Featuring: Disney's Rivieria Resort, Animal Kingdxom Lodge, Wilderness Resort, POP Century, Art of Animation, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Yatch and Beach Club, Grand Floridian, Boardwalk Inn
Walt Disney World sure does have a lot going on during the holidays! EPCOT's Festival of the Holidays, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Jollywood Nights, Animal Kingdom's Merry Menagerie... However, I paid Disney World a trip solely to conquer an unofficial challenge that's known by fans as: the Walt Disney World Holiday Hotel Hop!
Disney not only decks out their parks during the holiday season, but many of their resorts get a make-over as well. The Holiday Hotel Hop, at its best, showcases the very best of Disney Holiday decor across 14 of its hotels.
I visited 12 / 14 of these resorts over the span of 1 full day. The most time-consuming factor was transportation, as I didn't have access to a car (and didn't want to uber everywhere!). If you're looking to complete this, I'd suggest allocating the full day as well (and I mean getting up at 8am). Otherwise, break it up into smaller chunks or prioritize the ones you really want to see.
Below you'll find the top few resorts I found worth visiting.
RIVIERIA RESORT
I had a date with Mickey and Minnie at Topolino's Terrace for breakfast, which is on the top floor on the Rivieria. A separate review of the meal will be posted soon, but preview: it was amazing, and I almost became Donald's girlfriend. Almost.
Anyway - we're here for Christmas decorations! The Rivieria is an elegant resort, and the decorations certainly followed. Touches were minimal and kept quite classic, with a Christmas tree in the lobby, beautiful garlands around the pillars and stairwells, and along the walkway headed towards the Skyliner.
From there, it's a short skyliner ride over to Epcot, where I tackled the Boardwalk resorts!
YATCH AND BEACH CLUB, BOARDWALK INN
I'm grouping these 3 separate resorts into 1 post, because they're so close to each other that if you visit one of them, you might as well visit the others as well. Of the 3, the Boardwalk Inn is the furthest, but the walk around the boardwalk is pleasant and very doable.
The Yatch Club - The Yatch Club has one of the most beautiful Christmas Villages (including a train that goes around the perimeter of the village). This year in 2023, the Yatch Club introduced a beautiful Gingerbread replica of its icon, a lighthouse! It's really gorgeous and I spent a good hour admiring both the lighthouse and the train station.
Beach Club - The Beach Club has a beautiful gingerbread carousel that's the main attraction! There are 19 hidden Mickeys' for you to find. The rest of the lobby is decorated with a blend of Christmas holiday x ocean life, with a sea color palette!
Boardwalk Inn - The Boardwalk Inn had beautiful trees decorated to the theme of carnivals. Outside on the green, you'll find a tree decorated with candy-cane colors! It's very pretty, and characters often meet and greet out there. I came across Daisy, Chip and Dale all meeting and greeting guests there.
Animal Kingdom Lodge
The Christmas Decoration at Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House) was one of my favorites, as not only was there a giant tree, but there was also a 7 ft tall Gingerbread Giraffe and Gingerbread foal Zebra on display! Ginger the Giraffe and Debra the Zebra were both modeled after existing giraffes and zebras that reside on the Savannas at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
I hopped over to Kidani Village, where there was also a beautiful tree (albeit, a little smaller than the one at Jambo house).
Wilderness Lodge
The Wilderness Lodge has garlands draped from the walkway that leads to and from the resort’s bus stop and Boulder Ridge, but the main showstopper is the tree in the center of the lobby. The Wilderness Lodge's Christmas tree I daresay is in the top 2 of most beautiful trees in Disneyworld. It's 5 stories high, and you can talk to the upper floors of the Wilderness Lodge to take photos of different angles of the tree.
Wilderness lodge is themed to the Pacific Northwest, and so there are naturally ornaments of squirrels, owls, bears, and more.
The Lodge also has a pop-up Christmas shop from which you can buy specialty items,but unfortunately I was there when the store was closed.
This year’s items at the Wilderness Lodge includes:
A Holiday Cookie Box ($11.00)
Peppermint Bark ($5.99)
Hazelnut Linzer Cookies ($7.00)
Hot Chocolate Surprise ($6.79)
Wilderness Lodge Tillamook Cheddar Gougere ($5.00)
Gingerbread House Kit ($35.00)
Milk Chocolate Holiday Crispy Tree Bar ($6.79)
Molasses Crackle Cookie ($5.00)
Beverages:
Hot Chocolate ($3.29)
Hot Chocolate with Floater of Bailey’s ($6.29)
Hot Apple Cider ($5.99)
Hot Apple Cider with Floater of Fireball ($8.99)
Last, but not least... The Grand Floridian!
The Grand Floridian is a no-brainer stop to anyone who's done Holiday resort hopping before. Standing at nearly 40 feet tall, the tree at the Grand Floridian is just about the tallest tree on Disney property. It'll take you hours just to look at every ornament hanging on it! The iconic Gingerbread House also returns with more menu items (find them below).
Gingerbread House Menu:
Grand Favorites
Brownie Tree Pop ($7.50)
Gingerbread Buddy ($7.75)
Dipped Gingerbread Mickey Ears ($11.50)
Gingerbread Shingle ($11.50)
Peppermint Bark ($15.00)
Twinings Chai Tea Cupcake Sampler ($16.00)
From The Bakery
Peppermint Marshmallow Lollipop ($4.00)
Gingerbread Cranberry Muffin ($4.50)
M&M Snickerdoodle Cookie ($5.00)
Gingersnap Cookie ($5.50)
Milk Chocolate Holiday Lollipop ($5.75)
Grand Floridian Logo Pop ($6.00)
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Bar ($8.50)
Milk Chocolate Pecan Fudge ($9.00)
Specialties
Gingerbread House Ornament ($14.00)
Create Your Own Gingerbread Ornament Kit ($25.00)
Traditional Stollen Bread ($25.00)
The Grand Gift Box ($60.00)
Gingerbread House ($85.00)
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