These are our favorite holiday theme park events near Washington DC. Each theme park is located three hours or less from the DMV area. They offer plenty of fun for all ages from toddlers to seniors. They offer exciting thrill rides and family ride options, beautiful Christmas light displays, fabulous holiday music and entertainment, and specialty food and drink menus. Each theme park has indoor venues that allow you to get out of the cold too!
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Christmas Town
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is Virginia’s biggest Christmas event and our favorite holiday theme park near Washington DC! Busch Gardens offers something for everyone with amazing shows, rides, food, drinks, and culture. Many popular rides and attractions operate during Christmas Town.
Plus, kids can meet Santa Claus at the North Pole and visit Rudolph’s Winter Wonderland too! Elmo, Cookie Monster, and friends are ready to greet little ones in their holiday best at Sesame Street Forest of Fun.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg has repeatedly been voted the most beautiful theme park in the world. Christmas time is no exception to this! Guests of all ages will be delighted by over 10 million holiday lights.
This year, there are six exciting holiday shows to see, on-going entertainers, and a nighttime holiday light show. Plus, the park has a lighted holiday train experience too. Here is a rundown on all the entertainment options:
- Elmo’s Christmas Wish features all your favorite Sesame Street characters.
- Up on the Haustop traditional Christmas show in Das Festhaus in Oktoberfest.
- Unto Us is a beautiful re-enactment of the first Christmas at the open-air Il Teatro di San Marco Theatre in Italy
- Scrooge No More! is a trippy tale of the meaning of Christmas in England’s Globe Theatre
- Twas That Night is a show on ice featuring world-champion figure skater, Elvis Stojko in France’s Royal Palace Theatre
- Celtic Fyre: A Christmas Celebration is a brand-new show this year featuring the popular Irish dancers
- O’Tannenbaum is a light show you won’t want to miss at the 50-foot Christmas tree
- Village Entertainment will provide outdoor performances throughout the day in England, New France, and Ireland
There are many holiday themed dining options to enjoy including a la carte seasonal treats, drinks, and traditional dinners.
Right now, you can get discount Busch Gardens Christmastown tickets! Groupon has fantastic deals for one- and two-day Busch Gardens Williamsburg tickets! Groupon also has offers for Busch Gardens Tampa Christmastown tickets as well as Adventure Island Tampa tickets, Sea World Orlando tickets, Aquatica Orlando tickets, multi-day discount passes for Busch Gardens Tampa, Sea World Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, and Adventure Island Tampa Bay that can be used any time in the next year. For those that want to hit multiple theme parks in Orlando, Groupon also has a fantastic deal for Universal Studios theme parks!
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Christmastown runs from November 11th through January 8th. The theme park is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It is open the entire week of Thanksgiving, every day in December (except 12/1, 12/6, 12/13), and January 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th.
Sesame Place A Very Furry Christmas
Sesame Place A Very Furry Christmas is the perfect holiday theme park destination for younger children! It is also the only theme park in the world that is a Certified Autism Center and offers inclusive activities for children with autism and other special needs.
Sesame Place offers about 20 rides and attractions including a family-friendly roller coaster. Santa Claus pictures will be available through December 24th. There are also several different Sesame character meet and greet photo opportunities throughout the park. We really loved how many character picture locations there were during our visit because the wait was never more than 10 minutes!
Sesame Place Christmas offers several entertainment options throughout the day. Note that most shows are outdoors so make sure you dress warm:
- A Very Merry Sesame Street Sing-a-Long: Featuring favorite characters.
- Sesame Street Christmas Parade: With fun floats and dancing characters.
- Furry Friends Dance Party: Fun interactive experiences with Elmo.
- Elmo’s Christmas Wish: A heartwarming holiday show that brings out the Christmas spirit in everyone!
- 1-2-3 Christmas Tree Light Show: Synchronized music and lights on a 30-foot majestic tree in the front of the park.
A Very Furry Christmas also offers lots of wonderful dining options and ticket upgrades. Be sure to book early if you want to attend the Christmas Dine with Elmo & Friends! This popular event does sell out.
The best place to find discount Sesame Place tickets is on Groupon! Sesame Place is located under 40 minutes from downtown Philadelphia. There are several convenient family-friendly hotels in Langhorne if you want to make it a weekend trip!
If you are on the West Coast, good news! There is also A Very Furry Christmas in your neighborhood! Sesame Place San Diego has the same shows and similar attractions. And you can get discount tickets to Sesame Place San Diego on Groupon right now too as well as a two-park Sea World ticket too!
Dutch Wonderland Winter Wonderland
Dutch Winter Wonderland is another great theme park pick geared towards smaller children with over 20 family-friendly rides and attractions, thousands of lights, visits with Santa in his workshop, a miniature train display, and visits with the Dutch Wonderland Princess, Knight, Merlin, and Duke the Dragon at the front gate.
Kids will love the Cookies with Santa & Friends that takes place on Saturday afternoons and includes a visit and photo with Santa plus delicious cookies in Merlin’s Buffet as you spend time together with Santa, Princess Brooke, the Knight of Safety, Merlin, and everyone’s favorite, Duke the Dragon!
This park is remarkably close to Philadelphia and under 2 hours from Baltimore and surrounding areas. Read our in-depth blog post about our experience at Dutch Winter Wonderland and find out more about Dutch Wonderland holiday festivities here.
Hershey Christmas Candylane®
Hersheypark Christmas Candylane® is another family favorite located in Central Pennsylvania that runs from early November through January 1st. The Hersheypark holiday lights display has over 5 million lights making it one sweet place to celebrate the holidays!
One unique feature of Hersheypark is that your entry ticket allows you to visit ZooAmerica. ZooAmerica is an 11-acre zoo that is home to bears, big cats, reptiles, small mammals, wild birds, and more.
The park has also added another roller coaster to its thrill ride list! Candymonium® is now the tallest, fastest, and longest of all Hersheypark’s roller coasters! Hersheypark has also added three new dining options: The Chocolatier Restaurant, Bar + Patio℠,, Milton’s Ice Cream Parlor℠,, and The Sweeterie Confectionery Kitchen℠,.
Here is a list of holiday entertainment and attractions that you can expect this season:
- Santa and all 9 of his reindeer are available for visits from early November through December 24th.
- The TREEville® trail of trees that tell the stories of the Sweetest Place on Earth will be on display starting November 23rd.
- Noel is a nighttime light show with over 250,000 dancing lights set to popular Christmas tunes.
- Look out for your favorite Hershey characters around the park!
The best place to buy Hersheypark tickets is directly on their website. Make it a weekend trip! Check out our advice on where to stay in Hershey and other things to do in Dauphin County and the nearby Harrisburg area! You can occasionally nab Hersheypark Christmas Candylane discount tickets early in the season!
Hershey Sweet Lights® is also a terrific add-on to your theme park experience. Located under 10 minutes from the Hersheypark entrance, this 2-mile drive-through holiday lights experience features almost 600 illuminated displays.
Six Flags America Holiday in the Park — CLOSED FOR 2022
Six Flags America Holiday in the Park is the closest holiday theme park near Washington DC. However, it will not be happening in 2022. Six Flags America is busy working on new events and will kick off 2023 with a brand-new Saint Patrick’s Day festival.
We’re hoping Six Flags Holidays in the Park will return in 2023. This popular DC area theme park event features over a million lights, visits with Santa Claus, and Looney Tunes character greetings with popular characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Tweety Bird. Plus, many rides are open during the event. This is the closest option for those in D.C. and many areas of Maryland.
Below is a rundown of the 2021 events for future holiday travel plans. Six Flags Great Adventure is holding their Six Flags Holiday in the Park event this year and is another great option. It is just over three hours from the DC area. Find out more about the New Jersey theme park event here.
Enjoy a traditional holiday dinner at Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen. Gather around a campfire and make some s’mores or warm up with a refillable cup of hot cocoa as you stroll through the 10 decorated areas of this expansive park.
At Six Flags America, there are many seasonal shows to enjoy ringing in the holidays. Here is the list of last year’s festivities:
- Main Street Christmas Tree Lighting occurs nightly at 5 pm when the entire park cast and Looney Tunes characters gather to light up the 27-foot tree at Circle Stage at Main Street Christmas.
- Christmas Heist is an action-packed show to break into Santa’s workshop to remove names from the naughty list before the elves and ginjas catch on!
- 12 Days Twist features elves coming to Santa’s rescue to get Mrs. Claus her Christmas present.
- Holiday Party Spectacular is a festive party that features a modern twist on some of your favorite Christmas tunes.
- Behold the Messiah is a popular returning show that relives the birth of Jesus in a once nightly show at 8:45 pm in the Grand Theatre. Be sure to arrive early to get your seats!
- Reindeer Games allow you to join in on special holiday games.
Holiday Theme Park Events Near Washington DC
These are our favorite theme park events near Washington DC. Do you know of any others? Please comment below! We’d love to hear your suggestions!
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Those sound like such fun amusement parks! We really need to get over to the east coast to check them out.
Yes, we’ve been to them all and they are a ton of fun, especially during the holidays!
Thank you for sharing! I have been wanting to take the little ones to Dutch Wonderland. I may try to fit that in before the holidays are over.