Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney!

Sure, the holidays are for family and traveling back to your hometown.  It’s just not Christmas without 13 cousins sharing a bedroom and unspoken tension as the in-laws analyze your gift wrapping abilities.  Right?

It’s no wonder that Disney World is attracting more and more visitors throughout the holiday season.

Many families (including mine) are choosing to use their precious vacation days and time off school to enjoy the warm weather and the enchantment of Disney World.  After all, if Christmas is the season for magic – nobody does magic better than the Walt Disney World Resort!

While Orlando‘s largest theme park promises a once in a lifetime experience year round, Disney truly pulls out all the stops for the winter holidays.  You’ll enjoy attractions and sights that are only available for visitors in November and December.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party – this Magic Kingdom event is not available during regular park hours.  It’s a special evening event on select nights in November and December.

Christmas Lights On The Cinderella Castle

In addition to most of the rides being fully functional, party attendees can also enjoy the evening Christmas parade.  Of course, the biggest difference between this and the usual Magic Kingdom evening parade that is included with regular park admission is that all of the characters and floats are themed in holiday garb.  What you can’t get any other night is free hot chocolate and cookies!

Personally, I think the best thing about Christmas at the Magic Kingdom is the Cinderella Castle glittering with holiday lights.  It’s a constant reminder that I need to convince my husband to buy more icicle lights next year.

Epcot’s Candlelight Processional at the American Gardens Theatre – easily the most faith based of all the Disney Celebrations, this nightly event takes the Christmas concert to a whole new level.  It boasts a 50-piece orchestra and a mass choir of amateur vocalists, just like at home (if your home happens to have a world renowned orchestra).  And of course, the biblical Christmas story is read aloud – by celebrity narrators like Neil Patrick Harris.

If you’re planning to attend one of these shows, prepare to get in line early.  My family arrived an hour before one performance and were the very last people allowed in for that showing.

Why would anyone spend Christmas at Disney?

The Osborne Family Spectacle Of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios – this is the most underrated Christmas destination as far as I’m concerned.  What Disney’s web site unenthusiastically describes as holiday light display is the physical personification of the Christmas Spirit.

Based on the free light display an Arkansas man once hosted in his own neighborhood before neighbors sued to have it removed, the Spectacle Of Dancing Lights features an illumination spanning nearly three city blocks and requiring over 20,000 man hours to assemble.  Holiday music keeps time for the blinking displays as crowds of people do nothing more than stand and stare.

But what truly makes this a must-see is the snow.  Several snow machines set loose a swirling snow storm on the city “streets” that is so realistic you’ll see children and adults alike trying to catch flakes on their tongues.  They’ll soon discover the snow is made from soap.

Standing between the two story buildings covered in pulsing lights, listening to the notes of holiday classics and watching the snow fall around you in Florida is, I’m convinced, the closest one can come to knowing what it feels like to be inside a Christmas movie.

Oh, yeah.  Animal Kingdom offers a Jingle Jungle Parade, too.

All pictures taken by Britt Reints.

While hotels across the nation are adding amenities and facilities for family travelers, the problem in Orlando is that the hotels are too kid-friendly. They’ve grown so used to catering to kids and families that these Orlando hotels have become attractions in their own right.

Who needs Disney World when you have the Nickelodeon Family Suites with bunk beds, video games, and Spongebob Squarepants on the walls to keep you company in-room. The Nick hotel, as it is known, features two massive pool complexes with a 4 story water tower, a 400 gallon dump tank, seven slides, water jets, climbing nets, themed parties, a video arcade, and a host of other kiddie attractions. And the newest thing they recently added is the 4D theate, where wind, water, bubbles, and scents await you with Spongebob for a virtual sliming.

Then there’s Universal’s Hard Rock Hotel, which sits in the middle of Universal’s resort attractions, and also has its own attractions. So that’s further blurring the line between hotels and kiddie attractions. I mean, they have this gigantic 12,000 sq ft palm lined swimming pool (BTW, there was a bear found hanging around the pool area a few weeks back) with its own sand beach and underwater stereo, interactive fountains, and a 260-foot pool slide. What’s more, there’s a water taxi for hotel guests called the Universal Express which takes you straight through to the other attractions and rides, bypassing the lines.

And don’t even get me started on the Walt Disney World Resort hotels. I could go on listing all the major family hotels and the kiddie attractions they offer, but I think you get the drift. Orlando is pied pipering kids, and they get addicted to this fantasyland world that these resorts and theme parks have created. What ever happened to the good old American family roadtrip?

Photo copyrights – Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc.

From guest blogger, Andy Boyd of ProTraveller

What comes to mind when you think of summer and the sunshine it (should) bring? For many the first thing that comes into their mind is spending some time down at the beach, enjoying a swim in the sea and generally relaxing. For others, especially families with children off school, beaches have to take a humble second place behind the water park.

The attraction is easy to see. The best water parks in the world are designed to have something for everyone. Bring your friends, take your children or go by yourself; these parks are packed full of things to see and do.

If I had to choose 5 water parks worth visiting, they’d include these:

Chimelong Water Park, Guangzhou, China

Here’s somewhere that looks so much that it may even be worth enduring the smog! Chimelong Water Park’s premier attraction is the aptly named Behemoth Bowl, which is basically more than a massive bowl where can you slide round and eventually drop into a pool below. If that sounds like too much action, grab a donut try chilling out on the world’s longest lazy river!

World Water Park, West Edmonton, Canada

You might have a hard time getting your girlfriend to have a go on the slides at some water parks, but there should be no problem enticing her to this place. World Water Park is actually situated indoor, right next to the West Edmonton Mall. There’s something for everyone here with pools through to 85ft tall slides.

Sunway Lagoon, Selangor, Malaysia

This outdoor park enjoys great weather most of the year and has all the usual slides you’d expect. However, it does have one trick up it’s arm that you may not have been expecting: an outdoor wave pool with surfable waves!

Wet ‘n Wild, Orlando, Florida

Ask anyone where they think the best theme parks in the world are and most of them will say Florida, which is why I’ve include Wet ‘n Wild. This iconic water park is famed around the world for some of the most thrilling slides you can dream of with everything covered from vertical kamikazes to more relaxing slides and pools. If you’re in Florida this is a must!

Tropical Islands, Krausnick, Germany

Yep, you read that right. Germany may be mostly landlocked but thanks to modern architecture they managed to create an indoor park thermostatically controlled at paradisiacal temperatures. Fortunately it’s not all about sitting back and relaxing under the domed roof. As attractive as that may be, we’re sure the choice of slides will be worth the trip alone, even in January!

What is your favorite water park for summer fun?