Category — p. News and Changes

Some coming attractions on yourfirstvisit.net over the next month or so:

REVIEW OF THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT AND SPA

Disney’s latest accommodations offering opens this week—the Villas at the Grand Floridian. Amy Girl and I are booked into a two-bedroom villa there in early November, so look for a review shortly after!

MORE TESTING OF FASTPASS+ AND MAGICBANDS

As part of that visit, we’ll do the second round of FastPass+ and MagicBand testing (for the findings first time around, see this).  This test will focus on FastPass+ for parades, fireworks, and character greetings

KICKING OFF THE RE-VISITS TO THE DELUXE AND DVC RESORTS

Over the last twenty months I’ve re-visited and re-reviewed all of the moderates and values—and all their different room types.

The November visit also “officially” kicks off the re-visits and re-reviews of the deluxe and DVC properties, so besides the Grand Floridian we’ll also be at the Animal Kingdom and Wilderness Lodges.  Some of the current reviews are as much as four years old (most are newer!), so this will be a welcome refresh of this material.

IMPROVED FLOOR PLANS!

There’s more than 60 floor plans on this site.  Denise from YourFloorPlan is making them all much easier to use!

Today I put up the first five here.  See the example at the top of this page. I’ll be rolling out the rest over the next 6 months.

THE PROS AND CONS OF EVERY WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT, FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS ACTUALLY STAYED IN THEM ALL!

I announced yesterday a new series on the pros and cons of all the resorts.  You can find similar stuff elsewhere, but not written by anyone who has recently stayed for multiple nights in all of them. The next entry in the series should be out later this week…

FINISHING THE DRAFT SET OF MATERIAL FOR 2015

I’ve already published Disney World price season projections for 2015. Next to come is the 2015 crowd calendar, and after that the 2015 week rankings. This should all be out within a month.  I’ll then revise it all in the summer of 2014.

OK, that’s the scoop. I hope all this stuff is useful to you all!! And let me know anything else you’d like to see, or to see updated!

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Earlier this week Disney World updated its operating calendar for November, and Thanksgiving Week in particular saw massive changes.

MAGIC KINGDOM OPERATING HOURS THANKSGIVING WEEK

Every day from Saturday November 24 through Saturday November 30, the Magic Kingdom is now open from 8a til 1a.

Before the change, hours were listed that week as 9a-10p.  No one expected that the 10p closes would stay–they were clearly going to be extended.  But 1a closes every day Thanksgiving week is a surprise, as are the 8a openings.

While 8a opens are common other busy weeks, this is the first time since I’ve been tracking that Disney World has had a week of 8a opens during Thanksgiving. (To compare last year’s Thanksgiving Week hours, see this.)

So those intending to beat crowds by showing up before open at the Magic Kingdom now need to get up an hour earlier. And those with 8.10a breakfast in the Magic Kingdom, scheduled with the thought that they’d be finishing just as the park was opening, will need to seriously reconsider these bookings.

The best time to tour is the first hour or two after the park opens.  And since the surprising operating hour extensions are a hint that Disney is expecting really heavy crowds Thanksgiving week…well that touring time is golden, and not wise to spend eating!

OTHER OPERATING HOUR CHANGES

Beyond the Magic Kingdom, Epcot saw no changes; Disney’s Hollywood Studios now has 10p closes, as I would have expected, and the Animal Kingdom is now open 8a-8p all week–as it was last year.

The schedule may change again, even the day before–Extra Magic Hours may be added, etc.  So keep up with the operating hours!

Yesterday I learned that yourfirstvisit.net–well, actually, me–was named a “Top Florida Blogger” by Destinations in Florida.

I’m not entirely certain what the criteria were–although leaden prose, out-of-focus photographs, and not much personality come immediately to mind.

But I’m delighted at the honor.  This site has helped more than four and a half million people since I opened it five-plus years ago, and honestly it’s been an enormous amount of work.

I don’t copy and then re-write other people’s work, and pass it off as my own work–which you’ll see happen on some other Disney World sites. Rather, I do the fact gathering, research and analysis myself, and even show the backup…So the recognition for the help, and the work, is kinda neat!

On the other hand, it’s been a lot of fun too! Reporting on Disney World is not exactly the worst way to be spending your spare time!

Thanks to all of you who come here for help, ask questions, and tell your friends about the site.

The real honor is serving you…

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NEW $10 FEE PER PERSON FOR NOT CANCELLING TABLE SERVICE RESERVATIONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Crack commenter DisneyDiningAgent weighed in a few days ago with the new Disney World table service cancellation policy that will kick in for reservations made beginning 10/31.

He quotes the new policy:

“…Adjustments will be made to the Walt Disney World Resort cancellation policy beginning October 31.

At that time, all table-service locations at Walt Disney World Resort (including Operating Participants) will begin using the cancellation policy already in place at select restaurants on property.

Beginning October 31, when booking a reservation at these restaurants, Guests will be required to provide a credit card to hold a reservation. A charge of $10 per person will be applied if the cancellation is not made at least one day in advance.”

(Emphasis added; “Operating Participants” means restaurants on property not owned by Disney who let Disney reserve for them; restaurants that require pre-payment of the entire meal will continue to penalize the entire cost for no-shows.)

DisneyDiningAgent further notes what the memo says about how to cancel:

A special phone line that only handles dining cancellations is available for Guest convenience: 407-WDW-CNCL.

Dining reservations may be booked or cancelled by visiting any table-service restaurant podium, Walt Disney World Resort Hotel concierge or Guest Relations, or by calling 407-WDW-DINE or DVC Member Services (for Members only, 800-800-9800). Guests may also make and cancel reservations by visiting http://www.DisneyWorld.com/Dining.

This new policy, I suspect, is partly related to FastPass+.

WHY DISNEY IS CHANGING ITS TABLE SERVICE CANCELLATION POLICY

Disney has been fine-tuning its dining cancellation policy for a while now.  Savvy travelers know that they need to book the most popular table service venues months ahead.

This means committing to a location, and some people, unwilling to do so, make multiple reservations at different locations instead.  This takes possibilities for other people out of inventory, limiting their ability to have the best trip. So Disney for a while now has had cancellation penalties at its most popular and most expensive restaurants.

The new cancellation policy broadens penalties to everywhere, and is meant–I suspect–to reduce double booking even more by creating an across-the-board penalty for forgetting to clean them up.

Disney could have made this change a while ago…so why now?  Two reasons, I suspect.

1. First, the linking of everything into MyDisneyExperience has made it more clear just how much double booking there is
2. Second, since Fastpass+ lets people commit to a park 60 days ahead (or at least it will when fully operational) more people will understand the value of making these dining choices early…and will be annoyed with no availability

The most popular Disney World table-service restaurants will still largely book out more than 60 days ahead…but with fewer double bookings, more people will get to enjoy them…whenever they book them!

As predicted, Walt Disney World released today two deals for early 2014.

ROOM ONLY DISNEY WORLD DEAL FOR EARLY 2014

One deal is a room discount deal, and covers January 5 – April 12, 2014

This deal needs to be booked by December 31, 2013, and offers the following discounts (except between March 6-13, when discounts, if available, will typically be 5 percentage points less.):

Value Resorts:

• 20% off: All Star Music, All Star Sports, Pop Century Resort
• 15% off: Art of Animation Family Suites
• 5% off: All Star Movies
• Excluded:  Art of Animation Little Mermaid Standard Rooms

Moderate Resorts:

• 25% off: Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, Fort Wilderness Cabins
• 5% off: Port Orleans French Quarter

Deluxe Resorts:

• 35% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Standard & Pool View), Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn, Polynesian Resort, Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa , Wilderness Lodge (Standard & Woods View)
• 25% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Club Level & Savanna View), Wilderness Lodge (Club Level & Courtyard View)
• Excluded (or perhaps 5% off): Other view types

DVC Resorts:

• 35% off: Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn Villas
• 25% off: Villas at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas
• 5% off: Bay Lake Tower
• Excluded: Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and 3-bedroom Villas

Disney World’s page on this deal is here.

DISNEY WORLD EARLY 2014 “PLAY, STAY, DINE AND SAVE” DEAL

Disney World also released today a “Play Stay Dine” deal for early 2014. It covers arrival dates from January 5 through March 5, 2014 and needs to be booked by December 31.

This deal does not look quite like similarly named deals Disney has released in the past. On its webpage, for an example 4 person family, savings are on the order of $120/night at eligible deluxes and moderates, and $80/night at value resorts.

Savings on this deal will vary quite a bit among families of different sizes and ages and in some cases the room-only deal will be better. In general, the smaller and older your family, and the more expensive your room, the better the room only deal…but sadly you–or your travel agent, or the Disney cast member you call–will need to do the math.

Disney’s page on this deal is here.

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WDW MAGAZINE DEBUTS WITH SOME GREAT ARTICLES, PLUS MINE

My bud Carl Trent, founder of Dad’s Guide to WDW and a real friend of this site over the years, has just launched the brand-new WDW Magazine available for iPads (and soon iPhones) here.

Carl rounded up a stable of terrific writers, articles, videos, and photographs…plus me.

Carl asked me–out of desperation, no doubt–to be the lead columnist on issues first-timers face, so I’ve got an article in there on how old your kids should be on their first visit.

Check out WDW Magazine if you have an iPad–and if you don’t, isn’t this a great reason to buy one?

And by the way, I have nothing to disclose here, as I have no financial relationship with WDW Magazine other than being a writer.  But Carl does still owe me breakfast…

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