Category — p. News and Changes

MilitaryDisneyTips.com (and its blog) is celebrating its fourth birthday today!

If you are a military family, related to a military family, friends with a military family, or could be friends if you realized what great deals they and their friends are sometimes offered, you need to check out this site. [Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD DEAL FOR LATE SUMMER/EARLY FALL 2012

Walt Disney World has announced a new promotion for stays from August 15 through September 29, 2012.  Book between now and and August 14, 2012.

Savings range from 15-30%.

Value Resorts discounts:

• 15% off Disney’s All-Star Movies
• 20% off Disney’s All-Star Sports and All-Star Music

Moderate Resorts discounts:

• 20% off at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside
• 25% off at Disney’s Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, and The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort

Deluxe Resorts discounts: 

• 20% off at Disney’s Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary Resort
• 30% off at Disney’s Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn, and Animal Kingdom Lodge (standard view)

Disney Vacation Club Resorts discounts:

• 30% off at Disney’s Old Key West Resort and Saratoga Springs

For Disney’s page on this deal, see this.

For other Disney World discounts, see this.

NEW FANTASYLAND OPENING DATE SORT OF ANNOUNCED

The Disney Parks Blog announced Friday that the “openings of Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston’s Tavern, and Ariel’s Grotto” would be celebrated “this holiday season.”

(The same post noted that the next phase of Storybook Circus will open in July, and, as previously hinted, that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will open in 2014.)

Now, “celebrated during the holiday season” is pretty imprecise…since not only is the “holiday season” a vague term, but also something can be celebrated well after it is opened…

But based on this language, which replaces the old language of “late fall,” I have some confidence that, barring major problems, New Fantasyland will open in either early November or after Thanksgiving week, and that the latest likely opening date is December 8.

WHY THEN? [Read more →]

On 4/27 and 4/28/2012, the normal pattern for Extra Magic Hours is swapped, so Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have morning EMH on Friday the 27th, and Epcot will have evening  EMH on Saturday the 28th.

Those following this site’s Autumn-Winter-Spring itinerary can do it as is, with the exception that they may not be able to ride Friday night after Illuminations.

“May” because rumors are that, with Test Track closed, Disney may keep the rides in the Land Pavilion–and in particular Soarin–open til 10p…

A CHEAT SHEET FOR 2012 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

James McC. emailed last month to thank me for this site, and among other things said “It really helped, it was kind of like a cheat sheet.”

A “Cheat Sheet” is a “concise set of notes used for quick reference” and is a great description of what the site is trying to do.

Moreover, noodling around, it struck me that the charts that people
pin on Pinterest create another kind of “cheat sheet,” as a crowd-sourced indicator of what people find worth bookmarking and sharing.

So based on these thoughts and what people have put on Pinterest, I’ve put together a four-page powerpoint Walt Disney World 2012 Cheat Sheet. Click the link to open up the (2.5 mb) powerpoint file. (The image at the top of this page is an example page from it.)

PINTEREST USERS: PLEASE PIN AWAY!

I recently updated my copyright page so that it’s clear Pinterest users are welcome to pin copyrighted images and charts from here.

Here’s the new language:

Pinterest users have my permission to pin in the normal pinterest way (that by default creates a link back to this site without you having to do anything) any number of my images that you think will be helpful to you, or to your friends or followers, or that just help you create or recall happy memories.

I don’t have a pinterest page for the site–just like I don’t have a facebook page–for the simple reason that I barely have enough time to keep up with this site, much less maintain others. 

Someday that may change, but in the meantime, if you want to see what others have pinned from here, see this. (Give it some time to load.)