Holiday Must Dos

[Dpint43]

Hey all. My family is taking our first trip to WDW in 10 years this Nov/Dec (and it's all of our first time visiting during Christmas).

We are spending 4 days at the parks (one at each main park).

We are arriving the day after Thanksgiving (Friday) and starting at HS. On Saturday we are going to AK. During the first week of December we are going to Epcot on Tuesday and ending at Magic Kingdom on Thursday.

I know Friday and Sat should be busy (with Tuesday and Thursday less so) but is there any one thing we NEED to see during Christmas time? My family loves the holidays, so if anyone has suggestions of things we shouldn't miss that would be awesome.

It would also be great if anyone had suggestions for at least one thing to do at each park.

There is 11 of us (no children) and were not huge fans of parades. Thanks!!

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Epcot - Candlelight Processional

DHS - Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights

AK - Nothing, unless Disney has special announcement of something new there that I don't know about for the holidays. I am saying that because AK really doesn't have much in terms of the holidays currently outside of their Christmas tree and they are not going to their holiday themed parade this year either.

MK- It is very hard to say without Mickey's very Christmas party because the Holiday Wishes isn't shown outside Mickey's very Christmas Party before Christmas week. I don't think party has much for you except for the Holiday Wishes fireworks though in terms of the party. The Christmas Party is something that people have to pay extra for.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

As far as holiday oriented things go, I agree with making sure you see the Candlelight Processional at Epcot & the Osbourne Lights at DHS. At MK, make sure you see the lighting of the castle, it's beautiful!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party was something that we enjoyed. It has mixed opinions on if it's worth the extra cost. I liked watching it snow on Main Street, while drinking hot chocolate. I also really liked getting our pictures taken with all the characters in their holiday costumes. Since you love the holiday season, I think it'd be worth checking out!

If you have time to resort hop, check out the Ginger Bread house at the Grand Floridian, and the decorations at Wilderness Lodge too. The lobby is gorgeous! I thought the resorts had some of the most beautiful decorations.

 

[belledream]

As far as holiday oriented things go, I agree with making sure you see the Candlelight Processional at Epcot & the Osbourne Lights at DHS. At MK, make sure you see the lighting of the castle, it's beautiful!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party was something that we enjoyed. It has mixed opinions on if it's worth the extra cost. I liked watching it snow on Main Street, while drinking hot chocolate. I also really liked getting our pictures taken with all the characters in their holiday costumes. Since you love the holiday season, I think it'd be worth checking out!

If you have time to resort hop, check out the Ginger Bread house at the Grand Floridian, and the decorations at Wilderness Lodge too. The lobby is gorgeous! I thought the resorts had some of the most beautiful decorations.

I second visiting GF and WL! Worth it to take time out the day, turn it down a notch, and relax at the resorts by checking out these beautiful displays that you can't catch throughout the rest of the year.

 

[Mukta]

DHS - Osborne Lights

Epcot - Holiday Storytellers and Peace on Earth Tag on Illuminations.

MK - Castle Lighting at 6:15 ish

AK - The big tree out front is nice

Once of my favorite things to see in Dec are the lobbies of the deluxe hotels. Spectacular.

 

[Matt_Black]

Seconding the Holiday Storytellers. If you can't see all of them, then I'd recommend Sigrid & Julenissen and The Monkey King, as I think they're the best.

 

[Csmith041177]

Agree with what everyone has said. This is my favorite time to visit the parks, it is truly magical. If I had to pick just 1 thing, it would be the Osborne Lights. They are breathtaking.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Osborne Lights and watching the Castle Dream Lights are my favorites. Not a huge fan of MVMCP, but if you're in the MK area on a night when they're holding the party, you can see Holiday Wishes someplace like the Poly beach and get a nice view of the perimeter effects. As far as resorts go, most have their decorations up before Thanksgiving- so you should be able to see them if you have the time. The GF is my fave, but WL and AKL are very nice too, and I love the gingerbread carousel at Beach Club. The park trees are nice too (I think AK is my fave), and if you go after parade filming, you'll also get to see the MK tree. You've got the Candlelight Processional in Epcot as well as the storytellers, but you'll also find some holiday treats in the countries as well. If you can make it to DTD, they usually have decorations and musicians playing holiday music. Even a few of the restaurants at WDW will put up a few decorations...nothing major- but nice touches.

 

[JohnD]

Loved the Osborne Lights. Liked MNSSHP better than MVMCP. Haven't been to Candlelight Processional yet.

AK has "Jingle Jungle Parade". But even then an open question since they are phasing out regular Jammin' Jungle Parade and "Jingle" is just a Christmas variation. There's a beautiful tree out front and M&G with Santa Goofy (also in HS) so that's about it for AK.

 

[Matt_Black]

Another thing- go check out the trailers at Fort Wilderness. I've yet to do so myself, but I hear they're done up all fancy.

 

[SteveW]

I think doing MVMCP at least once would be worth it. I'm not much of a parade person, but the parade during the party is great. The marching toy soldier band is awesome.

 

[NiarrNDisney]

The Grand Floridian resorts Gingerbread house is a must see!
Do tour the resorts so you can see their trees and other decorations especially:

Animal Kingdom Lodge
Dolphin
Grand Floridian
Wilderness Lodge
Yacht and Beach Club