Hi Rachel,
What an amazing trip! Both your family's first trip, and during the
winter holiday season at Walt Disney World! Let me offer you some tips on planning for this amazing vacation.
First, you mention that you will be alternating days in a theme park with days not at a theme park. I think that this is a great way to spread out your days, and also to be able to also spread out your energy across the vacation. I am not sure which theme parks you are planning to visit; however, all four theme parks at Walt Disney World will be decked out with amazing holiday decorations while you are there. In many past years, Magic Kingdom has transitioned
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade from running only during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party to running during normal operational hours for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. I cannot guarantee that this will happen this year as no announcement has been made; however, I do suggest that you check for that when you arrive or as your travel dates get closer.
You will be visiting during the
EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, which runs through December 30 this year. This festival includes Holiday Kitchen booths offering seasonal bites to purchase and sample. Also, do not miss the Holiday Storytellers who bring stories of many different winter holidays to life.
There will also be lots to do on the days on which you are not visiting a theme park. On one of those days, you could head over to experience the
holidays at Disney Springs. There will again be wonderful decorations, including a planned Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll. This event features trees gorgeously decorated to different themes throughout this dining, shopping, and entertainment district.
Finally, the Disney resort hotels are decorated amazingly during the winter holiday season. Seeing many of these lobbies, which often feature elaborate gingerbread displays, is a great way to spend some time. One way that you could experience many of these, as well as add in some lunch and other recreation, is to hop onto the
Disney Skyliner. Take this to EPCOT, but do not head into the theme park. The EPCOT Disney Skyliner station is at the International Gateway entrance to EPCOT, and from there you can walk to the Crescent Lake resort hotel area in just about three minutes! There, you will find many resorts to explore, including Disney's Beach Club Resort, Disney's Yacht Club Resort, and Disney's BoardWalk Inn. These should have lovely decorations. As you walk around, you can also grab lunch or a snack, and take advantage of some of the recreation at
Disney's BoardWalk, including renting a surrey bike for a unique way to travel around Crescent Lake!
Since you mentioned that this is your first trip, I want to let you know that you are traveling at a very popular time of year. You will likely find many other guests doing the same. It is wise to know this, and expect that you will be with many other guests at Walt Disney World. You may want to consider
Disney Genie+ Service for your time in the theme parks to help reduce your wait time for some attractions.
I would love to help you plan more, Rachel; however, I am limited in the space that I have to answer. Please do feel free to write back if you have any further questions!
~ Mona Leigh