Christmas Resort Touring

[CHD New York]

Hi I would like to tour the disney's resorts during Dec. I will have a car, which resorts should i vist? and is it better to go in the day or evening to see the christmas themes?

 

[mrsswat]

They are all uniquely, spectacularly themed for the holidays!! And it doesn't matter what time of day you go there, but we found evening to be best as some have outdoor decorations that are lit at night. I promise you it will be one of the highlights of your trip doing that tour!

 

[DiznyDi]

This is one of our favorite things to do! We generally try to hit GF, Poly, Cont., AK in the late afternoon and stay for dinner. Most evenings there is entertainment - somewhere. BW and BC we'll hit during an afternoon visit to Epcot. We stay at VWL and SSR and just sit and take in the spirit of the season. WL is breathtaking, so make certain you plan time for it.

Something we've not done, but hope to have time to do this trip is to go to Fort Wilderness. Folks over there decorate their campers and some extravagantly so.

 

[Muushka]

This is one of our favorite things to do! We generally try to hit GF, Poly, Cont., AK in the late afternoon and stay for dinner. Most evenings there is entertainment - somewhere. BW and BC we'll hit during an afternoon visit to Epcot. We stay at VWL and SSR and just sit and take in the spirit of the season. WL is breathtaking, so make certain you plan time for it.

Something we've not done, but hope to have time to do this trip is to go to Fort Wilderness. Folks over there decorate their campers and some extravagantly so.

Hey DiznyDi

You know I always forget about heading over to the FW campground. We did that in 2007 and thought that tour would be an annual event for us.
I highly recommend going there.
Well, there and WL

 

[bobbiwoz]

It isn't as spectacular during the day, but we always ride around FW campground in December on bikes. Even during the day, many have the Christmas blow up decorations up and running and many are happy to chat about their creations. It's lots of fun.

If anyone goes during this time before Halloween, it's something to see now, too.

Bobbi

 

[Disneypirate85]

I also agree with going in the evening/night. All the lights just add something "Extra Magic" to the resorts. We will be there from 12/17-12/24 and, as usual, will do our tour of them all. We love to decorate here at home so helps gives us idea's. Shawn

 

[disneynutz]

Visit at night. Use the monorail to visit the monorail resorts. Drive to WL to visit there and boat to FW and take a sleigh ride around the camp ground.

Drive to BCV, self park, tour BC and boat to BWV and back. I would split the tour up and do it over 2 nights. That way you can have a nice dinner and you won't be rushed.

Bill

 

[mjfox]

While on the monorail be sure to look at the GF and CR for the balconies that are decorated. I always see some of the same balconies decorated year after year.

 

[MrShiny]

The one not to miss is GF, which has a huge gingerbread house (which doubles as a shop selling gingerbread).

WL has a huge tree worth seeing. BC has a carousel made of chocolate. BW usually has an amusement park made of chocolate.

Poly, AK, Contemp tend to be the least decorated of the deluxe. I know AK didn't have it's chocolate village up the last year I was there around the holidays, IIRC (it used to be by Boma). The moderates and the value resorts are (as you'd expect) a bit more ordinary in their decorations.

I don't recall much at SSR and haven't seen OKW at the holidays. As they don't have big common spaces (like WL and GF), they may not be as impressive either.

If you have the Travel Channel, they should show one of the specials where they tour the resorts. Hopefully, they'll even update them (they do every few years).

It is a lot of fun to do!

 

[baj0505]

Last year BW had some great carolers outside, not sure if there is a schedule available or we just got lucky catching them. We went to Epcot in the late afternoon for a quick dinner, walked out the International Gateway exit and over to BC and Yacht club, then over to BW, listened to carolers then walked the short distance to see the Osborne Lights at HS. It was really a nice walk. We didn't stop in to the Swan or Dolphin so I can't comment regarding their decorations. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening.

 

[katmittens]

It isn't as spectacular during the day, but we always ride around FW campground in December on bikes. Even during the day, many have the Christmas blow up decorations up and running and many are happy to chat about their creations. It's lots of fun.

If anyone goes during this time before Halloween, it's something to see now, too.

Bobbi

How can you see the decorations at FW Campground? You can't drive your car around there can you?

 

[NCDisneyFans]

Probably a dumb question, but this will be our first Thanksgiving trip. Will the resorts be decorated for Christmas during Thanksgiving weekend?

Also, is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party worth the money?

 

[bobbiwoz]

Probably a dumb question, but this will be our first Thanksgiving trip. Will the resorts be decorated for Christmas during Thanksgiving weekend?

Also, is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party worth the money?

Yes, all of the resorts will be decorated by Thanksgiving.

It depends if you like special parades, and special fireworks and I suppose it depends on just how crowded "your" MVMCP is! We've been to about 4 of them...and I was going to skip this year, but in the end, we've decided to spend the money and go..DH likes that parade a lot.

Last year we went to one in the middle of November with our DGC. I was disappointed with how crowded Belle's Storytime was. You couldn't squeeze into the area and I held my DGD up, so she could see/hear. She enjoyed it, I didn't! However, the DGC all liked the Madame Tremaine and the Stepsisters ball, so yes, I suppose it's worth it.

Bobbi

 

[bobbiwoz]

How can you see the decorations at FW Campground? You can't drive your car around there can you?

I don't think you can ride your car around, we've always ridden bikes during the day. We also ride the bus at night to go to the campfire, so we see the decorations then.

Bobbi

 

[La2kw]

Don't miss WL, BWV, or GF. There's a link on my signature line for a photo trip report I did a couple years ago regarding the DVC resorts. Some decorations may have changed since then.

 

[Doingitagain]

Any suggestions for us with no car? We are staying at SSR.

Thanks!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Any suggestions for us with no car? We are staying at SSR.

Thanks!

Car or not, there are a few that I wouldn't miss...the GF...get there by a bus from DTD, or take the bus to MK and take the monorail, boat whatever to the GF. While you're there go around the monorail resorts, although I don't think any of the others are as good as the GF. From the Contemporary take a boat to the WL...also stop at the lobby of the VWL...I think that's one of the prettier DVC's but they all have something going for them.

I'm also partial to the Boardwalk resorts...all of them have beautiful displays, trees and are worth the trip. When we haven't had a car, we have taken the bus to DHS, and take the boat to the S/D, get off and walk around the boardwalk. There's a very cute skiing village display at the YC. The BCVs also have a beautiful tree is the lobby as well as the chocolate carousel in the BC lobby.

These things will take time. We don't have children when we decide to go resort hopping for Christmas decorations. Our DGC were with us last November and we did do the BW resorts and the GF. We were staying at BCV and we had dinner at the GF, so it wasn't out of our way.

Bobbi

 

[Jennyvelaz]

 

[Pixieflip]

This is what we're doing on NYE this year! The parks get so crazy as the day wears on, so we plan to leave about 2pm and head to the VWL for a very late lunch. After that we'll begin our leisurly tour of the resorts. We hope to enjoy the VWL and the monorail resorts. If we still have time and energy we'd like to also visit BCV and BWV. We've see the BCV at Christmas but not BWV, so we're excited. The only one not on our way is SSR. We may save that for another time because that's probably enough touring for one day.