Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

I just completed and published my updated review of Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The updated Pop Century review begins here, and has five pages in total:

• Overview and Summary of Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Theming and accommodations at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• A photo tour of a refurbed room at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Amenities and dining at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• The pools at Disney’s Pop Century Resort

The update includes a bunch of all-new photos from my July 2017 stay in a refurbed room–my ninth and tenth stays at Pop Century, respectively.

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For the first page of this review of Disney’s Pop Century Resort, click here.

THE POOLS AT POP CENTURY

Disney’s Pop Century Resort has three good-sized pools, one in each themed area except for the 70s area–the Hippy Dippy pool, Bowling Pin Pool, and Computer pool.

THE HIPPY DIPPY POOL AT DISNEY’S POP CENTURY RESORT

The principal pool, the Hippy Dippy Pool, is near the center of the resort in the 60s section, on the food court side of Buildings 4 and 5.

Like other value resort pools, there’s no water slide or fancy kids splash pool, but otherwise it has more amenities than the other pools at the resort.

There’s a small kids pool on the side closer to Hourglass Lake.

You’ll also find at the Hippy Dippy pool a cornhole game…

…and a ping-pong table.

Pool games happen every afternoon, and many evenings a Disney movie is shown.

The Hippy Dippy pool at night.

The only bar at Pop Century is just outside the Hippy Dippy pool area, close to the food court.

The amenities, pool games, and general color and energy make the Hippy Dippy pool the most popular of Pop Century’s pools.  But if what you want is to play with the kids in the water, sun, or swim, the other two pools are perfectly good alternatives, and will likely be less crowded.

THE BOWLING PIN POOL AT DISNEY’S POP CENTURY RESORT

The Bowling Pin pool is in the 50s area, centered among Buildings 1, 2 and 3, and closest to Building 2.

The pool overall–perhaps not surprisingly–is laid out to resemble a bowling pin…

…just as are the stairs of these 50s buildings. The pool is big and has a large pool chair area, but like the computer pool it’s not worth a walk that takes you past any other Pop Century pool.

THE COMPUTER POOL  AT DISNEY’S POP CENTURY RESORT

The Computer pool is in the center of the the 80s and 90s area, among Buildings 7, 8 and 9, closest to Building  8.

The computer theming is a keyboard at one side of the pool and a screen (and another keyboard) on Building 8…

…the pool itself is a simple, but large, rectangle with plenty of pool deck space.

MATERIALS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S POP CENTURY RESORT

• Disney’s Pop Century Resort–overview and summary
• Theming and accommodations at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• A photo tour of a refurbed room at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Amenities and dining at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• The pools at Disney’s Pop Century Resort

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: DECEMBER 9 TO DECEMBER 17, 2017

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

For more on December 2017 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/9-12/17/17

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 8a-12MN 12/9, 8a-6p 12/10, 9a-10p 12/11, 8a-6p 12/12, 9a-10p 12/13, 8a-6p 12/14 and 12/15,  8a-12MN 12/16, and 8a-6p 12/17

Epcot will be open from 9a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-8p 12/9 through 12/14, 9a-9p 12/15, 9a-6p 12/16, and 9a-9p 12/17

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-8p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/9-12/17/17

Saturday 12/9 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 12/10  Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 12/11 Morning: Animal Kingdom   Evening: none

Tuesday 12/12 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 12/13 Morning: none  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Thursday 12/14 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 12/15 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 12/16 Morning: Animal Kingdom   Evening: none

Sunday 12/17  Morning: none  Evening: Epcot

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/9-12/17/17

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 2p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/9-12/17/17

Happily Every After at Magic Kingdom: 9p 12/9, 12/11, 12/13 and 12/16

IllumiNations at Epcot:  9.30p every day

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  8.30p 12/9 through 12/15; 7p 12/17

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  9p 12/15 and 12/17

Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8p 12/9 through 12/14; 6.30p 12/15 and 12/17

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom 6.30 and 7.45p 12/7 through 12/14; 7.15 and 8.30p 12/15 through 12/17

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/9-12/17/17

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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The latest edition of WDW Magazine, which focuses on 2018 at Disney World, is out!

The magazine is available on iTunes, for Android, and on the web.

From my friends at the magazine, here’s the scoop on this month’s issue:

This month we recap the amazing year at WDW in 2017, look ahead to what’s coming in 2018, talk about the pros and cons of visiting in every months of the year, and explore why winter is the best time to visit!

Plus we have a sneak peek inside Club 33 at Disneyland and a preview of the new Beauty and the Beast musical on the Disney Dream!

We also look at the All-Star Music Resort, Columbia Harbour House, how early you should book your WDW vacation, the best shopdisney.com gifts for your kids, and we share some fun facts about Tomorrowland.

For all you Star Wars fans – we have an exclusive interview with Jamie Cosley from The Light Side comic featured in Star Wars Insider!

WDW Magazine is dedicated to bringing you in-depth coverage and stunning photos every month. For 4 years it has been the leading digital magazine for Walt Disney World fans.

I write the WDW Magazine column for first-timers (because who else would??). In this edition, I focus on whether or not you should time your trip around the opening of Toy Story Land.  Moreover, in an annual tradition, Carl Trent and I debate the best and worst times to go in 2018!

Curious? Of course you are! Subscribe via iTunes, Android, or on the web.

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My friends at the Official Ticket Center are offering a great deal for those on shorter trips.

Through February 4th, if you buy your two or three day tickets through them, you get a park hopper for each ticket for free! That’s a savings of about $65/person, or more than $250 for a family of four!

Park hoppers allow you to visit more than one park in a day. On shorter tickets they can be quite valuable, permitting you, for example, to see the evening shows and/or have dinner at a different park than the one you spent the day at!

To get the deal–and arrange delivery–call The Official Ticket Center at 1-877-406-4836 (or local at 407-396-9020). And tell them that Dave from yourfirstvisit.net sent you!

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

YOUR DISNEY LIBRARY: SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN

By Jim Korkis

I am fortunate that over the decades, my personal Disney library of books has grown to fill multiple shelves. It seems that more new Disney related books are coming out every month and it gets quite overwhelming.

Dave Shute recently suggested that once a month I select a book related to Walt Disney World that is either in print or easily attainable so that fans of the Florida project might consider expanding their own personal libraries.

Today, I am going to start with a book that is an important foundation for any WDW book library: Since The World Began – Walt Disney World The First 25 Years by Jeff Kurtti that was published on October 1, 1996 by Disney Editions and is 192 pages long.

There is both a hardcover and paperback edition and I would strongly recommend you purchase the hardcover edition because it will better survive constant use. While it has been out of print for nearly twenty years, it is still available at very reasonable prices on Amazon.com here.

Why would I strongly recommend a book that is twenty years out of date? It was originally rushed into print as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the popular Florida vacation destination. Disney’s Animal Kingdom had just opened six months earlier. The book is long overdue to be expanded and updated.

That being said, the information about the history, planning, design, building and philosophy of Walt Disney World is still accurate and valuable, with some of that material appearing nowhere else. The book also offers some glimpses of things that were announced but never built.

Do not use this book for vacation planning (use The easy Guide instead–Dave), but rather as a wonderful nostalgic time travel trip to a Walt Disney World that many remember and miss, as well as accurate documentation on things that no longer exist.

Author Jeff Kurtti is an acknowledged Disney historian with over two dozen books to his credit and countless articles. Disney fans will instantly recognize his name from his informative and accurate articles on all things Disney that have appeared in magazines and websites.

He worked for Walt Disney Imagineering and then in the Disney Corporate Special Projects department. He was a creative director, content consultant and media producer for the Walt Disney Family Museum in its earliest days. He continues to consult with the Disney company on a variety of projects including producing documentaries. He knows his stuff and has a clear and accessible writing style.

In fact, he has a book scheduled for publication in April 2008 entitled Travels with Walt Disney: A Photographic Voyage Around the World that I have already pre-ordered sight unseen.

Jeff presents the story of Walt Disney World in a somewhat chronological order in eight well written chapters that are filled with many interesting sidebars so as not to disrupt the main narrative, and fairly large colorful photos, including some appearing nowhere else. The foreword is by Roy E. Disney, then vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company, who was someone Jeff worked closely with on many different projects.

The text only occasionally displays the sanitized “Disney approved narrative” so common in recent books from Disney Editions trying to protect a brand image. Obviously, Jeff was constrained by the pre-determined length but is clever enough to pack in more historical details, anecdotes, and insights than books twice this size.

Jeff’s connections with Imagineers and unlimited access to the Disney Archives as well as other personal resources provides a perspective lacking in some other books. The book devotes a full chapter to each of the theme parks but Jeff also includes sidebars on resorts, background information on behind-the-scenes topics like Reedy Creek, and even squeezes in two pages about the Disney Cruise Line.

Personally, despite its age I still use this book frequently when I am writing articles usually to help verify information or to give me ideas for topics. So, as an inexpensive and valuable resource, I strongly recommend adding this book to your personal Disney library.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! Since the World Began is available on Amazon here. And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Call Me Walt, and his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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