Category — p. News and Changes

NOTE: THIS ITINERARY IS OUT OF DATE.  A REVISED VERSION FOR 2017 WILL BE OUT SHORTLY

This Walt Disney World itinerary is designed for the three weeks following Thanksgiving 2016.

It is a seven night variant of the Basic December 2016 FastPass+ Itinerary, with a Sunday arrival.

If you aren’t going one of those weeks, see Other Itineraries for alternatives the rest of the year, which are published about six months ahead.

You can enlarge the itinerary by clicking it. 

A detailed To-Do List covers all the revervations you need to make.

Daily agendas are in the links:

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

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This To-Do List is for the Seven Night Saturday Arrival variant of the FastPass+ 2016 Basic December Itinerary.  For To-Do-Lists for other itineraries, see this.

A. MORE THAN 180 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PLANNED ARRIVAL DATE

(Note that a good travel agent, such as Destinations in Florida, can do almost all of this for you, for free. If you use Destinations in Florida as you travel agent through a link for this site–like this one–then they share a bit of the pixie dust they get from Disney with me.)

1. Confirm your budget, planned dates, intended hotel, kids’ development and heights, and your transportation choice and its availability for your planned dates.

2. Make your plane reservations, if flying. Make any other needed transportation arrangements.

3. Create your My Disney Experience account here and add your family members to it

4. Set up your hotel and tickets. Call 407-939-7675 (preferred, because this allows you to tell the reservationist which building at your resort you wish to be in), or click here to use Disney’s online system.

• If you are following my itinerary, you want the hotel you’ve picked for seven nights, eight day, no hopper, no “water parks and more” tickets, the Dining Plan, and Disney’s Magical Express

B. 181 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Login to your MyDisneyExperience.com account, click the “Things to Do” tab at top right, under Dining hit “Make Reservations,” and practice trying to reserve restaurants (hint: use the search box at the upper right).

This may well drive you crazy, but the site works better than it used to…and is likely the only way you can get your Cindy reservations done! (as the site opens up a new reservable day at 6a, whereas the phone reservation line opens at 7a).

2. Collect your planned restaurant reservations together. You will want to do them online in order of hardest to reserve first. This is how they are listed below.

C. EXACTLY 6am EST, EXACTLY 180 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

(For an 180 day calendar, see this).

1. Be on the restaurant website by at least 5:50am EST, and have your Cindy reservation all set up on the page. Keep refreshing, as you will be let in as soon as Disney’s system decides it is 6a.

2. Make as many of the following as you have patience for (try to get through at least Chef Mickey’s), in the exact order listed:

• Cinderella’s Royal Table Lunch (dining plan, two credits): Thursday at 11a or later if you can; earlier than 11 only if your sole option…
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (dining plan, two credits): Monday 6.15p show. The later time will keep you up later than you need to be, OK if all you can get. Avoid the earlier time–it’ll cut into your park time too much
• Chef Mickey’s (dining plan, one credit) Thursday 7p.  Later is OK, but not a whole lot earlier
• San Angel Inn as Candlelight Processional Dining Package (dining plan, two credits): Friday 5.45p. Can be earlier but not later.

For those you don’t make online, make them by calling call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463)

3. Go to the site for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and order tickets for your family for Tuesday

D. 60 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Go to your MyDisneyExperience account at 7a and set up the following FastPass+

• First Saturday evening at Epcot: Book just one, Test Track, for 6-7p
• Sunday at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest 11.30a-12.30p, Kali River Rapids 12.30-1.30p, Rivers of Light (keep checking for its opening date and book your FastPass+ for it as soon as it becomes bookable)
• Monday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Midway Mania noon-1p, Star Tours 1-2p, Frozen Sing-Along 3.30 show
• Tuesday at Epcot: Frozen Ever After 12.30-1.30p, Mission Space 1.30-2.30p, Spaceship Earth 2.30-3.30p
• Wednesday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Voyage of the Little Mermaid noon-1p; Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster 4-5p, Tower of Terror 5-6p
• Thursday at Magic Kingdom: Book afternoon FastPass+ for Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. Design the times for them around the time of your reservation for Cinderella’s Royal Table, and don’t set one for 2.30-3.30p, as you will need that time for the afternoon parade. (A FP+ 2-3p and/or 3-4p is OK, as you can use them at the beginning of the 2p window or end of the 3p window without interrupting your parade viewing.
• Friday at Epcot: Soarin’ 11a-noon, Living with the Land noon-1p, Turtle Talk with Crush 2p show
• Second Saturday at Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 9-10a, Peter Pan’s Flight 10-11a, Haunted Mansion 11a-noon

2. Do online check in, requesting as you do special location points

3. Customize your MagicBands

E. NOTES ON PACKING ETC. BEFORE YOU LEAVE

1. Bring your MagicBands in your carry-ons

2. If you use Disney’s Magical Express, you do not need to collect your bags at the Orlando airport unless you arrive late in the evening/at night or are an international traveler. Disney will get them for you and, eventually, deliver them directly to your room. Your bags may arrive hours after you do; so, depending on the weather forecasts, have a carry-on with an appropriate change of clothes for Orlando weather on Saturday, as you will almost certainly go to Epcot on Saturday before your checked bags arrive.

3. Follow the instructions in the Magical Express packet you will receive in the mail regarding both tagging your bags pre-departure, and where to go at the Orlando airport to find your transport to your resort.

4. Bring a copy of your room reservation, confirmation numbers and any tickets for special events you may have received in the mail.

5. Pack breakfast utensils, as they are not always available in the gift shop: bowls, spoons, napkins

6. When you arrive at the hotel, look for the special “On-line Check-in” line, and get into it.

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This To-Do List is for the FastPass+ 2016 Basic December Itinerary. For To-Do-Lists for other itineraries, see this.

A. MORE THAN 180 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PLANNED ARRIVAL DATE

(Note that a good travel agent, such as Destinations in Florida, can do almost all of this for you, for free. If you use Destinations in Florida as you travel agent through a link for this site–like this one–then they share a bit of the pixie dust they get from Disney with me.)

1. Confirm your budget, planned dates, intended hotel, kids’ development and heights, and your transportation choice and its availability for your planned dates.

2. Make your plane reservations, if flying. Make any other needed transportation arrangements.

3. Create your My Disney Experience account here and add your family members to it

4. Set up your hotel and tickets. Call 407-939-7675 (preferred, because this allows you to tell the reservationist which building at your resort you wish to be in), or click here to use Disney’s online system.

• If you are following my itinerary, you want the hotel you’ve picked for 8 nights, nine day, no hopper, no “water parks and more” tickets, the Dining Plan, and Disney’s Magical Express
• Itineraries other than mine will have different requirements here

B. 181 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Login to your MyDisneyExperience.com account, click the “Things to Do” tab at top right, under Dining hit “Make Reservations,” and practice trying to reserve restaurants (hint: use the search box at the upper right).

This may well drive you crazy, but the site works better than it used to…and is likely the only way you can get your Cindy reservations done! (as the site opens up a new reservable day at 6a, whereas the phone reservation line opens at 7a).

2. Collect your planned restaurant reservations together. You will want to do them online in order of hardest to reserve first. This is how they are listed below.

C. EXACTLY 6am EST, EXACTLY 180 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

(For an 180 day calendar, see this).

1. Be on the restaurant website by at least 5:50am EST, and have your Cindy reservation all set up on the page. Keep refreshing, as you will be let in as soon as Disney’s system decides it is 6a.

2. Make as many of the following as you have patience for (try to get through at least Chef Mickey’s), in the exact order listed:

• Cinderella’s Royal Table Lunch (dining plan, two credits): Thursday at 11a or later if you can; earlier than 11 only if your sole option…
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (dining plan, two credits): Monday 6.15p show. The later time will keep you up later than you need to be, OK if all you can get. Avoid the earlier time–it’ll cut into your park time too much
• Chef Mickey’s (dining plan, one credit) Second Saturday 6p.  Later is OK, but not a whole lot earlier as you have a late lunch this day
• Akershus Banquet (dining plan): Lunch Tuesday, as close to noon as you can get it.
• San Angel Inn as Candlelight Processional Dining Package (dining plan, two credits): Friday 5.45p. Can be earlier but not later.

For those you don’t make online, make them by calling call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463)

3. Go to the site for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and order tickets for your family for Tuesday

D. 60 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Go to your MyDisneyExperience account as soon as a minute after midnight and set up the following FastPass+

1. Go to your MyDisneyExperience account at 7am and set up the following FastPass+

• First Saturday evening at Epcot: Book just one, Test Track, for 6-7p
• First Sunday at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Kali River Rapids 1-2p, Rivers of Light (keep checking for its opening date and book your FastPass+ for it as soon as it opens for them), Kilimanjaro Safaris (latest available; you may later have to move it to book Rivers of Light)
• Monday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Midway Mania noon-1p, Star Tours 1-2p, Frozen Sing-Along 3.30 show
• Tuesday at Epcot: Frozen Ever After 12.30-1.30p, Mission Space 1.30-2.30p, Spaceship Earth 2.30-3.30p
• Wednesday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Voyage of the Little Mermaid noon-1p; Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster 4-5p, Tower of Terror 5-6p
• Thursday at Magic Kingdom: Book FastPass+ for Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. Design the times for them around the time of your reservation for Cinderella’s Royal Table, and don’t set one for 2.30-3.30p, as you will need that time for the afternoon parade. (A FP+ 2-3p and/or 3-4p is OK, as you can use them at the beginning of the 2p window or end of the 3p window without interrupting your parade viewing.
• Friday at Epcot: Soarin’ 11a-noon, Living with the Land noon-1p, Turtle Talk with Crush 2p show
• Second Saturday at Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 1-2p, Peter Pan’s Flight 2-3p, Haunted Mansion 3-4p
• Second Sunday at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 10a show of Festival of the Lion King (will show as “9.30”), Expedition Everest 10.40-11.40a, DINOSAUR 11.40a-12.40p

2. Do online check in, requesting as you do special location points

3. Customize your MagicBands

E. NOTES ON PACKING ETC. BEFORE YOU LEAVE

1. Bring your MagicBands in your carry-ons

2. If you use Disney’s Magical Express, you do not need to collect your bags at the Orlando airport unless you arrive late in the evening/at night or are an international traveler. Disney will get them for you and, eventually, deliver them directly to your room. Your bags may arrive hours after you do; so, depending on the weather forecasts, have a carry-on with an appropriate change of clothes for Orlando weather on Saturday, as you will almost certainly go to Epcot on Saturday before your checked bags arrive.

3. Follow the instructions in the Magical Express packet you will receive in the mail regarding both tagging your bags pre-departure, and where to go at the Orlando airport to find your transport to your resort.

4. Bring a copy of your room reservation, confirmation numbers and any tickets for special events you may have received in the mail.

5. Pack breakfast utensils, as they are not always available in the gift shop: bowls, spoons, napkins

6. When you arrive at the hotel, look for the special “On-line Check-in” line, and get into it.

MATERIAL IN THIS DISNEY WORLD ITINERARY

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This Walt Disney World itinerary is designed for the three weeks following Thanksgiving 2016. A revised version for 2017 will be out by mid-May.

(For a PDF version, click here.)

If you aren’t going one of those weeks, see Other Itineraries for alternatives the rest of the year, which are published about six months ahead.

You can enlarge the basic itinerary by clicking it. 

A detailed To-Do List covers all the planning steps you need to undertake.
And detailed daily guidance is in the links:

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

ITINERARY DESIGN GOALS

The basic December itinerary was designed to meet several goals: to ensure that you

1. See the best that Walt Disney World has to offer, including all of its special Christmas season offerings
2. See the parks in the order that works best for kids (essentially Epcot first, as it is potentially the most disappointing, and the Magic Kingdom last, as it is likely to be the best loved)
3. Avoid unnecessary waiting, by using FastPass+ and other tactics…
4. Have as much time off, and as few early mornings, as practical
5. Avoid unnecessary spending–for example, the basic itinerary does not require you to buy the “Park Hopper” option, saving you more than $200

If you can’t do the dates required for the Basic Itinerary, see Other Itineraries for alternatives for both the December week and the rest of the year.

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The prices for the 2016 Mickey’s Not-So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party came out last week, and these parties are now available for booking.

While new 2016 complexity makes price comparisons to 2015 a little complicated (the link also includes exact prices by date), especially for the Halloween Party, by comparing like months (e.g all parties in September 2016 vs. all parties in September 2015), I get the following:

• September MNSSHP: up around 10%
• October MNSSHP except Halloween night: up around 10%
• Halloween night MNSSHP: up around 20%
• November MVMCP: up around 20%
• December MVMCP: up around 25%

(All these are calculated by comparing the weighted average prices for all parties during the period in 2016 vs all parties in the same period in 2015. I did the math for both adult and child tickets, and for each of advance purchase and day of event tickets.  The price increases by month across all four of these categories were about the same.)

These Halloween and Christmas party price increases continue the trend of very aggressive price increases that  began with the release of 2016 resort prices last summer.

In my itineraries, I’ve viewed the Halloween party as optional and the Christmas party as essential.

The price increase reinforces my Halloween take, and makes me a little skeptical about the Christmas party.  I’ll be rebuilding my basic December itineraries in the next few weeks (after Disney publishes its operating schedule for then).

I will be testing the practicality of sending people to the cheapest dates, and also have an idea or two about reducing other costs (no lighty hats for you!) to help with affordability.  I’ll go through all that and will make the final call in a couple of weeks. …

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STAR WARS AT DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

The Disney World theme park Disney’s Hollywood Studios is undergoing a transformation while new Toy Story and Star Wars lands are being built.

Several less popular, lower capacity, and/or somewhat pointless attractions have been closed to create space for the new offerings, and in the meantime the old Star Wars attractions here have seen revamps, and new ones have been added.

For years the mainstays of the Star Wars offerings here have been Star Tours and the Jedi Training Academy.

Star Tours has been updated with scenes from The Force Awakens, and the Jedi Training Academy has had its capacity doubled.

Each of these is a terrific experience. Star Tours should be on the touring plans of all guests, and the Jedi Training Academy should be directly experienced by children who are Star Wars fans, and watched by everyone else.

Added to the must-do list in December 2015 are the Star Wars fireworks, Symphony in the Stars. This show had been showing mostly nightly since its opening, but is on only four days a week in May. Later “this summer” it will be replaced by what looks to be an even more impressive Star Wars fireworks extravaganza.

Three other more minor Star Wars offerings are also on hand.

• Path of the Jedi, which finally puts something in the old Sounds Dangerous building, recaps the Star Wars saga and is a good refresher for those who haven’t seen the films in a while
• Star Wars: A Galaxy Far Far Away is a minor stage show featuring almost all the core Star Wars characters
• Star Wars Launch Bay has Star Wars meet and greets, a film, replicas of objects from the films, and is the base for Stormtrooper encounters, including a march several times a day

I saw, or saw again, all six of these in my December, January and April visits to Disney World, and reviews and photos are in the links.

These last three are probably only for true fans, but the first three are great entertainments for everyone!

There’s more on the upcoming Star Wars land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios here.

Have you seen any of these new or revamped offerings?  What did you think?

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