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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 13 TO MAY 21, 2017

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

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

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/13/-5/21/17

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 5/13, 9a-10p 5/14 through 5/19, 9a-11p 5/20, and 9a-10p 5/21

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-9.30p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/13-5/21/17

Saturday 5/13 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/14  Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 5/15 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 5/16 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/17 Morning: none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/18 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 5/19 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 5/20 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/21  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/13-5/21/2017

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/13-5/21/17

Happily Every After at Magic Kingdom: 9p every night

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.30p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom 9.15p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/13-5/21/17

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

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This To-Do List is for the 2017 Basic December Itinerary. For To-Do-Lists for other itineraries, see this.

A. MORE THAN 180 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PLANNED ARRIVAL DATE

(Note that a good travel agent, such as Kelly at Destinations in Florida at 980-429-4499 or at Kelly@DestinationsInFlorida.com can do almost all of this for you, for free. If you use Destinations in Florida as your travel agent and tell them you came from this site, then they share a bit of the pixie dust they get from Disney with me.)

1. Confirm your budget, planned dates, intended hotel, kids’ development and heights, and your transportation choice and its availability for your planned dates.

2. Make your plane reservations, if flying. Make any other needed transportation arrangements.

3. Create your My Disney Experience account here and add your family members to it

4. Set up your hotel and tickets. Call 407-939-7675 (preferred, because this allows you to tell the reservationist which building at your resort you wish to be in), or click here to use Disney’s online system.

• If you are following my itinerary, you want the hotel you’ve picked for 8 nights, nine day, no hopper tickets, the Dining Plan, and Disney’s Magical Express
• You also wantto order your MVMCP tickets for your planned date there. These may not be on sale until later May or even later.
• Itineraries other than mine will have different requirements here

B. 181 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Login to your MyDisneyExperience.com account, click the “Things to Do” tab at top right, under Dining hit “Make Reservations,” and practice trying to reserve restaurants (hint: use the search box at the upper right).

This may well drive you crazy, but the site works better than it used to…and is likely the only way you can get your Cindy reservations done! (as the site opens up a new reservable day at 6a, whereas the phone reservation line opens at 7a).

2. Collect your planned restaurant reservations together. You will want to do them online in order of hardest to reserve first. This is how they are listed below. Note that the two dining packages–Rivers of Light and Candlelight Processional–may not go on sale until later in the summer.

C. EXACTLY 6am EST, EXACTLY 180 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

(For an 180 day calendar, see this).

1. Be on the restaurant website by at least 5:50am EST, and have your Cindy reservation all set up on the page. Keep refreshing, as you will be let in as soon as Disney’s system decides it is 6a.

2. Make the following reservations in the exact order listed (the two dinner packages may not yet be open for booking at 180 days):

• Cinderella’s Royal Table Lunch (dining plan, two credits): Thursday at 11a or later if you can; earlier than 11 only if your sole option…
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (dining plan, two credits): Thursday 6.15p show. The later time will keep you up later than you need to be, OK if all you can get. Avoid the earlier time–it’ll cut into your park time too much
• Crystal Palace (dining plan, one credit) Second Saturday 6p.  Later is OK, but not a whole lot earlier as you have a late lunch this day
• Tusker House as Rivers of Light Dining Package (dining plan, one credit). First Sunday 5.30p. You can schedule for as late as Disney will allow you to do so, but not earlier.
• San Angel Inn as Candlelight Processional Dining Package (dining plan, two credits): Friday 5.45p. Can be earlier but not later.

For any you don’t make online, make them by calling call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463)

D. 60 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Go to your MyDisneyExperience account at 7am and set up the following hard-to-get FastPass+, booking them in the order noted

• Second Sunday at the Animal Kingdom: Avatar: Flight of Passage for 9.30 to 10.30a
• Wednesday at Hollywood Studios: Slinky Dog Dash for 10-11a
• Second Saturday at the Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for 1-2p
• Monday at Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Mania for  9-10a
• Tuesday at Epcot: Tier One: Frozen Ever After for 12.30-1.30p

2. Second, continue with the rest (I’ve kept the ones above in this list so you can see the various times):

• First Saturday evening at Epcot: Book just one, Test Track, for 6-7p
• First Sunday at the Animal Kingdom: Na’vi River Journey, Finding Nemo: The Musical, and Kali River Rapids. Set Na’vi for 10-11a, Nemo 11.30 to 11.45 for the noon show, and Kali River Rapids at 12:40p
• Monday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Tier One: Toy Story Midway Mania. Tier Two: Star Tours and Frozen Sing-Along. Set Toy Story Midway Mania for 9a-10a, Star Tours for 11a-noon 3.30p, and the Frozen Sing Along for the 10.30a show.
• Tuesday at Epcot: Frozen Ever After 12.30-1.30p, Mission Space 1.30-2.30p, Spaceship Earth 2.30-3.30p
• Wednesday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Tier One: Slinky Dog Dash. Tier Two: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Fantasmic. Set Rock ‘n’ Roller for 9-10a, Slinky Dog Dash to 10-11a, and if more than one Fantasmic show is available, pick the earlier one–likely for 8p
• Thursday at Magic Kingdom: Book FastPass+ for Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. Design the times for them around the time of your reservation for Cinderella’s Royal Table, and don’t set one for 1.30-2.30p, as you will need that time for the afternoon parade. (A FP+ time of 1-2p and/or 2-3p is OK, as you can use them at the beginning of the 1p window or end of the 2p window without interrupting your parade viewing.)
• Friday at Epcot: Soarin’ 11a-noon, Living with the Land noon-1p, Turtle Talk with Crush 2p show
• Second Saturday at Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 1-2p, Peter Pan’s Flight 2-3p, Haunted Mansion 3-4p
• Second Sunday at the Animal Kingdom: Avatar: Flight of Passage and Festival of the Lion King. Set Flight of Passage for 9.30 to 10.30a, and Festival of the Lion King for 10.30-10.45a for the 11a show.

3. Do online check in, requesting as you do special location points

4. Customize your MagicBands

E. NOTES ON PACKING ETC. BEFORE YOU LEAVE

1. Bring your MagicBands in your carry-ons

2. If you use Disney’s Magical Express, you do not need to collect your bags at the Orlando airport unless you arrive late in the evening/at night or are an international traveler. Disney will get them for you and, eventually, deliver them directly to your room. Your bags may arrive hours after you do; so, depending on the weather forecasts, have a carry-on with an appropriate change of clothes for Orlando weather on Saturday, as you will almost certainly go to Epcot on Saturday before your checked bags arrive.

3. Follow the instructions in the Magical Express packet you will receive in the mail regarding both tagging your bags pre-departure, and where to go at the Orlando airport to find your transport to your resort.

4. Bring a copy of your room reservation, confirmation numbers and any tickets for special events you may have received in the mail.

5. Pack breakfast utensils, as they are not always available in the gift shop: bowls, spoons, napkins

6. When you arrive at the hotel, look for the special “On-line Check-in” line, and get into it.

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Note: this itinerary is a draft for you to use in pre-planning.  It is based on what I believe Disney World’s operating hours and crowding patterns will be, but these won’t be confirmed until week by week they unfold during June 2018.

This draft Walt Disney World itinerary is designed for the four weeks following Thanksgiving 2018.

If you aren’t going one of those weeks, see Other Itineraries for alternatives the rest of the year, which are published about six months ahead.

You can enlarge the basic itinerary by clicking it. 

A detailed  To-Do List covers all the planning steps you need to undertake. Even more detailed daily guidance is in the links:

DAILY PLANS

• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

ITINERARY DESIGN GOALS

The basic December itinerary was designed to meet several goals: to ensure that you

1. See the best that Walt Disney World has to offer, including all of its special Christmas season offerings
2. See the parks in the order that works best for kids (essentially Epcot first, as it is potentially the most disappointing, and the Magic Kingdom last, as it is likely to be the best loved)
3. Avoid unnecessary waiting, by using FastPass+ and other tactics…
4. Given all the evening shows and late nights, have as few early mornings as practical

The 2018 version differs from previous ones in a couple of ways:

• It incorporates the new Toy Story Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• It’s updated to include various openings, closures, and time changes since the 2017 version.

If you can’t do the dates required for the Basic Itinerary, see Other Itineraries for alternatives for both the December week and the rest of the year.

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

HEADDRESSES OF THE WILDERNESS LODGE

By Jim Korkis

Some Native Americans believed that by wearing the feathers of the eagle, one of the most respected and revered birds, it was possible to impart the characteristics and power of the eagle to the wearer. It was usually the chief who would wear such a headdress and it was hoped it would provide wisdom and a different perspective.

At the entrance to the Whispering Canyon restaurant at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge are two headdresses on display. When the Imagineers had to re-create a headdress, they were not allowed to use eagle feathers because eagles are an endangered species, so they used turkey feathers and enhanced them.

On the left hand side is a Single Trailer Split Horn Headdress that would have been worn by a high-ranking warrior chief circa 1835. A single trailer headdress has a felt trailer hanging from the back of the headdress to the ground. The feathers are displayed on only one side of the trailer, giving it a symmetrical appearance.

This particular headdress was inspired by one belonging to Mato-Tope of the Mandan Tribe.

On the right hand side is a Double Trailer Eagle Feathers Headdress from around 1875. A double trailer headdress is named for the two felt trailers that hang down the back of the headdress to the ground. An elaborate headdress of this style would have been worn by the highest ranking member of the Sioux tribe.

This particular headdress was inspired by one belonging to Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota tribe of the Great Sioux Nation.

Located between two bundles of lodgepoles towards the back of the lobby is the Ermine-Tipped Raven Headdress that resembles a nineteenth century Crow warrior headdress. Inspiration for this headdress is the watercolor painting done by artist Charles Bodmer that is located just off the lobby elevator on the fourth floor. The painting was rendered in the 1830s during an expedition led by Prince Maximillian to the American West.

Just to the right of the elevators is the Feather Duster Rooster Feathers Headdress. It was used by the Crow tribe circa 1890. The red of the feathers indicates war honor.

In addition, there is an authentic display of moccasins made by the Plains Indians. Hard rawhide soles were hand sewed to a soft buckskin upper piece. Often, they would chew on the material to make it softer and more pliable. The footwear was then ornamented with dyes, quills, beads, cloth, buttons, fur and fringe and this work varied greatly among the different tribes.

Using no measuring tools or patterns, moccasins were each one-of-a-kind made to fit a specific foot of a child or adult. Intricate designs existed only the minds of the Native Americans making them and sometimes the design evolved as it was being worked on.

Another display case specifically showcases some actual beadwork for a variety of different articles. The “seed” bead, a small round opaque Venetian glass bead, became available to the Native American cultures around 1840 through the pioneers entering their territories. Because “seed” beads were partly handmade, they were somewhat irregular.

The delicacy of the bead pattern determined the size of the bead chosen. When settlers began to crowd into the Sioux country about 1860, beadwork became a major industry for the Native Americans that was highly popular until around 1900, although examples of this beautiful craft are still produced in smaller quantities today.

Settlers sometimes dictated the style of bead pattern for the garments they were willing to purchase or trade. Later visitors to the area brought imported Czechoslovakian beads, which were somewhat darker than Venetian beads and had a slightly bluish tinge.

The items in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge are a mixture of real and re-created, but the re-creations were done by Native Americans using the same materials and methods as their ancestors. Everything in the lobby from the chandeliers to the displays is meant to honor Native American culture and its significant part in the opening of the west.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim!

Jim has written multiple articles on this site on the Wilderness Lodge–see this and this and this and this! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Gremlin Trouble! The Cursed Roald Dahl Film Disney Never Made, Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 6 TO MAY 14, 2017

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

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

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/6/-5/14/17

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 5/6, 9a-10p 5/7 through 5/10, 9a-11p 5/11 through 5/13, and 9a-10p 5/14

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-9.30p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/6-5/14/17

Saturday 5/6 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/7  Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 5/8 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 5/9 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/10 Morning: none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/11 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 5/12 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 5/13 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/14  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/6-5/14/2017

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/6-5/14/17

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 9p 5/6 through 5/11

Happily Every After at Magic Kingdom: 9p 5/12 through 5/14

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.30p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom 9.15p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/6-5/14/17

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

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Note: Disney is not currently offering FastPass+.  No restart date or intent to cancel or replace it has been announced.

Because of this and other factors, my itineraries are not of any use.

Below is my FastPass+ based Disney World itinerary for lower crowd weeks.

On its first Animal Kingdom day, it uses a Rivers of Light Dining Package to save a FastPass+. Note that this package is available sometimes only 3-4 months ahead, rather than the 180 days ahead that most dining is available.

It is designed for lower-crowd weeks and does not work all dates after than.  Check your week here.

As always on this site, click the image to enlarge it.

The recommended dining and FastPass+ that make it work are in its To-Do List, so you can book them at the appropriate 180 day window for dining (although, so far, Rivers of Light dining has been opening up just a couple of months ahead) and 60 day window for FastPass+ sign-ups. Daily agendas are in the links:

• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

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