Category — p. News and Changes

Correction: as an alert reader pointed out to me, these ovens max out at 450, not 425 as I had mistakenly thought!

The Cabins at Fort Wilderness are almost through a refurb that includes a fundamental change to the old kitchen–replacement of the old “real” oven and separate microwave with a combined microwave/convection oven.

I’d noted the overall changes to these cabins and what’s happening in the kitchen after my December stay in a refurbed cabin, and have published a full photo tour of a refurbed cabin here.

But that visit didn’t leave enough spare Cabin time to put the oven through its paces, so I stayed in a refurbed cabin longer on my January visit to Disney World–my fifth stay in one of these cute little cabins.

Disney has noted that the oven has a “limited cooking/baking capacity compared to a traditional oven.”

To find these limits, I put the oven through a number of tests–roast beef, cheesy potatoes, pizza, cornbread, and cinnamon buns–and here’s the short version of my results:

• It won’t go hotter than 450 degrees, so no broiler, and recipes that need 475 will take longer and may brown more slowly than you want
• There’s only 6 inches of space between the top of the rack and the top of the oven, so no tall food (The inside dimensions are 21 by 14 inches–it’s plenty long and wide, just short.)
• Everything I baked–full report in the rest of this post–took 15% to 50% longer than I expected
• The controls are a little tricky at first–more microwavish than ovenly

THE NEW OVEN AT THE CABINS AT FORT WILDERNESS

The old kitchen had a range with a full oven below and four burners on top, and microwave–see below.

Old Kitchen The Cabins at Fort Wilderness

The new kitchen moves the sink out of the corner, drops two of the four burners, drops the full oven, and replaces the microwave and full oven with a combined unit, above the two burners.

New Kitchen The Cabins at Fort Wilderness

The first thing you should know is that new kitchen or old, the tools the Cabin provides you with are limited.

There’s two pieces of ovenware–in the upper right of the image above–a covered dish and a rectangular pan.

That’s probably enough for most families, but for my tests–so that I didn’t have to keep cleaning between them–I bought two more items, the 8×8 glass and the 9×14 metal pans that you can see in the photo at the top of the page and in various images below.

(The Cabins come with a measuring cup, but I did not remember that, so I bought another one.)

The prep implements are a little thin, and are shown in the drawer above.  You get six steak knives but no other knives, a bottle opener, can opener, corkscrew, and a plastic spoon and plastic slotted spatula.  That’s it.

There’s one green oven mitt in the drawer above, and I used the towel also in the drawer for two-handed grabs.

The first step in using the oven is removing the orange plastic-ware at the bottom that supports the base glass microwave platter.  I removed both to be safe, and my wife is astonished that I remembered to remove either…

Next you find the oven rack, at the right bottom of the cabinet just below the stove…

…and put it into the oven.

The oven is 21 inches long by 14 inches wide.  That’s big enough for almost anything–a standard pizza is about 11 inches in diameter–but there’s only six inches of clearance between the rack and the top of the oven, so you can’t cook any tall food.

Working the oven controls is a little tricky, and I did not get comfortable with them until late in the test. The instructions are quite clear–it’s just that the steps don’t tie to usual oven workflows, and more to microwave workflows.

Here’s what you do:

1. Press the convection/bake button

2. Press the button that ties to your temperature goal.  This is not as simple as entering the three numbers. Rather, each number is assigned a temperature, and you press the one number that fits that temp:

Although you can’t see it in my lousy photo, temps max out at on “0” at 450, so no broiling, and foods that are meant to cook at 475 or higher will take longer and/or brown differently than you expect.

3. Press start

4. The oven will ding when it has pre-heated.  You open the oven, stick your glop in, then press start again.

Everything took longer than I expected… which cost me a FastPass+.

First up was a three pound roast, which turned out just fine but should have taken around an hour at 375 but rather took 90 minutes. (I bought the instant read thermometer–there’s no thermometer supplied by the cabin.)

While the roast was cooking I mixed up the cornbread…

….and ended up cooking it about 25% longer than the package instructions. The body of the cornbread was done before the top had browned to my liking, so it tended up a little dry. (Note that that’s one of the pans I bought, not a Cabin-supplied pan.)

To test the cornbread done-ness with a toothpick, you have to shut the whole system down, and then re-start all of steps 1 through 4 again.

That is, unlike an old-fashioned oven, you can’t open the door while it stays at the temperature you’ve set–you have to shut everything down to open the door, and then restart everything if your stuff needs to cook longer.

A minor note–the cornbread recipe required melted butter, but since the roast was occupying the microwave, I had to melt it on the stove.  I hadn’t melted butter on a stove for decades…

Next up was a standard frozen pizza, which took 25% longer than the package directions but turned out fine.

The cheesy potatoes took about 25% longer than expected. They weren’t as browned as I like them to be, but I was unwilling to let them cook longer as I didn’t want to dry them out.

The cinnamon rolls took about 15% longer than the package directions…

…but turned out fine (my pan, not a Cabin pan).

Frankly, I would rather Disney had left the old layout alone, and simply changed to new versions of the old appliances.

That way you could still broil and cook at 475, and roast tall food like chickens or turkeys, and would still have four burners.

But the new layout is much less cluttered, especially around the sink, and I think the two burners and less capable oven will fulfill the cooking requirements of 95%+ of families staying here.

(By the way, I did leave a mess for Mousekeeping, but tried to make up for it…)

Have you used one of these ovens?  Did it work for your needs?

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Currently scheduled though May 2016, Symphony in the Stars is a new fireworks show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that debuted in December 2015.  It will be replaced by an even better show sometime this summer.

Currently playing four nights a week, it choreographs terrific fireworks to excerpts from the sublime John Williams Star Wars scores.

I rate it as not-to-be-missed.

I believe it increases the overall value of a visit to the Studios–a point of contention lately, although personally I think the impact of the recent closures there is wildly overstated.

There’s a million good spots to see it from (see Tom Bricker’s post here), but best is from the angle where you have the ticket tapstiles at your back, and the Great Movie ride in front of you.

More than most Disney World fireworks, there’s lots of great place to view it from outside the park. Above is the view from the walkway to the Studios just outside the BoardWalk Villas. But then you’ll miss the great music…

Above is where I watched it from inside the Studios…

..and below are my better shots of the fireworks (better, that is, compared to the ones I didn’t post!):

Have you seen the show? What did you think?

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I’ve published a full photo tour of the renovated Cabins at Fort Wilderness beginning here, bit, but here’s a quick update on the Fort Wilderness Cabin refurb:

REFURB SCHEDULE FOR THE CABINS AT FORT WILDERNESS

• Loops 2200, 2300, 2400, and 2600 are done
• Loop 2800 is closed for refurb, and expected to re-open in early March
• Loop 2700 will close for refurb in early February, and re-open at the end of March or early April
• Loop 2500 will close in mid-March, and re-open in mid-April
• Loop 2100 seems to still have the uncertainty already noted here

These plans are subject to change, of course!

THE NEW OVENS IN THE CABINS

As noted here, the regular oven in the Cabins has been replaced with a combined microwave/convection oven.

I put it through its paces yesterday and Saturday, and here’s the basics:

• It won’t go hotter than 425 degrees, so no broiler, and recipes that need 450 will take longer and may brown more slowly than you want
• There’s only 6 inches of space between the top of the rack and the top of the oven, so no tall food (The inside dimensions are 21 by 14 inches–it’s plenty long and wide, just short.)
• Everything I baked took 15% to 50% longer than I expected
• The controls are a little tricky at first–more microwavish than ovenly

There’s more on how the new ovens at Fort Wilderness performed here.

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EXTENSIVE REFURB AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

Disney’s Wilderness Lodge will be completing a refurb in the summer of 2017.

Unitl then, for repeat visitors who had been planning the Wilderness Lodge for their next trip, I’d just put off staying there until this refurb is complete. Stay somewhere else on your bucket list, and return to the Wilderness Lodge after the lobby comes back to normal

For first-timers with their heart set on the Wilderness Lodge,

• If you have any concerns at all, stay someplace else.  The potential to be disappointed isn’t worth it.
• If you don’t have concerns, stay at the Lodge.  The refurb to the lobby mars it, but it does not ruin it.  I would say that the lobby retains more than 80% of its prior beauty, grandeur, and sublimity.  Since the prior level was really high, 80% of that level is really high too!

THE REFURB AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE

In October 2015, as part of a redo of the Disney Vacation Club offerings at the Wilderness Lodge, several amenities were taken out and extensive construction in the outer verges of the Wilderness Lodge proper began.

There’s much more on this topic here, but essentially the Wilderness Lodge lost for construction the smaller of its two pools, its beach, and some other minor amenities.

View from the Bay Lake side of the Villas

While views from the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge were quite marred from this work, I thought that those getting Courtyard views in the main Lodge would be largely un-affected.

Not so fast.  Earlier this month, Disney essentially closed off the half of the Wilderness Lodge on the Villas side, took the elevators serving this wing out of service, and put up construction walls out to the edge of the lobby over the check-in area and extending a bit around each corner of that wall.

Here’s a bunch of photos of the lobby (as always on this site, click them to enlarge them):

The unaffected side

Construction wall at the second floor landing of the stairs

Construction wall from the second floor–near

Construction wall from the second floor, far

Construction wall going around corner, from lobby

Principal construction wall above check-in, from lobby

April 2016 update: the scaffolding is gone.

Moreover, scaffolding now covers much of the south (Villa-facing) side, and goes around the corner to a bit of the Courtyard side of this wing. I’d imagine that over time this scaffolding likely will extend further into the courtyard:

So what does this all mean?

First, on the positive side–

• With about half the rooms taken out of circulation, crowds will be lower in the Roaring Fork quick service location, the wonderful main pool, and the boats and buses
• The vast majority of what leads to the lobby’s impact remains–the grandeur and sublimity of the large space, the large decorative features of the carved columns, totem poles, teepee lights and the Grand Canyon fireplace, and most of the subtle detailing
• For construction walls, the walls themselves aren’t bad.  Had they been on the other side of the railings, the balance of details would be much worse.
• Many north wing rooms have better Magic Kingdom views, thanks to the scalping of a number of trees in this area preparatory to construction.

So I think the refurb is not only not a disaster, but also that the lobby is on the order of 80% as good as it used to be, or will be in the future.

On the other hand, at the same time the lobby, which is the glory of the Wilderness Lodge, is in fact not as good as it used to be, or will be in the future, other construction mars views and creates noise, and some of the amenities are gone.

Hence my recommendations:

• For first timers who are not troubled by all this, by all means stay at the Lodge–it will still be a great experience, just not as good as it was or will be.
• Repeat visitors should hold their visit to the Wilderness Lodge until the refurb is complete
• First timers who are concerned should stay elsewhere.

Where else to stay depends on why you picked the Wilderness Lodge in the first place.

• If it was for its stunning kid appeal, then stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
• If it was for a lower-priced deluxe option convenient to the Magic Kingdom, then stay in a Garden Wing room at the Contemporary.

This refurb should be complete by mid-summer 2017.

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NEW DISNEY WORLD DEAL!

Disney World announced this morning a deal where, if you book at least three nights and two days of tickets per person in a value resort this summer, each person 3 and older will receive per night one free quick-service meal.

Eligible dates are May 29 through June 30, 2016 and July 5 through August 13, 2016.

The deal must be booked by February 29, Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation are excluded, and availability elsewhere may be thin.

Nightly savings will vary based on family size and structure, as meal prices vary  by age, and in general, the more and the older the people the more you will save.

A good travel agent (like Kelly B, contact her at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com) can help you sort this out.

Here’s my estimated savings per night by family size and age (based 40% of the cost of the quick service dining plan).

Note that depending on your size and age structure, nightly savings will vary from around $17 to a little over $100.

I’d expect this deal to be accompanied by a room rate deal with savings of at least 15%, so the question is–do you do better than 15% in this deal??

As always this is complicated by the fact that while the savings are the same every night, room rates aren’t–they are higher Fridays and Saturdays.

Moreover, for families that can fit 4 person rooms, the All-Stars cost less per night than Pop Century, and for families that need a six-person family suite, those at All-Star Music are a lot less expensive than those at Art of Animation.

So I’ve calculated approximate percentage saving per night for families at All-Star Music for both weeknights and weekends.  Percentage savings will be the same for 4 person rooms in the other All-Stars, and less at more expensive Pop Century.  Savings will also be less in the more expensive Art of Animation family suites.

Here’s All-Star Music weeknight percentage savings. I’ve noted saving less than around 15% in red:

Note that families with just one person ten or older often do better or about the same on the room rate deal that I expect to come out for these same dates.

Families with an older age structure generally do better with the Free Meal deal announced today.

Weekends have a similar overall story, but with lower percentage savings:

Percentage savings will be not so high for those aimed at the more expensive 4 person rooms at Pop Century or Family Suites at Art of Animation. (Reviews of all these resorts are linked to from here–I’ve stayed in them all, and multiple times.)

And note that my savings are estimates.  You should work with a travel agent to see if this deal makes sense for you, as the agent will be able to get you exact savings.

I recommend Kelly B.  Contact her at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com –she can help you sort this out.

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Frequent readers of my disclosure page 🙂 will have noted that I’ve just finalized a partnership with The Official Ticket Center.

The Official Ticket Center is best known for being one of the few legit sources of discounted Walt Disney World tickets, and one of the best.

It’s also one of the few legit sources that’s actually based in Orlando, and has such quaint features as an actual office and experts who will answer the phone and help you with any problems you might have, upgrade your tickets, etc.

They also have discounted tickets for other Orlando area attractions–check out the Official Ticket Center’s whole offering here.

The Disney World ticket discounts offered by the Official Ticket Center often aren’t that big–Disney will significantly discount hotels frequently, but very rarely tickets. But for larger families or those who need to squeeze every penny that they can, the ticket savings can be meaningful.

They first hit my radar as a result of this post on TouringPlans.com. I then met Patrick, the boss, at a Disney World event  a year or so ago sponsored by the WDW Magazine folk, and since have collaborated with him in a bunch of settings, including the Get Down to Disness on-line live Q&A.

Here’s the word from Patrick:

“Here at The Official Ticket Center, we are proud of our ability to provide you with the lowest prices available for Orlando theme park tickets.

“Being a local business minutes from Walt Disney World, we feel that gives us a huge advantage to other online ticket sellers. We actually have physical location where you can come in and talk with one of our informative vacation planners while on vacation, not a faceless text like other online companies. You know itineraries change at a moment’s notice while on vacation, so it is much easier and reassuring when you have a friend that is in town to help!

“Being in business for over 15 years has earned us a few unique advantages like access to Disney E-Ticketing abilities as well as special discounts when purchasing in person at our guest service location. We have the best discounts on theme park tickets and take pride in our Meet or Beat deals!”

He continues (probably only the last para is relevant, so I’ve bolded it):

“I have been a big fan of Dave’s for many years now and love reading all he can throw at me on yourfirstvisit.net, The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, and everywhere else!

“His vast knowledge of the Walt Disney Resort area has helped me to better inform and educate my guests with their vacations while making me a more informed vacation planner.

“After hanging out and chatting with Dave at a few parties at Disney, I knew he was the real deal! We both share a deep love of Disney and routinely dabble with others in underground Mouse culture!

“I highly value Dave’s friendship and I look forward to helping his readers save time and money while visiting the Walt Disney World Resort.

“Mention Dave sent you from yourfirstvisit.net and receive a free welcome gift while supplies last!”

Patrick S. Pulliam

Owner ~ The Official Ticket Center

And as a result of the partnership, if you buy stuff from the Official Ticket Center via a link from this site, then they share a little pixie dust with me, which helps compensate for all of the time I put into it…

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