Check out my Disney World Christmas Vlog Here
If you follow along on my Instagram, then you are sure to have already seen that my family and I went on a Disney Vacation this past week! It was SO much fun. Y’all probably already know this too, but my family is a HUGE Disney Fam. We love all things Disney. We all grew up on it. My parents were born and raised 30 minutes from Disneyland, my mom worked for Disneyland a few times in her 20s, and my sister and I would go to the park all the time when we lived there.
After our trip in May, my dad really wanted to see Disney World during the Christmas season. We have heard so many magical things about a Disney Christmas but have never experienced the magic together as a family. To my surprise, he quickly booked trip #2 for the year. I was so surprised!
We went during the kick off week of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so it was perfect timing. I didn’t even know that was a thing, but apparently every year there are exclusive events during the Christmas season where these special ticketed events allow you to see an exclusive Christmas Firework show, Christmas parade, and enjoy free holiday treats and a lot less crowd “after hours”. The park to regular attendees closes at 6pm on these nights, while those with tickets get to enter the park starting at 4pm. The party officially starts at 7pm. It was AMAZING. The crowd was reduced by half and the wait times to super popular rides (like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train) were only 5-20 minutes wait time. UNHEARD OF. Definitely with it.
Day 1: Travel & Animal Kingdom
We hopped off the plane and landed into the Animal Kingdom! Ha, just kidding, but how awesome would that be?! One of the amazing things about Disney is that they do take your luggage for you so you don’t even have to worry about finding after the flight. You simply put the tags on your luggage, board the plane, then get onto the magical express bus, and go to your hotel. Disney does the rest for you! After we dropped off our stuff at the hotel, we sprinted to Animal Kingdom. So, tip: Wear stuff you want to wear to the park on the plane. If you don’t wanna do that, pack something in your carry on so that you can simply slip into it. Sometimes your luggage isn’t there when you arrive and you don’t want to waste any time.
Animal Kingdom is always a fun park. There is so much to do an it feels like you are at a zoo. Avatar World is amazing too. This is also were my favorite eatery is. They have healthy food in Avatar Land! Animal Kingdom wasn’t too decorated for the holidays (which was kind of a let down), so that is why we wanted to start the trip there.
ALSO: Shop my New FAVE Travel & Work bag here
Shop my Plane & Park Outfit Here:
Similar Tank || Similar Shorts || Bag || Shoes
Day 2: Hollywood Studios
We haven’t been to this park in over a DECADE, so everything was super fun and new. My sister and I went on the Hotel Hollywood Tower of Terror for the first time and it was SO much fun. Not as scary as I was imagining, but still a great thrill. Then, we went on the Rockin Roller Coaster and it was SO much fun. I would do it again and again if I could.
We had a great time exploring the park the entire day. This park was decorated a little more for Christmas, which we really appreciated. They were even playing some Christmas music around the park!
Toy Story Land is also a NEW attraction , so we had to visit. It was (of course) insanely crowded, but totally worth it. We went on Toy Story Mania and it was so adorable and a great time. Perfect for those competitive spirits. I was a littttttle disappointed that Barbie was no where to be found in the park. I mean, she is a fantastic toy and was in the 3rd movie! So, I decided to play her part with my hat. What do you think…did I fit in? #barbiestyle
Shop my Park Outfit Here:
Day 3: Magic Kingdom Day
The Magic Kingdom is, in my opinion, the best park in Disneyworld. It is the CLASSIC Fairytale park that you just have to experience. My favorite ride is always Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain…okay all of them? The list could go on!
They definitely decorated more for the holidays in this park, which is what we were hoping for. The Christmas Tree was GORGEOUS and Main Street was such a gorgeous site. It was INSANELY crowded, so we had to practice our patience. HA!
Shop my Park outfit Here:
Similar Tunic || Similar Tunic || Shoes || Bag
Day 4: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
In the morning, we went to the Grand Floridian Resort (most expensive and beautiful resort at Disney) to have breakfast. SO fun. Of course, we got the Mickey Shaped Waffles. The breakfast was so good and definitely lived up to the expectation.
To end our trip, we booked a ticket for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (#mvmcp on instagram to find more inspo!!). Like I stated before, you need to have a ticket for this event. IT was AMAZING because the crowd was significantly smaller, wait times were so minimal, and the treats were so cute. I loved all the different shows they displayed on the castle throughout the night and when it snowed on Main Street….just wow!
The events we attended:
4pm: Enter Park
4pm: Fast Pass to Haunted Mansion
5pm: Fast Pass to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (they don’t do fast passes after 6pm for the event!)
6pm-8pm: Go on as many rides as possible!
8:15pm: Elsa and Anna Light up the Castle for CHRISTMAS! So fun!
8:30pm: (first parade. We chose to go to the later one for less crowds) Explore Tomorrow Land!
9:00pm: Walk around MK and snag some free holiday treats.
9:30pm: Last minute shopping at the Emporium. They have exclusive merchandise for MVMCP so of course we had to get some. I got this super comfy baseball tee (actually, the whole fam did!) and a Christmas Pin with Mickey and Minnie on it. Last May, we started Pin Trading and now we are pretty much addicted. It is a fun addition to your vacation, but please, if you are going to be pin trading only trade REAL pins from the park…not cheap ones off amazon!! 🙁
9:45pm: Find a spot to view fireworks. There is not a castle projection display for the Christmas fireworks, so you don’t really need an ideal spot since you just need to look up in the sky! We sat on a curb on Main Street so that we could have a good spot for the later parade.
10:00pm: Fireworks start. This show lasted 12 minutes.
10:15pm-11:00pm: The waiting begins. We stayed in our spot (right outside of the Emporium on the curb) until the parade started. It was super fun people watching! There was a huge exodus of people leaving the park at this time.
11pm: Parade starts! This lasted until about 11:40! After the parade, we just exited the park.
IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Such an amazing way to kick off the Christmas season.
Where we Stayed
We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge again! We did in May and loved it so much we just had to go there again. This resort is perfect because you can take a boat over to the Magic Kingdom!! The only other 2 hotels with that access is The Grand Floridian (super $$$) or The Polynesian (TONS of kids), so the Wilderness Lodge was perfect. They also have amazing (free) coffee.
Have you been the Disney during Christmas? If not, time to start planning that trip! It was AMAZING. Be sure to check out my latest Disneyworld VLOG to watch our travels and trip!
