All of the family arrived within a few hours of each other (there were 21 of us in all), and we checked into our rental house for the week. We all shared the expense of renting a 6 bedroom house, which was okay. I would rather stay on property, but this was a vacation with the group and it was inexpensive. Each morning, we loaded up the Motor Home and drove the 5 minutes to our desired park. It was great having the Motor Home in the parking lot - we even napped in there one day with Piper.
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On our way to Magic Kingdom |
Anyway, back to the holidays at Disney. Walt Disney World goes ALL OUT when it comes to decorating, and Christmas might be the most beautiful I've ever seen it. There are Christmas trees in EVERY park and hotel on property, and in EPCOT, there were trees in most of the countries as well. The trees are decorated with ornaments that represent where you are. For instance, the Animal Kingdom Christmas tree had animal ornaments all over it. It definitely had an African Safari feel about it.
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My brother and sister-in-law in Animal Kingdom |
When we entered Magic Kingdom, the first things I noticed were the giant tree at the start of Main Street and the garland that stretched over the street. In the center of the garland was a wreath shaped like a Mickey! There were giant Toy Soldiers lining Main Street, and Christmas music filled the air. It was beautiful! The castle was draped with icicle lights that changed color at night.
I loved going to Disney's Hollywood Studios and seeing the Osbourne Family Lights. It is overwhelming, but amazing. They even make it "snow" on the street with bubbles! It's so fun to watch the kids' reactions when that happens!
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MoMo at DHS in front of a decorated window display! |
At Epcot, there are storytellers at each country's pavillion who tell their own version of Christmas. America has Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, Kwanzaa activities, and the story of Chanuka, Mexico has Los Tres Reyes Magos (the Three Kings), Norway tells about the Christmas gnome, Germany tells of the Nutcracker, Italy's storyteller speaks of the First Christmas and Epiphany, Morocco celebrated Ramadan, France has Pere Noel, and England has Father Christmas! My parents enjoyed walking to each country and watching these live shows.
At the Grand Floridian, there is an amazing gingerbread house that is practically life size! It is in their lobby and is awesome to see. You can smell the gingerbread when you walk in, and the store there sells gingerbread all season!
David and I wore our Disney Santa hats all over Magic Kingdom!
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Here is our entire group (minus PaPa who was napping!) at DHS! |
~Mellie
We'll be going next year in December, but there will only be 11 of us. You are lucky to have such a large family to travel with! I am looking forward to seeing all the parks have to offer. We will also be celebrating my daughter's 4th birthday while we are. We usually fly to Orlando, but a motor home may be our way to go if flight prices keep going up!
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I love the idea of forsaking gifts (who needs shopping anyways?!) and just going to Disney as a family!
ReplyDeleteI might have to pursue that in the future. :)
What a great post!I love hearing about Christmas in WDW!
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