Resorts at Christmas

[buzzboys]

So we finally decided we will go next year the week after Thanksgiving. We are putting aside one whole day to go see the decorations at the resorts. We have never been during Christmas time so we want to see as much as possible. What are some of your must sees in the resorts and some tips about how to see it all, i.e. mapping out a plan of attack and other general tips. We have watched all of the holiday shows (travel channel and food network) and have some general idea of what we want to see but I have heard that those shows may not be accurate on what is actually there to see.

Thanks

 

[Disney-For-Life]

We're thinking about going next year for Christmas too and plan to go see The Grand Floridian's gingerbread house and Boardwalk's chocolate carousel. Hopefully, they'll be worth seeing!

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

We're thinking about going next year for Christmas too and plan to go see The Grand Floridian's gingerbread house and Boardwalk's chocolate carousel. Hopefully, they'll be worth seeing!

FYI .. if you are talking about the big chocolate carousel, it's at the Beach Club.

 

[Disney-For-Life]

Opps - thanks!

 

[Safari Queen]

Boardwalk has a chocolate carnival that's terrific. AKL has an African village on the water downstairs near Boma. We tour GF, BC/YC, BW, and AKL every year. It's nice to do some visits in conjunction with meals. You see the decorations and get to sample some of the best food the resorts have to offer!

 

[DisneyFans4]

I'm here now, our last day and we leave tomorrow morning. Parks are packed!!!! One day they closed MK for a few hours since it was filled to capacity! Advice, if you want to get on rides get to the parks early! Fastpasses run out by noon. Decorations are a must see though! Gingerbread house at GF is amazing!!!!

 

[laceemouse]

We went last year and stayed at the WL for the week leading up to Christmas. One day we rode the monorail around and got off to explore the GF, CR, and the Poly. Then another night we had dinner at the BC and walked around and checked out the YC and BW. So, we got to see every Deluxe except for AKL decorated for the holidays. They were all gorgeous and it was fun, GF was the only one that was really crowded. You should not have too much trouble with crowds, early December has been getting more crowded over the years but still nothing like when kids are out of school for holiday break....I think WL was my fav, don't miss it!

 

[DisneyFans4]

Well it's obvious everyone is here from their school breaks. It's the best time for us since my boys are off and I also work at a school but you can't move here it is just so packed. MK is the most packed park though.

 

[ellencoppola]

We have been to disney two years in a row right after Thanksgiving & next year we are going from Nov 25th-Dec 9th staying at the BCV. We usually take one day (usually the last day of our trip) and go and see every hotel for their decorations. The GF gingerbread house is amazing and the BC gingerbread / chocolate carousel is also amazing to see. If you have the chance you must go to see the MVMCP. In Epcot every country has their christmas santa. My favorite is father christmas in the Uk, Pier Noel is in France & Papa Noel is in Cananda. The christmas decorations in the parks are beautiful, you'll want to go back the same time of the year everytime.

 

[DisneyFans4]

I agree, the Gingerbread house at GF is a wonder to see!!! I think the Osborne lights at MGM makes the trip all worth it, never saw anything like it, absolutely fantastic!! My only disappointment is that I guess we went late but I wanted some holiday sweatshirts and shirts and they didn't have anything left and what they did were all huge sizes and they were selling what they had and obviously not restocking anything.

 

[DizneyNutz]

If you are planning on photographing the Gingerbread house at the GF, you may want to try to visit either early morning or mid day. They do not have any special lighting over it in the evening and to me it is just not as special with flash photography compared to natural lighting.

 

[buzzboys]

Thanks for all the info. We will be there 9 days and hopefully will see everything. We go so often, it would be alright if we had to skip rides to see all the decorations. Are the deluxe hotels the only ones worth seeing?

 

[DizneyNutz]

I can't honestly say that they are the only ones WORTH seeing, because they are the ones to seem to have the most decorations, but they all decorate in some way or another. As far as special to us, we usually stick to the deluxes. There seems to be a lot of complaints this year on how they were ALL decorated as compared to past years. We didn't personally visit all of the deluxes this trip, but did stop by WL (our favorite) and GF for the Gingerbread House.