There is so much going on during the Holiday Season at Walt Disney World. Each park is decorated for the season and special events, shows and entertainment abound. It can get a bit crazy trying to take it all in. I often suggest to friends who seem a bit overwhelemed by it all, to get out of the parks and visit the resorts. They, too, are decorated and offer a relaxing way to enjoy the holiday ambiance in a quieter setting.
For instance, take a trip on the monorail around the Seven Seas Lagoon and stop at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. The lobby has one of the biggest Christmas trees on property. Often there is a band or piano player sharing favorite holiday tunes. The wonderful smell you will encounter is from the oversized gingerbread house.
Christmas tree inside the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort.
Nikon D750/24-120VR, 1/125s, f/4, ISO 6400, EV 0, 24mm Focal Length.
Resuming your monorail trip, you stay on past the Magic Kingdom and get off at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Here you will find many beautiful decorations around the concourse. Outside is were you will find the futurist, nearly perfect and extremely large Christmas tree. The ornaments are about a foot in diameter to give you an idea of the scale. Notice how I slowed down the shutter speed for this capture to build up the color of the sky and lights on the tree.
Christmas tree outside Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Nikon D750/24-120VR, 1/25s, f/8, ISO 6400, EV 0, 24mm Focal Length.
If you are staying or visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Christmas tree in the lobby is another beautiful and large one with unique ornaments themed to the resort. Like at the Grand Floridian and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort, Disney PhotoPass Photographers are usually stationed nearby and can create individual and family holiday portraits. I slowed my shutter way down for this photo and got lucky when the photographer’s flash went off during the exposure.
Photopass photographer photographing guests with the Christmas tree at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Nikon D750/16-35VR, 1/2s, f/5.6, ISO 400, EV -0.6, 16mm Focal Length.
If the parks get real busy or you are in need of a break, take a monorail, boat or bus to a Walt Disney World resort hotel and enjoy the spirit of the season in a more relaxing setting.
Spot on Scott. We usually arrive in the World at dinner time and will eat in one of the resorts. Last time we spent the evening wandering around the Grand Floridian and enjoying the Christmas display. It then became an objective to see how many hotels we could visit.