Christmas Town 2025

[Thriller]

Im only going to talk about the lights here, the lights are the exact same around the park as it has always been. I think anyone who crys about there being alot less lights really need to go back and watch videos. The train finale is the only place lacking in lights vs previous years. New france looks better than previous years and eveeywhere else hasn't changed since 2009 from what I remember. So what do you see that I don't about alot less lights? Where?

I think the Christmas trees are noticeably smaller than from years ago. Some of them even have the tops chopped off and are only about 3 feet high.

There used to be Christmas tree trees in Aquitaine. There are none now. Just building lights.

Holiday Hills feels more sparse. And they used to put snow on the trees.

I do think part of the reason for the disappointment in the lights at BGW is because Winterfest had such amazing lighting in the mature trees compared to BGW just mainly being on the Christmas trees.

 

[MrBradferd]

I think the Christmas trees are noticeably smaller than from years ago. Some of them even have the tops chopped off and are only about 3 feet high.

There used to be Christmas tree trees in Aquitaine. There are none now. Just building lights.

Holiday Hills feels more sparse. And they used to put snow on the trees.

I do think part of the reason for the disappointment in the lights at BGW is because Winterfest had such amazing lighting in the mature trees compared to BGW just mainly being on the Christmas trees.

The trees on festa bridge still have fake snow on them.

The hell is Aquitaine?

And yes the way KD did Winterfest felt magical. The went ALL OUT decorating every possible tree to the tippy top it looked like. Absolute pain in the ass putting those all up it looks like.

My biggest gripe is it doesn't feel like a event until you are stepping foot into the park. Winterfest you can see the entire skyline lit up pretty well and the Eiffel tower lights before ever stepping out the car. They even decorated trees leading out into the parking lot.

BG needs to decorate the parking gate sign up. Theres so much you can do with that. Decorate some of the trees in the england lot and the path leading down to the bridge. I want to feel like im being invited slowly in. Yes they have the regular perfered lot themed all the way to the ticket scan gate but the VIP/perfered gets nothing at all until you're over that bridge. It can't be that hard to take the boom lift on that patch and decorate a little. Hell throw some lights on apollos lift hill and on the 2nd hill put a Xmas tree on it like they did for Pantheons tophat or the way they did Fury 325 a few years ago with santa and the reindeer.

Also I think theyre SOLELY missing out on decorating BBW village with lights and advertising that to get more people to ride it and check it out and boost the ridership up, and it will add something to the train ride. 2 birds with 1 stone

 

[Coasternerd]

The hell is Aquitaine?

The actual name for the France Village.

BG needs to decorate the parking gate sign up. Theres so much you can do with that.

They used to. Not sure why they stopped, but it’s sad.

 

[MrBradferd]

The actual name for the France Village.

They used to. Not sure why they stopped, but it’s sad.

Wow I literally never knew that

 

[Le Moose]

Do we think the downgrade could be because they have a smaller window to set up CMT than they did years ago?

 

[Thriller]

Here are the original names of the areas

 

[MrBradferd]

Do we think the downgrade could be because they have a smaller window to set up CMT than they did years ago?

Not an excuse. They have so much free time to set up a few more missing things. Whatever is missing isin't major enough the light team can't spend a few days before hours to put stuff out

 

[AIR]

Not an excuse. They have so much free time to set up a few more missing things. Whatever is missing isin't major enough the light team can't spend a few days before hours to put stuff out

"The light team" aka a few Water Country employees that decided to come help set up. Staffing is the issue along with lack of quality assurance and leadership.

Also "so much free time" is not true. Just prepping the park to be open takes quite a bit of time. There isn't enough staff to have full time decorators and also run the park. Most people are doing multiple jobs.

 

[MrBradferd]

"The light team" aka a few Water Country employees that decided to come help set up. Staffing is the issue along with lack of quality assurance and leadership.

Also "so much free time" is not true. Just prepping the park to be open takes quite a bit of time. There isn't enough staff to have full time decorators and also run the park. Most people are doing multiple jobs.

They use un certified random employees to get up on boom lifts to decorate? Thats still all the parks problem not having the staff lol Pay better, hire a seasoned yearly light team seperate from multiple jobs. Hell you get can light installers off marketplace. Theyre is a way to do it. Wether or not they want to pay it then thats on them. So still no excuse

 

[horsesboy]

Do we think the downgrade could be because they have a smaller window to set up CMT than they did years ago?

No I don't. Dollywood does there Halloween to Christmas change over in less then a week and it's probably more extensive the BGW's. That said I am in an rather unique position of having access to knowledgeable sources on how both parks approach their chsnge over. BGW is relying on outside contractors and a rather tiny group of people of people to get the job done. Dollywood on the other hand puts a full court press on pulling all year round employees and assigning them areas to support during the change over. Office staff are out wrapping trees and hanging lights in fact it often referred to as hell week by some of there staff. So yes it's doable and the park's fault but not that of the team members doung actual setup.

 

[PrincessArlenasDad]

Merry Misfits has always been fun but this year's group is especially solid with great talent and good vibes.

This reminds me... while I enjoyed Wisemen, the show itself is no bigger (or better) than Merry Misfits. The small stage Merry Misfits use would be big enough for Wisemen. Wisemen just isn't a big enough show for that huge theater in Italy (and they should bring back the larger stage, and use it for a bigger production).

They still haven't found a suitable replacement for Miracles.

 

[PrincessArlenasDad]

Do we think the downgrade could be because they have a smaller window to set up CMT than they did years ago?

Based solely on my memory and absolutely no photographic or video evidence...

I think there's a correlation between the downgrade and the change from making Christmas Town a separate ticketed event to being included in the memberships. People already have their tickets so BGW doesn't need to sell the event and they don't need to try as hard.

Also from memory -
Crowds were actually a lot BIGGER when it was a separately ticketed event. It's as if people were more willing to pay extra for a better event than to go to an included downgraded event.

I bet they served a lot more food back then also.

I'd love to see the gross revenue and net profits of Christmas Town then and now.

 

[07WCUSAalum]

My primary concern with Christmas Town at present is the Holiday Hills section. In its early years, this area was truly exceptional. My family always made a point to dine at Dasher’s Diner, the all-you-can-eat buffet, and the nostalgic 1950s-themed lights and decorations were a highlight. Additionally, the Rudolph walk-through experience in the Apollo’s Chariot queue offered an engaging opportunity to meet many characters from the movie. I hope that in the coming year, the park places emphasis on restoring this area to its former excellence.

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Direct Link to Embedded Media Source This video goes over the backstory of holiday hills, and how it used to be.

This is my biggest gripe with Christmas Town. Holiday Hills was, in my opinion, the highlight of the park. I'm a sucker for nostalgia and loved the retro lights, decorations, music, and dining. If they could just replicate that every year, I'd be happy. But it seems they've been slowly losing elements and just not replacing them.

 

[deacfan31]

Figured this would happen. So here you go.

 

[Celticdog]

Holiday Hills (Festa Italia) has become a sad, sad area. It is a dead zone. There is no longer anything to draw people in there. No more vintage coke signs, no Rudolph, no photo ops, no food, and only one place for drinks. Nothing in there except three rides. There is no reason to linger and enjoy the area.

The Davinci Gardens is now just a pass thru zone. Sure, they added St. Lucia, but its not enough. Italy really needs a complete overhaul for 2026.

 

[Mushroom]

The Davinci Gardens is now just a pass thru zone. Sure, they added St. Lucia, but its not enough. Italy really needs a complete overhaul for 2026.

It doesn’t help that it’s now missing two of its three major rides and that its central decor (the columns surrounding the fountain) is in literal ruin. The whole area has gone from one of BGW’s lovelier areas to a rundown, forgotten corner of the park within just a few seasons. And it’s especially noticeable at CT because, like you said, it’s a pass through. It’s not festive anymore.

I understand that the two removed rides were problematic and replacing them takes time. But I still can’t believe they haven’t replaced the broken columns that were knocked down during HOS setup. It looks awful. And it says a lot about their priorities that they won’t pay to fix a central thematic element that they carelessly broke.

 

[R75]

Holiday Hills was one of my favorite areas of CT for a long time, dating back to my first CT visit in 2013. I totally agree with how it’s just continued to decline. If you look at videos of that section specifically from around 2013-2017, it was a fantastic area that really added to the whole Christmas experience at the park. Though we haven’t made our annual CT visit yet this season to see what it’s like now, we have definitely noticed the decline at Holiday Hills the last couple years to where we generally just make a quick pass through it.

 

[Celticdog]

I think if the train went back to normal operations it would help the area. Put the countdown clock in front of Apollo. Set-up a photo op spot at Tempesto or even small stage for live music. The Merry Misfits would work perfectly in Holiday Hills.

 

[MrBradferd]

Why do they refuse to use that entire back restraunt in festa? When was the last time that place was even open?

 

[Zachary]

Why do they refuse to use that entire back restraunt in festa? When was the last time that place was even open?

They attempted repeatedly to make it more desirable with various updates, format changes, and menu overhauls and, right before COVID hit, the park was about to embark on another renovation.

Ultimately, the restaurant is just currently locationally doomed in my opinion. Roman Rapids operates for only a handful of months each year and, without it (and even sometimes with it these days), there just isn't enough foot traffic to justify a restaurant back there.

Plus, post-COVID, BGW has decided to operate with dramatically reduced dining capacity—effectively vacating a number of dining locations, downsizing others, and operating the ones that are open with dramatically reduced capacity. If BGW decided they wanted more dining capacity again, it would make much more sense to open additional food lines at Festhaus/Trapper's, reopen locations like Grogan's Grill, or convert Josephine's or the like back to a restaurant than it would to try to make La Cucina functional.