Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

(This is the second page of this article on prices and value at Walt Disney World in 2013. For the first page, see this.)

DISNEY WORLD 2013 HOTEL PRICE INCREASES AND EXTRA MAGIC HOUR CUTBACKS

Prices for Disney World’s resort hotels have also gone up in 2013—but, relatively speaking, when the additional value these hotels will offer is factored in, only a teeny bit compared to the massive 2013 dining plan and ticket price increases.

Moreover, I think that the timing of the January cutbacks in Extra Magic Hours—evening Extra Magic Hours, traditionally 3 hours, are shifting to 2—is less of a takeaway than it is a signal of when NextGen will kick in…and that NextGen will add value to being a Disney World hotel guest much more than the loss of an hour of evening EMH will take away value.

(Note that Disney has already tested, this summer, the effect of reducing operating and Extra Magic Hours—more on this widely unnoticed test below.)

The combined effect is that Disney World resort hotels, all in, and even with the EMH cutbacks, should be a much better value in 2013 than in 2012.

We should get a further hint about this soon.

The Disney Park blog used an unusual word for the Fantasyland expansion— it mentioned “previews.” I may be mis-remembering, but in the past, visiting a ride before official opening has been called a “soft-open,” and has not been advertised as a “preview,”, much less communicated with a date.

But for new Fantasyland, things are different—the official open has been set for 12/6, and previews are to begin 11/19.

I suspect Disney is using this language of “previews” so that it can schedule these previews using NextGen technology and processes, as a first step towards testing the whole NextGen system.

Moreover, I expect booked Disney World resort hotel guests to be among the first to be offered a chance to book these previews…

DISNEY WORLD 2013 HOTEL PRICE INCREASES [Read more →]

“…We’re certainly on the trajectory to get back to our…pre-downturn trajectory on pricing…As we open DCA…we’ve announced [strong] price increases there…I think you’ll see a similar thing in Florida as we open the new product.”

– Jay Rasulo, CFO, the Walt Disney Company, at the Nomura U.S. Media, Cable & Telecomm Summit, May 30 2012.

PRICES AND VALUE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD IN 2013

There’s been a lot of reaction, some of it sensible, to Disney World’s 2013 price increases, especially when coupled with the recent announcement that evening Extra Magic Hours would be cut back from 3 hours to 2 hours beginning in January 2013.

For first time visitors, these price increases don’t matter much. The high absolute cost of going to Disney World matters a lot to them; the fact that it is more expensive in 2013 than 2012 is interesting, but largely irrelevant.

But for returning visitors, price increases matter a lot, as they may affect willingness to buy some items—e.g. the Dining Plan—or force some of them to delay their next visit. [Read more →]

I’ve recently published the final revision of the weeks of 2013 ranked in order of how good they are for a family on their first visit to Walt Disney World who may never return.

This page explains how they are built.

HOW THE WEEK RANKINGS ARE BUILT

Basically, I chunk up the weeks of the year based on certain criteria, and then sort within each chunk based first on crowds, and then, within the same crowd level, prices.

“WEEKS TO AVOID” AT WALT DISNEY WORLD [Read more →]

V2 OF 2013 WEEKS TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD RANKED IN ORDER IS OUT

The updated Disney World 2013 week ranking is now out, and (barring typos and logical lacunae) should now be stable through 2013.

The update incorporates final Disney World 2013 price seasons and crowd forecasts.

Only 3 weeks changed their ranking by more than a couple of places from the draft version, and only two more than 5 places. [Read more →]

2013 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The analysis of 2013 school breaks is done, and based on that, I’ve updated my 2013 Disney World crowd calendar.  It should–barring typos or cataclysms–now be stable through 2013. [Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD 2013 SUMMER CROWDS: THE PRINCIPLES

Walt Disney World summer crowds are governed by two factors:

• Public school summer break calendars, which have start and end dates more varied than you’d think
• The beginning of the peak of the hurricane season, in mid-August

Pretty much all kids are off all of July. As a result, July is the busiest summer month, and during it, the week that includes the 4th of July the busiest week.

Varied dates for when summer breaks begin means June can start well (but see below), and then build to high crowd levels.

August has the opposite pattern, beginning with high crowds, but, through the combination of a trickle turning to a flood of back-to-school dates, and savvy travelers avoiding the peak of the hurricane season, it ends quite un-crowded.

Families that can only visit in the summer (for example, school teachers) should go as early in June or as late in August as their schedules permit. [Read more →]