Where to stream holiday shows and movies 2024

The holidays are here, which means lots of time spent with family and friends streaming all our favorite holiday classics. Whether it’s the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf or time-honored classics like It’s a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, you want your internet connection to perform at its best for all the holiday entertainment at your fingertips.

Where to stream family-friendly holiday movies

Top streaming services such as Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video and Max offer holiday collections of TV shows and movies, but some offer better choices than others, depending on what you’re looking for. If you want holiday entertainment for the whole family, Disney+ and Netflix are our top picks:

Disney+ and Hulu

Disney+ is the hub for any and all kid-friendly entertainment. This holiday season, Disney+ boasts a content hub chock-full of familiar favorites within its “Happy Holidays” collection. Watch the full collections of Home Alone and The Santa Clause, as well as wholesome classics like Miracle on 34th Street. The Happy Holidays collection also includes TV content, like holiday episodes from The Simpsons, Disney Channel and more.

Hulu goes hand in hand with Disney+ when it comes to subscriptions, so you can stream family favorites like Elf, Home Alone, Jack Frost and Fred Claus on Hulu if you have a Disney+ membership.

Read our full Disney+ review. 

Read our full Hulu review.

Netflix

Netflix has a holiday movies collection that offers a wide range of holiday movies and shows across different categories such as “Movies Based on Children’s Books,” “Kids & Family Movies,” “Crowd Pleasers” and more. Netflix’s collection has tons of original content geared toward family-friendly viewing, but if you want more well-known classics, you may be better off exploring another service.

Read our full Netflix review.

Where to stream holiday classics 

Holiday classics can mean different things to everyone, but we love Max, Prime Video and Hulu for cult and time-honored classic holiday movies and shows.

Max

Max’s “That Time of Year” collection boasts a powerhouse of holiday classics like Elf, The Polar Express, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story and A Christmas Carol.

You can browse different categories within the collection, like Max’s Thanksgiving “Families We’re Thankful For” collection, with shows like Young Sheldon, Full House and The Sopranos. You can even watch all of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes.

Read our full Max review.

Prime Video

Prime Video has a vast collection of holiday content, with more fan favorites than the other streaming services — but be prepared to rent or buy.

Prime offers the original holiday specials near and dear to our hearts, like Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. You can also enjoy movies like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Elf, Home Alone and Christmas with the Kranks.

Prime also boasts a wide range of our favorite holiday romances like The Holiday and Love Actually. If you want a true classic like It’s a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, Prime has you covered there, too.

Read our full Prime Video review.

What internet speed is best for streaming movies? 

If you’re streaming this holiday season, ensure you have enough internet speed to support every device streaming in your household.

In general, streaming only requires about 3 to 25 Mbps, but that’s for one device at a time. If you have multiple internet users, multiply that speed by the number of devices streaming at once within your network. If you’re streaming in 4K Ultra HD, use the higher end of that speed range.

It’s also wise to consider the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) minimum broadband speed standard of 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed. This isn’t enough speed for most digital homes streaming at once, so don’t dip below this speed if you can help it. Take our speed test to find out what speed you’re currently getting from your internet plan.

Here are the internet speed recommendations from top streaming services:

Need more speed? Explore high-speed internet providers.

Internet provider streaming bundles 

Want to capitalize on streaming throughout the holidays? Many internet providers offer streaming bundles that can save you money or provide you with promotional perks. Explore our best deals page for more monthly promotions.

Xfinity StreamSaver

If you add Xfinity StreamSaver to your Xfinity internet plan, you can save up to 40% on top streaming services like Netflix, Peacock and Apple TV+.

Shop Xfinity

Or call us today: (844) 451-2720 (844) 451-2720

Spectrum TV Stream

Spectrum TV Stream is Spectrum’s streaming TV service that offers 85+ channels for $40.00/mo. You can bundle TV Stream with any Spectrum Internet® plan for a discount.

Shop Spectrum

Or call us today: (844) 451-2720 (844) 451-2720

Verizon

Verizon’s myHome perks are great for streaming deals. With the purchase of a Verizon internet plan, you can get discounts on streaming services like Apple One, Netflix and Max, YouTube Premium and the Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

Shop Verizon

Or call us today: (844) 451-2720 (844) 451-2720

Holiday streaming FAQs