Must Sees (Aside From Parks) During Christmas? About This Page:

[disneyfan2000]

Aside from the parks, what are some must sees during Christmas time?
We'll be there Nov. 30-Dec. 5.

I have heard wonderful things about the Grand Floridian's Gingerbread house....I want to take the kids to see that. What are some others?

[aliceinwdw]

Definitely tour the resorts! The monorail resorts are a fun way to spend some time, as well as the Wilderness Lodge and the Boardwalk resorts (which also include Yacht and Beach Clubs) as they seem to be the popular must-sees: Holidays Around the World.

The Osborne Family Festival of Lights at DHS is a must as well (I know that falls under parks, but it's worth repeating. ), and MVMCP at MK too!

There is a sleigh ride at the Wilderness Lodge that can add to the holiday season. Seasonal Sleigh Rides at Wilderness Lodge (scroll to bttom of the screen).

It's a wonderful time to visit!!

[5SOXFNZ]

The Gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian is always on our Holiday must see list!

[lazanya]

Don't forget the resorts! At the Beach club they have the Chocolate Carousel, at the Boardwalk Inn they have a Gazebo and at the Poly we saw real cute gingerbread houses set up on tables. I love how each resort has their own Christmas theme!

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by aliceinwdw

There is a sleigh ride at the Wilderness Lodge that can add to the holiday season. Seasonal Sleigh Rides at Wilderness Lodge

Actually the Sleigh ride isn't taking place at the Wilderness Lodge anymore this year. It will only be taking place through Fort Wilderness. There really isn't anything to see on the route that took place from WL so they opted just to run it through Fort Wilderness as many of the people camping there decorate their sites. The sleigh ride starts out from outside Crockett's Tavern/Hoop Dee Doo Revue. Not sure of the timing or the cost.

[yalibrarian]

We'll be there the same time frame as you. Our favorite things are often in the parks, like the various story tellers at the WS countries. Don't miss the Three Kings in Mexico and Father Christmas in England. The Disney characters often arrive in a double decker bus before the nightly tree lighting at Epcot. The Osborn Lights at DHS will dazzle your kids, and the Jingle Jungle Parade in AK is great fun. Even if you don't attend MVMCP, you will enjoy seeing the Castle at MK all lighted up like an ice palace.

As many have said, the resorts, particularly the deluxe resorts, are well decorated. We were fascinated with the huge trees in Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, which matched the themes of the resorts. Don't forget that Downtown Disney has special events, like visiting choirs, and Santa is available if you have kids who need to make a quick wish stop. We have taken many photos of the DTD decorations with our son too; one of my favorite WDW photos in fact is him posing with a frosty Goofy.

[Suzie-Q]

Two things we did this trip that we hadn't before and really enjoyed:
1900 Park Fare - the buffet was the nicest I have had on property hands-down and the step-sisters and wicked step-mother were worth the price of admission!! We saw so many little princesses and wondered if we may have made a mistake going with our boys, but the sisters were hilarious with our 14 year old son and a real high-light of the trip. Since it seems GF is a good place to visit during the holidays, you may want to try dinner there too.
Golfing at Winter-Summerland. Just to use the free gold coupons that came with our package and because we never had...DH, DS8 and DS14 headed off on our last night for some evening golfing while I packed and they just LOVED it. It certainly seems in keeping with the Christmas season too.

[Colexis Mom]

Our favorites are the Gingerbread House, the carousel at the BC, the train at the YC, the chocolate display at AKL near Boma (and the tree in the AKL lobby)!

[Diz]

We going to the deluxe resorts and seeing the chocolate creations.
It is fun to look for the Hidden Mickeys they hide in them!

Oh definitely stop by the GF if you can. It is such a cute gingerbread house!
And you can buy something as small as a cookie or as large as a gingerbread house!

We also enjoy looking at every resort Christmas tree. They are all decorated so beautifully!

Have fun!

[taylan1]

If you have the chance go and see ICE! at the Gaylord Palms Resort. It is fabulous and the resort is beautiful. I have pics in my TR (near the end) at the link below. Enjoy your trip.

[vitamingirl]

[QUOTE=yalibrarian;3021403]We'll be there the same time frame as you. Our favorite things are often in the parks, like the various story tellers at the WS countries. Don't miss the Three Kings in Mexico and Father Christmas in England. The Disney characters often arrive in a double decker bus before the nightly tree lighting at Epcot. The Osborn Lights at DHS will dazzle your kids, and the Jingle Jungle Parade in AK is great fun. Even if you don't attend MVMCP, you will enjoy seeing the Castle at MK all lighted up like an ice palace.

We will be there the same time. Thanks for the info. This sounds great!! I was not aware of nightly tree lighting in Epcot; characters; etc!!

[chezp]

Our favourite other resorts are the lobbys of the Beach Club, Yacht Club and BoardWalk - all have amazing displays in them.

[disneyfan2000]

thank you for all the info....
I will definetely tell my wife about the other resorts and their decorations....
It all sounds so wonderful....I think our kids are going to love it!
We'll be staying at the WL, so hopefully we'll see the big tree and decorations there....
My wife got the tickets for Mickeys Christmas Party at the MK.....we'll be going to that our first night at the parks....Tues.
I can't wait....

[jimmymac]

Castle Lighting
CP
Illuminations
Osborne Lights
GF lobby
AKL lobby
WL lobby
BC loby
YC lobby
BWI lobby
Lights of Winter

[Vickie Bjork]

Definitely the Osborne Lights! They were GREAT! We went last year for a quick trip before X Mas and tried to see as many things as we could, but just the parks and Mickey's Christmas Party took up all of our time...3 days is all we had. The crowds were way too much for us. Probably won't go again unless we take the kids out of school early and go between Thanksgiving and Christmas.