I Went To Disney World For The Holidays, And Here Are 17 Things Worth Doing
I am a proud Disney adult, but I've never actually visited for the holidays. Since Disney's holiday hoopla goes from right after Halloween to just after New Year's, I assume it's pretty popular! Here are 17 things, which after experiencing for myself, I recommend for a heavy dose of merry magic.
*BuzzFeed was provided this trip free of charge; however, we were under no obligation to give a positive review.
1.Eat some yuletide yummies like Here We Come A-Croquetting or a Holiday Hotdog.
The holiday croquettes are filled with turkey and stuffing, on a bed of sweet potato pureé, and come covered in gravy and a dollop of cranberry jam. They are quite literally Thanksgiving in one bite and are located at Disney Springs. The Holiday Hotdog plays with sweet and savory by combining stuffing funnel cake, cranberry mustard, and cheese curds.
2.And drink some deck-the-halls delicacies like a Yule Mule and a Rowdy Reindeer.
Every park, as well as Disney Springs, has holiday offerings. The Yule Mule is made of Bombay Sapphire Gin, Fever Tree ginger beer, cranberry juice, rosemary simple syrup, and a sugared rosemary sprig. The Rowdy Reindeer is a dark chocolate reindeer filled with coquito, a Puerto Rican cocktail made with coconut, chocolate, and rum.
3.Go on a little scavenger hunt to find all of the trees in Disney Springs' Christmas Tree Stroll.
Disney Springs has 21 decorated trees around the promenade that are all themed to a show, movie, or one of Disney's products and services. They range from an Encanto tree to a Black Panther tree to a Disney Cruise Line tree. They even offer little maps for you to put a sticker next to the trees once you find them!
4.Grab a ticket to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for an extra dose of holiday magic.
I am a fan of fake snow because growing up in Florida, there was 0% chance of real snow. Fake snow abounds on Main Street during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It's a separately-ticketed event, meaning only people who have holiday party tickets will be able to enter the park, meaning less crowd for rides. The ticket also includes free cookies and cocoa at different locations around the park as well as a free ornament and party-specific entertainment.
5.Partake in rides with a holiday overlay, like The Jingle Cruise.
The Jingle Cruise is one of five holiday overlays at Magic Kingdom during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Space Mountain, Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, Mad Hatter's Tea Party, and Tomorrowland Speedway also get holiday overlays. The Jingle Cruise is the best because every joke is themed around the holidays. My favorites from my skipper were "Let's make like a dreidel and take a spin around the river" and "You guys really made me feel like I was home for Christmas with my family...nobody is smiling."
6.Ride a special edition of Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind with a holiday soundtrack.
Marvel
A holiday overlay you don't need to be at a Christmas party for is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Dubbed by my dad as "the greatest roller coaster ever built," Cosmic Rewind debuted in May with a unique feature: each ride is accompanied with one of six hits from the '70s and '80s like "I Ran" by Flock of Seagulls and "Conga" by Gloria Estefan. During Epcot's Festival of the Holidays, the usual six songs in Cosmic Rewind have been replaced with a medley of songs including "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," and "Run Run Rocket."
7.Grab seats for Epcot's Candlelight Processional with a celebrity narrator.
Epcot has a nightly retelling of the biblical story of Christmas, and each year has a host of celebrities come different nights to lend their voices as the narrator. This year, guests can see stars like Angela Bassett and Josh Gad accompany a choir as they recount the story of Christmas.
8.Visit the Grand Floridian Gingerbread House.
The Grand Floridian gingerbread house is a sight to behold. Completely edible and with a little shop inside that sells holiday treats, the gingerbread house is made of 1,050 pounds of honey, 140 pints of egg whites, 600 pounds of powdered sugar, 700 pounds of chocolate, 800 pounds of flour, and 35 pounds of spices.
9.Grab some festive libations at Jock Lindsey's Holiday Bar in Disney Springs.
Jock Lindsey's is my favorite place to go at Disney, mostly because of their loaded pretzel, but in the winter time it gets a holiday layover with retro blown-glass ornaments, garlands with little planes on them, and Christmas decorations all over. It also has a special holiday menu with drinks like a spiked hot chocolate flight and Naughty and Nice deviled eggs (the naughty ones are spicy). I am partial to anything cookies and cream, so the center hot chocolate was my favorite. The spiced rum in the salted caramel hot chocolate really came through though!
10.Take in the Tower of Terror holiday transformation.
Before my favorite fake snow falls on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood Studios, the Tower of Terror has a special holiday projection show that runs through four different scenes: a gingerbread tower with the Muppets, A Toy Story Hollywood Toy Hotel, A Frozen inspired winter scene, and Mickey and Minnie a la Mickey's Christmas Carol.
11.Sit down for a fascinating look at traditions around the world with storytellers from Epcot.
In Epcot's Mexico pavilion, dancers and mariachi celebrate Fiesta de Navidad. In Norway, a storyteller recounts the mischievous Christmas gnome, Julenissen. Germany tells the tale of the Nutcracker. In Italy, La Befana, a Christmas witch, speaks of her first Christmas 2,000 years ago. A Daruma doll seller in Japan explains Japanese New Year traditions. Père Noël can be found in France, and Father Christmas can be found in the UK pavilion.
12.Take pictures in Christmas card-perfect photo ops.
There are several Christmas scenes at Magic Kingdom you can hop right into, including one in Tomorrowland called "Merry Stitchmas," a Mele Kalikimaka scene in Adventureland, and a classic Mickey and the Gang-themed one on near Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom.
13.Check out the largest tree on property at Disney's Contemporary Resort.
Out of over 600 Christmas trees on Disney property, the largest is the 70-foot-tall tree at the Contemporary. It has over 1,200 branches, 200 light-up ornaments, 16,000 lights, and weighs over 33,510 pounds. I forgot to take a photo of it, so have instead blessed you with this masterpiece of a drawing.
14.Envy Santa's awesome convertible at Hollywood Studios.
Audrey Engvalson / BuzzFeed
A small merry cavalcade circles Hollywood Studios during the holiday season with dancers, Pluto, reindeer, and of course, Santa Claus. Santa is in a car which I can only describe as amazing. It's like if a sleigh, a convertible, and every customization in a racing video game had a baby.
15.Greet the Merry Menagerie, the closest you'll probably ever get to a polar bear, a penguin, and an arctic fox.
Audrey Engvalson / BuzzFeed
Animal Kingdom has happy winter marionettes that you can interact with during the daytime. The penguin is the cutest in my opinion.
16.Scout for Olaf in Olaf's Holiday Tradition Expedition.
Hidden around Epcot's World Showcase are tiny Olaf sculptures with sleighs. Each sleigh is filled with something that represents a holiday tradition. If you purchase a map, you can put a little sticker on the map for each Olaf you find. Buying the map entitles you to a free completer prize, which is one of three little coin purses with clips.
17.Finally, take pictures with characters in their holiday garb.
Please take a look at my sweater. I was so excited when I saw Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore out because they are the four on my sweater! There's really not another time you can get as many pictures with multiple characters except for at Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party. Princes and princesses were also out in pairs. Not to mention, they're all dolled up in their warm weather gear. Adorable!
