First off, comparing Disneyland and Disney World's general areas is like comparing Apples to Oranges;
With Disneyland being first - Disney only had the land Disneyland sat on at first, their Downtown came ages after. It's mostly luck and deep wallets that allowed that to happen - as for decades Disney had 0 control on what happened to be opened around Disneyland's space.
Whereas Disney almost virtually owns the entire area WDW sits on, to the point that it's almost virtually it's own mini-state. Disney Springs was almost always in the plan for WDW. It's very close to one of the entries into the Disney resort area - while it's near the edge of the *massive* land space Disney owns. The Springs is probably at worst 10 mins away from any of the parks by car (maybe 15 for Animal Kingdom)
Speaking from memory of my first trip to WDW, Disney Springs is a fairly calm introduction and primer for kids to the experiences they are just about to have. On my very first day to WDW we were encouraged to take the early morning at what then was "Downtown Disney" - you don't have to rush to rides and can take things at your own pace. There's aspects of Disney imagineering that sort of starts to give an idea of what to expect once you head to the parks. I have very fond memories of having McDonalds while getting used to the sights and sounds of Florida (I suppose these days Chicken Guy! or Earl of Sandwich would be that sort of spot now)
As for what's available at the Springs. December is probably one of the best times as Disney dresses it up much like they do the parks, There is also the Christmas Tree walk, they'll usually have live choir concerts in the evening or a mini christmas party event. The
LEGO store has a free-play area too and there are interactive water fountains. Plus World of Disney is fun even if just for window shopping, and there's a Christmas store open year long there if you wanna see some specific Xmas merch.
Other things you can do but might have to pay a bit extra; ride the miniature train, bowling at splitsville, watch a movie, order a flight of coke floats or international flavours at the rooftop coke bar, try some new foods without the massive trek around a theme park beforehand. Raligan Road also has live entertainment good for all ages during the day to go with it's Irish Pub theme.
The only downside is since the garages have been added + the conversion from Downtown to Springs started. The added car park capacity means Springs doesn't have as much of a calm atmosphere as Downtown Disney used to have. But it's still a pretty good place to go if you want a little bit of Disney charm but the family troop is still recovering from a previous day's trek around EPCOT or MK.