Behind the Scenes: Exploring holidays around the Walt Disney World Resort

By Ellena Balkcom, writer, Eyes & Ears

Holidays Around the World at Epcot has become a well-known draw for Cast Members and Guests who visit the park during the holiday season. I realized recently that although my four-year anniversary as a Cast Member is around the corner, I've never seen any of our resorts or parks during the holidays. So I decided to experiment with my own "holidays around the Walt Disney World Resort."

Because of family holiday travel plans, wanting to avoid the crowds during the season or thinking that block-out dates would make park visits difficult, I've steered clear of resorts and parks during the holiday season. This will be the first year that my family will not travel and there are no plans for out-of-town guests, so I thought this would be our year to explore every nook and cranny of the Walt Disney World Resort. Our quest started this past weekend, with the goal of soaking in all the world-class décor, sights, sounds and magic created for Guests this time of year.

It's still early, so not all holiday happenings have begun, but I thought we'd start simple with three of my holiday favorites - gingerbread, decorations and Christmas trees. Who can resist the smell of gingerbread during the holiday season? Certainly not I. This fixation has led me to the many locations across the Walt Disney World Resort where gingerbread displays and treats are abundant. Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Beach Club Resort and Disney's Contemporary Resort all have gingerbread lobby displays that wowed us and showed off the talent of the resorts' bakery teams. It took some warnings, but my daughter and husband managed to resist the temptation to touch the displays.

Disney's Contemporary Resort combined my three favorites into one, with a gingerbread Christmas tree decorating the fourth floor.

My 8-year-old daughter, husband and I were amazed by the wonderful decorations and brilliant lights in the parks in different locations across property. Our next stop was Downtown Disney Marketplace, where we checked out Santa's Chalet and tested some of the holiday head gear at the World of Disney store.

It took some convincing, but my husband and daughter complied with my holiday hat request.

It wasn't quite time for Santa, but the side of his chalet still made for a great family photo.

Next, it was on to see which park would have the ultimate Christmas tree. We were pleasantly surprised to see how uniquely themed the trees were and shocked by the enormity. The family consensus was to ultimately end up at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had never seen Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing lights, and we were all anxious to attend. When we saw the tree that greeted us at the park, my daughter ran over to it, and we all knew that one more family photo was in order.

Wow, I've never seen an animal-themed Christmas tree, like this one at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

It was time for one more family photo at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Our first time seeing Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing lights was incredible

We knew we wouldn't get to visit every park or see every decoration in one weekend, but we were delighted by the sensory experience. My husband, who was a semi-reluctant participant, even agreed to map out a better plan for our next excursion to be sure we cover more ground.

Nighttime made the decorations even more magical.

There's still plenty to see, like the holiday-themed parades at Magic Kingdom Park and Disney's Animal Kingdom. None of us have ever been to Candlelight Processional at Epcot (Nov. 27-Dec. 30), Festival of the Seasons at the Downtown Disney Area (now through Jan. 3) or Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party at Magic Kingdom Park (select dates through Dec. 18), so we are excited to partake in as much as possible this holiday season. Hope to see you all out there enjoying the wonder of our resort with you families as well. Happy holidays!