4. Christmas in Hershey – Hersheypark

Image: Hersheypark

Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania

What could be sweeter than spending Christmas in the town chocolate built? That's the idea behind Christmas in Hershey, a town-wide celebration in the company town built by candy magnate Milton Hershey and headquarters of the Hershey Company to this day. 

Much of the celebration is focused around Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane, a seasonal celebration that overtakes the town's theme park every year. More than 4 million lights overtake the park, alongside festive entertainment, choreographed light shows, and more. Many of the park's rides are open for business, including the Wildcat wooden coaster and the indoor Laff Trakk fun house / wild mouse. Most spectacularly, Santa and his 9 reindeer come to town, and you can meet them all in the park's reindeer stables.

Image: Hersheypark

Holiday Highlight: Not to be overlooked is the town's other big attraction: Hershey Sweet Lights. Harkening back to the days of yore, this drive-through display of lights, animation, and music takes place on a two-mile trip through the woods, with families cruising through thousands and thousands of Christmas lights.

5. SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration

Image: SeaWorld

Location: Orlando, Florida

SeaWorld Orlando is "Where the season meets the sea," as the flagship park is transformed for the winter with 3 million sparkling lights. As with all things SeaWorld, the Christmas Celebration is a unique fusion of grace and beauty with whimsy and fun. That's how the park can successfully host "O Wondrous Night" (a retelling of the biblical nativity with carols, puppets, and more) and "Clyde and Seamore's Countdown to Christmas."

And since SeaWorld has access to both Sesame Street characters and Rankin/Bass Production's legendary Rudolph claymation series, the park's character count is nearly unbeatable. Add in "Winter Wonderland on Ice," "Shamu's Christmas Miracles," and "Elmo's Christmas Wish" and you end up with an unstoppable show line-up, too. The only downside to SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration? Orlando's balmy weather, with an average December high of 73 degrees and a "bone-chilling" low of 52.

Image: SeaWorld Parks

Holiday Highlight: Even still, the warm weather can't overshadow one of the park's coolest displays; its central lagoon becomes the Sea of Trees, dancing in time to music.

6. Holiday Lights – Kennywood

Image: Kennywood

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kennywood bills itself as "America's Finest Traditional Amusement Park," and that's made especially true around the Holidays. The park decks the halls (and the rides) with over 2 million lights. And like absolutely everything about Kennywood, the displays are classic. Guests can tour through the park and enjoy the park's classic midway rides, the new Thomas Town, attractions like The Polar Express 4-D, and the ultra-classic, last-of-its-kind Noah's Ark walkthrough dark ride. 

Image: Kennywood

Oh, and if you want a picture with Santa, you'll want to stop by the station normally used for the park's historic, 1920s mobius-tracked Racer roller coaster. At this park, pictures with Santa take place in a replica roller coaster car!

Holiday Highlight: Kennywood proudly boasts the tallest Christmas tree in Pennsylvania (over 90 feet tall!) – the centerpiece of a dazzling, nightly Holiday Lights Show taking place every half-hour on the park's lagoon.