Day 673: Out with the Old

This morning I woke up to quite the pleasant surprise. Disney World has already switched over, mostly, from the Halloween Decorations to the beautiful, bright, Christmas decor that will remain up until during or just after my own trip in early January. Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, and I definitely believe Disney has played a key role in that love. My family has visited Walt Disney World many times over during the holiday season. In fact, we've probably seen the Christmas decorations more than any other season or occasion.

It also means that we've seen the decorations change time and time again. The first change I really remember was at the Studios, which, of course, I've already talked about some time ago. I loved the Osborne Lights as a Kid, going down Residential Street and looking at all the houses decked out with Christmas lights. It was a spectacular sight for little Lizzie, and I definitely won't be forgetting it anytime soon. Of course, Residential Street left some time ago (and now it sounds as though the last remnants of it will be disappearing as well), leaving us with the Osborne Lights we enjoy today. I boycotted those lights for a really long time before a trip a couple of years ago caused me to actually enjoy them, and now I'm thrilled I get to share them with my friends on the last night of the season in January (they run through January 4).

Then, if you remember, over at Epcot they have changed the Christmas decorations a few times, but most notably was the system of lights that surrounded the monorail track and led into World Showcase. It was like an arch, and if you don't remember, I've got you covered:

I can't even begin to explain how much my family (especially my Dad and I) complained when the arch was taken down for good. It was just a symbol of Christmas at Epcot, and it's certainly not the same without it. 

But with a new parade in the Magic Kingdom, it meant that the Christmas decorations were going to have to change a little bit. Some of the floats reach to new and amazing heights in the realm of Disney Parade Floats, and that caused the regular decorations to be quite the issue, since the floats wouldn't be able to go down Main Street U.S.A. with the various wreaths hanging in the way. If you need a refresher, here's what Magic Kingdom has looked like in the past: 

I'm not going to lie, I really hated the Christmas Decorations at Magic Kingdom. I love the idea of the garland hanging out over the street from building to building because it's a very classic small-town Christmas style, but it covers up the castle, a fact that even Megan pointed out when I showed her the pictures this morning. You can't take a regular Cinderella Castle Picture, and it blocks much of the view of the fireworks. Ridiculous. 

When I saw the pictures of the new decorations, at first I was like "No, this looks ridiculous too!" but then I went back and looked at the old ones and realized that no, it doesn't. It looks much better. We're just not used to it yet, and therefore we find it all a bit off because instead of having wreaths in the middle of the street, they're on the sides.

Now, I've still got two months before I head down to Walt Disney World and decide once and for all if I like the new decorations better than the old ones, but as of right now, I'm a fan. I'm a very big fan. No more blocking the castle! 

The thing is....if Disney put their Christmas decorations up already does that mean that I can too? Can I put my decorations up? Because I'm going to. Like next week. Or maybe the week after. We'll see. 

Have a magical day!