Christmas Hotel

[slappy magoo]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm concerned mostly about the chance for poor weather in Dec. If we can't use the pools or be outside, I wondered if it might be worth the money to be at a resort with more activities, restaurants & convenient transportation. Lots for me to think about!

My family is the type to want to do some activities at the hotel. And of course both my 2 year old and my wife like to nap in the afternoon so going back to the room is kind of a necessity. But your mileage may vary. Your family might wind up being "park commandos" and hitting rides and attractions from opening to closing every single day.

I'd suggest planning the breaks anyway - better to have 'em and not need 'em versus being in the parks from opening to mid afternoon and then start dropping like flies. If your family winds up having crazy stamina, stay in the parks sometimes. But yeah, Values don't have much to do outside of the pools. At the very least you may want to consider a moderate. If you have a car, you can always drive to a Deluxe if you wanted to do something like rent a boat or surrey bike, something not available in the Values.

 

[JillC LI]

The holiday decorations are only at the Deluxe hotels, so if seeing them at the resort at which you are staying is important to you, then you will want to upgrade. However, the price differential is huge, as you have noted. We found it far more cost effective and just as enjoyable to stay at a Value or Moderate resort in December and then visit the resorts with the most spectacular of the holiday decorations. A good way to do this is to plan a meal at these resorts. For example, you could book dinner at Cape May in the Beach Club resort, and you would get to see the cool Chocolate Carousel in the lobby there. You could have breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (which I recommend with kids your age - fun characters, great strawberry soup), and see the giant gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian. It all depends on whether you want to be surrounded by holiday decorations or just have a chance to see them.

 

[psukardi]

Grand Floridian during the holidays is just amazing, the lobby is great. Something to be said about taking the monorail back to the resort and walking through the lobby & seeing the tree and the gingerbread house & having some music in the background playing.

 

[brokedad]

We are taking our first Disney vacation the week after Thanksgiving. My kids ages will be 8 & 4. I have booked the little mermaid room at Art of Animation. Since we'll be going during the Christmas season & may not get much use out of the pool...would you splurge for a hotel that may have more holiday decoration, such as Wilderness Lodge? I know the kids will probably be happy anywhere, but this is mine & my husband's first trip as well & I'd like to make it as great as possible!

Agreed with horizon 1, stay were you can afford and visit the other places, it's quite amazing how so many people can only afford the deluxes, must be nice

 

[HouCuseChickie]

While we always stay deluxe (at least for our more recent trips), I made the mistake of letting holiday décor govern our lodging for our girls' first trip back in 2010. The Contemporary is my fave resort- wanted to stay there, but the holiday decorations at the Contemporary aren't my fave of the deluxe resorts. So, I disregarded the convenience and large guest room sizes at the Contemporary for the superior common area holiday decorations at Wilderness Lodge. Yes, the decorations were really pretty in person and I did enjoy seeing the tree each time I left my room, but I think I would have been happier just paying the resort a visit to see the tree. That being said, the GF has my fave decorations and their rooms- while the priciest- are going to be huge as well as very convenient to MK. I'm also a big fan of the decorations at Boardwalk and Beach Club and those will both give you larger rooms than Wilderness, convenience to Epcot + boat to DHS, and a noticeably lower price tag than the GF. AKL has nice decorations too and is often in the same price point (give or take) as WL, but it is a longer bus drive.

Moral of the story, you have a lot of options if you want to pick based on holiday decorations, but I don't think it's worth picking a resort primarily because of its decorations.

 

[Innkeeper's Club]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm concerned mostly about the chance for poor weather in Dec. If we can't use the pools or be outside, I wondered if it might be worth the money to be at a resort with more activities, restaurants & convenient transportation. Lots for me to think about!

Obviously there is no way to guarantee how the weather will be, although maybe this will help. For years I have gone to WDW during the month of December and most recently in 2011, 2012, and 2013 the weather was great. Everyday I was able to relax by the pool, along with being able to wear a t-shirt and shorts everyday.

In December 2010 that was the only time I can remember where mostly everyday was between the 40's - 60's, which meant a lot of cold days.

 

[BrookieD34]

Obviously there is no way to guarantee how the weather will be, although maybe this will help. For years I have gone to WDW during the month of December and most recently in 2011, 2012, and 2013 the weather was great. Everyday I was able to relax by the pool, along with being able to wear a t-shirt and shorts everyday.

In December 2010 that was the only time I can remember where mostly everyday was between the 40's - 60's, which meant a lot of cold days.

Thank you...that does help! I feel a little better about that.

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

We are taking our first Disney vacation the week after Thanksgiving. My kids ages will be 8 & 4. I have booked the little mermaid room at Art of Animation. Since we'll be going during the Christmas season & may not get much use out of the pool...would you splurge for a hotel that may have more holiday decoration, such as Wilderness Lodge? I know the kids will probably be happy anywhere, but this is mine & my husband's first trip as well & I'd like to make it as great as possible!

We went for Christmas in 2011 and will never go back any other time. It was unbelievable. We stayed in Coronado Springs and it was very nice . Yes you must go to the GF lobby and check out the gingerbread house ! They say the coziest and most Christmasy place to eat in Epcot is Le Cellier. Weather was great... Not hot and a
Few cool nights made it real nice. We will never go back during any other time. We go second week of December

My family is the type to want to do some activities at the hotel. And of course both my 2 year old and my wife like to nap in the afternoon so going back to the room is kind of a necessity. But your mileage may vary. Your family might wind up being "park commandos" and hitting rides and attractions from opening to closing every single day.

I'd suggest planning the breaks anyway - better to have 'em and not need 'em versus being in the parks from opening to mid afternoon and then start dropping like flies. If your family winds up having crazy stamina, stay in the parks sometimes. But yeah, Values don't have much to do outside of the pools. At the very least you may want to consider a moderate. If you have a car, you can always drive to a Deluxe if you wanted to do something like rent a boat or surrey bike, something not available in the Values.

 

[GHOST1000]

Our family has been many times around week before and after thanksgiving , agree w everyone stating that WL is a must stay at least once , as it is our home dvc resort ( LOVE IT). Also suggest fort wilderness cabins and being that you have two young ones , it would awesome to bring or buy cheap at Walmart nearby your own Xmas decorations as your comfortable with, and decorate your ' own Xmas ' how your used to at home. They have have the movies at night w campfire and marshmallows. and wagon rides, and close enough to walk/ bike ride to lodge to visit their decorations. Have done it and highly recommend it! Many good memories for a lifetime.

 

[Marijil]

Welcome to WDWMAGIC!

If Christmas decor is important to you, it is well worth moving up to a deluxe. The moderates and values do not do much with decor.

While I totally agree, the POR, where we stayed over xmas did a great job with the season, santa was in the lobby, great tree and kids loved it

 

[BrookieD34]

Our family has been many times around week before and after thanksgiving , agree w everyone stating that WL is a must stay at least once , as it is our home dvc resort ( LOVE IT). Also suggest fort wilderness cabins and being that you have two young ones , it would awesome to bring or buy cheap at Walmart nearby your own Xmas decorations as your comfortable with, and decorate your ' own Xmas ' how your used to at home. They have have the movies at night w campfire and marshmallows. and wagon rides, and close enough to walk/ bike ride to lodge to visit their decorations. Have done it and highly recommend it! Many good memories for a lifetime.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm looking into all of our options. For those of you that have traveled the week after Thanksgiving...do they typically offer any room discounts or free dining that week? And, when would they announce it?

 

[75disney]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm looking into all of our options. For those of you that have traveled the week after Thanksgiving...do they typically offer any room discounts or free dining that week? And, when would they announce it?

Free dining has been offered the week after Thanksgiving for the last few years. They usually offer it in November with the entire week of Thanksgiving being blacked out. In the past, it is usually announced in July or early August, if I am not mistaken.

We have gone Thanksgiving week or the week right after it on our last few trips. Great time to be there with the Christmas decorations and good weather (not really swimming weather though).
I have stayed at both moderates and deluxe at that time. I highly recommend WL; the Christmas decorations are amazing and it exudes that cozy, winterish atmosphere.
If you need to go moderate, I also highly recommend CSR. The decorations were beautiful and it was lovely to walk around the lake and gaze at the lights of the main building twinkling like Christmas lights across the water. It was relaxing to listen to Christmas songs sung in Spanish being played over discreetly placed speakers along the pathways.
We enjoy visiting the GF and CR at this time of year. They are a short monorail trip away from the MK and a nice break from the crowds (yes, you will still have crowds that time of year - that week is becoming very popular especially when free dining is offered). You can always eat at one of the excellent restaurants at those resorts without having to pay the hefty sum to stay there.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[R W B]

We are taking our first Disney vacation the week after Thanksgiving. My kids ages will be 8 & 4. I have booked the little mermaid room at Art of Animation. Since we'll be going during the Christmas season & may not get much use out of the pool...would you splurge for a hotel that may have more holiday decoration, such as Wilderness Lodge? I know the kids will probably be happy anywhere, but this is mine & my husband's first trip as well & I'd like to make it as great as possible!

I've been during the Christmas holiday time the past 3 years, if you can't swing a deluxe I would highly suggest Port Orleans French Quarter. It's my favorite Moderate during the holiday time (and any other time too)

With that said, if you can swing a deluxe my personal favorite is the Wildneress Lodge for reason others have stated.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

The Christmas decorations at WL are my favorites, but decorations aside, upgrade to WL. We have stayed at both value and moderate in the past but the last several years we stayed at WL. A few weeks ago on spring break we went with my daughters band and stayed at ASM. After the long walks from our room to the buses and food court, the overcrowded buses, the bus stops always being the longest distance away at all the parks, my daughter said that when we go at Thanksgiving at stay at WL that she will hug the CM that greet you when you get off the ME bus at WL.

 

[mousefanwhat?]

we stayed at the wilderness lodge around Christmas, it was really neat. However, keep in mind you have access to visit all the resorts to view all the holiday goodness. You don't spend much time in your room really so I don't know that its a big deal to spend the $$ to stay at a deluxe, especially if you are on a tight budget.
We also bring little things to decorate the room, birthdays, , christmas...but we are within driving distance and don't have to worry about flying and luggage.