Christmas Decorations 2009 vs. Previous Years & vs. Disneyland

[OneHappySahm]

I agree. We were there Dec 5 -16th and when we left we felt like we missed a little Christmas. There were very few places that were decorated for the holidays and just not a lot of holiday activities, music etc. It just didn't feel very Christmassy to us at all. We decided we probably would pick another place to go for a Christmas vacation next time.

That's not to say that we didn't have an incredible time (I mean it *is* Disney World), it just wasn't what we expected Christmas-wise. I wonder if they will pick it back up as the economy gets better?

 

[Loopner]

Can someone tell me when the decorations are usually scheduled to come down? I have a friend who's thinking of going in the next week and she'd like to know when the decorations are gone.

Thanks in advance!

 

[AllisonG]

We generally go during Christmas and have been since 1997 and I can definitely say the decorations were lacking greatly this year.

 

[WDSearcher]

Once we got past Main Street, that was pretty much it. The same with the other parks. Looking around inside the parks, it could have been any other time of year, because nothing looked "Christmasy". Yes, I agree, WDW is a very large place. But for the amount of money everyone spent to see Christmas at WDW, there really should have been a little bit more.

All due respect, but people pay the same amount of money (or more, considering all the deals that were out there this Christmas) to visit WDW at other times of the year without the added shows / decor of the holidays. I don't think how much the trip costs necessarily relates to there having to be more decor in the parks.

My husband and I arrived the day before Thanksgiving, and stayed our 1st night at BWV. We walked over to WS, expecting to see the countries decorated. Except for the areas set up in each country for Santa, there wasn't much else. Germany had some garland. The stage area for the CP was decorated. That was about it. My husband thought maybe WS would be decorated more after Thanksgiving was over. It didn't happen. Now the WS isn't that large of an area that they couldn't have put up more decorations. The countries that celebrate Christmas should have been decorated that way.

I was in the parks the second week of December and all of the countries were decked out appropriately. I wouldn't expect to see something like the Osborne Lights in, say, Germany or UK. I want to see it look like it would look in those countries. I want to see traditional international decorations, not just "lights everywhere." I got exactly what I'd hope for an expected from the World Showcase decorations. Sorry you didn't.

In contrast, we went to Universal and the whole Dr Seuss area was over-flowing with Christmas decorations! The Grinch Who Stole Christmas actually gave us our Christmas feeling on this trip. That and the Osborn Lights. Again, those lights were amazing!

What did the rest of Universal look like? Were the rest of the two parks decorated to the nines or was it just the Dr. Seuss area? If it was really just Seuss, then I don't understand your disappoinment with Disney. If Universal had both parks and CityWalk totally decked out, then that's something else entirely.

It seems like most people are just expecting to see "all lights, everywhere, all the time" and don't think about the THEME of each area. While I agree that there seem to be fewer decorations in general, I still felt that everything looked festive and Christmasy. I don't WANT Main Street USA to look like Dr. Seuss land at Universal or the main street of Dollywood. I want it to look like a small town Main Street at the turn of the century. And in that respect, I was very pleased. The decorations I saw were appropriate to the land or park and also appropriate to the fact that (a) not everyone who visits is from a country / culture that celebrates Christmas and (b) it's all got to stay up for a month and a half is really unpredictable weather.

I'm sorry so many people thought they were getting less, but I truly think it's one of those things where the anticipation just snowballs and nothing Disney could do would match what the Guest has been anticipating. For me, the decorations enhance my trip, they don't "make" my trip. My family and friends do that.

 

[WDSearcher]

Can someone tell me when the decorations are usually scheduled to come down? I have a friend who's thinking of going in the next week and she'd like to know when the decorations are gone.

Thanks in advance!

They will be gone by next week. They normally come down pretty quickly the first few days of January. They are definitely down by Marathon weekend.

 

[disneygrandma]

What I was getting at, was that The Grinch didn't steal Christmas, but actually gave us the Christmasy look. It was completely over the top, which was good for us since we were disappointed in the Christmas "feel" we got at WDW. No the other areas of Universal weren't as well decorated. But then again, we hadn't been watching specials with Samantha Brown on Christmas at Universal. This was our 1st WDW trip at this time of the year, and we had expected to see in person what we've been seeing on TV these past several years. Not to mention all the past recounts of previous WDW Christmas time visitors.

Examples: We had planned to book the CP Dining Pkg using 1 DDP credit, as past years had been. This year, they changed it to 2 credits. This caused us much disappointment and stress over what to do. (We're DVC so had to pay for our dining.)

Next, no tunnel of lights at Epcot. I still stand by our observations of not much in the way of decorations in WS.

No 'Twas the Night Before Christmas show at MVMCP. In past years, everyone said this was the 1 show there not to miss. (Here's where much of the money part comes in. Paying for those expensive tickets. Not to mention that OOP dining prices are hiked up during this time of the year.)

So we went in to this trip knowing that some things would be missing. However, we had hoped that the decorations themselves would still be there. The decorations were greatly lacking, though, and thus our disappointment. Yes, the family does make the trip great. And our family had been planning this trip for so-o-o long. Yes, we had a good time. But we were disappointed that Christmas at Disney was less this year, when we finally got to go, than what it had been in previous years.

 

[42trvl]

We just returned and were also disappointed at the cutbacks in decorations. Also noticed that some things were taken down more quickly. While I understand the comments about it costing the same to go at different times of the year, I do think that many people go at this time of year especially for the holiday decorations and by cutting back, it may end up keeping many of these people from returning - especially as word gets out that things were not as nice or special as they used to be. Especially as you get closer to Christmas/New Year and the parks are extremely crowded, it's nice to know that even if you can't enjoy many of the attractions because of the crowds, you can at least enjoy the holiday atmosphere. With that incentive gone, not sure why some of us would go through the added aggravation and cost of traveling there at holiday time.

 

[suebedo]

We were in the world 12/12/thru 12/19. I thought the decorations were great in each "main street" area of the park. But they were definitely lacking in other areas of the park. The MK had really no xmas decorations other than main street. That being said, I loved the decorations that they did have. I had nothing to compare it to in previous years. We had a wonderful time and will not hesitate to return during the christmas season again!

 

[suebedo]

Does anyone have pics of previous years decorations? I would like to see the other areas of the parks that were decorated in previous years that were not decorated this year.

 

[WDSearcher]

No 'Twas the Night Before Christmas show at MVMCP. In past years, everyone said this was the 1 show there not to miss. (Here's where much of the money part comes in. Paying for those expensive tickets. Not to mention that OOP dining prices are hiked up during this time of the year.)

But it was also widely reported that 'Twas was going away. People were talking about it as far back as October. So you still had the choice of purchasing MVMCP tix based on knowing that. You didn't have to purchase them if you didn't think you'd be getting your money's worth with the party with "Totally Tomorrowland Christmas" (the show that replaced 'Twas) instead. Now, if you didn't know that 'Twas was gone until you'd already purchased the tickets, that's unfortunate, but the info has been out there for months. And there's certainly a LOT more to the party than just that one show. And it's not like the base ticket price at Disney went up for the holidays or that you were forced to purchase Christmas Party tickets.

So we went in to this trip knowing that some things would be missing. However, we had hoped that the decorations themselves would still be there. The decorations were greatly lacking, though, and thus our disappointment.

Based on the expectations you went in with and how long you've been planning this trip and anticipating it, I wonder if ANYTHING could have matched them. I mean ... you had the Osborne Lights and the castle ice lights, which are two spectacular no-other-park-anywhere-has-them things. There are these massive Christmas trees each decorated in the theme of their park. There are decorations in every resort. I'm not sure if you expected all of WDW to be as over-the-top as someplace like Seuss Landing or Streets of America, but it's never been that way. I'm sorry you didn't get "Christmas" out of what you saw at WDW. I saw "Christmas" everywhere!

 

[WDSearcher]

We just returned and were also disappointed at the cutbacks in decorations. Also noticed that some things were taken down more quickly. While I understand the comments about it costing the same to go at different times of the year, I do think that many people go at this time of year especially for the holiday decorations and by cutting back, it may end up keeping many of these people from returning - especially as word gets out that things were not as nice or special as they used to be. Especially as you get closer to Christmas/New Year and the parks are extremely crowded, it's nice to know that even if you can't enjoy many of the attractions because of the crowds, you can at least enjoy the holiday atmosphere. With that incentive gone, not sure why some of us would go through the added aggravation and cost of traveling there at holiday time.

That's a chance WDW takes, of course. But in a lean economy, if Disney decides that cutting back a bit on decorations is preferable to, say, laying off more people or cutting fireworks to save money, then I'm okay with that. It's not as though the economy is booming and Disney is cutting back. I would think that a bit less at Christmas would have kind of been expected this year, considering everything else. But that's just me. I get more opportunities to visit WDW than most folks, so I know that there will be more Christmas visits to come. Some others may not have that option.

 

[disneygrandma]

WDSearcher, you are very lucky that you live so close to WDW and are able to go frequently. As you have said, you've been there for other Christmas seasons, and will be there again. Unfortunately, we've not been able to go to WDW before in December. Each year we would read the reviews & posts, look at the pictures & watch the TV specials of what happens at WDW in Dec. Our expectations for this trip were not so high as to not be satisfied with whatever WDW offered. The Osborn lights were amazing and the castle dressed in ice took our breath away. However, that being said, overall WDW down-sized their Christmas atmosphere, and thus our Christmas experience.

We were disappointed that 'Twas the Night Before Christmas wasn't going to be there. But we wanted to attend MVMCP for the parade and other aspects. Yes, agreed, no one forced us to spend the money on the party tkts. However, for our 1st family trip at Christmas, it was something we didn't want to miss.


You seem to personally be attacking me for what our family, as well as several other families, observed at WDW. Are we sad we went? No, we're happy we did. We have many special memories. Would this trip have been a little better if WDW had not cut back so much? Yes, it would have. This trip was a great expense for us, and our children, as well as for all the other families who are not lucky enough to attend WDW as frequently as you do. None of us need to be reminded of the economy.

I've stated our experience, and disappointment, with our most recent WDW trip. Your opinions and views are obviously different. I will not be responding again.

 

[gokenin]

You seem to personally be attacking me for what our family, as well as several other families, observed at WDW. Are we sad we went? No, we're happy we did. We have many special memories. Would this trip have been a little better if WDW had not cut back so much? Yes, it would have. This trip was a great expense for us, and our children, as well as for all the other families who are not lucky enough to attend WDW as frequently as you do. None of us need to be reminded of the economy.

I've stated our experience, and disappointment, with our most recent WDW trip. Your opinions and views are obviously different. I will not be responding again.

This is the type of situation that I think the DIS has started to do a diservice to people attending Disney. The vast majority of posters here are people that live either in Florida or can get to Disney rather often, these people have a unique view of Disney since they are there so often. The other side of the coin is that they see changes more pronounced than your average tourist to Disney. We sit here and bemoan how bad Disney has become because we remember things from our multiple trips to Disney that may no longer be there and the new people or the I have gone a few time people come on here and only begin to here the negative so they are looking for only the negative.
I am not saying the locals shouldnt be posting on the boards far from it but you have to remember that someone that went for the first time this year will never have experienced the "tunnel of ugly lights" at ecpot (my name for it so flame away) and will have had a good time but since the decorations went up there have been nothing but critism from the locals or the frequent shoppers about how terrible it is so I think its scares the newbies into questioning the trip.
OK this is a meandering post but I think that people are just getting frustrated with all the negative stuff that is coming out latelty about Disney and alot of it is coming from the long term visiters that are bemoaning times past, and its tainting the new visiters who come on after the trip and say how bad it was because they never saw the things like they were before.
well I am off

 

[WDSearcher]

WDSearcher, you are very lucky that you live so close to WDW and are able to go frequently. As you have said, you've been there for other Christmas seasons, and will be there again. Unfortunately, we've not been able to go to WDW before in December. Each year we would read the reviews & posts, look at the pictures & watch the TV specials of what happens at WDW in Dec. Our expectations for this trip were not so high as to not be satisfied with whatever WDW offered. The Osborn lights were amazing and the castle dressed in ice took our breath away. However, that being said, overall WDW down-sized their Christmas atmosphere, and thus our Christmas experience.

We were disappointed that 'Twas the Night Before Christmas wasn't going to be there. But we wanted to attend MVMCP for the parade and other aspects. Yes, agreed, no one forced us to spend the money on the party tkts. However, for our 1st family trip at Christmas, it was something we didn't want to miss.

You seem to personally be attacking me for what our family, as well as several other families, observed at WDW. Are we sad we went? No, we're happy we did. We have many special memories. Would this trip have been a little better if WDW had not cut back so much? Yes, it would have. This trip was a great expense for us, and our children, as well as for all the other families who are not lucky enough to attend WDW as frequently as you do. None of us need to be reminded of the economy.

I've stated our experience, and disappointment, with our most recent WDW trip. Your opinions and views are obviously different. I will not be responding again.

I didn't mean to come off as "attacking" your family (or anyone else). I was just trying to understand where people come from. Please forgive me if it came across otherwise.

And, while I know you won't respond, I suspect you might check back to see if there are any other replies. So perhaps you'll read this. If you do truly feel that your experience was diminished (or not worth the cost) because of the cuts this year, please write to Disney and tell them. They need to know where the disappointment is coming from and how wide-spread those opinions are. You may never hear back (although if you ask for a response, you'll get one), but you will have registered your opinion and it will be counted.

 

[1FunMom]

disneygrandma,

I can relate to your feelings. As the OP, I did not want to complain, but I was curious to know if anyone else was disappointed too. I still love being in a Disney park, and I am not down on Disney, but I have to say that I left WDW this December feeling with that "been there done that" feeling about WDW in December. In contrast, I know that I will return to Disneyland in December. If anyone were to ask me for my opinion, I would strongly suggest - for the Christmas experience, and to feel completely immersed in the holidays - visit Disneyland.

You have a point in that when some of us live far away requiring significant time and expense just to to GET to WDW (or anywhere else for that matter), you don't want to feel like you missed major attractions or experiences because of the economy, because you can't easily return soon. Yes, the economy has affected us too, but we still chose to allocate funds to visit WDW with the expectation that it would be decked out for the holidays - Disney advertises that. If I knew this year would have a noticeable reduction in Christmas decorations at WDW, I would have chosen to wait until Disney's budget allowed the normal decorations to be displayed.

But then again, we have asked ourselves: Even if WDW had more decorations, because the park is so spread out, maybe it would never feel like it does at Disneyland? I can't answer that because I haven't been to WDW it its height of holiday decorating. I'm beginning to think such may really be the case.

Like you, disneygrandma, we were disappointed with the Christmas decorations and "feel," but we still had a great time, lots and lots of laughter and good times. I just wish that my one and only WDW Holiday Trip had knocked my socks off. We have March reservations during Flower & Garden Festival to return with my family and the grandparents, but we're seriously considering waiting until the economy improves and Disney reduces cutbacks - at that time they may provide more perks for us to enjoy. In the meantime we'll enjoy traveling to other places we want our kids to experience.

I'm also with you on Universal's Seuss Land. We visited before WDW, and after having been to the Universal Studios side, when we entered Seuss Land, we thought, "This is what we've been looking for - its like Disneyland was in December!" It got us really excited and increased our anticipation of WDW decked out for the holidays. We loved Seuss Land, but still, to us over all, Universal still could not compete with Disney magic.

As WDSearcher suggests, I'll send my comments to Disney maybe it will make a difference (they are close to losing our March trip, wonder how many other families may be making similar choices).

Happy Travels to everyone, where ever your next adventure may be.

 

[WDSearcher]

But then again, we have asked ourselves: Even if WDW had more decorations, because the park is so spread out, maybe it would never feel like it does at Disneyland? I can't answer that because I haven't been to WDW it its height of holiday decorating. I'm beginning to think such may really be the case.

That's actually a huge part of it, I think. Disneyland is smaller and with more things packed onto a smaller footprint to begin with, so the decor does hit you at a much larger level. It really does seem as though every inch is being decorated, but there's less there than you think. Even the decor on Main Street looks more lush, simply because the castle is smaller (and the buildings on Main Street smaller as well)! Disneyland developed its "small world holiday" and "Haunted Mansion Holiday" decor to give the locals something to come back for as well as to spur non-local vacation traffic during the holidays, which used to be pretty lean at Disneyland. Disney World did not need the same incentive. The two parks do have different approaches, when it comes to the holidays.

It is interesting to note, also, that Disneyland cut back on its decor package for the holidays too. Both American parks faced similar percetage cuts. But with less ground to cover (and two big "specials" in small world and HM), it's not nearly as noticable.

 

[tinkbyday]

OP - you wrote exactly what we felt about WDW as well. I took my DD (10) for our first ever holiday trip (we've been a few times, just never during the holidays) and we had so looked forward to the experience.

Everything I had read and watched about holidays at WDW led me to believe it would be amazing - unfortunately, we were really let down. Our trip was not ruined - we absolutely had a wonderful trip - but we had expected more decorations. As another poster had said, once off Main St - we wouldn't have even know it was the holidays.

I'm really glad to see that DL decks out - maybe that will be an option down the road as DD really wants to go to CA anyway.

 

[WDSearcher]

Everyone keeps talking about "once off Main Street" -- how there's no decor and that it was expected based on the TV specials and such.

I don't recall either the Samantha Brown or David Bromstad specials going beyond Main Street, but I've only seen them once. Did they? I don't remember David discussing decorations in, say, Frontierland or Toontown -- I know he mentioned the resorts and other parks and the Osborne Lights and Jingle Jungle parade. I don't remember Samantha doing much beyond Main Street in MK -- her stuff was all LOW and Osborne Lights, from my recollection.

DID they move farther into MK, or was it just implied that the "whole park" was decked out?

Again ... not trying to be argumentative ... just trying to understand so much disappointment and unmet expectations.

Thanks ....

 

[focusondisney]

Hi all!!

I just wanted to say you are all correct: there are definately LESS decorations this year. And I know this for a fact. Here's how:

My DH & I took the "Yultide Tour" in mid Dec. On this tour we were taken backstage to the warehouse where the decorations are made & stored. As we walked thru the warehouse we saw MANY fully decorated trees & wreaths. These were covered by large plastic sheets. They had signs on them that read "DO NOT RECYCLE 2009". One of our group asked the tour guide about these decorations. She was told to ask a warehouse CM, which she did. We could tell he was uncomfortable with the question & took a few seconds to think before he answered.

He finally said: That even Disney was not immune to the poor economy. These were decorations that were not displayed on purpose due to the bad economy. That in past years some place such as a restaurant might have gotten 2-3 trees plus wreaths have just gotten 1 tree this year. He said that the only time there were less decorations out than this year was in 2001, after 9/11. And he said we should all hope & pray the economy improves so things can go back to normal in coming years.

So you understand what was still in the warehouse: there are huge shelves in there which are labelled for each resort & park. There were full sized decorated trees & wreaths on EVERY shelf. If I understood correctly, each area manager has a budget to "buy" decorations. So obviously the budgets were cut this year. I would say the warehouse was still maybe 25 - 30 % full, but that is just my guess.

Again, this came from a holiday services worker directly. This CM has been there for years, not just a seasonal worker. As a side note, he was also asked about the Epcot Lights of Winter. He gave the same "outdated technology" answer we have heard before. I think he also made a comment about not being sure if they were working on something to replace them with.

So that's what I heard about Christmas decorations, or lack of! I wish I had pictures, but this is a backstage area, so of course that wasn't allowed. Hopefully the CM was right & maybe things will be better next year!

 

[DisneyHolidayFan]

Hi all!!

I just wanted to say you are all correct: there are definately LESS decorations this year. And I know this for a fact. Here's how:

My DH & I took the "Yultide Tour" in mid Dec. On this tour we were taken backstage to the warehouse where the decorations are made & stored. As we walked thru the warehouse we saw MANY fully decorated trees & wreaths. These were covered by large plastic sheets. They had signs on them that read "DO NOT RECYCLE 2009". One of our group asked the tour guide about these decorations. She was told to ask a warehouse CM, which she did. We could tell he was uncomfortable with the question & took a few seconds to think before he answered.

He finally said: That even Disney was not immune to the poor economy. These were decorations that were not displayed on purpose due to the bad economy. That in past years some place such as a restaurant might have gotten 2-3 trees plus wreaths have just gotten 1 tree this year. He said that the only time there were less decorations out than this year was in 2001, after 9/11. And he said we should all hope & pray the economy improves so things can go back to normal in coming years.

So you understand what was still in the warehouse: there are huge shelves in there which are labelled for each resort & park. There were full sized decorated trees & wreaths on EVERY shelf. If I understood correctly, each area manager has a budget to "buy" decorations. So obviously the budgets were cut this year. I would say the warehouse was still maybe 25 - 30 % full, but that is just my guess.

Again, this came from a holiday services worker directly. This CM has been there for years, not just a seasonal worker. As a side note, he was also asked about the Epcot Lights of Winter. He gave the same "outdated technology" answer we have heard before. I think he also made a comment about not being sure if they were working on something to replace them with.

So that's what I heard about Christmas decorations, or lack of! I wish I had pictures, but this is a backstage area, so of course that wasn't allowed. Hopefully the CM was right & maybe things will be better next year!

Thanks for the info!! Most of us noticed that there were less decorations and you just confirmed our observations.