Free Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Disney World at Christmas

Our “Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Walt Disney World Resorts” offers a Christmas itinerary for experiencing holiday highlights without using a park ticket. That’s right, this is a free way to enjoy Christmas at Walt Disney World! (Updated November 11, 2022.)

This post is a step-by-step tour you can do on your own that will take you through the hotels that are best-decorated for Christmas over the course of around a half-day or longer. Entertainment at Walt Disney World for free? It might sound too good to be true, but it’s for real!

There are still minor modifications to this Walt Disney World Self-Guided Yuletide Tour for 2022. Thankfully, they’re few and far between. Almost everything is back to normal, and only minor transportation changes and a couple of cutbacks still linger. We’ll cover all of the details and what you need to know here. The good news is that this tour is entirely doable for Christmas 2022!

With one major exception, every hotel is doing its edible gingerbread display this year. On top of that, one that previously didn’t do a display has been added to the lineup, so there are the same number of displays as three years ago. For more info and timeframes, see Gingerbread Displays at Walt Disney World for Christmas 2022: Dates & Details.

In any case, the previously optional stop that you won’t want to miss this year is Animal Kingdom Lodge. This Christmas, the lobby gingerbread display will feature a Life-sized Baby Gingerbread Giraffe and Baby Zebra.

Another thing to know is that Walt Disney World resorts are not allowing visitors arriving by car without Advance Dining Reservations or Mobile Order pick-up. This actually is not really a new rule; Walt Disney World has tightened up its parking policies over the last couple of years and this is really just unofficial practice becoming official policy.

However, this only applies to guests arriving by car. If you’re traveling by bus, monorail, boat, Skyliner, or walking, there are no limitations on resort hopping. Our Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Walt Disney World Resorts assumes the use of Disney transportation, so this is a total non-issue for this itinerary.

For those who have multiple days outside the parks and want a longer experience, we also have a 2-Day Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Walt Disney World. In addition to the aforementioned locations, that will take you to Disney Springs and a few other spots outside the theme parks. As with this tour, all stops can be visited free of charge.

We’d actually recommend that tour over this one. It’s more manageable, has easier-to-follow navigation steps, and includes time at Disney Springs (which you’ll absolutely want to do, anyway).

In addition to that, we also have individual posts for every single resort in the tour. This way, you can preview how each Walt Disney World hotel decorates for Christmas, and potentially put together your own itinerary of which ones you like best. Here are the top options (links open in new tabs/windows):

  • 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 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.
  • Gran Destino Tower – Walt Disney World’s newest resort got into the holiday spirit this year!

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.

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.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort features 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.

Take the Resort Monorail from Disney’s Contemporary 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 at Grand Floridian is the life-sized gingerbread house. The gingerbread house is composed of staggering amounts of real ingredients, and takes months to prepare. 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.

Walk from the Grand Floridian to the Magic Kingdom, take the Boat to Wilderness Lodge – With the new Grand Floridian walkway now open, this becomes much easier. Still, it’s a bit of work getting to Wilderness Lodge, but it’s sooo worth it. Grand Floridian at Christmas is cool, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Wilderness Lodge.

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?!

Boat Back to Magic Kingdom, then to Fort Wilderness – If you’re really ambitious, you can also take a boat over to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground. Walt Disney World has some thematically-fitting decorations here that are worth seeing, but that’s not the main draw.

Rather, 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.

While you’re at Fort Wilderness, consider doing the Biggest & Best Value Feast at Walt Disney World. Not only is this a fantastic meal, but it’s a bargain by Disney standards at ~$10 per person.

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

153 Responses to “Free Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Disney World at Christmas”
  1. Delores Lynch December 1, 2022
  2. Amy November 4, 2021
    • Mary October 17, 2022
    • Rite 1010 December 10, 2022
  3. Tracy Touro December 11, 2020
  4. ANTHONY OLBERDING December 11, 2020
  5. Bonnie December 8, 2020
  6. Ann McGeehan November 20, 2020
  7. Karen Maze November 18, 2020
  8. Tracy Touro November 7, 2020
  9. Elizabeth December 30, 2019
  10. Bill s November 24, 2019
    • MEREDITH Bray December 1, 2019
  11. Diane November 18, 2019
  12. Lissa November 1, 2019
  13. Jo Ann October 30, 2019
    • Erica November 10, 2019
  14. Stephanie October 29, 2019
  15. DVMSara October 21, 2019

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *