Each year during the holiday season, Walt Disney World’s on-site resort hotels celebrate with their own beautiful Christmas decorations. Many resorts offer such beautiful holiday displays that they’re worth a visit – in fact, one of our favorite things to do during the holidays is to take a morning or afternoon away from the parks to visit the resorts and see their gorgeous Christmas decorations.
The deluxe resorts on the monorail loop that circles the Seven Seas Lagoon near the Magic Kingdom are great for checking out amazing Christmas decorations. Disney’s Contemporary Resort features a beautiful gingerbread display, each year with a different theme – this year’s is Cinderella. Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort also offer lovely displays with tropical-themed décor and Christmas trees. One of our favorites is Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa which, in addition to garlands and an enormous Christmas tree in the lobby, also features a life-size gingerbread house! It’s incredible to see, and smells amazing. They typically also have gingerbread cookies for sale here, as well.
Another wonderful resort to visit during the holiday season is Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, which features huge Christmas trees decorated with detailed African-inspired ornaments and other decorations.
If you’re in the Epcot resort area near Crescent Lake, you should also check out the beautifu
l decorations at the resorts here. Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and Disney’s Beach Club Resort all have beautiful Christmas trees with decorations showcasing the resort’s theme. Disney’s Beach Club also has an extra-special feature – a near-life-size, working gingerbread carousel! The last time we visited, they had several silver hidden Mickey’s for guests to find on the carousel, also.
Walt Disney World is beautiful to visit during the holidays, and this includes the resort hotels. Whether you’re staying at one of Walt Disney World’s deluxe resorts or not, it’s worth a visit to check out some of the detailed touches that bring the holidays to the resorts.
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I may have mentioned in another forum that resort Hanukkah decorations leave much to be desired: a single, lit Hanukkah Menorah placed on a rear desk is NOT enough to demonstrate some inclusion for those guests who don’t celebrate Xmas. I suggest that Disney management consult w/holiday party planners about what would be more extensive Hanukkah decorations than the aforementioned Menorah.
You bring up a good point and I would recommend that you write to Disney expressing your thoughts on this, as it is important for Disney to hear directly from their Guests when they feel something could be improved. 🙂 Happy Holidays!
As a Jewish family, I can appreciate what you are saying about the decorations, but at the same time, we’ve never felt excluded. The reality, in our minds at least, is that Hanukkah is not a major holiday. It is actually a very minor event in the year and does not have the same “seasonal” impact as Christmas. Whereas people think about and prepare for and celebrate Christmas for a month or more, Hanukkah is really just the eight days. It would seem almost offensive to have extensive decorations throughout the season because it would feel like Disney was pandering. Hanukkah also has a much stronger religious emphasis among those who celebrate it, whereas Christmas is very religious for some and purely secular for others. There are plenty of families who celebrate Christmas and think only of Santa, snowmen, and trees, which is the majority of the decorations and celebration in Disney. Focusing heavily on a religious celebration could come across as disrespectful, much like it would if they tried to “decorate” for the other holidays and observances going on during that time of year (there are 27 of them). The subtle touch of a hanukiah at the resort and the occasional Star of David in the light displays is touching and meaningful, as is the retelling of the Hanukkah story in EPCOT. I agree that it would be nice to have a lighting each night, traditional foods in the dining hall during the festival, and maybe some games of dreidel during the eight nights, but I wouldn’t want to see massive displays of decorations and religious symbols around the resorts or parks during other times of the month. It would be very uncomfortable for me and feel like the real meaning and impact of the festival was not being honored or respected.