Category — p. News and Changes

Disney After Hours is a separately-ticket opportunity to be in the Magic Kingdom with next to no one, and for three hours ride the best rides (not all are open, but most are) with next to no waits.

It’s expensive, but especially for returning visitors who know their way around Magic Kingdom and want to nail a lot of rides, can be well worth it.

I’ve done it twice–extensive reviews are here for my January 2017 Disney After Hours test, and here for my April 2016 Disney After Hours test.

These are the dates of Disney After Hours in early 2018:

• Friday January 19: 8 to 11p
• Friday January 26: 8 to 11p
• Tuesday January 30: 8 to 11p
• Thursday February 8: 8 to 11p
• Thursday February 15: 9p to 12MN
• Thursday March 1: 9p to 12MN
• Thursday March 8: 9p to 12MN

Have you done it? What did you think?

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Josh of easyWDW.com and I will be meeting our readers and signing more or less anything they bring for us to sign—but signing with special delight our co-authored The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney Visit 2018—in later September! (Scroll down a bit to learn more about The easy Guide.)

Specifically, Josh, Steve and I will be in (or near) the seating area at Tomorrowland Terrace at Magic Kingdom on Sunday September 24 from 5.30p til 6.30p.

This time we’ll also be joined by Steve Bell of MilitaryDisneyTips.com!

Steve, in addition to authoring that great resource for military families,  is also the author of Walt Disney World For Military Families  and The Essential Guide to Shades of Green.  Steve—like Josh—is one of my longest-standing imaginary internet friends. If you’ve had enough of us, talk to Steve instead.

We love to be able to meet the folks we’ve tried to help, and are grateful for their kind words and support. If you will be in (or near!) the Magic Kingdom that day, we’d love to meet and thank you, too!

MORE ON THE EASY GUIDE 2018

As I noted a few days ago, the 2018 edition of the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook, ever, is now available on Amazon—paperback here, and Kindle here.

A guidebook too large to be understood or easily used is doing folks no favors. Co-author Josh of easyWDW.com and I from the start wanted to publish the shortest and best-organized guidebook we could. Our 2018 edition has 307 substantive pages—about a third the size of some Disney World guidebooks—and in what is probably a first for Disney World guidebook series, has 8 fewer pages fewer than our 2017 edition!

But in those 307 pages we cover every major decision you need to make—how old and tall your kids should be, how long to stay, when to go, where to stay, what to do in the parks, where to eat, and more.

Moreover, we make it easy for you to refer to the book in the parks. If you purchase the paperback version, we make the Kindle version available for free. Load it onto a Kindle app on your phone and you are all set!

THE MOST ACCURATE DISNEY WORLD GUIDEBOOK

We also pride ourselves on providing the most accurate guidebook available. Our knowledge of Disney World comes from direct experience—Josh is in the parks and restaurants two to four times a week, and later this year I will have stayed in my 150th different Disney World-owned room, villa, suite, studio, cabin or campsite. No one else can match the experience we bring.

Dave’s stays…

We match this with disciplined judgment and a commitment to accuracy. Accuracy is really hard, and we’ve had our share of goofs. But we are sure that we have fewer than anyone else.

For example, another 2018 guidebook that also came out in August 2017 has not updated its entry on Toy Story Mania since 2015, nor has it updated its entry on the Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival since 2015, either. More examples: it has Easter 2018 as April 11, still has a 54 inch trundle bed in Port Orleans Riverside—which was replaced by a 66 inch Murphy bed in 2012 (!)–and has only three DVC studios offering accommodations for 5, rather than the five that’s been true for a while now.

I could go on with many more errors from this alternative, but the key is that it’s really hard to be accurate, and we (largely) get it done.

THE MOST UP-TO-DATE DISNEY WORLD GUIDEBOOK

Our guidebook is up to date as of early August 2017—so we incorporate in it the latest refurb news at Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, and Coronado Springs, the shift of the afternoon parade to 2p, the closures of Ellen’s Energy Adventure and The Great Movie Ride, etc.

But no matter how up-to-date a guidebook is when published, it will necessarily become less so over time, as things change. We solve this problem for our customers by offering free updates. We will update the 2018 easy Guide two to four times between now and August 2018, when we publish our 2019 edition.

Anyone who emails us their Amazon receipt will get instructions on how to get these updates when they come out:

THE BEST DISNEY WORLD GUIDEBOOK

The best-reviewed Disney World guidebook. The easiest-to-use Disney World guidebook. The most accurate Disney World guidebook. The most up-to-date Disney World guidebook. That’s The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit.

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News broke moments ago that, due to Irma, the Disney World parks will close early Saturday and remain closed Sunday and Monday.

Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom will close at 7p Saturday, and Magic Kingdom and Epcot will close at 9p Saturday.

The official announcement:

The impact of Irma on Disney World could range from heavy rain and high winds to deluging rain, localized flooding and dangerous winds.

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The guidebook I co-author with Josh of easyWDW.com is now out in its 2018 edition.

The book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2018, is the latest installment of the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series, ever.

The easy Guide is, by far, the shortest, smartest, most accurate, and most up-to-date Disney World guidebook available. For example, compared to an 846 page alternative, it knows that Easter 2018 is not April 11, and that neither Barbados at Caribbean Beach nor Building 9B at Coronado Springs even exists any more!

Going to Disney World?  Do yourself a favor and get a copy of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2018, available at the link on Amazon.

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DISNEY WORLD ITINERARIES FULLY UPDATED

I have not been posting a lot lately, as first Josh and I have been working on the 2018 version of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, and second, I’m on a long vacation in the mountains of North Carolina.

Here’s the view from our balcony…

But every morning I’ve started early at the Starbucks in Boone, North Carolina and have been busy working there to update all the itineraries on this site.

For the standard Low and High Crowd itineraries, the updates reflect the changes at Disney World over this summer, and include refinements of my guidance for the new Avatar: World of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They also are adapted to the closure of Ellen’s Energy Adventure and the Great Movie Ride, and the shift of the Festival of Fantasy Parade to 2pm.

These standard itineraries and their variants:

• Low Crowd Itinerary
• Low Crowd Itinerary, Seven Night Version, Sunday Arrival
• Low Crowd Itinerary, Seven Night Version, Saturday Arrival
• High Crowd Itinerary
• High Crowd Itinerary, Seven Night Version

My “Basic Itinerary” and its variants are meant for what is in 2017 the four-week period that begins the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They include all changes to Disney World since last December.

• Basic December Itinerary
• Basic December Itinerary, Seven Night Version, Sunday Arrival
• Basic December Itinerary, Seven Night Version, Saturday Arrival
• Basic December Itinerary, Nine Night Version.

Which dates you should use which  itinerary, and any other needed changes, is all laid out here.

Those taking even shorter trips, or with very different arrival days, will be best served by looking at the closest itinerary I have for the essential matters, and then adapting the one and tw0 day touring plans you will find in my book. Ask me for help using the comment form below!

Although I might be busy at the kitchen table, battling with my older son over the fate of the world…

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Below is a seven-night variant of my FastPass+ based Disney World itinerary for higher crowd weeks.

Updated in April 2018, it includes guidance for the new Avatar: World of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and an alternate set of instructions for the to-open on June 30 Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

1. Toy Story Land will be opening at the Studios June 30.  Unusual operating patterns from then through the week beginning 8/18 mean the following:
   • For visits when your Studios days are before June 30, use the itinerary and To-do List as written
   • For visits when your Studios days are between June 30 and and August 25, use the updated FastPass+ instructions and touring plans for the Studios day you will find on this page.
   • For Studios days after 8/25, I’ll be publishing an appropriate set of FastPass+ and touring plans shortly

On its first Animal Kingdom day, it uses a Rivers of Light Dining Package to save a FastPass+. Note that this package is available sometimes only 2-3 months ahead, rather than the 180 days ahead that most dining is available.

I’m not keen on this itinerary, as it has little rest time. Moreover, to see both evening shows at Hollywood Studios, you need to add an expensive Park Hopper to your tickets.

This itinerary does not work all dates, and some dates that it mostly works it may need some little adjustments. Use the comment form below to check with me on your dates.

As in all images and tables on this site, click it to enlarge it.

The recommended dining reservations and FastPass+ that make it work are in the To-Do List.

Daily agendas are in the links:

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

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