While you gear up to watch your favorite holiday shows, don't miss a new behind-the-scenes Disney special on HGTV.
David Bromstad hosted Behind the Magic: Disney Holidays which aired at 8 p.m. Sunday on HGTV.
While I knew some of these facts, there was a lot I learned!
Let's start with Cinderella's Castle. If you've ever seen it lit at Christmas, you know how beautiful it looks. Well, to get that way they use 200,000 white lights and 500 strobe lights all woven through fish net so it's undetectable during the daylight hours. Notice how the Castle changes color at night? That is with the help of 74 large spotlights that cover the Castle in many different colors.
The decorating of Walt Disney World for Christmas is the full time job of 25 Disney Cast Members who work year-round preparing. Then when it's time to transform Disney's 43-square-mile property, many others become 3rd shift elves and work while the parks are closed between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
In just 9 hours, Main Street in the Magic Kingdom is dripping in Christmas decorations. And throughout the Disney property they use 15 miles of garland and 300,000 yards of ribbon to decorate. Disney buys 100,000 poinsettias, 25,000 of which are planted in the Magic Kingdom! Approximately 1,300 artificial Christmas trees are brought by semi tractor trailers from their warehouse homes to decorate Walt Disney World. The largest trees are more than 60 feet tall!
Disney also creates 200 holiday topiaries and when complete, there is 4,000 acres of finished landscaping.
One of the most amazing displays is Disney's Spectacle of Dancing Lights in Disney Studios. That's where a city block is covered in lights that are in sync with Christmas music.
Disney begins decorating for that in August and doesn't finish till November. 30 cast members take 20,000 man (and women) hours to put them up using 35 miles of extension cords.
This is truly a can't-miss Disney special that will amaze and inspire you.
It airs again on HGTV Dec. 11, 20, 24th and 25th.

Many people are still under the asumption that Disney decorates the entire property on Thanksgiving night and you will wake up the next day and the all the decorations are up. While this is the way Disney used to decorate for Christmas, it's not the way they do it now. Like every other business, they've brought the Christmas season out earlier. In early November Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party begins and before that happens, all will be decorated. So if you're going to Disney over the Thanksgiving holiday, it will be decorated!
This time of year is truly my favorite time to be in Disney. The weather is near perfect with low humidity during the day and cooler temperatures at night. The crowds are smaller (except Thanksgiving week and Christmas week). Cinderella's Castle is dripping in lights and the Osbourne Family Lights Spectacular at Disney Studios is the most amazing display of Christmas lights set to music that I've ever seen. If that doesn't get you into the holiday spirit, nothing will!
Another Disney holiday tradition is the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian Resort. Inside the resort's lobby Disney creates this life size house where they then sell smaller replicas of the house and gingerbread shingles.
Don't forget to get a photopass card because there are many more photopass photographers out during the holidays just waiting to take your picture in front of an amazing holiday backdrop! And remember, the photopass card is free and you can get as many pictures taken as you wish. You can then view the pictures online and purchase the ones you want.

Beginning last week Disney went back to allowing guests to make dining reservations 180 days prior to departure. It had been just 90 days. And that's good news for those who like to plan ahead. Although the first day that change took place (Oct 27) was quite hectic. I talked to one person who told me she dialed for 4 hours just to get on hold. But she got the reservations she wanted.
It's not easy to try to figure out what park you'll be in on what day in order to plan dining but for popular choices such as Cinderella's Royal Table and LeCellier in Epcot, it's necessary.
If you like to book the restaurants that cost 2 table service credits, you may want to book the Deluxe Dining Plan which allows 2 table service meals per day.That way you have the additional credits needed to book Signature Restaurants like Hoop-De-Doo Review, Californial Grill, Jiko, and Artists Point. The cost is only about $25 more per person.
A lot depends on how your family eats. But with a choice of 3 different dining plans, there's one to fit just about everyone. And it does cost less than paying out of pocket for the same food.