DW Resort Christmas decorations removal

[mickeyinthehouse]

I thought I would post my experience this past weekend with the resort Christmas decorations as an FYI to anyone trying to plan for future years. There never seems to be an official schedule of when the decorations go up or come down and I'm sure the timing of when the holidays fall will affect that schedule. I traveled to Disney World this past weekend for some park and to hopefully see the resort decorations. My only confirmed decoration timing was based on the Christmas Tree Trail at Disney Springs which was ending on Sunday Jan 5th. I was hoping this would mean all park and resort decorations would remain up through the weekend. We spent the day in Magic Kingdom on January 2nd and all xmas decorations were still up. I was a little disappointed that the Castle lighting ceremony did not happen. They just turned the castle lights on around sunset. I was happy to still see the castle lit up, just didn't get the benefit of the lighting ceremony with Elsa.

Also on January 2nd we visited The Contemporary. They had the gingerbread house still up but did not see any other significant decorations at that resort.

On Saturday January 4th we visited Epcot. There was no Christmas Tree. I wasn't sure if it had already been taken down or they didn't put it up this year due to all of the construction. There were still xmas topiaries around the park. We also walked to the Beach Club, Yacht Club and Boardwalk this day and all decorations were gone.

On Sunday January 5th we had planned to do a resort tour to view the resort decorations. After the experience the previous night at the Epcot resorts I was not feeling hopeful. We went to the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge. The only thing we were able to see was the tree at the Grand Floridian, the gingerbread house was already gone. The other resorts had taken everything down except for the occasional window display in the gift shop. Just thought I would share if anyone else was planning a trip after Christmas or New Year's in hopes of catching some last minute decorations.

 

[Searc]

I thought I would post my experience this past weekend with the resort Christmas decorations as an FYI to anyone trying to plan for future years. There never seems to be an official schedule of when the decorations go up or come down and I'm sure the timing of when the holidays fall will affect that schedule. I traveled to Disney World this past weekend for some park and to hopefully see the resort decorations. My only confirmed decoration timing was based on the Christmas Tree Trail at Disney Springs which was ending on Sunday Jan 5th. I was hoping this would mean all park and resort decorations would remain up through the weekend. We spent the day in Magic Kingdom on January 2nd and all xmas decorations were still up. I was a little disappointed that the Castle lighting ceremony did not happen. They just turned the castle lights on around sunset. I was happy to still see the castle lit up, just didn't get the benefit of the lighting ceremony with Elsa.

Also on January 2nd we visited The Contemporary. They had the gingerbread house still up but did not see any other significant decorations at that resort.

On Saturday January 4th we visited Epcot. There was no Christmas Tree. I wasn't sure if it had already been taken down or they didn't put it up this year due to all of the construction. There were still xmas topiaries around the park. We also walked to the Beach Club, Yacht Club and Boardwalk this day and all decorations were gone.

On Sunday January 5th we had planned to do a resort tour to view the resort decorations. After the experience the previous night at the Epcot resorts I was not feeling hopeful. We went to the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge. The only thing we were able to see was the tree at the Grand Floridian, the gingerbread house was already gone. The other resorts had taken everything down except for the occasional window display in the gift shop. Just thought I would share if anyone else was planning a trip after Christmas or New Year's in hopes of catching some last minute decorations.

The Epcot Christmas tree was taken down before New Year's Eve because of expected crowds for the NYE firework shows.

 

[CollegePrgm2000]

We stayed at Disney 1/4-6. We were told many times that the decorations and gingerbread houses stay up through 1/5. We went to visit the model train layout at Yacht Club on the 5th and it was already gone. My train crazy 10 year old was so disappointed.

 

[dansdad]

As everyone has found out, there is no posted schedule for resort decorations going up or coming down. All the Deluxes are in a lottery to determine the order for putting the decorations up. This does exclude the various gingerbread houses as they are different. When the lottery happens and the results are not shared with anyone outside of WDW. And the decorations can come down any time from the 2nd to the 4th.

 

[Mango7100]

We were there Dec 29-Jan 5. We visited Grand Floridian Dec 31, and everything was up. There was a sign that the gingerbread house had an end date of Jan 1. Wilderness Lodge still had all decorations up on Jan 2.

 

[avincent]

We saw the gingerbread house the morning of January 2nd. They didn’t have the shop there like I had seen in the past but the house was there.

 

[avincent]

We saw the gingerbread house the morning of January 2nd. They didn’t have the shop there like I had seen in the past but the house was there.

 

[avincent]

Also in regards to the holiday theming of the rides and shows (Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Monsters Inc and no castle lighting show) they were there at MK when we were there NYE but the gone at the MK on the 5th.

 

[AngiTN]

We walked back to the YC about 3:00 AM on the 3rd and they were actively taking down the decorations. Though they did leave one little thing on a table. I am curious how long it took them realize it LOL

 

[Seabean]

Bumping this old thread I found during a search...

What are the chances of the Wilderness Lodge Christmas Tree still being up anytime between Jan 3-7?

(We *might* be there around that time and would like to see it at least once)

 

[RuntheMouse]

Bumping this old thread I found during a search...

What are the chances of the Wilderness Lodge Christmas Tree still being up anytime between Jan 3-7?

(We *might* be there around that time and would like to see it at least once)

Pretty good chances. The last 2 years the tree has been up for the start of marathon weekend.

 

[Seabean]

Anyone have any idea of the other resorts?

We’ll be there on Jan 3 and in addition to WL might make a day of visiting a few other resorts and see their trees too.

I spoke w Signature services and they said that trees are taken down late at night that week by a special crew with very little warning to the resort, and are often up as late as Jan 10.

Anyone know more about this?

 

[dansdad]

Anyone have any idea of the other resorts?

We’ll be there on Jan 3 and in addition to WL might make a day of visiting a few other resorts and see their trees too.

I spoke w Signature services and they said that trees are taken down late at night that week by a special crew with very little warning to the resort, and are often up as late as Jan 10.

Anyone know more about this?

What Signature Services said is 100% correct. I have seen them come down as early as Jan 3rd and as late as the 10th. The exact date is never announced.

 

[Seabean]

We’re staying at WL and as of 1/4/24 the tree is still up. But yesterday 1/3 we visited several other resorts (incl AKL & GF) and those trees were taken down 1/2

 

[Simba's Mom]

Pretty good chances. The last 2 years the tree has been up for the start of marathon weekend.

That was our experience back in 2016, when DH ran. That's why I was so surprised to hear a PP say that those things were all down by the fifth this year. I remember doing the Jingle Jungle Cruise during marathon weekend.

 

[Seabean]

WL tree is being taken down right now as we watch.

They roped off the area, covered the floor area and are pulling off the ornaments and the branches one by one. Each is individually lit. (So the tree stays mostly lit and gets dark from the bottom up)

According one of the crew, the WL, GF, & AKL trees (the 3 biggest) are all the same but with different theming. 883 branches for each. They think this WL tree will be done by 1am.

 

[mrsap]

The GF Gingerbread House started coming down yesterday.