All Things Holiday...

[Oneanne]

I'm just now putting together a mid-December trip, and was inspired to book 'Jingle Bell Jingle Bam' from reading a thread about it. It got me to thinking it would be fun to start a thread on favorite Holiday activities.

What have you done during Holiday trips that you absolutely love? Are there any yearly traditions, things you have to do every year?

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

We go every year for the holidays. I enjoy all the decorations and trees. We absolutely go to see the tree and gingerbread at the GF. There is MVMCP, the other hotels decked out, Epcot CP and storytellers, and now the new festivities at HS. I like the Springs, usually marketside, all kinds of Christmas gifts though I have been not that excited by the tree trail. The trees are cute and well themed but it had no real atmosphere in my mind. We also enjoy lots of the specialty treats all over the parks. So much fun.

 

[Oneanne]

Guess I should answer my own question...

I've been to WDW twice during the holiday season. The first time I was off kilter the entire trip: having come from the Pacific Northwest where the weather was dark, chilly and damp, it felt really strange and very un-holiday-like to be back in the warm sunlight. I thought I probably wouldn't do the holidays again, but a few years later a group trip came up, and I really enjoyed that trip.

My favorite thing from the second trip was the Candlelight Processional: we were seated towards the center and the acoustics were fabulous. Whoopie Goldberg was the narrator and did a wonderful job. This was part of a special event and afterwards we went to a dessert viewing of Illuminations... normally I'm so-so about the fireworks shows and don't go out of my way to see them, but the special holiday add-on brought tears to my eyes. All in all in was a truly magical evening.

 

[CynBeth]

We visit every few years around that time of year and love MVMCP, Candlelight Processional, storytellers, Christmas Tree Trail, the castle lighting, and visiting the resorts for the decorations. Last time we did not have a good view of JBJB. I have family members with food allergies so can’t do the dessert party but will try to get a good spot early when we go around Thanksgiving and also can’t wait to see the projections on TOT.

 

[GPC0321]

Last December my folks and I went for a quick visit to see WDW at Christmastime for the first time in our lives. It was also our first time staying at a deluxe resort...and it was the Grand Floridian (love at first stay!) The Grand has a fabulous Christmas atmosphere, so that was really special. We did MVMCP, Candlelight Processional dining package (Biergarten, which was Christmasy too!), and the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam Dessert Party. It was all wonderful, but the JBJB Dessert Party just really stood out to us for some reason. It was so well done, and everything was just perfect that night for us.

But I have to say that Candlelight Processional blew us away too. Totally by chance, we lucked out and got Neil Patrick Harris for our narrator (not planned, I booked the package for the night I knew we'd want to do it, and then found out he was the narrator). That was a wonderful night at Epcot. Dinner at Biergarten was great...we had a table right in front of the band next to the dance floor. Very festive and fun, and the food was good. After that was the CP, and then we had a FP+ for IllumiNations and had a perfect spot for that. The "Let There Be Peace On Earth" holiday ending brought tears to my eyes.

MVMCP was a "glad we did it but never need to do it again" experience for us. I loved the castle show and parade and fireworks, but that's not enough for the price of admission IMO. Maybe if I was into character meets a bit more, but I'm not, so...

 

[Oneanne]

Last December my folks and I went for a quick visit to see WDW at Christmastime for the first time in our lives. It was also our first time staying at a deluxe resort...and it was the Grand Floridian (love at first stay!) The Grand has a fabulous Christmas atmosphere, so that was really special. We did MVMCP, Candlelight Processional dining package (Biergarten, which was Christmasy too!), and the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam Dessert Party. It was all wonderful, but the JBJB Dessert Party just really stood out to us for some reason. It was so well done, and everything was just perfect that night for us.

But I have to say that Candlelight Processional blew us away too. Totally by chance, we lucked out and got Neil Patrick Harris for our narrator (not planned, I booked the package for the night I knew we'd want to do it, and then found out he was the narrator). That was a wonderful night at Epcot. Dinner at Biergarten was great...we had a table right in front of the band next to the dance floor. Very festive and fun, and the food was good. After that was the CP, and then we had a FP+ for IllumiNations and had a perfect spot for that. The "Let There Be Peace On Earth" holiday ending brought tears to my eyes.

MVMCP was a "glad we did it but never need to do it again" experience for us. I loved the castle show and parade and fireworks, but that's not enough for the price of admission IMO. Maybe if I was into character meets a bit more, but I'm not, so...

I did MVMCP one year and had the same feeling, it was a one-and-done. I chose Biegarten for my CP package, because I thought the atmosphere would be nice and festive!

 

[TwinkleKS]

We do MVMCP if we get there in time. This year we are arriving on Saturday after the last party. We always do the Candlelight Processional on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass at the Contemporary. We love looking at the lights in the campground.

 

[Oneanne]

We do MVMCP if we get there in time. This year we are arriving on Saturday after the last party. We always do the Candlelight Processional on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass at the Contemporary. We love looking at the lights in the campground.

Oh! The holiday lights at Ft Wilderness campground... I had totally forgotten about that!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Guess I should answer my own question...

I've been to WDW twice during the holiday season. The first time I was off kilter the entire trip.

When I first read this, I thought you meant you spent a lot of time at performances of the Off Kilter group at Epcot's Canada pavilion. Which actually is a nice idea! Jason and Billy from Off Kilter, who do a show at POFQ, are back at Epcot in December, so maybe you can watch them there.

I'm also interested in the handbell music at the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[MelanieRI]

I'm just now putting together a mid-December trip, and was inspired to book 'Jingle Bell Jingle Bam' from reading a thread about it. It got me to thinking it would be fun to start a thread on favorite Holiday activities.

What have you done during Holiday trips that you absolutely love? Are there any yearly traditions, things you have to do every year?

I definitely have to visit most of the deluxe hotels to see all the great decorations. I try to do it at night, too. I like to do BWI, BC, YC, and S&D in one loop and then the monorail hotels in another loop. It's really great when you can end that loop with watching MVMCP Wishes from one of the resorts. If there's time, WL and some of FW.