No Scrooges Here: Disney World at the Holidays

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Overview

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After a disastrous (but hilarious) trip to Disney World back in 1972, when Disney was overwhelmed with more than 100,000 guests at its first Christmas, I never thought I'd return at holiday time. But an unexpected opportunity came to see Disney World at the holidays -- without crowds. Come the week AFTER Thanksgiving and you can see the Christmas trees, holiday lights and special shows and experience all the rides without long lines. We spent a week here and visited every single park. To my surprise, it was just about the right amount of time. These parks are HUGE and diverse, so you can easily spend one day per park, two in some, and not see or experience any attraction twice. If you have...Read More

After a disastrous (but hilarious) trip to Disney World back in 1972, when Disney was overwhelmed with more than 100,000 guests at its first Christmas, I never thought I'd return at holiday time. But an unexpected opportunity came to see Disney World at the holidays -- without crowds. Come the week AFTER Thanksgiving and you can see the Christmas trees, holiday lights and special shows and experience all the rides without long lines.

We spent a week here and visited every single park. To my surprise, it was just about the right amount of time. These parks are HUGE and diverse, so you can easily spend one day per park, two in some, and not see or experience any attraction twice. If you have any additional time, try some of the recreational activites that Disney has been quietly building up like golfing, biking on its growing number of trails, and boating or jet skiing on its canals and lakes. Plus, of course, there are other attractions outside of Disney in the Orlando/Daytona area, like Universal Studio, Daytona Beach etc.

I'm not the best one for suggestions because I had an atypical experience since I used only one Fastpass (Disney's version of a ride reservation system) in the entire week. I never waited more than 10 to 20 minutes for a single ride--even the most popular ones. So I will hopefully provide valuable tips concerning the attractions throughout this journal (and I hope you won't hate me when you're waiting in 90-degree temperatures in three-hour long lines).

Quick Tips:

For the optimal experience, I suggest staying on the Disney World grounds and buying the full package, including the Park Hopper and Disney Dining Plan. This turns Disney World into an all-inclusive resort and made it SUPER easy to get around, make purchases and dine. Double-check the meal plan if you're visiting in 2008: reported changes may decrease its value. Until now, the plan included lunch, dinner and a snack each day plus all gratuities. Next year, breakfast is included, but gratuities are not. But it’s a lot cheaper to buy a banana and yogurt then to pay gratuity on an average dinner of + for four people. Maybe Disney will change the proposed plan as I’ve heard that there are some grumblings about the changes.

Best Way To Get Around:

Disney offers easy and smoothly operating transportation between its parks, from the super-cool monorail to buses and trams (which take you to the parking lots if you drove in.) In addition, boats link a few locations if you have some time for the leisurely ride.
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Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa

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Hotel | "Grand Floridian Resort & Spa"

The Grand Floridian is ... grand Photo - Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, Orlando, Florida

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This is Disney's premiere hotel at Disney World. Designed like one of the great Florida resorts at the turn of the century, it's a white Victorian confection with modern amenities. It's been rated five-star, but I think that's a little high as it's been "Disney-fied" with plastic generic sweetness and unexpected cheapness. For example, the bedspreads are the same polyester spreads found at every Motel 6 in America. Note to Disney: next upgrade, get some child-friendly 300-count duvets.The hotel has a striking two-story covered entrance with the second floor entryway serving as the Monorail station. This makes it super easy to go to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT(one stop) and a tran...Read More

This is Disney's premiere hotel at Disney World. Designed like one of the great Florida resorts at the turn of the century, it's a white Victorian confection with modern amenities.

It's been rated five-star, but I think that's a little high as it's been "Disney-fied" with plastic generic sweetness and unexpected cheapness. For example, the bedspreads are the same polyester spreads found at every Motel 6 in America. Note to Disney: next upgrade, get some child-friendly 300-count duvets.

The hotel has a striking two-story covered entrance with the second floor entryway serving as the Monorail station. This makes it super easy to go to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT(one stop) and a transportation transfer station where you can get connections for Disney MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom. The convenience of that one feature cannot be overstated!

Inside the entry is a five-story atrium with a stained glass dome, gorgeous Victorian furniture, thick carpeting and gleaming white crown molding. The grand piano is actually played every afternoon. It's to the Grand Floridian's credit that the decorating theme is carried out through all the buildings (even to the pool). One highlight at the holiday time is the life-size gingerbread house in the lobby. It not only smelled great, but the sample they passed out was good too. They handed out the recipe, but to my surprise, one of the ingredients was POWDERED AMMONIA. Yes, you read that correctly. I think I will stick to my storebought gingerbread mixes!

We stayed in one of the outer buildings (the Conch Key), which was a smaller version of the main building (even down to the five-story atrium). Our room was nice with a beautiful view of the lagoon (the sunrises were gorgeous!) and modern Victorian-style furniture. The mattresses were thick and comfortable. Each night we had a turn-down service with chocolates placed on our pillows.

Sound-proofing was surprisingly poor, but this hotel is not one where you'll find a lot of noisy kids, so it wasn't too bad. The hotel has the usual toiletries and towels, and they did add bathrobes, which was a nice touch.

There are several restaurants on the grounds, from the classy Albert and Victoria to the Gasparille Grill, which was like a high-end convenience store and suitable for grabbing a quick snack, breakfast or fruit.

The central garden pool is clean and heated with a circular jacuzzi that seats about 12 people. The week we were there, the pool was always in use, even late at night. It shows you how busy I was during my week there that I never visited the elaborate main pool or even the pretty wedding chapel on the grounds.

Without a doubt, this is the best place to stay at Disney World and once you've stayed here, it will be tough to stay anywhere else.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 2, 2007

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
4401 Floridian Way
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830
(407) 824-2421

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Coral Reef: Living Seas Pavilion at EPCOT

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Restaurant | "Coral Reef"

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This was the best restaurant we ate at during our week at Disney World. The decor was enchanting (one entire wall is a glass aquarium), the food was great and the waitstaff was the best we encountered. As a bonus, they graciously allowed my party of three to split one of our precious Table Service meal coupons. We had tried a month ahead to get a reservation at Coral Reef, but they were booked solid for the entire week of our visit (and it was a slow week by park standards). But when we arrived one noon, they said we could have lunch then and there. We had hoped to get a seat near the aquarium wall, but it wasn't even an issue as all tables are on one of three tiers and the booths...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 2, 2007

Coral Reef: Living Seas Pavilion at EPCOT
Epcot Center
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830
+1 407 939 3463

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Disney Dining Plan: You'll Never Go Hungry Again

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Story/Tip

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In order to avoid carrying cash around and having to calculate tips, my party of three got the Disney Dining Plan. Basically, you pay one price and enjoy meals at more than one hundred properties at Disney resorts and parks.You can get more complete details from C. Kowalczyk's journal here http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/journal.aspx?JournalID=63541. So I won't repeat his thorough details, but will offer you our experiences.The plan offers a counter-service meal (entree, dessert and beverage) and a table service meal (appetizer, entree, dessert and beverage) plus a snack PER DAY. All taxes and an 18% gratuity are included.I recommend this plan, but it is rather con...Read More

In order to avoid carrying cash around and having to calculate tips, my party of three got the Disney Dining Plan. Basically, you pay one price and enjoy meals at more than one hundred properties at Disney resorts and parks.

You can get more complete details from C. Kowalczyk's journal here http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/journal.aspx?JournalID=63541. So I won't repeat his thorough details, but will offer you our experiences.

The plan offers a counter-service meal (entree, dessert and beverage) and a table service meal (appetizer, entree, dessert and beverage) plus a snack PER DAY. All taxes and an 18% gratuity are included.

I recommend this plan, but it is rather confusing. Disney hands out a two-sided glossy sheet listing what restaurants will accept the plan and what options, but all of the various symbols and columns can be tricky to read. Be sure to ask for this sheet--we didn't get ours until the last day because it wasn't in our packet and no one offered it to us. Some high-end restaurants require TWO your table service coupons while other restaurants (like Wolfgang Puck) have different sections for the different plans. If you use two of your table service coupons one night, that leaves you scrambling for dinner on another night.

Here are some tips: while each person in a room HAS to get the dining plan, many of the restaurants had no problem if we used ONE of our precious table service coupons and split the meal. For example, the beautiful Coral Reef Restaurant at EPCOT had no openings on ANY night we were there, but when we wandered over to take a look at it (one wall is an aquarium), we found out we could have an early lunch there. One of us had the appetizer, the other two split the entree and we all shared the dessert.

You alo can use snack coupons for various meal-style items, like bananas for breakfast or even a big turkey leg that is sold on carts throughout the parks.

One challenge with the plan is that you get a LOT of food when you use your table service option.b Be careful when you plan your meals so that you can rest a bit afterwards by seeing a show. Don't plan on having a big meal and then hitting Space Mountain!

We had a difficult time making meal reservations, even a month ahead. In addition, the reservation people were rather abrupt and rude when restaurant after restaurant turned out to be booked. But we found out that people often make reservations in advance and end up as no-shows because they miscalculated how long it takes to get betweek the parks or they changed their plans that day. In many restaurants, we saw empty tables. So don't get discouraged and do call that day. I'd also suggest using your Table Service option at lunch and sharing meals. You can always have a food binge at the end of your trip if you need to use up your coupons!

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