If you asked me what my favorite time of year to visit Disney is, I would respond without hesitation that I love the holidays at the parks. The atmosphere is festive, and the decor is merry and jolly and joyful and everything else that Christmas makes a person feel. And it’s everywhere. Halloween is fun, but you would only feel the celebration in the Magic Kingdom. Christmas, however, stretches beyond Magic Kingdom into the other parks, and beyond that into the resorts and disney Springs. Christmas trees, special treats, displays and carols greet you in every corner of Walt Disney World. One of my favorite stores on property is the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, and while stepping into this store any time of the year allows for a brief shot of Christmas spirit, during the holidays it takes on a whole new meaning and a whole new feeling.
In about 6 weeks, I will be back at Disney, and just in time to experience the Christmas season again. Let me give you an idea of the events and holiday adventures that can be enjoyed during this season, and what is on our itinerary for this trip.
Christmas Trees
All of the resorts get into the holiday spirit, and every resort has a HUGE Christmas center piece. For the first couple of days of our trip, I plan on visiting several resorts and enjoying their decor and their Christmas trees. While I’ve never been at the parks during the transition between Halloween and Christmas, what I do know is that on the night of change, after all of the guests have gone to bed, all of the Christmas elves descend upon the resorts and put up gigantic trees that symbolize the theming of each resort. When the guests wake up in the morning, the season has changed and its Christmas – just like Disney magic! At least, this is the story I tell myself, and it sounds legit to me.
I also plan on carving out some time to visit Disney Springs and the Christmas Tree Trail that is offered there. These trees are representative of Disney movies and parks, and the creativity that has gone into them is so amazing and inspiring. The spirit of their decorating may be the inspiration for my own Christmas tree this year, so stay tuned for that!
Seasonal Tours
Something that I love to do at Disney any time of the year is take one of their behind the scenes tours. It allows me to experience the parks and resorts in a different way and learn about the work and effort it takes to prepare a bubble for the thousands of guests that visit daily. Disney really does think of everything. During the holidays, Disney has seasonal tours that can only be experienced for a short period of time. For 12 nights only, the Holiday D-Lights tour is offered. During this tour, I will get to have dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge (yum) and go backstage at a couple of theme parks to learn about what it takes to bring Christmas to Walt Disney World. I am excited! The night will finish with the Candlelight Processional and the new fireworks show Epcot Forever at Epcot. This actually brings me to my next favorite Christmas thing to experience at Walt Disney World –
Candlelight Processional
Nothing at Disney offers as much Christmas spirit – the true Christmas spirit – as the Candlelight processional. This show, which is free to all Epcot visitors, is a retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator complete with a live 50-piece orchestra and hundreds of choir singers. It a beautiful show. It is also extremely popular, and if you are waiting standby to get in and don’t arrive early, there is a chance that you won’t make it into the theater. When I saw this a couple of years ago, we got guaranteed seating through the dining package (dinner at Biergarten – I would recommend!). I would do this again, because one has to eat anyway, right? This time, however, it’s included in the D-Lights tour we are going on. And, to sweeten the pot, our celebrity narrator is scheduled to be Neil Patrick Harris! NPH is the ultimate Disney fan, and a very coveted narrator at the Candlelight Processional. Our narrator at the Processional a couple years ago was Jodie Benson – who is the original voice of the Little Mermaid – and she was very good. I believe NPH will be amazing though.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
The Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom is absolutely on my itinerary. When it comes to the after-hours parties at MK, my opinion is that the Halloween Party trumps the Christmas Party, BUT the Christmas Party is a lot of fun as well. It offers many of the same things as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, but obviously Christmas themed. There are fireworks and a parade of course. There is also snow on Main Street, and a holiday overlay at certain attractions (anyone else looking forward to the JINGLE Cruise?). Anna and Elsa light Cinderella’s castle up in Frozen style, and there are several dance parties offered in the park. I can tell you one thing for sure – we will not be doing anything but resting up that day, so we can drink hot chocolate and be jolly all night at Magic Kingdom.
While these are the main holiday plans of our trip, there are many other activities to be experienced around Walt Disney World during the Christmas season, and many of them I hope to fit into my schedule. The Animal Kingdom for the first time is going to be decorated and have seasonal shows. The Tree of Life will show new winter light shows after dark, and even Pandora will be in the Christmas spirit!
At Hollywood Studios guests can watch the nighttime show Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! as well as enjoy the Sunset Seasons projection show all along Hollywood Boulevard. I’m looking forward to see Toy Story Land all decorated, and no one knows if the world of Batuu celebrates Christmas or not – maybe?
So many fun activities and decor throughout the parks and resorts. If you love Christmas at all, I would recommend this time of year to experience Walt Disney World. For those who would like to travel during Christmas or are looking for that ultimate Christmas gift for their kids, Disney has put together an Ultimate Disney Christmas Package to give families a chance to experience what the holidays in Disney have to offer. This package is for a trip December 21-26 and includes 4-day Park Hopper theme park tickets. The vacation includes exclusive experiences such as nighttime access (EXCLUSIVE!) to ride Flight of Passage and visit Pandora, as well as watch River of Light. It also includes tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for one evening, and a reserved viewing of Epcot Forever at Epcot on another. For anyone wanting to see the magic of the holidays at Disney during this season, but may not know how to navigate it, this will take care of some of that stress and planning for you. If wasn’t going already several week before Christmas, I would consider this trip…
So yes, Christmas is my FAVORITE time at Disney. I cannot wait to once again experience some of the things I’ve loved in the past, as well as some of the new things Disney is doing this year. I also look forward to sharing in my blogs all of these activities, so that perhaps my experiences can help others plan their magical Christmas trip to Disney.
