Disney World Decorates The Parks With More Than 40,000 Items Overnight In Only 7 Hours

From House Beautiful

On my most recent trip to Disney World (I go to Disney World...a lot), one of my friends on the Operations Team told me that when people leave Magic Kingdom on November 1, they leave a Halloween-themed oasis and return to an entirely different holiday paradise the next morning.

Having never had the opportunity to be at the park on the morning of November 2, I couldn't believe the gigantic, iconic property—along with every other Disney World park, resort, and cruise ship—could possibly be transformed overnight, but manager of Disney’s Holiday Services Lisa Borotkanics tells me it can be. And so it is.

"The truth is, yes! All Halloween goes away right after park close [on November 1] and some Christmas goes up," a "tired and excited" Lisa tells me on the phone just a few days after managing the holiday overhaul. By "some Christmas," she means about 50 percent of what ultimately will comprise the holiday display, though it's the 50 percent that is visible to guests.

More continues to go on behind the scenes from November 2 through Thanksgiving, but you'd never know it: "We want guests to feel that it is all done in one night! The reality is, what they see that morning is done in less than seven hours. And it’s a very large decor package": 40 trees, 147 wreaths and 590 garlands adorn the train station, cornerstone buildings, streets, and lamp posts of Magic Kingdom by the time people walk in the gates the next morning. At that point, each of Disney World's three other parks, Disney Springs, and all of the Lake Buena Vista resorts will have erected tens of thousands of lights and ornaments and other miscellaneous decorations by the morning of November 2.

Everything that happens in between November 2 and Thanksgiving, you're not going to notice at first glance. You'll spend that time as in awe of the massive holiday decorating undertaking as you would've been that first day. But that first glance—your first glance—is what's most important to Lisa still, even after 30-plus years in the job: "Have you ever stood at the Magic Kingdom when it opens on the second day of November and seen the guests come in for the first time when it's decorated for the holiday season?" (No, but I plan to, Lisa! Like I said, I'm at Disney World...a lot!) "Hearing children giggle and laugh and say to their parents 'Oh my gosh, it’s Christmas now!' That's just an incredible feeling."

But OK. Besides the magic of it all, the logistics are fascinating. Firstly, there are just about 160 people on Borotkanics's Holiday Services team and they are primarily responsible for implementing all these quick turnarounds.

Secondly, she has to ensure preliminary set-up is both subtle and flawless. For weeks ahead of that crucial November 2 rollout, she oversees the "pre-wiring" of the parks and resorts: "In some cases, like [Disney Hollywood] Studios and [Disney] Springs, we’re putting up the overhead cables to put up the garlands across the street."

Thirdly, once the holiday's are all said and done, she's gotta be on top of returning every single one of those 40,000-plus finished items back to Disney's 160,000 square feet of holiday warehousing, all the while taking the beloved wreaths, leaves, and other miscellaneous Disney holiday items through a cycle of refurbishment and, in some cases, retirement. "Every six years," she confirms, "there's a complete change-out" of some of the decorations.

That's not to say you'd ever show up to the parks and not immediately recognize that you are on Magic Kingdom's Main Street, for example, during the holiday season. "We’re always going to decorate on the exterior with fruits and sticks and berries and bows and candles," Borotkanics says. But the little—undisclosed!—swap-outs are all the more reason to keep your eyes peeled next time you spend the holidays at Disney.

You never know. You might spot some sneaky new holiday magic. Or me. I will most likely be there.

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