FREE Disney World Christmas Tour Tips
Want to enjoy the holidays at Walt Disney World without using a day on your precious park tickets? Need to kill a half-day before Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom? Then take the tour we are dubbing the “Self-Guided Walt Disney World Yuletide Tour” during the Christmas season. (Last updated December 25, 2018.)
This post is a step-by-step tour you can do on your own that will take you through the resorts that are best-decorated for Christmas over the course of around a half-day. Half-day of entertainment at Walt Disney World for free? It might sound too good to be true, but it’s for real!
Back when we didn’t have Annual Passes and we instead pinched pennies by purchasing discount Walt Disney World park tickets that we used sparingly. To save a day on our tickets, we did this Self-Guided Yuletide Tour during the morning of the day we attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, finishing the tour right around 4 p.m. when we could enter Magic Kingdom for the special event. Not only did this prevent us from having to use valuable park tickets, but it also saved us money in not shelling out for the actual (expensive!) Yuletide Fantasy Tour or another official tour.
We had so much fun doing this that even since we’ve become Annual Passholders, we still do this tour (although sometimes over the course of multiple days). Make sure you allow at least 3-5 hours for this tour, as you’ll need all of that time to fully explore all of the resorts!
For Christmas 2018, we’re in the process of refreshing the Free Self-Guided Yuletide Tour. In addition to updating this post, we are also doing individual posts for every single resort in the tour. So far, we’ve done posts for the following:
- Grand Floridian – The most popular and crowded resort at Christmas…but for good reason.
- Wilderness Lodge – The absolute best place at Walt Disney World during the holidays. Worth a separate visit apart from this itinerary late at night to see the resort at its festive best!
- Contemporary Resort – A futuristic holiday of gingerbread castles and lattes?
- Beach Club – The inspiration for one of our (future) Christmas trees.
- Yacht Club – An underrated holiday-time gem!
- BoardWalk Inn – Not one of the ‘elite’ Christmas resorts…but it’s improving.
- Animal Kingdom Lodge – A non-traditional Christmas for many visitors, but a beautiful one, nonetheless!
For those interested in following our strategy and taking your own free self-guided Christmas tour of the resorts at Walt Disney World, here’s our plan, which assumes you’re starting out at the Magic Kingdom (take a bus from your home resort to get there).
Walk to Disney’s Contemporary Resort – There’s a pathway leading from the Magic Kingdom to Disney’s Contemporary Resort that takes about 5-10 minutes to walk. Alternatively, you can take the monorail, but it will take longer.
This one is a relatively new addition, and it’s Cinderella meets Mary Blair, the artist behind the mural in the Grand Canyon Concourse and style of ‘it’s a small world’. It’s a pretty neat display, with Cinderella Castle being the highlight.
Depending upon when you arrive at the Contemporary, we also recommend doing lunch here at Contempo Cafe. They often have excellent Christmas cupcakes and other desserts, and it’s one of our favorite counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World.
In addition to this impressive Mary Blair-inspired gingerbread creation, there is a large “icon” tree outside (one of nine ‘giant’ trees on property–4 of which are located at the resorts), and smaller trees in the lobby.
The icon tree is perhaps one of the oldest trees at Walt Disney World, and has an interesting retro-futuristic style that still manages to work. It looks much more impressive at night, so if you have a chance to check it out after Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, you might want to do that.
Take the Resort Monorail from Disney’s Contemporary Resort to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort – This year, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort isn’t doing a ton for Christmas compared to the flagship monorail resort. Maybe that’s because Christmas is representative of cold winters at the North Pole, and the Polynesian is representative of…well…the exact opposite of that. The other possibility is that the Polynesian just completed its large refurbishment, and didn’t have the budget for more this year.
The Polynesian lacks a large Christmas tree and a large edible display, but the decorations it does have are gorgeous. These typically include lavish smaller trees with excellent tropical color schemes. We always make sure to stop at the Polynesian on our tours, but that’s partly because we love the Poly, in general.
We expect more at the Poly next year, but aren’t holding our breath. Regardless, it’s an easy stop on the monorail loop, so we recommend checking it out.
Take the Resort Monorail from Disney’s Polynesian Resort to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – Expect to spend some time at the Grand Floridian. Depending upon your favorite “version” of Christmas (do you prefer the cozy charm of a rustic Northern Christmas or the elegance of a fancy Victorian Christmas?) the decorations at the Grand Floridian just might be your favorite on property.
The highlight of the decorations here is unquestionably the life-sized gingerbread house. The gingerbread house is composed of staggering amounts of real ingredients, and takes months to prepare.
Oh, and it doubles as a refreshment stand where you can order gingerbread shingles and other holiday treats. The gingerbread house is actually so cool that you might overlook some of the other awesome decorations at the Grand Floridian–don’t make this mistake.
Explore the first couple of floors and the lobby, as beautiful flowers and other smaller decorations grace the resort. One thing you certainly won’t overlook is the massive Christmas tree on display in the lobby, the second of nine giant Christmas trees on property.
Take the Resort Monorail from Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to the Magic Kingdom, take the Resort Boat/Bus to Wilderness Lodge – It’s a bit more work getting to Wilderness Lodge, but it’s sooo worth it. I think Grand Floridian at Christmas is cool, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Wilderness Lodge, in my opinion.
Probably because, as a Michigander, I prefer Christmas to have a cozy rustic charm rather than Victorian elegance and splendor. From the beautiful giant Christmas tree in the lobby (3 of 9) to the use of pine-cones and antlers in all of its decorating, Wilderness Lodge’s Christmas offerings feel like they were designed by woodland critters.
The background music played at Wilderness Lodge is incredibly relaxing, and you might find yourself inadvertently taking a nap if you stumble upon one of the hidden nooks upstairs with fireplaces and relaxing rocking chairs.
While you’re at Wilderness Lodge, make sure you walk over to the Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, too. The tree isn’t as grand, but there are a number of cool decorations there, too, and who can pass up the chance to spend some time in the Carolwood Pacific Room?!
If you’re really ambitious, you can also walk over to Fort Wilderness (about a 15 minute walk–you can also take a boat) on a tranquil walking trail, or catch a boat there.
Disney has its own neat decorations here that are worth seeing, but the real star of the show is the displays put up by long-terms guests on the campground loop. Before you dismiss this, thinking that you don’t want to see amateur decorations, give it some more thought. Some of these decorations are seriously good.
The only problem is that they’re best viewed after dusk, and it’s likely that you’ll be doing this tour in the morning. If you are, for some reason, doing the tour at night, pencil in Fort Wilderness after Wilderness Lodge. If not, consider heading over here for dinner one night and taking a tour of the decorations!
This is definitely the highlight of the resort tour for me, and something you definitely should not skip just because it requires an extra boat trip!
Continue reading about the Epcot Resorts at Christmas on Page 2
I’ll be at WDW on December 2-6 this year, on a trip entirely designed to see it at Christmas. I’ve designed my itinerary around two things: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party one evening, and this suggested tour of the resorts.
Added to that is the recent news of Christmas additions to Animal Kingdom, while I might actually avoid Hollywood Studios, saving Galaxy’s Edge for a later trip (although I’ll be alert for a window of opportunity if Disney extends those “early early” hours into December).
I have one question, though: do you think the opening of the Skyliner is likely to change the best itinerary for seeing the resort decorations?
Hi,
We are going Thanksgiving week in 2019 and are excited to see the Christmas hotel decorations. We plan to use your “Free Self-Guided Yuletide Tour plan”, the question I have is that we are not staying at a Disney Hotel, we have a time share off Disney premises, will we still be able to do the self guided tour and take the monorail? We do plan to have lunch that day at the Grand Floridian but are not staying at any of the disney hotels.
Do you think this will be true for november 2019? I am hoping decorations will still go up about the same time even though thanksgiving falls late this year (11/28/2019). Thinking of visiting (for first time) 11/13-11/22ish.
Also thanks for these posts!
Hi Christi,
We are going 11/12-11/20. In planning our reservations, we were told everything would be fully decorated by the 12th. The first mvmcp happens on the 11th, I believe.
Have a great trip!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ITINERARY! We did this on 12/13 and had a great time. The weather was perfect, the crowds were manageable, and I never would have been able to do this without your plan! We haven’t been on-property for about 15 years, and my husband was AMAZED that we could just ride the monorails/buses/boats without checking in or showing tickets.
We were able to take our time, slow down or speed up as our interests changed. It was delightful not being on a schedule or in a rush to get somewhere. The rare times we had to wait more than 10 minutes for a ride, we entertained ourselves by talking to a nearby cast member or other guests around us.
I logged 22,223 steps – 7.5 miles, and would do it again if the opportunity presents itself. I imagine that even away from the holidays, there is enough here to keep our interest for several hours. Plus we didn’t make it to all the resorts. Thanks again!
This is for sure wonderland! So beautiful place and pictures, thank you for sharing this.
I recommend splitting your resort tour up over the week, to spread out the fun.
Visit the Christmas Tree Trail & DS on arrival or departure day.
On your MVMCP day, start at Wilderness Lodge, have breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Then do the 3 monorail resorts.
Visit the Boardwalk Resorts on your HS day.
Visit Animal Kingdom Resort & have lunch at Sanaa mid-day during your AK day.
What are some must see attractions at the Disney parks during Christmas ?? We are going to Disney and Universal for the first time ever this Christmas. My little boy is a WISH kid and I want to make sure he has the best Christmas EVER !!!
Where are you from in Michigan?
I’m sure this is a very frequent question…can you still do this tour without staying at a hotel or getting a ticket to a park? Can you drive your own car?
You can do all of this without a hotel or park tickets, certainly. You can drive to all those places, but could have to pay for parking still to get to the monorail resorts (if you do it with a dining reservation, you could be covered that way I think). To do it well, you should probably plan to pay to park at Grand Floridian or Magic Kingdom and then you could do the whole trip for $20ish.
We drove to the Contemporary Resort on Monday December 3, parked for free (they said during the week there’s usually plenty of parking). Of note, The Polynesian would not let us park without a dining reservation. Anyway, this allowed us to ride the monorail and look at the decorations at the Contemporary, Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian. A fun way to spend an hour or two. We’re hoping Animal Kingdom Lodge lets us take a peek on Friday 🙂
An alternate approach to touring the monorail resorts that we’ve done on our XMas party day:
1. Sleep in 🙂
2. Bus from our resort to Disney Springs. Eat lunch.
3. Bus to Wilderness Lodge. Explore.
4. Boat to Contemporary. Explore.
5. Monorail to Poly. Explore and have a round at Trader Sam’s.
6. Monorail to Grand. Eat dinner.
7. Monorail to MK. Enjoy party!
Tks for this great post, we spent the day chasing decorations….what fun. Anytime we are in South Florida around the holidays, this will be on the list. Shared you blog on my FB page as well. Tks again.
If we’re not staying at one of the hotels. What is the best plan to maneuver around to see them?
Park at Disney Springs or one of the theme parks and resort hop on Disney transpo from there.
Just to update your post- last year 2016- the Polynesian did have a large Christmas- beautifully decorated! I’m sure it’s there this year too!
Would it be possible for you to date your blog posts? I enjoy your postings, but it’s difficult to know how up-to-date the information is when there’s not time/date stamp. On some things it probably won’t matter much when it was published, but for other things, it does. Thank you.
Thank you for all of the information! So, I’m assuming that the Christmas decorations will not be up yet when we go to MVMCP on Nov 14. That being said, is it still worth it to tour the resorts just to see what they have to offer? We are staying off property, so we would like to do this on our MK day, because we will already be paying for parking.
Last year, I ran the Wine and Dine half marathon, and was there the first full weekend in November. The decorations in the park were up, and the first MVMCP happened the night we flew home (election night). The resorts weren’t decorated by the 6th. You may have luck if you’re there a full 10 days later.
We are doing the party on the 10th, and I called to verify the park would be fully decorated by then. It is already fully decorated, tree and all, I was assured, so it will be fine on the 14th for when you are there.
Do you think this will be true for november 2019? I am hoping decorations will still go up about the same time even though thanksgiving falls late this year (11/28/2019). Thinking of visiting (for first time) 11/13-11/22ish.
Also thanks for these posts!
We liked the resort decorations at CSR. White poinsettias are hung everywhere outside and in, there are also miniature trees hanging near the ceiling (it’s hard to describe). There are multiple large trees in the lobby: at least one near the fountain and one at check-in. They aren’t as large as the deluxe resort trees, but they were still good-sized and were surrounded by pots of poinsettias.
My favorite part were the white poinsettias, though:
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/9015533
Are you able to visit all of these resorts even if you are driving your own car? Can you park there if you’re not a guest?
Thanks
Tom, your pictures always awe and impress. Thank you for this posting. Headed to WDW this year for Christmas for the first time since I was a small one and the first time bring the MIL. Will love showing her the icon trees and now I know what hotels I need to be sure to stop at! Thanks so much!
Hi there! Thanks for putting this together; it sounds wonderful!
I’m curious as to whether doing this will be possible on Christmas Day. We’re trying to avoid the crowds in the parks, so any idea whether this will be a less-crowded alternative?
Thanks in advance!