Christmas is arriving early at Disney Springs this year, and Disney has now confirmed exactly when one of the shopping district’s most unusual seasonal additions will open.
The new Hallmark Holiday Pop-Up will officially welcome its first guests on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at Disney Springs. The limited-time store is tied directly to Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True, the upcoming Hallmark Channel Christmas movie filmed at Walt Disney World.
Disney previously announced that the shop would debut sometime in early October, but the October 7 opening date was confirmed on October 3. Signage for the new location has already appeared at Disney Springs as crews prepare the space for opening.
The Hallmark Holiday Pop-Up will operate from the former Francesca’s storefront in the Town Center section of Disney Springs.
Rather than functioning as a conventional Hallmark store, the temporary location will serve as an extension of the upcoming movie. Disney says guests will be able to “step into Christmas movie magic” while browsing merchandise inspired by Holiday Ever After, along with a broader assortment of Hallmark and Disney holiday products.
The merchandise selection is expected to include greeting cards, gifts and Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments.
Several products connected to the movie have already been revealed as part of the Holiday Ever After collection, including Spirit Jerseys, family pajamas, Loungefly accessories, Vera Bradley bags, Corkcicle drinkware, holiday cards, home goods and ornaments.
That gives the pop-up a substantially broader purpose than simply promoting the Hallmark Channel movie. It will effectively become another Christmas shopping destination at Disney Springs just as Walt Disney World begins transitioning from its Halloween season into the holidays.
The movie behind the store is significant in its own right.
Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True represents the first original holiday movie created through a collaboration between Hallmark Channel and Walt Disney World.
Lacey Chabert stars as Lindsey, who travels to Walt Disney World with her extended family for Christmas. Her vacation becomes considerably more complicated when she discovers that Philip, played by Travis Van Winkle, is staying next door. The two recently endured a disastrous first date, only to unexpectedly find themselves vacationing at Disney World at the same time.
The story follows the pair as they repeatedly cross paths around the resort and gradually reconsider their relationship.
Disney has confirmed that the cast also includes Richard Kind, Christy Carlson Romano, Bryce Durfee, Taegen Burns and Asher Alexander, with Patrick Renna appearing in a cameo.
More importantly for Disney World fans, the resort is not simply being used as a generic backdrop.
Scenes for the movie were filmed on location at Walt Disney World, including footage captured at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney Springs. Cinderella Fountain also plays a role in the story, with Lindsey making a holiday wish there that becomes part of the film’s central romance.
The movie premieres Saturday, November 28, at 8 p.m. Eastern on Hallmark Channel as part of the network’s annual Countdown to Christmas programming event.
The Disney Springs pop-up therefore opens more than seven weeks before the television premiere, giving Disney and Hallmark an unusually long window to build awareness for the film.
There is also a historical connection between the two companies that predates the new movie by decades.
Hallmark founder J.C. Hall and Walt Disney had a personal connection through their Kansas City roots, and Hallmark became an early Disney licensee. Disney and Hallmark have continued collaborating on greeting cards, ornaments and other products over the decades.
Hallmark even once had a permanent presence inside Magic Kingdom. The Hallmark Card Shop operated on Main Street, U.S.A. during the park’s early years before closing in the 1980s.
The new Disney Springs shop will be temporary, although Disney has not yet announced its closing date.
The partnership will continue beyond the pop-up.
Disney has also revealed that an additional Disney and Hallmark collection inspired by Holiday Ever After will arrive for the 2027 holiday season. That assortment is expected to include greeting cards, ornaments, gifts, gift wrap and other products and will be sold through select Hallmark Gold Crown stores, Hallmark’s website and additional retailers that have not yet been announced.
That makes this year’s Disney Springs store something of a preview of a much broader Disney-Hallmark merchandise collaboration.
For Walt Disney World visitors, however, the immediate date to remember is October 7.
The Hallmark Holiday Pop-Up will become one of the first dedicated Christmas experiences to arrive at Disney Springs this fall, weeks before the resort’s major holiday entertainment begins in November. With movie-specific merchandise, Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments and other Disney Christmas products all concentrated in one location, the temporary shop should also offer something substantially different from Disney Springs’ existing holiday retailer, Disney’s Days of Christmas.
And unlike the holiday parties inside the theme parks, visiting this particular Christmas experience will not require a park ticket.