Orlando Hotels Between Christmas and New Year's 2026, One Night at a Time

By Matt Spaulding · October 27, 2026

Photo: Thomas photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Disney's own resort list showed no availability at the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian or the Contemporary on any night from 28 to 30 December. Each time the page said "This Resort is unavailable for the dates, party size or offer selected." All three showed a rate for 12 January 2027. The Animal Kingdom Lodge showed a rate on all three December nights, and so did every one of Universal's 11 hotels. Of the seven Marriott and Hilton hotels we checked, six sold every night. The Walt Disney World Swan refused two of the three.

We made every read on 27 October 2026, for the 2026 season. We opened each hotel's own booking page (for the Disney resorts, Disney's resort list) and asked for 28, 29 and 30 December one night at a time, for one room and two adults, stopping at the rate list. When Disney's list refused a night, we also asked it for 12 January 2027. At the Swan we tried a longer stay, and at Evermore we tried both. Results change daily.

Disney's own resorts

Disney's list covers Disney-owned resorts, Disney Vacation Club villas, the campsites, and the Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve. Its refusal message names party size as one possible reason, and we only ever asked for two adults. The Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village and Contemporary showed as unavailable on all three nights, and so did All-Star Movies and All-Star Music. Beach Club and Pop Century were out on 28 December, and Wilderness Lodge and Yacht Club on 29. On 30 December four more were out: Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn and one of the two Port Orleans resorts.

On 12 January 2027 the Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club, Beach Club and BoardWalk Inn all showed a rate. All-Star Movies, All-Star Music and Pop Century did not, so their December refusals can't be pinned on Christmas week.

Of the resorts we wrote down, five showed a rate on every December night: the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation and All-Star Sports. None of the three Disney resorts we have pages for charges a resort fee, though at the Polynesian, adults past the second may cost extra. Those three are in our Disney World area.

Marriott and Hilton next to Disney

Marriott's screen for the Swan sold 28 December, reading "Includes 50 USD Resort Fee" ($50 a night plus tax, charged on points stays too), then refused 29 and 30 December. It sent the request back to Marriott's search page, where the Swan was listed as "Sold Out". A three-night stay, 28 to 31 December, was refused too. Disney's list, which also carries the Swan, showed 28 December unavailable, but Marriott's is the hotel's own booking screen and that's the one we went by.

Marriott sold the Walt Disney World Dolphin on all three nights, with the same "Includes 50 USD Resort Fee" on each. The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve also charges $50 a night plus tax, and it sold all three too. Its screen put "ALMOST SOLD OUT" on 29 and 30 December.

Hilton's screen gives two counts, rooms found and rooms sold out, worded like "23 rooms found. 9 are currently sold out." That was the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista on 28 December, and it read 18 and 14 on 29 and 30. The Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace showed 25 and 15 on 28 and 29, then 29 and 11 on 30. At Signia by Hilton Orlando it went 11 and 16, then 10 and 17, then 22 and 5. All three sold every night. We haven't turned those counts into a verdict on how full a hotel is.

The Hilton Lake Buena Vista and the Buena Vista Palace both charge $41 a night plus tax, and at the Palace that covers an hourly park shuttle. Signia's resort fee is $50 a night plus tax. All six hotels in this section are in our Disney World area as well.

Four Seasons, Evermore and Gaylord Palms

The Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World had rooms on all three nights on its own reservations site. Its fee line reads "A Resort Fee of USD 60 (plus applicable taxes) will be applied to all reservations. This fee is in addition to the room rate per night." That's $60 a night plus tax.

Evermore Orlando Resort wouldn't sell any of the three as a single night. The screen answered "Your check-in/check-out combination is not available on December 28, 2026." It said the same for 29 and 30. Two-night stays sold, though: 28 to 30 December and 29 to 31 December. A single night on 12 January 2027 got the same refusal, so turning down a one-night stay is Evermore's rule all year. Its All-In-One Fee is a one-time per-stay fee.

Marriott's screen sold Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, in our Kissimmee area, on every night we asked for. Each night read "Includes 45 USD Resort Fee", which is $45 a night plus tax, and carried an "ALMOST SOLD OUT" flag. Christmas at Gaylord Palms, with ICE! featuring The Polar Express, opens 13 November 2026 and closes 3 January 2027.

Universal

Universal's own booking page showed "Rates From" for all 11 Universal hotels on each of the three nights, with no sold-out card. That includes Universal's Hard Rock Hotel and the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, both in our Universal Orlando area. The Portofino Bay charges no resort fee. We don't have a fee figure for the Hard Rock, so look for one on its booking screen before you compare.

Booking one night between Christmas and New Year's

For a Disney-owned resort, start with the Animal Kingdom Lodge or one of the other four we saw with a rate every night. Away from Disney's own resorts, only two hotels here turned a night down. Marriott refused the Swan on 29 and 30, and Evermore won't sell one night on its own, so ask it for two.

The festival and the bowl games

The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays is on from 27 November to 30 December 2026, so all three nights we checked fall inside it, and 30 December is its last day. The Candlelight Processional is performed nightly at America Gardens Theatre during the festival. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is on select nights from 8 November to Tuesday 22 December, all of them before Christmas. Ticketed nights like that one are covered in The Orlando Park Nights Your Ticket Does Not Cover.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl is set for 29 December at 5:30 p.m. ET in Orlando, and its page doesn't name the stadium. The Citrus Bowl is Saturday 2 January 2027 at noon ET at Camping World Stadium. The festival and the Pop-Tarts Bowl overlap some of the refusals above, and we can't tell you that either caused one.