In 1985 Six Flags over Texas began the Holiday in the Park tradition as a festive way to celebrate Christmas and bring in guests during an otherwise slow part of the year. 40 years later, the event thrives at being a winter-time tradition for Texas families and remains one of the most popular times of year to visit the park.
While we were previously invited to a limited media preview of Holiday in the Park 2025, we revisited the park during normal park hours to fully experience the event and see all areas of the park. This trip report combines elements of both the preview and recent trip.
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Park Entrance during Holiday in the Park 2025
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2025 is the 40th Anniversary of Holiday in the Park
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Star Mall entry plaza during Holiday in the Park 2025
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Oil Derrick turned into the traditional Christmas Tree
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Candy-themed holiday decor near Pirates of Speelunker Cave
Holiday in the Park Activities
During the preview event, we saw some of the main Holiday in the Park activities such as St. Nick’s Pics, the new Christmastime Keepsakes Store with various holiday merch, and Mrs. Claus Kitchen where you can buy a kit to decorate Christmas cookies.
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Take a picture with Santa at St. Nick's Pics during Holiday in the Park
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Buy Holiday in the Park merchandise, ornaments, and gifts in this new store
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Buy and decorate Christmas cookies at Mrs. Claus' Kitchen
Also new is a small Christmas Tree maze with surprises around every corner, similar to the hay maze from Tricks and Treats.
Real trees form a small maze with surprises and figures around corners
With the Six Flags Railroad being closed due to Tormenta construction, the park transformed the Texas Depot into the North Pole Post Office. There, kids can color pictures or write and mail their wish list to the big guy himself.
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The Texas Depot transformed into the North Pole Post Office
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Kids can color or write a postcard and mail it to Santa at the North Pole Post Office
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Holiday Decor inside the Texas Depot
Last year’s ingenious reuse of old Chaparral Antique Cars as a makeshift “drive-in theater” returned, with Christmas classics playing on Pandemonium’s LED display. It’s clearly a popular activity with every car being taken every time we passed.
Guests watch a classic holiday movie while sitting in old Chaparral Antique Cars
And of course roasting s’mores ($5.99 for a kit) over wood-burning fires is a classic Holiday in the Park activity.
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Stands throughout the park sell s'mores kits (and hot chocolate) to roast over the open fire
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Guests roast s'mores over a campfire in the Texas section
Check out our Holiday in the Park page for a full event guide including all the activities, shows, and other offerings at this year’s event.
Specialty Food and Beverage
It wouldn’t be Holiday in the Park without specialty food and beverage. Our tradition is to get a bread bowl to help stave off the cold, though we do miss chili being an option (this is Texas, after all).
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Primo's Pizza in the Old South turns into Cozy Cafe for Holiday in the Park 2025
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Broccoli cheddar and tomato bisque soups in sourdough bread bowls from Cozy Cafe
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Holiday cocktails with cranberry garnishes
We remain nostalgic for the third-party vendors the park would bring in during Holiday in the Park for many years. They often had better, more noteworthy food offerings than what the park provides, though food quality overall has seemingly improved this year.
However it should be noted, this is absolutely not what an Oklahoma onion burger is:
All American Cafe sells an “Oklahoma Onion Burger”
Be sure to check out Holiday in the Park Event Page for a menu of specialty offerings.
Holiday in the Park Entertainment
Holiday in the Park 2025 features a variety of shows that’s sure to fulfill whatever you’re after. Of course the signature show is Tinker’s Toy Factory in the Southern Palace Theater. The new show combines dance, music, and acrobatic acts for a high-energy Christmas show. It’s entertaining but if it’s story you’re after, you won’t find much here.
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One of several acrobatic acts performed during Tinker's Toy Factory
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Elves take a call from Santa during Tinker's Toy Factory
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Cast of Tinker's Toy Factory
Meanwhile, Holly Jolly Trolley brings choreographed holiday classics on the stage outside Six Flags Universe.
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This colorful, high-energy show performs a number of holiday classics
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Holly Jolly Trolley on the Six Flags Universe stage
The MistleTones provide a nostalgic performance inside the cozy Crazy Horse Saloon, which we’re glad is back to featuring live entertainment.
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The MistleTones perform a jazzy hit
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The MistleTones perform to a big Crazy Horse Saloon crowd
‘Twas a Merry Mishap gives an off-kilter retelling of the classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas story on the expanded Courthouse Stage.
A comedic retelling of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
Kids will also enjoy the Looney Tunes Holidaze Dance Party, and hearing Mrs. Claus Storytime as she reads classic holiday tales in the Texas area.
Mrs. Claus reading a holiday story to children and adults alike
The shows are all enjoyable, but not quite as grand in scale as the ones found at nearby Six Flags Fiesta Texas, which include A Christmas Carol and The Majesty of Christmas. Of course, Fiesta Texas is a park that was originally founded on live entertainment, and it accordingly has the kinds of venues needed for such big shows.
Check out our Holiday in the Park guide for an easy to follow, hour-by-hour show schedule.
Parkwide Improvements
New park leadership teams led by regional GM Jeffrey Siebert continue sweeping the park with unprecedented levels of projects in preparation of the park’s 65 Anniversary next year.
Virtually every building in the Texas section has been (or is in process of being) renovated, with vast amounts of wood siding replaced and repainted. These photos not only represent a tiny fraction of the improvements, but they’re also already outdated (being from 2 weeks ago) in terms of other ongoing projects.
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Renovated building across from Bubba's Hot Dogs
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Cinnabon building being renovated
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Defunct Roller Coaster Coffee location at the entrance
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New wood railing along the Pirates of Speelunker queue line
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The Texas Gifts building undergoing wood replacement and repainting
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New roof on the Mine Train's tunnel
The entry plaza’s Roller Coaster Coffee remains closed for the foreseeable future with it full of boxes. It always seemed odd to add this with the other Roller Coaster Coffee location being so closely located in Six Flags Universe. Hopefully it will turn into something usable — its back cafe area was a hidden gem.
The “ACE Hotel and Saloon” building on the Mine Train has also been refurbished, and we’re still wondering if there are more surprises awaiting us inside the building. It would be the perfect place for some simple animatronics…
We also saw that Gotham City Stage had been completely removed, leaving a big empty pad that has since been filled with picnic tables.
Gotham City Stage has been completely removed
Siebert also just announced changes to Pirates of Speelunker Cave. As anyone who has recently ridden the dark ride can attest to, Pirates of Speelunker Cave is in rough shape for being just 3 years old. Most of the animatronics are broken in one way or another, Speelunkers are missing or disfigured, various audio and lighting effects don’t work, and the plot is completely absent with the signature battle scene now being mostly static characters staring at each other. While a flood did damage much of the ride shortly after it opened, others have blamed the ride’s trajectory to a drone company that was hired to renovate the ride.
Post from Jeffrey Siebert’s Instagram revealing Pirates of Speelunker Cave Refurb
2025 Closing Thoughts
It has been a big year for Six Flags over Texas. When it was announced late last year that the park would be getting a record-breaking dive coaster, it signaled that the original Six Flags park would finally be seeing significant investments and improvements once again. This was further reinforced when we spoke with Jeffrey Siebert during the Tormenta unveiling, claiming the park was going through a golden renaissance. The park truly has been going building by building, ride by ride, and repairing, refurbishing, and renovating virtually everything in sight. Whether they’re multi-million dollar projects like Tormenta Rampaging Run, or smaller capital improvements such as repainting and getting fountains pumping again, the enhancements are making the park regain the magic it slowly lost over recent decades.
2026 is obviously a landmark year for the park’s 65th anniversary. The flurry of improvements are expected to continue, especially now that the park has announced it will not be open for the majority of January and February (perhaps permanently backing away from the year-round operation that never really made sense for the park).
Since it seems like everything else on the old park wish list is getting checked off, our only remaining Christmas wish is for a return of the Pink Thing.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Guide To SFoT!
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