Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
but the fire is so delightful;
and since we’ve no place to go,
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Sorry for the singing. Well, here in the Northeast the holiday season does bring with it some snow… and wind, cold, ice, sleet. That’s typically when my thoughts turn to… Disney World.
I’ve often said that a December, January or February vacation to Walt Disney World is the best way to break up a long and cold winter. What’s become my personal favorite time to visit is right around the third or fourth week of January—somewhere around Martin Luther King Day (January 19). From my viewpoint, this serves to break our long Northeast winter just about in half. Upon return, I convince myself that I only have the month of February left, and isn’t that shortest month of the year? There’s only four short weeks remaining to survive another winter. I know we can still get smacked with blizzards and major snowfalls in March but, the temperatures are warming and the days are getting longer so, even if it does snow, it’s usually not around very long. And doesn’t spring begin in March?
As I see it, the benefits of visiting in January are lower crowd levels leading to shorter queues. The downside to that is it usually means shorter park hours and the chance of a couple of major attractions being down for refurbishment. I still think it’s worthwhile because, even with shorter hours, we can get so much more done in a shorter period due to the lighter crowds.
Often, when visiting in the early part of January, we’ll still see many of the Christmas decorations. They may be coming down during the course of our week’s vacation and we’ll take notice of the changes that seem to occur daily. One day the resort lobby has a Christmas tree, garland, and a holiday display. The following day, the tree is gone and the day after that, no garland. We watched the Lights of Winter at Epcot come down day by day, and arch by arch a few years ago. On the other hand, during that same trip we were able to catch the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It all depends on your timing.
The Osborne Lights. Photo by Steve Russo.
More Osborne Lights. Photo by Steve Russo
I told you all that to tell you this: I really enjoy and recommend you visit during the holiday season (essentially, Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day). We’ve done it only once: in December 2003, but I have committed to a return trip each year since then. It didn’t work out this year (again)—we’re visiting in January due mainly to work and school schedules but we’re almost certain to plan our next trip in December 2009.
Why do I think visiting during the holiday season is so special? Let me take you back to our single trip, in the olden days of 2003, to try to give you an idea of why I’d like to do it again. (This is where we queue the theme music and introduce those wavy lines across the picture to introduce the flashback.)
As we often do on “solo” trips (for us, “solo” means just the wife and me—no children or grandchildren), we stayed outside of our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) home on Saturday, the first night of the trip. We typically do this to save a few DVC points and, in 2003, we chose to stay at a Downtown Disney hotel: the Marriott Courtyard, which has since changed to a Holiday Inn.
In 2003, we didn’t yet have today’s Magic Your Way park passes. Our Annual Passes had expired after our previous visit and this was also our only trip within a twelve-month window, so we needed to purchase Park Hoppers. Today, the difference between a six- and seven-day Magic Your Way pass is only a couple of dollars but, in 2003, the difference was more significant. For that reason, we chose to go with six-day passes and spend our first day, our arrival and non-Disney resort day, staying clear of the parks and touring other resorts to see their holiday decorations. Yes, we learned that you can spend a complete, fun and satisfying day at Walt Disney World without setting foot in a theme park. Really.
Is that a wreath? Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Photo by Steve Russo.
After we checked in at the Courtyard (late morning if I remember correctly), we walked to Downtown Disney and made our way to the Marketplace bus stops. We boarded a bus for our first stop, the Wilderness Lodge. If you’ve not seen it, the Wilderness Lodge has a very impressive lobby that is reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest. And one of the largest fireplaces on the planet. Their Christmas decorations are fantastic; particularly the large tree that is the focal point. We wandered around, shooting pictures of the decorations, and then wandered out to the pool area for photos of the waterfall and geyser.
When we were satisfied with our mini-tour and had soaked up enough of the Christmas flavor, we headed to the docks where we found two waiting boats. Our intention was to continue our tour by visiting the monorail resorts.
Rather than board the waiting resort boat, we opted for the boat to the Magic Kingdom. In December of 2003, Disney was displaying the 75 Mickey Mouse statues that had been decorated and painted by different celebrities. They went around the country on a short tour before being auctioned for charity. So we spent some time viewing these “works of art” on display outside the Magic Kingdom. As I recall, some were very well done while others, like Rosie O’Donnell’s, were … well, let’s just say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I digress… let’s get back to the resort tour.
Christmas at the Studios. Photo by Steve Russo
After suitable viewing time, we hopped the Resort Monorail and exited at the Contemporary. I know some folks love this resort and it’s certainly convenient to the Magic Kingdom but I find it a bit sterile—almost austere. It’s just not my taste. There was a fairly good-sized tree in the lobby and a few other decorations around but, to me, the whole thing was just a bit too understated. I’d have preferred more.
We boarded the next monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center and stayed on, exiting at the Polynesian Resort. The Polynesian’s lobby was nicely decorated but, again, much more subdued than the Wilderness Lodge. We ventured outside to the pool and beach for some more pictures and eventually, continued our tour by catching the next monorail to the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
The Grand Floridian is, arguably but in my opinion, the crown jewel of Disney’s holiday decorations. We had toured this resort previously, but not during the holidays. As you enter the lobby, you’re greeted by a fantastic view—decorated trees, wreaths, chandeliers, etc. All of this is simply beautiful. We took the stairs down to the first level and checked out the gingerbread house (is life-sized the appropriate description of its size?) and took some photographs. [As an aside, each time I visit the Grand Floridian, I am struck by the number of folks that are dozing on the sofas and easy chairs. It has kind of a surreal effect. This was no exception as there were six to eight people spread out through the lobby—sleeping. I’m becoming convinced they are extremely well placed audio-animatronics.]
The Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian. MousePlanet File Photo.
We concluded our touring that day at the Grand Floridian but, we continued later in the week at the Epcot resorts. The Boardwalk lobby was decorated beautifully. There were two large Christmas trees and decorated garland strung everywhere. In the center of the lobby, a display depicted a carousel, Ferris wheel and roller coaster. There were houses, people and a train running around the entire thing. The cool part is that most of the display was edible. A small sign indicated the ingredients: 150 pounds of white chocolate, 150 pounds of sugar, and so on.
The Yacht and Beach Clubs sported similar decorations and displays, as did the Swan and Dolphin. It would be quite easy to spend the better part of a second day, simply touring this area and taking in the decorations.
Even later in the trip, we used a dining reservation at Boma to tour the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Personally, I think the lobby of this lodge is the most impressive on property—maybe that I’ve ever seen. It was even more impressive decked out for the Christmas season with a huge tree with African-themed decorations that fit perfectly with the overall theming of the Lodge.
As you would expect, the four theme parks, and Downtown Disney, also decorate extensively for the holiday season. There’s a tree in each park, garland strung across and Christmas music playing on Main Street, a tree lighting ceremony and the previously mentioned Lights of Winter at Epcot. We can’t forget World Showcase’s Storytellers, the various Christmas-themed parades, the Candlelight Processional, holiday “tags” on the fireworks shows, carolers at Downtown Disney… and so much more.
The Magic Kingdom decorated for the holidays. Photo by Steve Russo.
We never got around to visiting the Moderate and Value resorts during that 2003 trip. We’ll have to get there next time. There has to be a next time.
Hopefully, this has given you a bit of the flavor of holiday time at Walt Disney World and why I think it’s a special time to be there. It’s been five years for me and I know things at Disney World change frequently so it’s probably a bit different now—maybe a lot different. That’s why I’m looking forward to next December. Assuming I’m still here, still writing and we make that trip, next year I promise a similar article—only with pictures… lots and lots of pictures.
Let me take this opportunity to wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas to all!
That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
