader, loves to say, there's a great big, beautiful tomorrow. and we will see you in one of those on the next walk about the world. We love hanging with you guys. Bye. See ya. Hey, let's go get some sweets.

Let's get some sweets. Nothing says at the end of a magicing the trip than a caramel apple with peanuts. Bye, travelers.