Holiday Must-See/Do?

[MeridAriel]

I'll be in town in November, after the decorations go up & am curious to see what pointers everyone has about which holiday decorations/events/etc are must-see (aside from the obvious Very Merry Party & dancing lights).
Thanks so much for your help, fellow Disnerds!

 

[com_op_2000]

EPCOT CP
Checkout the resorts:
A walking tour of resorts BW-BWV-BC-BCV-YC-Dolphin-Swan all in one afternoon walk
A monorail tour of resorts CR-BLT-Poly-PVB-GF-GFV then boat over to WL-WLV.

 

[RoseRed0711]

The candlelight Processional inEpcot was Fabulous. We were there this past December. Also the Beach Club has a carousel made of chocolate in their lobby....omg! And the Yacht club has a train...and the Grand Floridian has a gingerbread house so big they use it to sell treats. And of course MVMCP. While the lights in DHS were amazing, if you don't like really tight spaces the crowd was paralyzing.

 

[bamacmac]

I'll be in town in November, after the decorations go up & am curious to see what pointers everyone has about which holiday decorations/events/etc are must-see (aside from the obvious Very Merry Party & dancing lights).
Thanks so much for your help, fellow Disnerds!

Candlelight Processional at Epcot is my favorite part of Christmas at WDW. And if you do the dinner package then you get preferred seating.

You have to take some time to visit some of the resorts. Wilderness Lodge, all of the monorail resorts (especially Grand Floridian). Yacht Club and Beach club for sure. As the last person mentioned, the carousel in there is amazing.

There is usually a display in the Land pavilion near Garden Grill with iconic Disney symbols made out of gingerbread/chocolate. Also in MK, go into Liberty Tree Tavern. They have some neat items made out of gingerbread as well.

I'm going at the beginning of December. Can't wait! Enjoy!

 

[MeridAriel]

Thanks for the tips everyone! As for the Liberty Tree Tavern-isn't that the shop that was taken over for Haunted Mansion merchandise?

 

[bamacmac]

Thanks for the tips everyone! As for the Liberty Tree Tavern-isn't that the shop that was taken over for Haunted Mansion merchandise?

Ah nope it's the restaurant in Liberty Square. It's one of my favorites! It will be closed for a few months I think, but is supposed to reopen mid-November.

 

[MeridAriel]

Woops! Yankee Trader Shop! Thanks for the clarification

 

[DisneySince1967]

The Osborne Family Lights, in Hollywood Studios, isn't to be missed. I went for the first time in December 2014 and have never experienced anything like it before. People were singing and dancing in the streets out of sheer joy. I live on the West coast and would visit WDW specifically at Christmas again, just for that.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I'll be in town in November, after the decorations go up & am curious to see what pointers everyone has about which holiday decorations/events/etc are must-see (aside from the obvious Very Merry Party & dancing lights).
Thanks so much for your help, fellow Disnerds!

Since you refer to it as "holiday", does that mean you are looking for things to do that are not Christmas, but just fit in with the season or are you asking about Thanksgiving?

I started a thread on the Theme Parks forum specific to the Christmas season if that is what you are looking for.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/de...o-crowd-calendar-added.3396758/#post-53380912

 

[MeridAriel]

Any holiday events/decorations/sight-seeing. I didn't want to limit it to Christmas, if there were others Thanks for all of the help, everyone!

 

[spiceycat]

here the christmas holiday list - most of it was last year

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm


here is all the events holidays and festival - just go look at the month you are interested in going to Wdw

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/events.htm

 

[ludari]

Personally my favorite thing to do during the holidays at WDW is check out the decorations at the various resorts. I also enjoy the Osborne Family Lights as well.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

The Osborne Family Lights, in Hollywood Studios, isn't to be missed. I went for the first time in December 2014 and have never experienced anything like it before. People were singing and dancing in the streets out of sheer joy. I live on the West coast and would visit WDW specifically at Christmas again, just for that.

We love this as well. We'll head out to the Studios in the evenings just to do this at times during the holiday months. It's so cool when it snows and we love finding all the hidden Mickeys in the lights. Some are obvious, others are tougher to find. Very cool thing to do and a big not miss when visiting during the holidays.

We also like to stroll around all the different resorts to see their decorations. Takes me back to being a kid and having my parents drive around looking at other people's homes and their decorations.

 

[Bete]

In Epcot there has been a choral group that performs at the fountain. In World Showcase there is a storyteller for each country that talks about their holiday traditions.

Animal Kingdom Park has a Christmas parade (Jingle, Jungle parade), but I'm not sure when that starts. You may be too early for it.

Magic Kingdom has a castle show. Also, the castle will be on display as the ice castle.

 

[bibba410]

I know there is "snow" during MVMCP - but is there also snow falling at the Osborne lights? I grew up in Arkansas, and we drove up to Little Rock one year just to see The Osborne home(s) with all the lights. Looking forward to seeing them in all again!

 

[DrivenByDisney]

is there also snow falling at the Osborne lights?

Yes. There is snow that falls when the music and light show begins.

 

[bibba410]

Yes. There is snow that falls when the music and light show begins.

Thanks!

 

[Accident]

The candlelight Processional is great however last year it didn't start until after thanksgiving so depending on exactly when your there watch for it. WDW soft opens a lot of events meaning they test it for 1 week prior to the advertised first day so staff is trained and kinks are worked out so if your going ot just miss it, inquire with epcot customer service (you can call them) if they happen to have any soft opening performances.

I really enjoyed checking out the hotels with extras for the hoildays. Beach Club, Grand Floridian and Comtemporary all had gingerbread houses which they build at the location so even if not fully done, they will be there working on them. Fort Wilderness has some less publicized events IIRC but never tried them. The holiday tree in Wilderness lodge I believe is their largest, great places to eat there so double up on a lunch or dinner. There are a lot of interesting tours specific to the holiday offered. Backstage on how they get ready, a 5 hour see all the major events vip escourted night, party specific desert nights.

I found the mickey christmas party to be fun with the different parades and fireworks. Get your tickets asap as it's a separate ticket and they don't fill the park to capacity before they sell out. Some dates are already sold out.. Dont' forget to reduce your other tickets by 1 day if it works for your schedule. It's a great money saver to do the party if you do a lazy morning, hotels in the afternoon and come to WDW using your party ticket for the evening. Just a warning, most food is not up and running in WDW during the party so come full and enjoy the free hot chocolat and cookies while there. Some quick service is opened but it's so few they are on the special map and can be crowded.

 

[MeridAriel]

here the christmas holiday list - most of it was last year

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm


here is all the events holidays and festival - just go look at the month you are interested in going to Wdw

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/events.htm

Actually have all of that info (thank you, though!), my friend and I are incredibly organized We just weren't sure if there were any smaller eventss or sights that may not be official, or perhaps not listed.

 

[MeridAriel]

here the christmas holiday list - most of it was last year

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm


here is all the events holidays and festival - just go look at the month you are interested in going to Wdw

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/events.htm

In Epcot there has been a choral group that performs at the fountain. In World Showcase there is a storyteller for each country that talks about their holiday traditions.

Animal Kingdom Park has a Christmas parade (Jingle, Jungle parade), but I'm not sure when that starts. You may be too early for it.

Magic Kingdom has a castle show. Also, the castle will be on display as the ice castle.

Thank you! This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! I was starting to think nobody was reading my initial question, as I assured Very Merry Christmas Party & the Osborne Dancing Lights were well covered (everytime we go , but those are the 2 things most suggested.
Thank you everyone!