Category — p. News and Changes

Update: this deal has been released for the general public.

Disney Visa cardholders were offered two deals today, and these are expected to be released to the general public Thursday.

• One is a “Stay, Play and Dine” package discount. For Disney Visa, it has eligible arrival dates of 12/14-12/20/2014 and 1/5-3/7/2015
• Another is a room rate discount applicable most nights from 1/5-3/28/2015

Room only discounts are expected to be as follows:

Value Resorts:

• Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation: excluded
• All Star Sports, All Star Music, Pop Century and Family Suites at Art of Animation: 15% off on weekends, 20% off on weekdays
• All Star Movies: 10% off on weekends, 15% off on weekdays

Moderate Resorts:

• Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans Riverside, Cabins at Fort Wilderness: 20% off on weekends, 25% off on weekdays
• Port Orleans French Quarter: 10% off on weekends, 15% off on weekdays

Deluxe Resorts:

• Yacht Club, Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn, Polynesian, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge (except Savanna view): 30% off all nights
• Animal Kingdom Lodge Savanna View: 20% off all nights

DVC Resorts:

• Excluded: Bay Lake Tower, Villas at Grand Floridian, Polynesian Villas, all Grand Villas
• Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club, Boardwalk Villas, Wilderness Lodge Villas: 30% off all nights
• Villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge: 20% off all nights

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Over the last week, I’ve published the draft versions of all the core tools you need to pick when to go to Walt Disney World in 2016.

These include

• An overview of what might be different in 2016 at Walt Disney World
• The draft 2016 Disney World Crowd Calendar
• Projections of 2016 Resort Price Seasons, and based on these, the crowd calendar, the ride closure season, and the hurricane season, the first draft of
• 2016 Weeks to Visit, Ranked in Order

The Disney World 2016 week rankings I publish annually are among my more popular offerings–they’ve been viewed almost 3 million times–and are meant for first time visitors who may never return. Returning visitors will find good times to visit in September and January/early February that are ranked low for such first-timers.

The week rankings likely will change a bit between now and next summer, as I get better information on crowds and prices, but weeks very rarely shift “classes”–that is, they don’t move from “recommended” to “not recommended.”

The Disney World 2016 crowd calendar may change once the final 2015-2016 school calendars are available next summer. Every year I analyze every break for almost 200 school districts covering more than 10 million kids, and use these to update the crowd calendars. Many district calendars aren’t out til the summer before, so that’s when I’ll update the 2016 crowd calendar–in the summer of 2015. I’m not expecting any major changes–2016 looks pretty tightly predictable.

The 2016 Disney World price seasons are projections based on recent Disney practices. Disney will publish final price seasons most likely in the summer of 2015.  There’s often a curveball or two in these, but not enough to move a week from “recommended” to another class.

Going to Disney World in 2016?  Then start picking your dates!

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2016 RESORT PRICE SEASONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The material below shows resort price seasons at Walt Disney World at different times of the year in 2016.

(For 2017 prices, see this, and for 2018 prices, see this.)

Only one-day ticket prices vary over the course of the year–multi-day tickets do not, although they typically have an annual increase during the year. See this for more on ticket prices.

Resort prices, however, can be almost twice as high during some periods as they are at others.

2016 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS

Below are Walt Disney World 2016 resort price seasons by resort type. 

“X% Higher” means compared to the lowest prices of the year. Because these increases are different on some weekends vs. weekdays, increases are averaged across the recommended 8 night visit.

In addition to the details below, Disney ups prices an additional $10-50 per night during certain weekends and holidays–particularly over the Marathon weekend, Martin Luther King Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend, 4th of July weekend, and Columbus Day weekend.

You can see–well, maybe you can see–the full prices over the year from the chart above.

2016 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS: VALUE RESORTS

• Lowest of year–the value season—begins 1/3/16
• 25% higher–the regular season-begins 2/7/16
• 45% higher–the peak season–begins 2/11/16
• 25% higher–the regular season-begins 2/21/16
• 45% higher–the peak season–begins 3/4/16
• 60% higher–the Easter season–begins 3/20/16
• 25% higher–the regular season–begins 4/3/16
• 45% higher–the summer season–begins 5/27/16
• 25% higher–the regular season–begins 8/14/16
• 10% higher–the fall season–begins 8/19/16
• 25% higher–the regular season–begins 9/18/16
• 10% higher–the fall season– begins 10/30/16
• 50% higher over Thanksgiving begins 11/19/16
• 10% higher–the fall season—begins 11/26/16
• 45% higher–the peak season–begins 12/11/16
• 65% higher–the holiday season–begins 12/22/16

2016 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS: DELUXE RESORTS

• Lowest of year–the value season—begins 1/3/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 2/7/16
• 30% higher–the peak season–begins 2/11/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 2/21/16
• 30% higher–the peak season–begins 3/4/16
• 45% higher–the Easter season–begins 3/20/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 4/3/16
• 10% higher–the summer season–begins 5/27/16
• 3% higher–near-lowest of year–the value season 2—begins 7/10/16
• Lowest of year–the value season—begins 8/14/16
• 12% higher–the regular season 2–begins 9/23/16
• 6% higher–the fall season–begins 10/16/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 11/4/16
• 6% higher–the fall season–begins 11/13/16
• 20% higher during Thanksgiving begins 11/22/16
• 6% higher–the fall season, with low prices, begins 11/26/16
• 30% higher–the peak season–begins 12/11/16
• 55% higher–the holiday season–begins 12/22/16

2016  DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS: MODERATE RESORTS

• Lowest of year–the value season—begins 1/3/16
• 20% higher–the regular season-begins 2/7/16
• 25% higher–the peak season–begins 2/11/16
• 20% higher–the regular season-begins 2/21/16
• 25% higher–the peak season–begins 3/4/16
• 45% higher–the Easter season–begins 3/20/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 4/3/16
• 15% higher–the summer season–begins 5/27/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 8/14/16
• 10% higher–the fall season–begins 8/19/16
• 20% higher–the regular season–begins 9/18/16
• 10% higher–the fall season–begins 10/30/16
• 50% higher over Thanksgiving begins 11/19/16
• 10% higher–the fall season—begins 11/26/16
• 25% higher–the peak season–begins 12/11/16
• 50% higher–the holiday season–begins 12/22/16

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OVERVIEW: FOUR SEASONS RESORT AT DISNEY WORLD FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

The Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort (the full name, which only its mom uses) is the first deluxe-level hotel to open in Disney World since the Animal Kingdom Lodge opened more than 15 years ago, and the first ever five-star resort on property.

Not owned by Disney, it does not share in various Disney hotel guest perks like Magical Express or access to Extra Magic Hours, the Dining Plan or to FastPass+ booking 60 days out.

It also has its own transportation system and does not use Disney buses for hotel-park transport.

Its transport ranges from every half hour (to the Ticket and Transportation Center) to hourly to Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

This transport is not yet well attuned to operating hours–with, for example, first morning arrivals at or after rope drop at Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and last pickups at Hollywood Studios just 35 minutes after Fantasmic is scheduled to begin.

It is supported by some Disney cast members for planning help, but has even less Disney theming than Shades of Green.

I rank hotels on this site for first time family visitors who may never return, and because of that put pervasive kid appeal as the first criterion, and after that transportation convenience. So with its slender kid appeal (other than the pools) and transportation issues, I can’t really rank Four Seasons Orlando highly for first timers who will be spending most of their time at the parks.

But for returning visitors who will be spending time relaxing at the hotel, and who have cars and can thus work around the shuttle schedule issues, Four Seasons Resort Orlando is a spectacular place to stay, with a level of service and amenities unmatched elsewhere at Disney World, the best pool complex on property, great dining for adults, and enormous and very comfortable rooms.

I had a chance to stay in it both in August 2014, its opening month, and in September.  Everything wasn’t done yet–as of my September visit, the gift shops were still not open, and neither was Capa, its 17th-floor Spanish steakhouse. But enough was going on to see and judge what this resort will be.

OVERALL LOOK AND FEEL OF THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

The main point is that once you arrive on the grounds of Four Seasons Resort Orlando, you could be almost anywhere. With next to no Disney design or decorating touches, nor any architecturally playful elements, the overall feel is simply that of a lovely high end resort.

The seventeen story tall building is deep in the Golden Oak area of Disney World, between Fort Wilderness and Port Orleans Riverside. Note that the speed limit back here is 25 mph.

The building is quite lovely, though I never really fully captured its appeal in a photo. The architecture has elements of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, mixed in with a bit of Tower of Terror.

In a contrast to the Disney resorts, you’ll see more greenery than flowers in the landscaping–making the flowers that you do see, such as these on the lobby level, that much more welcome.

The slender Disney theming here is wonderful for some–those who have enough Disney in the parks themselves, or those staying here largely for purposes other than playing in Disney World: a convention, a wedding, simply relaxing at a luxurious resort. But it’s not so fun for others.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

You could reserve the nine-bedroom suite that’s available here among the more than 60 suites on offer.  For a lot less you could book 80 or so rooms at Pop Century, losing however a certain je ne sais quoi.  Or you could, like I did, book standard rooms.

Standard rooms here come in two flavors: one with a king bed and a couch that folds out into a bed, and one with two full beds. I’ve stayed in each type. The king room floor plan is above, and the full room plan below.

Either choice yields an enormous room–with 500 square feet they are, according to Four Seasons, the largest in Orlando–a simply huge closet, tons of storage, and a nice, though mostly undivided, bath (the toilet is set off in an opaque glass surround).

I can’t imagine why adults would want a room with full sized beds, so pretty much everyone who is booking just one room should aim for the king/sofa bed combo.

The sofa bed at the Four Season is the most comfortable such I’ve ever slept on, and puts the sofa beds in the Disney resorts to shame. I measured it as 60 inches wide by about 72 inches long–as wide as a queen, but shorter.  The cushion is an astonishing 6+ inches deep.

But I’m not seeing the why of the full beds–at Disney, even the Caribbean Beach Resort is getting queens. Likely these rooms are designed for kids/staff, with the expectation that the parents/bosses would be in a connecting king room. Many rooms are built in pairs of king rooms connecting with full rooms, with deep entries to both that allow another set of doors to close off the front doors of the connecting spaces from the hall.

VIEWS AT FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

Park View rooms are worth the extra money. One long side of the Four Seasons overlooks the parking lot and construction; the other side overlooks the pools, and, at a distance, both Epcot and the Magic Kingdom–much to be preferred.

Here’s one of the worst views–the east view from my tenth floor room at the short north edge of the building, on my first stay.

Even though the fireworks really are quite distant, the pool and water views are themselves spectacular.

From my 12th floor Park View room on my second stay, you can see Epcot in the distance from one side of my balcony–Spaceship Earth and the Swan and Dolphin…

…and the Magic Kingdom from the other, with the distant bulks being the Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower.

The night view of the pools is particularly nice…and speaking of them, just a few quick word on the pools–more to come later.

THE POOLS AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

The pool complex at The Four Seasons is better than the pools at any Disney owned resort–yes, better even than Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Clubs.

There’s four pools here: a lovely adult-only infinity pool…

…and then in the separate “Explorer Island” area  (see the map above) three more pools: a kids pool and splash and play area that itself is bigger than most Disney World main pools…

…a lazy river pool…

…and a large and long family pool.

There’s also dual pool slides, one open and one enclosed, that splash down into their own landing zone near the kid’s water play area.  Pool lovers will simply love the offerings at the Four Seasons.

DINING AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

There are five restaurants at Four Seasons: PB&G, the pool bar and grill; Cuban-American dining in Plancha at the golf clubhouse; Capa, a 17th-floor Spanish steakhouse; Ravello, with downstairs Italian dining and an upstairs bar (with its own bar menu, but where you can also order off the Ravello main menu). There’s also a grab and go coffee shop, Lickety-Split.

The only one I had a chance to experience on my 2014 visit was the Ravello bar, where I ordered a wonderful ribeye off the main Ravello menu.

Unadventurous, I admit, but I was here to watch Monday Night Football–steak seemed to suit. It was glorious (the food, I mean, not the game)–as nicely seasoned a steak as I’ve ever had…

Anyone can book meals at the Four Seasons…and I suspect many will. I’d suggest you dress for dinner at Ravello, Plancha, and Capa–though I saw plenty of people in shorts in Ravello.

Note: in April 2016 we had dinner at Capa, and it was less formal than I expected it to be.

The Capa menu (click to enlarge)–note the beef organized by origin…

…and the setting.

PARK TRANSPORTATION AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

All parking is valet, and getting your car in and out is fast and very straightforward. For those guests who want to use Four Seasons transport to the parks, there’s two options.

One option is the free shuttles. There’s two free shuttle routes:

• One leaves on the hour and goes to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), a monorail or ferry ride away from the Magic Kingdom, then the Animal Kingdom, then back to the Four Seasons.
• The second leaves on the half hour and goes to the TTC near MK, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and back to the Four Seasons

The result is twice hourly service to and from the TTC with its easy access to MK (and Epcot), and hourly to the other parks, with some stops in between. The scheduling is not right–the shuttles begin too late and end too early–and the frequency is not sufficient.

The other option is to pay for town car service, at $16 for Epcot and HS, $18 for MK, and $29 for AK.

THE STAFF AND THE GUESTS AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

I have been in a lot of hotels (including more than a hundred different rooms at Disney World itself…), but only have stayed a couple of dozen times at five star resorts–mostly Ritz-Carltons, but also a few InterContinentals and Four Seasons.

People who haven’t stayed in such often have two questions: will the staff treat me like a peon, and how supercilious are the other guests?

I loved, loved, loved the staff here, from the valets through the front desk folk to the pool staff to the Ravello team, and all the other staff I walked by in less structured settings. They were friendly, cheerful, and helpful.  They were a little more formal than Disney cast members–it was always “Hello,” or “Good Afternoon,” not “Hi!”–but they were most welcoming.

The other guests I was a little less keen on.  Three vignettes:

• A Four Seasons staff member was touring me through Explorer Island. An overly thin guest walked up and simply straight out immediately interrupted us to demand a drink. The staff member told her she would be right with her, and after the guest walked away, I said to the staff member that she should feel free to take care of that guest and that we could return to our chat later, which is how things unfolded
• Most people know how to wait for an elevator, and in what order to board one when it comes, based on where they are standing in proximity to the doors, as balanced out among men my age by gentlemanly factors.  But one tall wiry father with his tall wiry teenage son simply tried to elbow me out of the way to enter the elevator ahead of me. Luckily I’ve spent enough time walking on Oxford Street to know how to tenaciously preserve my little bit of this green Earth
• A short wiry father with his short pre-teen son walked by in matching Speedos…

Now the hotel was not busy during my visits, so the sample size here of fellow guests encountered is small…but really??

PRICING AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

Guest rooms here range from $545 to $2,000 per night. Suites range from $1,050 to $12,000 per night.  Add taxes and valet parking, and soon that adds up to real money.

My full-bed and king bed rooms were at the lower end of that scale, putting them 10-25% higher than the least expensive rooms in the monorail resorts the same time I stayed.

However, now through December 19 the Four Seasons Resort Orlando is offering a buy two nights, get the third free deal, which will put it below the cost of three nights in a monorail resort at standard rack rates. (You still may pay less at a Disney deluxe via a deal.)  To book a room at the Four Seasons, start with my friends at Destinations in Florida.

PHOTO TOUR OF STANDARD ROOMS AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT ORLANDO

This review continues here!

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See below for my thoughts on rides, hotels, crowds and such at Disney World in 2016.

NEW RIDES AT DISNEY WORLD IN 2016

The opening of the redo of Epcot’s Maelstrom as a Frozen ride (“Frozen ever After”) is targeted for early 2016.

Waits for the new Frozen ride will be really long, especially during the period Soarin is closed for refurb.

Rivers of Light—the new evening spectacular at the Animal Kingdom along Discovery River between the Tree of Life and Expedition Everest—is in construction, and is expected to open in 2016, the current guess being after Easter.

“Avatar Land” (more formally, “Pandora — The Word of AVATAR”) at the Animal Kingdom is in construction in the former Camp Minnie Mickey, and currently has an opening target of early 2017

An announcement about more Star Wars and Toy Story in Disney’s Hollywood Studios came out in August 2015.

In the park, for 2016 there’s some new Star Wars meets and greets, an update to the Star Tours ride, and new evening fireworks that flow to the movie’s soundtrack. (It’s unclear whether these fireworks are meant as a permanent or temporary addition to the park.)

The new Star Wars and Toy Story rides won’t be open for years…

DISNEY SPRINGS AND THE DISNEY RESORTS IN 2016

Most of the Disney Springs reconstruction of Downtown Disney will be complete in 2016. The transformation is pretty profound, making parking much easier, and adding some really great restaurants to the mix.

I’m not seeing much profound change on the resort front for 2016, although there is a potentially distracting refurb happening at the Wilderness Lodge, and a major re-do of the Fort Wilderness Cabins should be complete by Easter.

DISNEY WORLD CROWDS IN 2016

Presidents Day, February 15 in 2016, is as early as it can be, meaning fewer good January and early February dates, and more good late February dates. Crowds for this week actually begin the Thursday before, and in 2016 Mardi Gras–which some southern school districts have off as a single or multi-day holiday–is Tuesday the week before. The combination makes me see the week beginning 2/6 as worse than this part of February usually is.

Easter in 2016 is early, on March 27. As a result of the overlap between March breaks and Easter breaks, March other than the first week will be even more of a zoo than usual, but most of April—after the 3rd—will be great.

While this is not a crowd point, El Nino may increase the tornado threats in late winter and early spring.  See this.

Summer crowds will continue to be rough, as more and more South Americans take advantage of their winter breaks to come to Disney World and join the hordes of US families on summer breaks.

Or maybe not–South American recessions, currency troubles, and the draw of vacation dollars into the Olympics in Brazil may make for less South American visitation, and a better summer than I am predicting…

There was much comic panic in the fall of 2015 over high standby waits in the afternoons at rides that shifted from no FASTPASS in prior years to FastPass+.  You should keep this in mind if you plan to visit in the fall of 2016, you plan to not use FastPass+, and you plan to ride only standby only during the busiest times of the day. A good plan, however, that avoids this silliness will result in great fall visits.

Thanksgiving, November 24, is earlier in 2016 than it has been recently, giving more good late November dates but fewer good early November ones.

Christmas is on a Sunday in 2016.

• Many, many school districts that take long holiday breaks will begin their breaks on Monday December 19, so holiday crowds at Disney World will begin to roll in on December 16th—a few days earlier than we’ve seen the last couple of years with mid-week Christmases.
• Districts that take shorter breaks will be off something like Friday the 23rd through Monday the 2nd. This means that the week between Christmas and New Years—always the worst of the year at Walt Disney World—will be an especially crazy mess in 2016.

For more on 2016 Disney World crowds see this, and for my Disney World 2016 week rankings intended for first time visitors who may not return, see this.

DISNEY WORLD PRICES IN 2016

Disney World resort hotel prices largely follow their usual patterns in 2016, with a couple of twists–prices overall have gone up a fair amount, and there are fewer low-priced weeks over the course of the year.

For the details on 2016 hotel pricing at Disney World, see this, and for the scoop on 2016 price changes, see this.

Current Disney World ticket prices are here. They could go up any day, and likely will increase before the end of February 2016. Buying them now will let you avoid this future price increase.

DISNEY WORLD DEALS IN 2016

The Disney Armed Forces Salute has been extended into late December 2016.

Room rate deals for 2016 have been out for a while.  You can always find up to date details on the major Disney World deals here.

While I am largely out of the Free Dining prediction business, I do expect to see something like the 2015 deal in 2016. For more on Free Dining at Disney World in 2016, see this.

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My friend Kelly from Destinations in Florida is doing a giveaway that includes an autographed copy of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit plus a cool tote.

Click the image to enter!!!