Category — p. News and Changes

I’ve updated my Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar to reflect recently-released July operating hours.

You can find it here.

On a related note, the folks at TouringPlans.com have always noted that a good touring plan (they offer hundreds) can help tame even the busiest of days.

A recent post from their blog illustrates this really well—click here to read the post.

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

GETTING FROM YOUR WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT HOTEL TO THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

I recently had a comment from Dave on this page:

“How long from Disney resorts to Universal, and what’s the cheapest way to get back and forth?”

I told him that it takes 20-50 minutes, depending on which resort and on I-4 traffic, and said that I’d find out about the cheapest way and post on it.

Here’s the post! [Read more →]

The very same day I noted here that I can’t tell from my stats alone whether or not this site is helping visitors to Walt Disney World, Brandon posted the following comment on this page:

Just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your website and how invaluable the information was to me on my recent (Dec ’10) trip to WDW.

I have been to Disney every year for almost 20 years and have always done it a certain way.

Your suggestions on how to plan a Christmas time experience were eye-opening.

After a flawless vacation with 2 under the age of 3, I will be “doing it your way” from now on in December. Many thanks!

Brandon is referring to the Basic Itinerary.

The Basic Itinerary is the heart of this site.

It provides the daily guidance for the week that the site recommends first time family visitors go to Walt Disney World.

If a family follows the Basic Itinerary, then they will have made great choices on when to go, how long to stay, where to eat, and what to do when.

What a nice Christmas present for Brandon to advocate that it works.

WALT DISNEY WORLD ITINERARY LINKS

• For itinerary design goals and the basic December Itinerary, see this
• For shorter and longer itineraries targeted at the same December week, see this
• For itineraries covering all the other parts of the year, see this
• To design your own itinerary, see this
• For rides that might be skipped, see this
• For a comprehensive guide to rides and attractions, see this

NEW ROOM AND TICKET 2011 OFFERS FROM WALT DISNEY WORLD

Walt Disney World has announced a couple of new discount deals to go along with the already announced spring discounted room rates.

They cover periods through October 1, 2011, but exclude the Easter weeks, and mid-June to mid-August.

One is really two deals in one–it provides room rate discounts at two different levels for periods in late spring, and in early and late summer.

The second is an offer for free tickets for kids between the ages of 3 and 9.

THE NEW ROOM RATE WALT DISNEY WORLD 2011 DISCOUNT [Read more →]

CURRENT WALT DISNEY WORLD JANUARY 2011 RIDE CLOSURES

This site suggests that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who may never return avoid January and early February, as this is the most common time for rides to be closed for repair and rehab.  For more, see this.

On any typical January day, 3 rides are closed on average—for the details, see this.

In January 2011, there are a few more ride closures than usual.

The following rides (so far) will be closed for repair or rehab in January: [Read more →]

The only measures of a site like this are whether or not it helps or is fun, and whether or not you read it.

I can’t tell from my stats whether the site helps or is fun…

…but hundreds of thousands of you made your way here in 2010–four times as many as the year before.

Tens of thousands of you became frequent readers, with the number of frequent readers increasing by a factor of seven compared to 2009.

You came from more than 13,000 places in more than 180 countries.

I am humbled by your visits, and will keep trying to make the site better, and to add useful, new, interesting, and different material.

TOP 10 PLACES YOU COME FROM

[Read more →]