The Dolphin hotel in Orlando, Florida has beautiful Christmas trees in the lobby during the holiday season

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Are you planning on visiting the Walt Disney World Resort during the Christmas season?  Well, my family highly recommends it.  There are so many fun things to do and great decorations to see at the Walt Disney World Resort during the holiday season.  We talk about it in our Disney World Christmas Guide.

So I am sure you, too, would love a holiday visit to the Walt Disney World Resort.  But the question is, where to stay?

Well, the Swan and Dolphin Resorts are a great choice any time of the year.  They are within walking distance of both Epcot and Hollywood Studios (and they offer convenient boat transportation to those parks, too).  They also have bus transportation to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disney Springs, too.

And they are great hotels with lots of wonderful amenities.  But they are even more special during the holiday season.  We’re going to go over what’s so great about staying at the Swan and Dolphin Resort during the Christmas season.  Then we will tell you how you can save money on nightly hotel rates here!

Swan and Dolphin Christmas Decorations

One of the reasons why the Swan and Dolphin are great hotels to stay at during the holiday season is their wonderful Christmas decorations.  I absolutely love the beautiful Christmas trees in the lobbies.

The Dolphin hotel in Orlando, Florida has beautiful Christmas trees in the lobby during the holiday season

The holiday decorations at Marriott's Swan & Dolphin Resorts near Hollywood Studios & Epcot are beautiful

The holidays at the Swan and Dolphin in the Walt Disney World Resort are special because of all the beautiful Christmas decorations

How to save big on your dream Disney vacation

And the decorations in the entrances of the hotels.

I love how there are Christmas presents in the entrance of the Swan and Dolphin Resort

They have this neat thing where when you enter the Swan, they have a revolving door and in part of it there are Christmas presents!

The Swan Resort at Disney World has present as part of the Christmas decorations in the entrance door

The swans are decorated for the holiday season.

A picture of the swans decorated for the bows for the holiday season at the Swan Resort in Disney World.

Even some of their restaurants are decorated, like The Fountain.

The Swan & Dolphin hotels in Orlando, Florida have great Christmas decorations and even their restaurants are decorated, like the Fountain

The decorations outside the resort are great, too.

I love the way the swans are decorated at the Swan Resort at Disney World

Even the pool bar is decorated for Christmas at the Swan and Dolphin Resort at Disney World.

A picture of decorations by the pool outside of the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Disney World

Disney's Swan & Dolphin Resorts has beautiful Christmas decorations outside the resorts

There is also a Chocolate Santa Display at the entrance to the Swan near Il Mulino New York Trattoria.  It was made completely from chocolate and hand-crafted by the resort’s two-time World Pastry Chef, Laurent Branlard.  And they boast it is the World’s Largest Chocolate Santa!

A picture of the chocolate display at the Swan Resort in Disney World in Orlando, FL

The Swan Reserve is the newest part of the Swan and Dolphin Resort complex.  My family loved staying here, by the way.  And we did it during the holiday season (got to walk to Jollywood Nights!).

Anyway, that hotel also has some nice Christmas decorations.

I like the holiday decorations at the Swan Reserve at Walt Disney World.

The Swan Reserve at Disney World has nice tasteful holiday decorations.

Swan and Dolphin Christmas Activities

There are a lot of fun Christmas activities going on at the Swan and Dolphin, too.  Here are some of the highlights.

Santa And Mrs. Claus

Turns out that while Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus live in the North Pole, they like to head to Florida in the winter, too!  Because Santa, Mrs. Claus, and their special Elf, Kandy Kane, will be visiting the Swan and Dolphin Resort this holiday season!  They’ll be at the Swan pool from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on select dates:

This activity is only for guests of the Swan and Dolphin.  You’ll need to register ahead of time since space is limited.  You can show your key to get in.

The Santa Sisters

Brand new this holiday season is the Santa Sisters!  They are a vocal group performing on select evenings in December.  They perform timeless tunes like Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Run Run Rudolph, and more.

The performances take place from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Swan Reserve.  It is available on the following days:

  • December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22

Cookie Decorating

Cast members help children create and decorate holiday cookies Santa’s Holiday Hangout area at the Swan pool on select nights from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.  You’ll have to make a reservation for this, though, ahead of time because space is limited.

Santa’s Dancing Lights Spectacular

One of the things I love about staying at the Swan and Dolphin is the nightly dancing lighted palms on the causeway between the Swan and Dolphin.  It happens every 10 minutes.  And it is holiday-themed this time of the year!

Swan and Dolphin Christmas Menus

A couple of the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin Resort have special Christmas menus.

Swan & Dolphin Hotel Deals

So, I am sure you haven’t forgotten I said I was going to tell you about how you can get a great deal for a stay here, right?  Well, all you need to do is click on our links.  And then you can book these hotels for a great rate.