Monday December 5th 2022

The sun fought the clouds for control of the sky all day. As evening approached the clouds finally started to clear. Even with the cloud cover the temperature reached the mid to upper seventies.

This afternoon I drove to EPCOT for a Fish and Chip dinner. The Yorkshire County Fish Shop in the UK pavilion is a bit addictive. My other goal was to checkout the Christmas decorations at the resorts in the EPCOT area. I visited six resorts. Three had interesting decorations and three were only average.

My first stop after leaving EPCOT via the back entrance was the SkyLiner. I road the aerial gondola to the Riviera Resort. This is a new Disney Vacation Club resort that I haven’t visited before. Their choice of decorations was very stark. A few trees and wreathes adorned the lobby with clear lights. I didn’t find any gingerbread creation that most Disney resorts create.

Next up my resort tour was the Boardwalk resort after a return trip on the SkyLiner. This resort was nicely decorated both outside and in the lobby. They had colorfully decorated trees and a gingerbread model of the Boardwalk Deli. I think the choice of ornaments on the trees was new, but it seemed to be very similar to previous years overall.

Continuing around the lagoon the non Disney Swan and Dolphin resorts were my next stop. They seemed to have the same decorator as the Riviera Resort. All I found were green trees and clear lights in both hotels.

At my next stop, the Yacht Club, a Christmas tree with sailboat ornaments was located in the middle of the lobby. Off to the side was a model train running between villages in a snow covered mountain scene. This is similar to past years, but I think the model train layout was different this year.

Next door at the Beach Club Resort, the usual carousel made out of gingerbread took center stage in the lobby. Each of the horses on the carousel is dedicated to a Disney Princess. This is also a repeat of previous years, but it is something that people look forward to seeing every year.

Back at EPCOT after my journey around the lagoon, I watched several musical shows and listen to the story of Christmas at the France pavilion. Pere Noel describe some of the French traditions. In the American Pavilion area, I sat behind the theater again to listen to the Candle Light Processional. Today’s narrator was Isabella Rossellini. Unfortunately, even with the amplification system, her voice did not carry well to my location.

I didn’t wait in any of the long lines for rides while I was at EPCOT. I hiked back to my car at the far end of one of the last rows in the parking lot and headed home. I was back in the comfort of my RV home by 8PM.