Posts from — January 2010

YOUR TO-DO LIST FOR FITTING A MORNING VISIT TO THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER INTO A TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• Pick your dates as soon as possible
• Set your approach—hotel or not
• Check Universal’s “hot deals” website and MouseSavers.com
• Reserve your hotel for the night of the first morning you intend to be at Harry Potter For example, if you plan the first day of your visit to be the morning of June 20, reserve your hotel for the same night, June 20
• Buy your tickets online
• Print your tickets and passes as soon as you buy them, and bring them with you to Orlando
• Check this site often for changes and updates

(These instructions are especially designed for fitting a visit to Universal Orlando’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter into a first family trip to Walt Disney World. Click here for the Summary of Instructions for visiting Harry Potter.)

LINKS FOR THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

• Getting to Harry Potter from Walt Disney World

• Summary of Instructions for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• When to Go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• How Long to Stay at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• How Old/Tall Your Kids Should be for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Where to Stay During Your Visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• How Much to Budget for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• When Your Plans for Visiting the Wizarding World Should Be Firm
• How to Spend Your Time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• What to Do When to Get Ready for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

How to Spend Your Time at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S OLD KEY WEST RESORT FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Disney’s Old Key West Resort is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay.  However, for first-time visitors, it ranks near the bottom of the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

(For a report on a recent visit, see this.)

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

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This is part of The Comfortable Guide to Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: THE MOST COMFORTABLE WAY TO TOUR THE THEME PARKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This site provides precise instructions elsewhere , including how to tour the parks at Walt Disney World. These instructions are designed for typical first time family visitors who are not sure whether or not they will ever return.

This page is one of several onhow to tour the theme parks at Walt Disney World for a subset of first time visitors: those seeking the most comfortable visit.

It is part of a series about the most comfortable way to visit Walt Disney World.  Its companion series is about the most inexpensive way to visit Walt Disney World,

I am publishing both series at the same time so that they also help those who are looking for bargains and deals on some things, so that they can spend more on others!!  Links to everything in these two series are at the bottom of the page.

MORE ON THE MOST COMFORTABLE WAY TO TOUR THE THEME PARKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
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OVERVIEW: EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Extra Magic Hours have been replaced by a new morning program, Early Entry.

(This page is one of a series explicating Walt Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

Extra Magic Hours are a program offered to guests staying at Walt Disney Resort hotels, and also at three other hotels: the Swan, Dolphin, and Shades of Green. In early 2018, access to them was added to guests staying at one of the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, and in March 2018, to guests staying at the Four Seasons. In early 2019, Extra Magic Hours access was granted to guests staying at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando.

Almost every day, at least one of Walt Disney World’s theme parks offers morning Extra Magic Hours or evening Extra Magic Hours.

During morning Extra Magic Hours, a theme park opens one or more hours earlier to these guests than it opens to the general public. During evening Extra Magic Hours, a theme park remains open for these guests for two hours or more later than it is open to the general public.

Not all rides and attractions operate during these hours. However, most of the most popular ones are open in the morning hours, and even more are open in the evening hours.

The effect of these hours is to increase the operating hours of the theme parks for Walt Disney World resort guests—and for the guests of the three additional hotels listed above.

These are not, however, necessarily less crowded periods.

The hotels in the program hold on the order of 30,000 rooms!  That room capacity can put a lot of people into the parks! See the “Dos, Don’ts, Tricks and Tips” section below for suggestions on how to work Extra Magic Hours.

MORE ON EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

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FITTING THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER INTO A TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• Get your tickets before arriving
  • Universal Orlando is a completely different resort than Walt Disney World. Your Disney tickets do not work there…
  • For links for buying your tickets, see How Much to Budget for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• If checking in to the Royal Pacific or another Universal Orlando resort be at its front desk by 7.15a to check in and get your hotel keys, which are also your early entry passes
• (If you are wondering why this hotel, or what these passes are, the details of Universal’s front of the line approach can be found in Where to Stay at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.)
• If you are not a hotel guest, be at the entrance to Universal by 60-120 minutes before opening. Arrive earlier in this range during the peak season, later during the off season

A Morning at Hogsmeade

• At park opening, grab a park map and schedule, enter Islands of Adventure, head to Hogsmeade, and get in line for and see Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Then see the wand choosing the Wizard at Ollivanders
• Then explore the shops in Hogsmeade
• Then, if you are a fan of serious roller coasters, ride Dragon Challenge
• Next, if it appeals to your family, ride Flight of the Hippogriff
• Next, using your park map, relax and see the rest of Hogsmeade. See this for more on what you can see and do
• If you have a park-park ticket, take the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley

A morning at Diagon Alley

• At park opening, grab a park map and schedule, enter Universal Studios, head to Diagon Alley, and get in line for and see Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
• Then see the wand choosing the Wizard at Ollivanders
• Then explore the rest of Diagon Alley
• If you have a park-park ticket, take the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade

LINKS FOR THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

• Getting to Harry Potter from Walt Disney World

• Summary of Instructions for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• When to Go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• How Long to Stay at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• How Old/Tall Your Kids Should be for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Where to Stay During Your Visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• How Much to Budget for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• When Your Plans for Visiting the Wizarding World Should Be Firm
• How to Spend Your Time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• What to Do When to Get Ready for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

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Hey–this page is about July 2010–for July 2011, click here

OVERVIEW

This page outlines July 2010 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, operating hours, adds a few other notes, and ends with week by week summaries.

For the schedule of 4th of July fireworks at Walt Disney World, see this.

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