The Best Disney Resort Hotels to Visit for the Holidays

If you’re visiting Walt Disney World during the holiday season, you might want to stop in a few hotels to see the seasonal displays. Many of the resort hotels feature tremendous trees, extensive garland, and themed decor. Some even go a step further with elaborate gingerbread displays and signature touches that draw guests in year after year.

Below, we share the best Disney Resorts to visit during Christmas. You can browse the list and decide which ones best fit your holiday itinerary. We’ll touch on that below, along with other planning details. You can also use this guide for 2026 planning, just know that we’ll update it when we know more about the upcoming season.

Update: Walt Disney World did not announce the usual information for the resort hotels with the initial 2026 holiday announcements. They did offer the following statement, indicating that resort-hopping will be restricted to resort hotel guests and those with valid dining reservations: For guests staying at the resorts or for those with valid dining reservations, the Disney Resorts Collection offers a wide array of bright and merry holiday decor. See Will Off-Site Guests Be Able to Visit the Disney Resorts this Holiday Season?.

The Disney Resort Hotels at Christmas

Before we get into our top resort choices, you need to know that Disney’s Grand Floridian no longer offers its traditional gingerbread cottage. A miniature display is supposed to debut during the 2026 season.

I also like to point out a few details about the varying resort holiday decorations. For starters, every resort at Disney World is decorated for Christmas. Some will have more subtle decorations than others. As an example, Pop Century and Art of Animation have gorgeous Christmas trees in their respective lobbies, along with a few other decorations. Aside from that, there’s not enough to warrant visiting these resorts during the holidays.

Secondly, some of the resorts have elaborate displays that require more time to see everything in detail. We usually like to plan a resort hop where we enjoy a meal and see several of these resorts at once. For instance, we might do a character meal at Cape May Cafe and then check out the Beach Club’s gingerbread carousel, the Yacht Club’s train set, and the Boardwalk’s gingerbread house. All three of these resorts are within walking distance or a short boat ride of each other. Again, this is just an example.

When Do the Disney Resorts Decorate for Christmas?

Now for the big thing that everyone always wants to know: When do Christmas decorations go up at the resort hotels? Well, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not ever set in stone on the public’s end. My best answer to that question is that the resorts typically have everything in place by Thanksgiving. Last year, decorations really didn’t start appearing at the resorts until about the 15th. This was way later than usual.

To provide you with a little history, here is my timeline of the gingerbread installation for Disney’s Beach Club:

• 2022: The gingerbread carousel started going up on November 3rd.
• 2023: The gingerbread carousel started going up on November 7th.
• 2024: The gingerbread carousel debuted on November 14th.
• 2025: The gingerbread carousel debuted on November 19th.

It usually takes 2-3 days for the installation of this carousel to be completed. As you can imagine, far more work goes into it ahead of time.

We can also see from the above data that historically, this display is going up later and later each year. Now, for those visiting after Thanksgiving, it won’t matter so much. But if you were visiting based on Disney’s announcement that the holiday season kicked off on November 14th in 2025, you might have been disappointed. Of course, this could change next year. I just want to stress that, unless Disney announces more specifics ahead of time, no one really knows until the last minute when the resorts will be decorated.

Best Disney Resorts at Christmas

Here is our list of the best Disney Resorts to visit this year and why. We’ll add more details for 2026 when they’re announced.

• Resort: Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Access: Magic Kingdom Monorail Resort
• Notable Mention: See the resort’s pretty Christmas tree and Polynesian-themed decorations. You might enjoy a coffee from Kona Island, a Dole Whip from Pineapple Lanai, a full meal, or even a cocktail from one of the resort’s many restaurants and lounges.

• Resort: Disney’s Grand Floridian
• Access: Magic Kingdom Monorail Resort
• Special Mention: TBD
• Date: Holiday Offering Debuted on 11/18/2025
• Notable Mention: Check out the lobby updates during your visit. Sit in the lounge with a beverage from the new Perch Bar, listen to the lobby piano player, and take in the views of the resort’s Christmas tree.

• Resort: Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Access: Magic Kingdom Monorail Resort
• Date: Holiday Offering Debuted on 11/15/2025
• Notable Mention: The Contemporary has a gingerbread castle display on the resort’s 4th floor. You might also walk out to the front of the resort to see the tremendous tree with colored lights. It’s one of our favorites!

• Resort: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Special Mention: Disney initially announced that the Wilderness Lodge would have a life-size gingerbread display in 2025. That display turned out to be a smaller version. Since that time, Disney has removed the Wilderness Lodge from their original announcement.
• Access: Magic Kingdom Boat Service or a Bus
• Date: Holiday Offering Debuted on 11/21/2025
• Notable Mention: This resort’s tree and holiday decorations are incredible. We love to plan a meal here and then sit in the lobby to admire the holiday splendor.

• Resort: Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Access: Epcot Resorts Area (Walk, Bus, or Friendship Boat)
• Date: Holiday Offering Debuted on 11/19/2025
• Notable Mention: The Beach Club has a real, life-size, moving gingerbread carousel. Each year, the carousel has a unique theme.

• Resort: Disney’s Yacht Club
• Access: Epcot Resorts Area (Walk, Bus, or Friendship Boat)
• Notable Mention: The Yacht Club is connected to the Beach Club, so you can easily get between them. At the Yacht Club, expect stunning nautical decorations and a lobby train set that’s specially installed for the holiday season.

• Resort: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Access: Epcot Resorts Area (Walk, Bus, or Friendship Boat)
• Date: Holiday Offering Debuted on 11/19/2025
• Notable Mention: This resort has a replica gingerbread display of Disney’s BoardWalk! You might also check out the large outdoor Christmas tree on the lawn.

• Resort: Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Access: Animal Kingdom Resort Area
• Date: Holiday Offering Debuted on 11/25/2025
• Notable Mention: Make sure to check out the gingerbread display in the resort’s lobby, along with the massive tree. The tree here rivals the one at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. (Bonus: You might also walk or take the resort’s shuttle down to Kidani Village to check out their charming lobby!)

When Do the Resort Decorations and Gingerbread Displays Come Down?

Last year’s gingerbread creations were on display through January 1st. If you get to see anything after that, consider it a bonus.

Final Thoughts

We hope this guide helped you with your planning process. If you have the time, we can’t recommend a holiday resort hop enough! Cast members go out of their way to make these resorts come to life during the holidays. Whether piping icing on a gingerbread house or hanging that final ornament on the tree, we can’t help but acknowledge and admire their talent. If you enjoyed our rankings, you might also like to know what we consider the best Disney Resort. For more on Christmas, we’ll be back with an updated overview of Disney World during Christmas as the season approaches.

In the Comments

Did you enjoy this list of the best Disney World Resorts for Christmas? What do you think? Did we miss anyone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.