Christmas Decorations

[salvatorejrm]

When do they start decorating the parks and resorts for Christmas? When do they take them down? In your opinion which park and which resort is decorated the nicest?

 

[Granny]

I haven't been during the holiday season, but my understanding is that they begin decorating the parks and resorts in November, with everything complete by Thanksgiving. And I think they leave them up until just after New Year's Day.

Best decorated resorts? As with anything, it's a personal preference. I've heard that the Grand Floridian is beautiful. And WL/VWL gets a lot of acclaim since its theming lends itself to the holiday decorations.

All the parks are well decorated, but I would have to think that Magic Kingdom would be the jewel. Main Street USA must look wonderful...like a scene out of "It's a Wonderful Life".

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

WE go down the first week in Jan. most years. The decorations are up till Jan.5 or so. The parks come down sooner sometimes, with the resorts taking a bit longer.

 

[DisnutDave@work]

I think Granny got it right on all counts, not bad for a guy who hasn't been there at Christmas season!

We've arrived just after Thanksgiving and the decorations throughout WDW were indeed complete. And I too have heard that shortly after New Year's the pixies come and make them disappear.

As for the best looking park, I'd say it's been a tie. The Magic Kingdom is really beautiful, but the Studios are also gorgeous. The Osbourne Lights are truly a sight to see, although at this point no one seems sure if they will be up this year. At both parks we just love the fake "snow" that falls.

Many of the resorts are breathtaking at Christmas, including the Grand Floridian and the Boardwalk. But nothing beats the WL.

The Travel Channel had a special show with Samantha Brown that was on last December about WDW during the holidays. It's worth catching when they rerun it.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I agree the MK is really beautiful, but so is Epcot. This site has some holiday decor pics : http://allearsnet.com/tp/h_decor.htm
The Lights of Winter archway is spectacular and I love the way the fountain is synchronized to holiday music and lights.
We were not DVC Members when we visited during December '98. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and really loved the decor. We also visited the GF, Contemp and WL to see their decorations. Every resort we saw was nice in it's own unique way. Also try this link : http://allearsnet.com/tp/hol_phot.htm

 

[Bugeye]

I was going along with Magic Kingdom until Mia reminded me about Epcot. She hit the nail on the head. I cannot imagine anything that can get you into the Christmas spirit better than the Arch and fountain. I can sit there forever watching that spectacle. The resorts are tougher. Each is unique and extremely well done. It really boils down to your personal taste.

 

[DemoBri1]

I would have to put a plug in for Epcot as well, but nothing beats snow on Main Street U.S.A. Just walking into MK and looking down Main Street with the castle framed within the wreaths and garland stretching across Main Street is just a sight to see.

As far as the resorts go...the last poster is correct. They all have their little nuances. BC has their ferris wheel made out of edible items, BW has a scale model of an actual Boardwalk theme park, but you really have to go and see the gingerbread house at the GF. To me the GF used to be the best tree as well, but they seemed to have scaled it down last year. I can remember back in 98 when we were there last with the decorations that the tree seemed fuller and taller than last year.

I cannot comment about the Osborne Lights as I have as yet to see them. They weren't up this past holiday due to the new stunt show attraction that they're building. Rumor has it that they will be back up on New York street this year, but who knows. I hope they return as I would like to see them eventually.

Brian

 

[BigDisneyKids]

The previous posts are right on the money!

We've been there just before Christmas for the past 2 years and it was truly incredible!
Way too much to list here. If your not in the Christmas sprit when you leave, shame on you.

However, if you do go in Dec, I would highly advise you to decorate your home for the holidays prior to your trip. After, our first trip in Dec 02, (we didn't decorate) and came home totally depressed. We left our Christmas sprit on Main Street. The following year (03), I had the outside lights up on Nov 1st and the house was fully decorated by our departure (Dec 5th).

What a difference that made!

 

[pogopossum]

we were there last year first week of dec. i loved the arch and fountain at epcot, but also love main street at mk. as for trees, i loved the one at dd on plaza outside of the toy store. the barrel o monkeys garland is awesome, wish i could find that for my tree.

friends from church were there the week before and said that they went to bed thanksgiving night with no decorations and woke up next day to complete transformations.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The Holiday Headlines on the DISboards home page says that the Osborne lights will be up this year. They are stupendous! Our Grand Gathering will be missing the last MVMCP, but I think the light show will make up for that, our family will be so surprised!

Bobbi

 

[CarolMN]

The WDW resort decorating schedule for 2004 hasn't been released yet, but the 2003 schedule will give you a good idea of what to expect.

2003 Holiday Decorating Schedule

Best wishes -