12/20/22

Under the Radar Christmas Experiences

Dec 20, 2022

We are now seven months removed from my last Disney World trip, and I am not okay.

With the holidays in full swing, Disney is at its brightest. I realize I’ve already written a full article about WDW during November and December and how much I am in mourning while I rot Illinois, so I won’t belabor the point. Suffice to say, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth in the Futrell household this month.

It isn’t just the lack of Disney holiday shenanigans that is hitting me right now though. It is the absence of any trips on the calendar until OCTOBER OF NEXT YEAR. My countdown is obscenely long and I’m not sure how to handle it. Planning a quick trip just isn’t possible right now. My heart says “travel” and my checking account says “yes, travel… to work.”

Sure, I do the normal things we all do to ease the “I’m 14 hours away from WDW” blues. I listen to my theme park background music (in December it gets more eclectic as I can throw in the holiday loops from the different parks), and I watch my favorite Youtubers, and listen to my myriad of Walt Disney World podcasts. However, sometimes these things do nothing but illuminate the pain. I use so many of these mediums to hype myself up for upcoming trips, so it feels a little like self-abuse to engage in my most common pastimes.

In lieu of this festering and open wound, and in the words of Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar: “Hit me again Ike, and this time put some stank on it!”, I will now be rating my five favorite under the radar holiday experiences at Walt Disney World. These are in no particular order.

5. Figment’s Holiday Sweater

I know, I know, this is not really an experience. Or is it? DisTwitter counts down to this happening every year. The bigger bloggers always announce it with much pomp and circumstance. It has become a gateway to Christmas for many in the Disney online community. This year (2022) it was on November 25 that Figment donned his gay apparel. Frankly, it has become iconic and I’m here for it!

4. The Hollywood Studios Retro Decorations

I know everyone raves about Magic Kingdom at Christmas, but honestly, the Studios is far superior. Magic Kingdom kills it on Main Street USA and then quite abruptly ends all festivities at the hub. Sure there is Jingle Cruise, and the lights added the last few years on Tomorrowland Speedway and in Space Mountain are a nice touch, but that’s really about it. Hollywood Studios really does Christmas right. It goes from my least favorite park to #1 with a bullet during November and December. When you pair the decorations with the classic Christmas music being presented on Hollywood Boulevard and around Echo Lake, you simply cannot top it.

3. The Lights on Living With the Land

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a LWTL stan. I love that attraction so much. It is one of only two or three attractions that I remember from my first trip to WDW in 1986. I love the music. I love the greenhouse. I love the annoying barking dog. I love quoting certain lines (Even the hooves of the mighty buffalo help create the rich soil that would one day become home to the American farm) With that in mind, it is no shock that when you combine one of my favorite attractions with my favorite holiday, you will create MAGIC. The lights aren’t anything overly impressive or spectacular, but they genuinely make me smile.

2. Jock Lindsey’s Holiday Bar

Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar in Disney Springs has long been a favorite of many adult lounge-seeking WDW fans, and they really ramp it up during the holidays. I love this place under any circumstances, but during the holidays this location brings the Christmas merriment with full decorations and some fun food and drink offerings. “Naughty or Nice” Deviled Eggs, Grandma’s Revenge Venison Sliders, Yule Mules, and the Claus-Mo are nice nods to the season. All of these seasonal offerings are in addition to the regular menu (which is excellent) and Jock Lindsey’s normal level of service (also excellent).

1. Animal Kingdom Lodge

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, both Kidani Village and Jambo House, are stunning at all times of the year, but Christmas at AKL is a mood. It is its own vibe. When first entering the Jambo House lobby, the enormous tree gives off Wilderness Lodge sentiments, but the more you soak in the atmosphere, the more it separates itself from the other Peter Dominick designed resort. The unique African holiday flair really starts to jump out at you the longer you marinate in the ambience. Then there is the music. My wife and I stayed there in December of 2020, and we both fell in love with the Christmas music loop that plays in the Jambo House lobby. It is so different and exclusive, and it fits the aesthetic of the resort exquisitely. Don’t sleep on this resort during the holidays!

Now that I’m through rubbing salt into my own wounds, I’m going to go curl up in the corner and cry myself to sleep on my huge pilla.