Hi Clinton, welcome to planDisney!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Walt Disney World Resort. Vibrant red ribbon and evergreen garland currently line the Main Street Station of the Walt Disney World Railroad, welcoming Guests to Magic Kingdom Park. Holiday trees continue to pop up throughout the parks and resorts. Most impressively, the life-size gingerbread house is already up at
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. This 14-foot masterpiece takes over 400 hours to bake and over 160 hours to decorate. I hope the Sugar Plum Fairy gets paid overtime!
The Disney Resorts Collection hotels are some of my favorite places to find holiday spirit. If you plan to visit the gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian, you should definitely stop to see the gingerbread displays at the other
monorail loop resorts: Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.
Official guidance states that complimentary self-parking is available at Disney Resort hotels for day Guests. It is my personal experience, however, parking at a Disney Resort hotel is limited to Guests of the resort and Guests with confirmed dining reservations. When I visited Disney's Contemporary Resort last month, for example, the Cast Member scanned my MagicBand and confirmed my reservation for
Steakhouse 71. Parking at the monorail resorts during the holidays is especially limited; my husband was late for a dining reservation at
The Grand Floridian Cafe last November because he had to circle the parking lot for 20 minutes to find a spot. Last month, my panelist pal even got a date-specific "Resort Dining: 3-hour Parking Pass" to display on her dashboard at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
To avoid the possibility of getting turned away at the entrance of one of the monorail resorts, Clinton, my suggestion is to pay for parking at the Transportation and Ticket Center (follow signs for Magic Kingdom Park) and take the Resort Monorail to your desired destination(s). Take your time enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of the holidays. I highly recommend enjoying a seasonal treat from one of the resorts' quick-service dining locations.
I hope this information helps you access the Christmas spirit, Clinton. Please return to planDisney with any other trip-planning questions.
Choose magic,
Jennifer