Must see Resort Holiday decor?

[goopysolelady]

We didn't hit WL last Thanksgiving but after seeing your "after" picture, and having our first stay there this past August, I need to make sure we go over there next month!

It is SO worth the effort. DH and are going without the family in December so we decided on All Star Music as our resort. I've added visits to all the deluxe resorts to our schedule and will NOT miss WL. My thoughts are a late afternoon visit to WL and then boat over to Ft. Wilderness for a look at the decorated campsites. I missed that side trip last December but it's a "must do" this trip. As I understand, they are awesome.

 

[nursejackie]

We like all the resort christmas trees but we love the gingerbread displays at GF and BC, and the alpine village and train at BWI. This year we will definitely be checking out the christmas trees at Disney Springs one evening.

 

[MrsZ]

Loving this thread!! We will be there the second week in December! Never seen all the holiday decor before and we were lucky enough to score one night at the grand Floridian villas. Definitely going to spend a lot of time in the lobby enjoying the holiday cheer

 

[Boopuff]

Most of the Christmas reveal is planned for the week of Thanksgiving. Some decor will be up prior but Disney elves really work hard at Christmas arriving in one fell swoop! Enjoy it's so fun to be there during the holidays! I'm looking forward to the new DS trees.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that resort hopping for decorations is so much fun!! We always visit the Epcot resorts as others have suggested, and then make time for the monorail resorts. I especially enjoy the Grand, but I think the Poly is worth a visit.

Wilderness Lodge is lovely. It is a nice ride by boat, and is the epitome of Rustic Christmas. I think it is worth the effort to get there. AKL is also pretty darn sweet as well. The Lobby tree is gorgeous.

GF is the best IMO.

AKL and WL are similar but both great.

Epcot resorts are worth a stop.

I like CSR best of the moderates.

I have to agree that CSR has the best decorations for a moderate. While I would not send people visiting moderates simply for decorations, I have to say that if I could package the CSR decorations up and bring them home, I would. They are understated elegance, IMO. I also liek POFQ for holiday decorations. This is my favorite moderate resort, and at Christmastime, the resort is even better. I love coming "home" to the soft relaxed jazzy holiday tunes playing softly in the background.

 

[TheBigErn]

Simple. Take monorail to all 3 monorail resorts and visit each. Then get to the EPCOT resorts and visit each. All are worth seeing as all are different.

 

[Cynister]

All the deluxes plus the Swan & Dolphin are outstanding & must do. They are far more than just trees. The walkway between the Swan & Dolphin is included in this category with special lights & events. This was by far the best thing we did last year, the whole family agrees.

 

[allsaintsatx]

We are going to be at WDW in December and have never been there this close to Christmas. We've done MVMCP in early November, but missed out on the resort decorations. I'm looking to spend arrival day wandering around the resorts and would like to know what others think are the best ones to check out. I think from past things I've read, GF and BC do the giant gingerbread displays? Any other resorts that are all decked out and worth a look?

We won't have a car so we'll be relying on Disney buses, monorail, etc. and traveling with three kids if that makes a difference on places you'd suggest.

Thanks!

Are you staying on property? And how late do you arrive?

Those two factors may help decide which decorations to see on arrival day. You may also want to plan on having a lunch or dinner at one of the resorts you choose to see.

Another option would be to see the resorts on the monorail loop, the GF is by far the most festive but the Poly and Contemporary also have fun decorations that will definitely put you in the christmas spirit!

edited to add: You may also want to "kill 2 birds with one stone" by dipping over to see the decorations at the Epcot resorts on your Epcot day, and the monorail resorts on your MK day. Beach Club is like a 10 minute walk through the International gate, and at MK you could jump on the monorail, see all the resorts, and be back at MK within a couple of hours. And if you could see those resorts as a "break" from the parks, you could see something a little more out of the way like Wilderness Lodge on arrival day. WL also has a very fun restaurant that kids love, you could make a whole trip out of a visit to WL! It just feels super Christmasy in there too!

 

[Dis703]

Are you staying on property? And how late do you arrive?

Those two factors may help decide which decorations to see on arrival day. You may also want to plan on having a lunch or dinner at one of the resorts you choose to see.

Another option would be to see the resorts on the monorail loop, the GF is by far the most festive but the Poly and Contemporary also have fun decorations that will definitely put you in the christmas spirit!

edited to add: You may also want to "kill 2 birds with one stone" by dipping over to see the decorations at the Epcot resorts on your Epcot day, and the monorail resorts on your MK day. Beach Club is like a 10 minute walk through the International gate, and at MK you could jump on the monorail, see all the resorts, and be back at MK within a couple of hours. And if you could see those resorts as a "break" from the parks, you could see something a little more out of the way like Wilderness Lodge on arrival day. WL also has a very fun restaurant that kids love, you could make a whole trip out of a visit to WL! It just feels super Christmasy in there too!

We land in Orlando at 1:15pm and don't plan on doing a park that day at all. We are doing one full day of each of the 4 parks and then the last day ME won't be picking us up until 5:30pm so we have most of the day to explore and do Disney Springs.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the monorail resorts on arrival day and dinner at The Wave unless we just go back and dine at our resort, CBR. Maybe we'll plan on keeping it easy because we will be up early and do just that for arrival and try a more remote location on our departure day.

Thanks for all of the responses. I hadn't thought of WL or AKL but I've always been interested in seeing those resorts anyhow. Our family is too large for standard rooms at either so we've never been.

 

[allsaintsatx]

We land in Orlando at 1:15pm and don't plan on doing a park that day at all. We are doing one full day of each of the 4 parks and then the last day ME won't be picking us up until 5:30pm so we have most of the day to explore and do Disney Springs.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the monorail resorts on arrival day and dinner at The Wave unless we just go back and dine at our resort, CBR. Maybe we'll plan on keeping it easy because we will be up early and do just that for arrival and try a more remote location on our departure day.

Thanks for all of the responses. I hadn't thought of WL or AKL but I've always been interested in seeing those resorts anyhow. Our family is too large for standard rooms at either so we've never been.

We stayed at WL for our very first WDW trip in December 2014. It was amazing. The resort feels like it was made for Christmas - all exposed wood beams, Pacific Northwest decor, pine trees etc etc. and the Christmas tree there is spectacular. Also, if you check out WL consider a meal at Whispering Canyon Cafe. It was a lot of fun. It's kinda "sassy style" like 50's Prime Time is, but it's more kid oriented. They do wooden horse races, everyone's screaming for ketchup - our (at the time) 10 year old loved it! He nearly died laughing when his grandma asked for more napkins and our waiter put them on her head! You could easily spend a couple of hours there.

You may want to contemplate taking a cab if you are going from resort to resort. If not you'd have to take a bus to MK and then a bus or boat to WL. Or, for convenience sake, take a bus to MK and then walk over to the monorail and do the monorail loop resorts instead.

 

[kace08]

We are going to be at WDW in December and have never been there this close to Christmas. We've done MVMCP in early November, but missed out on the resort decorations. I'm looking to spend arrival day wandering around the resorts and would like to know what others think are the best ones to check out. I think from past things I've read, GF and BC do the giant gingerbread displays? Any other resorts that are all decked out and worth a look?

We won't have a car so we'll be relying on Disney buses, monorail, etc. and traveling with three kids if that makes a difference on places you'd suggest.

Thanks!

I'm looking forward to seeing the resorts for the first time next month. The itinerary suggested at this link is ambitious, but it can give you some ideas on using disney transportation to see the various resorts, http://www.dadsguidetowdw.com/christmas-decorations-at-the-disney-hotels.html.

 

[Cynister]

I'm looking forward to seeing the resorts for the first time next month. The itinerary suggested at this link is ambitious, but it can give you some ideas on using disney transportation to see the various resorts, http://www.dadsguidetowdw.com/christmas-decorations-at-the-disney-hotels.html.

That map is hilarious because it is pretty much what we did last year, only I hadn't seen your map so I had to plan it out myself. We didn't get to see the all Stars, but we did see the Swan & Dolphin which aren't in your list I think but are must sees IMO. It took us far longer than 16 hrs to see them all when you factor in waiting for transportation, getting quick lunch, etc. Don't get me wrong, this activity was possibly the best thing we did in that trip (it was that enjoyable), it just really extended over 2-3 days if you also try to do a couple hours of park time here & there. Great visual!