easy Guide 2018 Changes
By Dave Shute
As noted on Page 1 of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2018, this page exists to provide “changes, corrections, updates, links to larger color versions of key charts, and such.”
May News
In May 2018, Josh updated the material that makes up the “Cheat Sheets” of Chapter 6. The changes are mostly minor, so we have not crafted a book update around them–for example, the recommended pre-booked FastPass+ attractions and times are unchanged.
However, the Cheat Sheets now include some explicit thoughts about seeing Hollywood Studios after Toy Story Land opens, and the Animal Kingdom material notes the utility of the 8a open touring plans to days when AK opens at 8a for Extra Magic Hours.
The full updated Disney World cheat sheets are at the links below:
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Cheat Sheet May 2018
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Cheat Sheet May 2018
Magic Kingdom Cheat Sheet May 2018
March Update
Here’s the key changes in our March 2018 update:
Chapter 1: How to Use This Book
Chapter 1 has three purposes: introduce the rest of the book, summarize our recommendations for first-timers, and indicate what’s new for returning visitors.
Pursuing the third purpose, the big news of the rest of the update to the book is also noted here:
- The opening date of June 30 for Toy Story Land
- Seasonal pricing for multi-day tickets to come “later in 2018,” and
- The addition of FastPass+ at 60 days for Shades of Green, Extra Magic Hours for the Four Seasons, and both for the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels
Chapter 2: Why Age and Height Matter
The only material change here was the upcoming closure of the Children’s Activity Centers. We went to press before the Pixar thingy at the Contemporary was announced.
Chapter 3: How Long to Stay
The prices in this chapter are updated to reflect the ticket prices that came out in February. In some cases, the cost of adding a day actually went down.
Chapter 4: When to Go
Little changed in this chapter—we went to press after the start date for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival (August 30) was announced.
Chapter 5: Where to Stay
- We updated the hotel advice and reviews of this chapter based on the additions of FastPass+ at 60 days and Extra Magic Hours to the various hotels noted above
- We also updated the refurb status of various hotels–e.g. the Dolphin, Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter
- The announcement that the Disney resorts would charge for overnight parking for trips booked March 21 or later came out after we went to press
Chapter 6: How to Spend Your Time
We made dozens of changes to this chapter, our most important. Most were minor—but not all. A few worth noting
- A new entry on UP! A Great Bird Adventure, to debut at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 22
- Multiple revisions to the Hollywood Studios material related to challenges you’ll find seeing Toy Story Mania between now and when Toy Story Land opens on June 30, including a recommended touring plan for dates when FastPass+ for it can’t be booked
- Changes to FastPass+ priority at Magic Kingdom
Chapter 7: Where to Eat
“Where to Eat” always sees a ton of changes when we update because of Disney World’s constant pricing and menu changes. In addition
- We note that Dining Plan users can now use the plan to pay for Mobile Orders
- We introduce the dining options to come in Toy Story Land
- We note the coming two-credit prix fixe dinner menu coming July 27 to Be Our Guest
- We revise the entry on The Edison, and add new entries for Ale & Compass, Enzo’s Hideaway and Maria & Enzo’s Ristorante
Chapter 8: Which Tickets to Buy and What to Budget
We’ve revised all the material in this chapter to reflect
- The new ticket prices announced in February
- The move of Disney later this year to seasonal pricing for multi-day tickets
Chapter 9: How to Set Everything Up and Get Everything Done
We revised the To-Do lists in this chapter to reflect the addition of more hotels to 60 day FastPass+ eligibility.
Chapter 10: Where to Go Next
We made no significant changes to this chapter, as the places to go next remain easyWDW.com and yourfirstvisit.net!
November Update
Josh and I published an update to our The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2018, the best-reviewed Disney World guide book in the known universe.
This was, by our standards, a minor update, as not a lot has changed since our August 2017 publication date. Here’s what’s different or updated:
- We’ve added the new dog-friendly pilot to the four resorts it affects.
- Although we don’t usually do rumors, the potential impact of the rumored expansion of access to 60 day FastPass+ is so strong that we noted it at several points
- We’ve added the dates for the Festival of the Arts and the Flower and Garden Festival, and changed the name of the old Holidays Around the World to The Festival of the Holidays
- We updated the construction and/or refurb status of the moderate resorts and of Pop Century and the Yacht Club, and added the new Yacht Club floor plan.
- Thanks to reader feedback, we fixed a few errors or omissions that had crept in—the height minimum in Rock ‘n” Roller, a place where we had left out tiering at the Animal Kingdom, and a point about crowd calendars.
- We made a change in the FastPass+ priority order at Epcot
- At the Studios, we’ve updated the names of one attraction (Walt Disney Presents) and of one of the lands (Grand Avenue), added BaseLine Tap House, updated the FastPass+ priority order, and added Jingle Bell Jingle BAM!
- At Magic Kingdom, we revised the time of the Afternoon Parade and update the touring plans to reflect it.
We pride ourselves on having the most accurate and up-to-date guidebook available, and updates like this are what make that come to life!
October Update:
First, a couple of corrections: on page 162, we have the wrong height minimum for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster–it should be 48 inches. Also, on page 305, we forgot to delete the reference to crowd calendars. We promise to do better.
Second, Disney shifted the time of the afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom in August to 2p. Starting of January 1, 2018, it’ll shift back to its traditional 3p time. See the revisions to the Magic Kingdom itineraries below:
For visits after January 1, 2018:
In the Magic Kingdom Two Day Touring Plan, Morning Day 1 (page 217), instead of
9. Have lunch. Be Our Guest and Pinocchio Village Haus are closest: 12–12:45pm.
10. Visit Enchanted Tales with Belle with FastPass+: 12:50–1:30pm.
11. Select a nearby 4th FastPass+ via the phone app or the kiosk near Mickey’s PhilharMagic.
12. Find spots for Festival of Fantasy parade and watch it: 1:35–2:25pm.
13. Visit Mickey’s PhilharMagic or ride Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel: 2:35–3pm.
14. Use 4th FastPass+, shop, grab snacks, or look around.
Do this
9. Have lunch: Be Our Guest and Pinocchio Village Haus are closest: 12pm – 12:45pm
10. Visit Enchanted Tales with Belle with FP+: 12:50pm – 1:30pm
11. Select a nearby 4th FastPass+ via the phone app or the kiosk near Mickey’s PhilharMagic.
12. Visit Mickey’s PhilharMagic or Prince Regal Carrousel: 1:35pm – 2pm
13. Use 4th FastPass+, shop, grab snacks, or look around.
14. See Festival of Fantasy Parade in Frontierland or Liberty Square: 2:30pm – 3:15pm
In the Magic Kingdom Character-Centric Two Day Touring Plan, Morning Day 2, (page 219), instead of
9. See Move It! Shake It! Parade in front of the Castle: 12:20–12:50pm.
10. See the 1pm Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire show in front of the Castle: 1–1:30pm.
11. Find spots for Festival of Fantasy parade in Frontierland or Liberty Square and watch the parade: 1:40–2:20pm.
12. Ride Jungle Cruise with FastPass+: 2:30–2:55pm.
13. Ride Pirates of the Caribbean with FastPass+: 3–3:25pm.
14. Meet Merida, Aladdin/Jasmine, or other skipped characters
Change the time of your Jungle Cruise FastPass+ to 1-2p, and do this:
9. See Move It! Shake It! Parade in front of the Castle: 12:20pm – 12:50pm
10. See the 1pm Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire show in front of the Castle: 1pm – 1:30pm
11. Ride Jungle Cruise with FastPass+: 1:35pm – 2pm
12. Ride Pirates of the Caribbean with FastPass+: 2:05pm – 2:25pm
13. See Festival of Fantasy Parade in Frontierland or Liberty Square: 2:40pm – 3:20p
14. Meet Merida, Aladdin/Jasmine, or other skipped characters.
Some other news/updates that might affect your vacation:
- Andre is reporting at PortOrleans.org that Port Orleans French Quarter rooms will be refurbed in the first half of 2018, and that the refurb will then move to Port Orleans Riverside. He is expecting floor by floor (probably building by building in Alligator Bayou) closures during the refurb–these typically don’t have much impact on vacationers. No details are out on what is happening to the rooms, nor, so far as we know, has Disney announced anything official about this.
- Four Disney World resorts joined the campsites at Fort Wilderness, the Four Seasons, most of the Universal hotels, and more than 70 other Orlando hotels in being dog friendly. This is a pilot program, and includes the Yacht Club, Port Orleans Riverside, Art of Animation, and the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. Details are here.
September 2017 Update:
See below for large color versions of the park maps from Chapter 6–these are the same as in the book, just larger and in color:
ANIMAL KINGDOM MAP
EPCOT MAP
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS MAP
MAGIC KINGDOM MAP
MAGIC KINGDOM MAP
To grab a full-sized copy of any of these maps–for printing or whatever–if you are in Windows, right click, and then choose “save image as” or “copy image.”
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