To celebrate our Christmas in July here at The Affordable Mouse, I thought it would be fun to do a Top Ten List of ways to celebrate on a Disney trip during the holiday season! The great thing? Most of these fun things are free or included with your vacation! So here we go:
Tina’s Merry Top Ten Ways to Celebrate:
1. If you can swing it, go anywhere in between the week AFTER Thanksgiving and the week BEFORE Christmas. The parks and resorts are beautifully decorated, the crowd levels are down and the prices are significantly cheaper!
2. Take a day off during your trip and resort hop. The decorations are all different and so amazing! The Grand Floridian, Boardwalk and Animal Kingdom are our favorites! This will save you some money by not being in the parks, and it will also give you a chance to relax and refresh (thus saving your sanity!) Have your family rate their favorite (see number 3!)
3. After resort hopping, grab an inexpensive dessert at one of the resort counter services and chat about your favorite holiday decor!
4. Free movies at the resorts. Most resorts have free movies all year long. Take some family time during the holiday season and enjoy a free movie together:) Talk about the best thing you did that day, or why you love being in Disney at Christmastime.
5. Holidays around the World! This is included with your park ticket and is such a cool way to experience the holidays! Take some time to walk around World Showcase in Epcot and see how each country is decorated for the holidays, note the similarities and differences in each.
6. Listen to the stories! During the holidays, World Showcase provides storytellers that talk about how the holidays are celebrated in each country.
7. See Santa! You’ll see Santa in the parades of course, but if you are lucky enough to be staying in the resort on Christmas Eve, select resorts will have visits from Santa and he may even read to you!
8. Window shop (or last minute shop!) in Downtown Disney! Stop and see Santa here as well as listen to some lovely holiday music, carolers, and see the decorations.
9. Catch the tree lighting ceremony on Main Street in Magic Kingdom. Check the Times Guide for the schedule:) Grab a cup of coffee or cocoa and make it a special family time!
10. Take family pictures. This is one of my favorite and inexpensive souvenirs. There are so many places to take great holiday pictures with all of the decorations! There are trees and lights and gingerbread houses everywhere! Any Cast Member will be happy to take the family picture for you;) The pictures are a great decoration for your home around the holidays.
Nothing beats Disney during the holidays. It’s our favorite time to visit, hands down! Merry Christmas…in July 😉
Question of the Day: What is your favorite time of year to visit the Disney Parks?
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Tina works full time as a school counselor in an elementary school. She lives close to Baltimore, MD with her husband Dave and her 13 year old stepdaughter, Ashley. They also have a furry family member, a cat name Frodo, that keeps life interesting in their house! Tina began visiting Disney World as a child with her family, and now her, Dave & Ashley take a trip to the World every year. She considers herself a Disney “fanatic” and once her family is finished one trip, she is already planning their next one. Tina loves to find the best deals, even in the busy seasons (she can only go when schools are off!) and loves sharing those deals & tips with anyone and everyone! What Tina loves most is the magic of WDW, it makes her feel like a kid again. She hopes that every family has the opportunity go to the World and experience the magic for themselves because it has a way of reminding its visitors that dreams do indeed come true! Read more of Tina’s work on her blog A Not So Bland Life, where she writes about home decor, cooking, couponing, traveling, and and of course, Disney!
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We visit whenever we can! My husband is a public school teacher, so peak time is the only time we can travel. Good planning with some help from Tour Guide Mike really helps avoid the crowds and keep the experience magical!
Since I love Christmas time, what better time to go that around Christmas and seeing all the parks decorated.
We always go the last of Aug first of Sept it is less crowded and since we homeschool we dont have to worry about them missing school
I’ve only ever been during Sept and Oct. It works out though BC its my favorite time of the year. The decorations are amazing and MNSSHP is happening!
We went this past year for the Christmas holiday and I have to say, it was by far my favorite trip!! I am a huge Christmas fan, so it was absolutely perfect!!! We resort hopped for 2 days to see all the neat things, did the Candlelight Processional, did the MVMCP and caught as many of the Santas around the World Showcase as we could.
Whenever it’s not crowded! But I love the decorations at Christmas and the Hallowishes fireworks
I’ve only been during the summer, March, and May, and out of those May is my favorite – it doesn’t rain too much, it’s not too hot, and the crowds are pretty low. I would like to visit during September/October, since I’ve heard it recommended by so many people and I want to be there for MNSSHP. 🙂
The Fall, especially close to Halloween! The Fall decorations are spectacular, the weather is fair, and the crowds are down. What’s not to love?!
My fave time to visit is Spring. I love going in March and been to The Flower and Garden Festival a couple of times.
I do love to go in October, the weather still good enough for the water parks and the Halloween Party at MK and the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. So many things at once!
The summertime during mid-August to September.
We had never done a big party as such so last year we decided to take our 8&6 yr old for MMNSHP they were both in awe of the whole thing and we even managed to get a sneak peak of the new fantasyland we had two very upset kids when we had to come home
Anytime we can afford to go!!
Halloween! Weather is normally nice and MNSSHP is awesome!
I have 2 favorites- January and May.
We used to go the 2 weeks around Labor Day, but, now we go for Christmas. A can’t miss for our family is seeing Santa at the resort on Christmas Eve!
Thanksgiving week!!!!! I teach school so I’m off that week and we get to see all the Christmas decorations also.
I would love to go at Christmas. But, anytime for me is the best time.
I have been in the summer and since I’m from south Mississippi the weather is about the same but the crowds were a bit much for my husband. We went last Oct. and loved it but I want to go during Christmas!
Our favorite time is the first week of May! The weather was gorgeous and the crowds weren’t too bad. Is there a bad time to visit Disney? I think I would go whenever I could to get my Disney fix 🙂
My favorite time to visit wdw is christmas time. I love the holidays and disney really goes all out. My second favorite time to visit is for the flower and garden festival…just looove those topiaries
I used to love Christmas at WDW until I went to Mickey’s Halloween party last year! the parade alone was worth the ticket price. love love love LOVE halloween at Disney now! 😀