Free Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Disney World at Christmas
Take the Resort Boat/Bus to Magic Kingdom, take the Bus to the Swan & Dolphin – This actually isn’t a hard and fast rule. We usually go with the bus system here, and take whichever bus comes quicker, the Disney’s Hollywood Studios bus or the Magic Kingdom bus.
From Magic Kingdom, we take the bus again, and from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we take the boat or we take the walking pathway. If you take the boat, get off at the Swan & Dolphin, which is the first stop (and only a 5 minute walk to BoardWalk, which is the last stop).
Make a point of checking out the lobbies of the Swan & Dolphin, to start. These hotels have some pretty impressive trees and other decorations, too. They proclaim themselves “Santa’s Favorite Resort” and while we aren’t sure about that proclamation, they do have some cool stuff. There’s an edible display, a large poinsettia Christmas tree, meet & greets, and other fun.
From there, it’s on to Disney’s BoardWalk Inn…
BoardWalk has a nice tree outside that is taller than a normal tree you’d find inside, but is still significantly shorter than one of the 9 icon trees. It’s a cute tree, but nothing spectacular.
I’m also not a huge fan of the cool blues of these (and other) LED lights around Walt Disney World. If Walt Disney World is going to use LED lights, they should go for lights with warmer colors. LED blues are just too overpowering, I think.
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn typically does a gingerbread display that recreates a condensed version of the promenade along the water at the resort.
You’ll see an edible version of BoardWalk Bakery, Flying Fish, ESPN Club, and a ton of cute details in this edible creation. It’s really neat, and although it’s not as cool as the full-size gazebo that used to grace the BoardWalk Inn lobby at Christmas ‘back in the day’, it’s better than what the resort had been doing for the previous few years.
Fortunately, the trees and garland inside by the fireplace are still beautiful and very tastefully done.
A bit of a lackluster “Happy Holidays” photo spot when you compare it to the grandiose icon trees in other Deluxe Resort lobbies, but pretty nonetheless.
The details on the trees are worth pausing for a closer look, as the ornaments are on-theme and charming. This is one thing about the smaller trees as opposed to the tall, icon trees that I’ve noticed. While the icon trees will stop you in your tracks as you approach, the oversized ornaments usually are as cool upon closer inspection. By contrast, smaller trees typically have a lot of detail in their ornaments.
The already beautiful lobby really comes alive at Christmas, and the decorations perfectly fit the turn-of-the-century boardwalk theme. Still, this is one of the weaker Deluxe Resorts at which we’ll stop on this tour. We stop here because it’s an easy diversion, and worth seeing given the minimal effort.
Walk from Disney’s BoardWalk Inn to Disney’s Beach Club Resort – Disney’s Beach Club is Sarah’s favorite resort at Christmas, but not because they have any extravagant display. The one edible display the resort features is pretty cool.
For Christmas 2022, this is an carousel with horses themed to all of the different Disney Princesses. It’s already installed for those getting an early start on the holiday season. This hand-crafted carousel confection, features chocolate and fondant ponies, as well as hand-crafted snowflakes, a gingerbread castle, and a bunch of other details.
Just as cool as the carousel is the aquatic decor found throughout the resort. The ornaments are gorgeous and the color palettes look really good against that of the resort. In addition to the main lobby of Beach Club, we also highly recommend taking the path behind the resort to the Beach Club Villas. The decorations in there are different and smaller scale, but there’s still plenty of aquatic awesomeness.
The next one is a nice change of pace, and you don’t even have to go outside to get there!
Walk Next Door to Disney’s Yacht Club Resort – The Beach Club’s “sibling” resort, the Yacht Club always has a more refined atmosphere as opposed to the Beach Club’s playful and lighthearted feel.
This is no different at Christmas, when the star of the Yacht Club’s Christmas display is a meticulously crafted Christmas village featuring a working train. Meticulous is almost an understatement for this Christmas village.
I think it’s somewhat comparable to the train set in Germany at Epcot with regard to the sheer intricacy and ornateness of all the little details. The tree and wreaths at Yacht Club are also very neat, as they are themed with boats and other nautical items.
This covers it for the easy-to-reach Epcot and Magic Kingdom Area Resorts, and honestly, if you hit these resorts, you’re really seeing the very best of the hotel decorations at Walt Disney World. However, on page 3, we cover some of the hidden gems–plus one notable highlight–and what you might find if you continue on the tour…
Continue reading about the other Walt Disney World Resorts at Christmas on Page 3
Do people who are not staying on the Disney property have access to the monorail, bus and boats? I could use parking ideas. How do you make a dining reservation?
Will the hotels let us in if we are dropped on by Uber or Lyft? Obviously they would not be parking.
They may ask if you’re staying on that property. Like what was mentioned Dining reseevations or mobile order pick up will get you in. You better have a dining reservation b/c they will check!
you can park at disney springs and catch a bus to most of the resorts
Does anyone know if the hotel bars are open? We like to have a festive drink at some of the reosrts
This was alot of fun for me! Spent all day riding the Disney transportation system! From Skyliner to Monorail to the boats and buses!
I will be staying on property 2021 and dinning on property. Just wondering in a normal Christmas year, if all I wanted to do was to see all the decorations at Disney World parks and resorts, doing no rides. How many days should I figure on staying?
Where do we find the Christmas guide?
Is there an updated FREE Christmas tour for 2020? Going for first Christmas wDW trip Dec 1-11!!! This is a bucket list tour and plan on doing this tour Thank you.
We did the “tour” last year at night and had a drink at one of the bars at the resorts.
Will this be possible this year 2020- will bars be open
We decided to do the resort tour yesterday. If you are planning to eat dinner at one of the resort restaurants, you will need a reservation. Due to high crowds, we had to eat at the bar area because the restaurants were only seating people with reservations. Luckily, we were able to find a seat at the bar, but even the bars were busy.
Where is the best place or way to park for free or cheap if you don’t have an annual pass for the free tour?
We parked at Disney Springs around 8:30, and checked it out *with no crowds at all* until the buses started running – I think it was about 9:30-10:00. Most stores weren’t open, but some were. The buses don’t run to the parks from the Springs until later, but they do go to the resorts, which worked perfect for us as we started at the Contemporary. We had a GREAT time following this Yuletide tour! We spent about 12 hours and 17.000 steps, and still didn’t see everything. It was great!
We are a group of 5 ladies visiting the Parks for an early Christmas “girls trip”. We plan to do the 1 day Yuletide tour on Tuesday the 10th. We are staying off site and will have a car. Just wondering if our modified 1 day plan would work.
Drive to Disney Springs bus to Poly, or Grand Floridian. Tour the 3 Monorail Hotels. Boat from Contemporary to Wilderness. Tour Wilderness. Bus from Wilderness to Hollywood Studios. Boat to Swan/Dolphin. Tour Swan/Dolphin, Yacht/Beach Club, Boardwalk. Bus back to Disney Springs. Tour Disney Springs. Questions? Will buses be running to the hotels from Disney Springs in the morning say about 9:30am? Where would you suggest we stop for lunch along our tour along the Boardwalk area? Thanks in advance for any advice, ideas, opinions or suggestions. All are welcomed and appreciated.
When at the Boardwalk, it’s worth the time to hop over to the Swan and Dolphin as well, especially at night. The Dolphin has lights synced to music after dark. The Swan has some amazing chocolate sculptures.
Just want to emphasize how amazing Fort Wilderness campground is at Christmas! Dec. 3-18 will be our 3rd year there in our RV and every year we’ve added a little more to our site holiday decorations! We don’t use the typical blow-up decorations and have created many of the pieces ourselves. (So much fun being retired!!) We love hearing the clip-clop of the horse-drawn carriages coming through our loop and the boat whistle from the dock. We rent a golf cart (off-site vendor) and love touring the other loops. We hope to see you there – hopefully in loop 400!!
Jo Ann I am so excited to come see them right after Thanksgiving! Can you give the best advice to those of us who are not staying on property but want to come see them? What’s the best way to get on property and then get down to where the decorations are?? If we rent a golf cart, where do we do that from if it’s after dark? Thank you so much!
One small edit – previously, you used to be able to walk from Wilderness Lodge over to Ft. Wilderness, however, with the new hotel construction, you can only travel between the two by boat or bus. Hope this path closing is only temporary!
Such beautiful images – you really capture the feeling of Christmas at the Resorts!
Will you be updating this for 2019? My husband and I are taking a kid-free vacation this December and we will be going to Universal Studios, but I’m thinking of hopping over to Disney just to see some decorations without spending any money (we plan to do Disney with the kids in a couple of years maybe). Maybe even watch the fireworks from the Polynesian (I have heard you can do this, anyway. Correct me if I’m wrong!).