Category — i. Itineraries for Walt Disney World

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MARCH 11 TO MARCH 19, 2023

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, parades, early entry, extended evening hours, and fireworks.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/11- 3/19/23

Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 3/11 and 3/12, 8a-10p 3/13, 8a-9p 3/14, 9a-11p 3/15, 8a-10p 3/6, and 9a-11p 3/17 through 3/19

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 8.30a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-8p every day

EARLY ENTRY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/11 – 3/19/23

• Magic Kingdom: every morning
• Epcot: every morning
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: every morning
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: every morning

EXTENDED EVENING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/11 – 3/19/23

• Epcot: 3/13
• Magic Kingdom: 3/15

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/11 – 3/19/23

Magic Kingdom’s afternoon parade will show at noon and 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/11 – 3/19/23

• At Magic Kingdom, the evening fireworks Disney Enchantment show is scheduled at 8.15p  3/11,  8.30p 3/12 through 3/18, and 9p 3/19
• At Epcot, the Epcot evening show Harmonious is scheduled at 9p every night
• At Disney’s Hollywood Studios,
  • A minor evening show, Wonderful World of Animation, is scheduled at 9p 3/11, and 9.30p 3/12 and 3/15 through 3/19
  • An even more minor evening show, Disney Movie Magic, shows at 8.40p 3/11, and 9.10p 3/12 and 3/15 through 3/19
  • The evening spectacular Fantasmic shows at 8 and 9.30p 3/11, and at 8.30 and 10p 3/12 through 3/19

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/11 – 3/19/23

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MARCH 4 TO MARCH 12, 2023

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, parades, early entry, extended evening hours, and fireworks.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/4 – 3/12/23

Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 3/4 and 3/5, 8a-10p 3/6, and 9a-11p 3/7 through 3/12

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 8.30a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-8p every day

EARLY ENTRY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/4 – 3/12/23

• Magic Kingdom: every morning
• Epcot: every morning
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: every morning
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: every morning

EXTENDED EVENING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/4 – 3/12/23

• Epcot: 3/6
• Magic Kingdom: 3/8

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/4 – 3/12/23

Magic Kingdom’s afternoon parade will show at noon and 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/4 – 3/12/23

• At Magic Kingdom, the evening fireworks Disney Enchantment show is scheduled at 8.15p 3/4 through 3/11, and 8.30p 3/12
• At Epcot, the Epcot evening show Harmonious is scheduled at 9p every night
• At Disney’s Hollywood Studios,
  • A minor evening show, Wonderful World of Animation, is scheduled at 9p 3/4 through 3/11, and 9.30p 3/12
  • An even more minor evening show, Disney Movie Magic, shows at 8.40p 3/4 through 3/11, and 9.10p 3/12
  • The evening spectacular Fantasmic shows at 8 and 9.30p 3/4 through 3/11, and at 8.30 and 10p 3/12

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/4 – 3/12/23

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: FEBRUARY 25 TO MARCH 5, 2023

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, parades, early entry, extended evening hours, and fireworks.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/25 – 3/5/23

Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 2/25 and 2/26, 8a-10p 2/27,  9a-11p 2/28 and 3/1, 8a-10p 3/2, and 9a-11p 3/3 through 3/5

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p 2/25, 10a-9p 2/26, and 9a-9p 2/27 through 3/5

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 8.30a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-8p 2/25 and 2/26, 8a-7p 2/27 though 3/1, and 8a-8p 3/2 through 3/5

EARLY ENTRY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/25 – 3/5/23

• Magic Kingdom: every morning
• Epcot: every morning
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: every morning
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: every morning

EXTENDED EVENING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/25 – 3/5/23

• Epcot: 2/27
• Magic Kingdom: 3/1

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/25 – 3/5/23

Magic Kingdom’s afternoon parade will show at noon and 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/25 – 3/5/23

• At Magic Kingdom, the evening fireworks Disney Enchantment show is scheduled at 8.15p every night
• At Epcot, the Epcot evening show Harmonious is scheduled at 9p every night
• At Disney’s Hollywood Studios,
  • A minor evening show, Wonderful World of Animation, is scheduled at 9p every night
  • An even more minor evening show, Disney Movie Magic, shows at 8.40p every night
  • The evening spectacular Fantasmic shows at 8 and 9.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/25 – 3/5/23

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: FEBRUARY 18 TO FEBRUARY 26, 2023

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, parades, early entry, extended evening hours, and fireworks.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/18 – 2/26/23

Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 2/18 and 2/19, 8a-10p 2/20, and 9a-11p 2/21 through 2/26

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p 2/18 through 2/25, and 10a-9p 2/26

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 8.30a-9p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-8p every day

EARLY ENTRY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/18 – 2/26/23

• Magic Kingdom: every morning
• Epcot: every morning
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: every morning
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: every morning

EXTENDED EVENING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/18 – 2/26/23

• Epcot: 2/20
• Magic Kingdom: 2/22

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/18 – 2/26/23

Magic Kingdom’s afternoon parade will show at noon and 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/18 – 2/26/23

• At Magic Kingdom, the evening fireworks Disney Enchantment show is scheduled at 8.15p every night
• At Epcot, the Epcot evening show Harmonious is scheduled at 9p every night
• At Disney’s Hollywood Studios,
  • A minor evening show, Wonderful World of Animation, is scheduled at 9p every night
  • An even more minor evening show, Disney Movie Magic, shows at 8.40p every night
  • The evening spectacular Fantasmic shows at 8 and 9.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/18 – 2/26/23

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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OPTIMIZED ITINERARY WITH TRON FOR GENIE+ AND INDIVIDUAL LIGHTNING LANES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Below is my Genie+ based Disney World itinerary for first time visitors who may never return, updated in February 2023 to incorporate the addition of TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom and to add back in best-loved dining, which is now fully open.

It uses all the tools available to guests to shorten waits, and thus will only work for those staying in a Disney-owned or other hotel eligible for both Early Entry and for 7a booking of Individual Lightning Lane attractions. That narrows the list to all of the Disney-owned value, moderate, deluxe, and DVC properties, and in addition Shades of Green, the Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin. (For more on these hotels, see this.)

Included are a detailed To-Do List with everything you need to do–especially reservations–when, and detailed daily agendas that cover what to do and see, in order, in each of the parks.

For how I constructed it, see lower on the page.

For a larger version of the itinerary image, click here.

This itinerary won’t work all weeks, and some weeks that it mostly works it may need some little adjustments. Check your week here.

TO-DO LIST FOR THE DISNEY WORLD GENIE+ ITINERARY

The To-Do List for this itinerary is here.

DAILY AGENDAS FOR THE DISNEY WORLD GENIE+ ITINERARY

Detailed daily agendas are in the links:

• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

BUILDING AN ITINERARY FOR FIRST-TIMERS AT DISNEY WORLD

The basic parameters of the itinerary follow my previous itineraries—guests see Epcot first and Magic Kingdom last among the four parks, and specific days are chosen for specific parks to avoid typically higher-crowd days.

Beyond that, the general approach is to put Hollywood Studios on weekends, as it is horrible pretty much every day, and weekends are busy at all the parks. If there’s no better day at HS than a weekend, why not go there on a weekend, so that you can see another park on a possibly less busy weekday?

In addition, guests are at Epcot and Magic Kingdom on the days these parks most commonly have Extended Evening Hours (which don’t make crowds higher those days, as the old EMH might have), so that guests eligible for Extended Evening Hours can enjoy them if they wish without paying for a park hopper.

Since Early Entry happens every day now, we don’t see the ebb and flow of specific park crowds on specific days that we used to see with the once or twice a week Extra Magic Hours. During the party season from August to late December, the ebb and flow of crowds from it returns, especially at Magic Kingdom. The itinerary takes advantage of typical party-season patterns.

Overall there’s a mix of later evening and early morning days. Late evenings are mostly followed by low-key mornings.

The general approach to the parks is to see the most popular ride via ILL, and the most popular Genie+ ride via Early Entry. This puts you several steps ahead of everyone else in the parks. In general I don’t use some advanced techniques available (such as stacking Genie+ in afternoons or evenings) unless they work naturally in the flow of a day, and for cost reasons avoid park hopper tickets–which also limits some advanced Genie+ techniques available.  Future itineraries may use such tools.

This itinerary is dedicated to my friend and co-author Josh Humphrey, who died at the age of 36 on March 10th, 2022. I’ll be writing more about Josh one of these days, but every time I begin to draft this appreciation, I start to cry…

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(Note: this is from the Disney World Genie+ with Tron Itinerary.)

SUGGESTED APPROACH TO EPCOT

Think of Epcot as being two parks combined into one: what used to be Future World (now being transformed into “World Nature,” “World Celebration,” and “World Discovery”) somewhat explores ideas, technology, and the planet Earth, and has most of the attractions; World Showcase suggests a permanent World’s Fair, with an intriguing mix of attractions, cultural experiences, themed architecture, shopping, and dining.

The favorite Disney World park of some adults, Epcot has recently deepened its attractiveness to children (historically Epcot’s weakest feature). Epcot has recently opened new attractions aimed at the younger set, including a Frozen Ever After ride, a Frozen Meet and Greet, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Harmonious, a Disney-character-oriented evening show, which will be shifting to a different show, Epcot Forever, on April 3, 2023.

Another broadly appealing attraction (albeit one with a 42” minimum height requirement and a bit of a motion-sickness warning), Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, also recently opened.

Under construction and expected  to open in later 2023 is a walk-through Moana-themed attraction about water, Journey of Water.

Construction has led to the center of the old Future World section of Epcot being a bit of a mess, and the park still uncomfortably straddles two audiences, not yet being quite enough kid-pleasing (although much better than it was), while disappointing those whose greatest admiration for Epcot is reserved for incarnations from the 1980s and 1990s that were much more focused on ideas, technology, and the planet Earth.

Purely on attractions—and like Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Epcot offers much more than attractions—the best at Epcot includes (in alphabetical order) The American Adventure; the evening show; Frozen Ever After; Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind; Mission: SPACE; Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure; Soarin’ Around the World; Spaceship Earth; and Test Track. Experienced Epcot fans would likely add to this “best of” attractions list Turtle Talk with Crush in the Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion and both the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along and Impressions de France in the France Pavilion.

Most of these rides are accessible via Disney’s new paid systems, either “Individual Lightning Lane” (currently Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind), or Genie+ (most of the rest—not, though, The American Adventure, the evening show, or Impressions de France).

Other, more minor, rides are also available in Genie+.

Most of these better attractions are also available during Early Entry, including Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After—although again not The American Adventure, the evening show, or Impressions de France. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened as a boarding group/virtual queue ride, and I expect that so long as it remains in that status, it will not be available during Early Entry. However, those eligible for Extended Evening Hours will have a special additional 6p option for booking a boarding group for Guardians during the extended hours.

While you can successfully do much of the best of Epcot in one long day, Epcot repays attention beyond the major attractions, and it’s hard to predict ahead of time what parts of Epcot will most appeal to your group. Thus, my suggested itinerary divides Epcot over two days.

EPCOT DAY 1: FIRST SATURDAY AGENDA

Your plan today is to see Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and also two or three key Epcot World Showcase attractions, and to fit in among these what you can of other parts of Epcot’s World Showcase. You will complete your Epcot visit on another day.

You need to book an Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) visit to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and also Genie+ for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and, if it sounds like fun to you, also for Frozen Ever After.

Your other priority today is seeing Epcot’s evening show: Harmonious until April 2, Epcot Forever, which returns April 3, or the third 2023 Epcot show, expected to debut later in the year.

LOGISTICS

Before 7a, buy Genie+.

At 7a, book an Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) time for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and check the time available immediately Genie+ for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.  If it sounds like fun, later Sunday morning (2 hours after park open), come back to Genie+ and book Genie+ for Frozen Ever After.  Note that you may have to keep coming back to find Genie+ times for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After late enough to work for your park arrival time.

Book all these to begin no earlier than four hours after you expect to arrive in Orlando, and try to book Cosmic Rewind for the first hour you expect to be in the park.

Arrive at your hotel, and check in. Unless you are arriving late, your room will likely not be ready, but you can leave your bags.

Head to Epcot as soon as you can.

AT THE PARK

Your plan today is to see Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, two or three key Epcot World Showcase attractions, including its nighttime fireworks show, and to fit in among these what you can of other parts of Epcot’s World Showcase. (You will complete World Showcase on Day 2.)

You should have ILL for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Genie+ for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and, if you are interested, also Genie+ for Frozen Ever After.

Those arriving late may have to thin the below to just Guardians, Remy, and the evening show.

Go through the turnstiles and head to your first booked ride, ideally Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and then head to World Showcase, and while keeping an eye out for your Genie+ return times, see the pavilions starting with Mexico and going clockwise.

• Each pavilion will have some or all of shopping, special exhibits, a ride, a movie, and other special features.
• Check My Disney Experience and the pavilion itself, to see what each pavilion has.
• For scheduled events, sequence what you do when among items that are not scheduled (shops, exhibits, and rides), and bounce back and forth between nearby pavilions, so that you don’t have to wait long for the scheduled item

Have dinner from a convenient counter service. (World Showcase is loaded with them.)

Continue touring World Showcase clockwise until no later than 8:30p.

Pick a spot for the evening show. From where you are likely to be, the stretch along the lagoon between the American Adventure Pavilion and the Japan Pavilion is likely best. If you are ready well before 8.30p, then the other end of World Showcase—the area just at the edge of World Showcase and the rest of Epcot, between the Disney Traders and Port of Entry gift shops—is a great place to watch from, but it fills up much earlier and sometimes is used for special events.

Watch the evening show, and on your way out of the park, be sure to watch the lights on Spaceship Earth.

Return to your hotel.

PREVIEW OF TOMORROW

You will complete some early logistics tasks, then have the morning off before spending the first of two days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

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