I am leaving for my Christmas Disney World trip tomorrow! I am so excited, as I’ve been planning this trip for the past year. It’s been on my bucket list to see Disney World decorated for the holidays, and last year I decided to make it happen. My boyfriend and I will be staying for 6 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge with the Deluxe Dining Plan. Read on to see all that we’ll be up to the next 7 days.
Day 1 – Travel and Disney Springs
Okay, so I lied when I said we were staying 6 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, since we’re actually staying the first night at Hilton Buena Vista Palace. I had some Hilton points that were about to expire, so I added on an extra day to our trip. Since we’re staying so close to Disney Springs, we’re planning on spending some time there when we get in. We have a reservation for Jaleo, which I’m excited to try since tapas is one of my favorite kinds of food.
Day 1 Meals
- Jaleo Dinner
Day 2 – EPCOT
We’re going to get an early start for our EPCOT day, since we have to drop our bags at AKL before we head over to the park. We have breakfast this morning at Garden Grill. We’re planning on spending the rest of the morning in Future World riding rides and getting my passholder magnets at MouseGear. In the afternoon we will head over to World Showcase to experience International Festival of the Holidays. We have a Candlelight Processional Dining Package reservation for Biergarten, and then we’ll be seeing the Candlelight Processional with Pat Sajak as the narrator. I’m looking forward to getting to experience EPCOT Forever for the first time that evening. It’ll be a long day, but an exciting start to our trip!
Day 2 FP+
- Living with the Land
- Test Track
- Spaceship Earth
Day 2 Meals
- Garden Grill Breakfast
- Biergarten Dinner
Day 3 – Animal Kingdom
We’re going to start day 3 off eating breakfast at Boma at our hotel, Animal Kingdom Lodge. After breakfast we’ll head over to Animal Kingdom for our fastpasses for the day. Around 1pm, we will be heading back to the hotel for the Jiko Wine Tasting. After that, we want to try and catch the Culinary Tour at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We’ll spend another hour or so hanging around the hotel, before we head to Grand Floridian for our dinner reservation at Narcoossee’s. I think our dinner reservation should be at the perfect time to watch the fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant from the restaurant. While we’re at Grand Floridian we want to check out the gingerbread house and maybe even Enchanted Rose.
Day 3 FP+
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- The Animation Experience
- Expedition Everest
Day 3 Meals
- Boma Breakfast
- Jiko Wine Tasting
- Narcoosee’s Dinner
Day 4 – Magic Kingdom and MVMCP
Day 4 will be another busy day, with an early morning at Magic Kingdom for breakfast at Crystal Palace. After breakfast, we’ll do some shopping, ride some rides, and meet some characters. In the afternoon we’re going to head over to the Polynesian to try to go to Trader Sam’s before our early dinner at ‘Ohana. It wouldn’t be a Disney World Christmas trip without a MVMCP, so after dinner we will be attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I have never been to any of Disney’s parties before so I’m looking forward to experiencing this one. We have reservations for Tony’s Most Merriest Town Square Party for some late night snacks and reserved parade viewing. I think this may be unnecessary, but I think it will be nice to have somewhere we can sit down and relax for a bit at what I’m assuming will be a crowded party.
Day 4 FP+
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Space Mountain
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Day 4 Meals
- Crystal Palace Breakfast
- ‘Ohana Dinner
- Tony’s Most Merriest Town Square Party
Day 5 – Resort Day and Back to Animal Kingdom
As you can probably tell from this itinerary, I don’t do chill resort days well. I prefer to be at the parks instead of just hanging around. But since we will have a late night at the Christmas Party the day before, day 5 will be mostly spent at the resort. We’re going to sleep in and have an early lunch at Sanaa. After that we may try to go to the pool, depending on the weather, or just hang around at some of the viewing spots. We do have some fastpasses for the day at Animal Kingdom, so later in the afternoon we will head there to experience Pandora for our first time. We will end the night back at the resort, with dinner at Jiko.
Day 5 FP+
- Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
- DINOSAUR
- Avatar Flight of Passage
Day 5 Meals
- Sanaa Lunch
- Jiko Dinner
Day 6 – Keys to the Kingdom Tour and Hollywood Studios
We have reservations for the Keys to the Kingdom Tour this day. I have only heard great things about this tour and I am excited to experience it for myself. I think it’s going to be a very busy day at the park, so I’m hoping being on a tour will make this more bearable. After the tour we will head over to Hollywood Studios for a bit. Because of the new FP+ structure, the only FP+ we are planning on using is one for Slinky Dog Dash. Hopefully we’ll be able to snag a FP+ for another ride while we’re there, or we’ll just walk around and check out all of the decorations. Neither of us are Star Wars fans, so we’re going to be skipping Galaxy’s Edge this trip. We have a dinner reservation at Yahtsman Steakhouse and then are planning on heading over to Jellyrolls after dinner.
Day 6 FP+
- Slinky Dog Dash
Day 6 Meals
- Keys to the Kingdom Tour Lunch
- Yachtsman Steakhouse Dinner
Day 7 – Last Day
For the last day of our Disney World Christmas trip, we’re going out with a bang and having brunch at California Grill. This brunch looks amazing and is probably one of the meals I’m looking forward to most on this trip. We have a late flight out, so after brunch we are going to head over to Magic Kingdom for a few more rides and our final goodbye before we have to head back to AKL for the Tragical Express to pick us up.
Day 7 FP+
- Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Day 7 Meals
Follow along on our Disney World Christmas trip on my Instagram and be on the lookout for reviews of all of our experiences on the blog!
