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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: DECEMBER 10 TO DECEMBER 18, 2016

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

For more on December 2016 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/10-12/18/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 8a-12MN 12/10, 9a-7p 12/11, 9a-11p 12/12, 9a-7p 12/13, 9a-11p 12/14, 9a-7p 12/15 and 12/16, 8a-12MN 12/17 and 8a-7p 12/18

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9p 12/10, 9a-7p 12/11 through 12/15, 9a-10.30p 12/16, 9a-9.30p 12/17, and 8.30a-10p 12/18

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-7p 12/10 through 12/17 and 9a-7.30p 12/18

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/10-12/18/2016

Saturday 12/10 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 12/11 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 12/12 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 12/13 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 12/14 Morning: none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 12/15 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 12/16 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 12/17 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 12/18  Morning: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/10-12/18/2016

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

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/10-12/18/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 12/10, 12/12, 12/14, and 12/17

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9.30p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 7p 12/10 through 12/15; 8p 12/16; 7p 12/17; 8 and 9.30p 12/18

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  Replaced for the holidays with:

Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 6.45p 12/10 through 12/15; 7.45p 12/16; 6.45p 12/17; 8 and 9.30p 12/18

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/10-12/18/2016

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

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Sanaa, the great table service restaurant at Kidani Village, has been serving counter service breakfast for a couple for months now, and I had a chance to check it out in mid-November.

Kidani Village is a DVC property with much going for it, but until recently it was weak on dining options at lunch and especially at breakfast.

Until Sanaa opened for breakfast, morning options included

• Walking, taking the shuttle, or taking the bus to the dining options at the main Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Making breakfast in your room–studios have a mini fridge, coffee maker, toaster and microwave, and villas have full kitchens

The gift shop is pretty well stocked with food.

A couple of months ago, however, Sanaa opened up for breakfast in counter service style.

Basically, breakfast is a set of grab and go options plus some hot meals.  You can combine both, and eat them either in Sanaa or back in your room.

Here’s the menu for the hot items (click it to enlarge it):

You enter, and grab anything you want from the grab and go stations:

Bring these to the register…

…and at the register order any hot meals you want.

Pay, and you’ll get a numbered animal that you take with you to whatever open table you want. Your hot meals will then be delivered to your table, as identified by the number on your animal.

Both my visits were a little after 9a (breakfast is served 7a-10a) and at both most interior tables were empty, and about half of the windows tables were available:

Among the menu options, I tried the Savanna Platter…

…and the Safari Waffle.

Each was excellent. The Safari Waffle was out within six minutes, but a kitchen snafu (they had my ticket as number 0, not number 50) with the platter meant it took almost half an hour–it was fine when it did come out, though.

The set-up through ordering has more of an air of slapped-together than I’d really like, driven, I imagine, by the need to create a temporary grab and go and ordering area in the morning, and then having it disappear in time for the table-service lunch.

But once you are at your table, and have your food, all is well, and if you have a window table, you’ll get views like these:

Begun as a test, the breakfast offering seems to have been formalized, but in mid-December 2016 the breakfast menu was still not listed on Disney’s Sanaa webpage.

It is a great convenience however, making up for one of Kidani’s notable weaknesses, so if you are staying at Kidani, give it a try!

While on the topic of dining at Kidani, I should also note that I found the Samawati Springs pool food menu more expansive than at my last visit (or maybe I just didn’t notice it).

Here it is–click it to enlarge it!

Kidani used to have two major issues: weak breakfast and lunch counter service offerings, and long walks (up to a quarter of a mile each way) from its furthest rooms to its central services.

Sanaa breakfast, and the entree options on the pool menu, go a long way to fixing the first issue, so I hope the Sanaa breakfast continues!

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In October 2016 a new show kicked off in Liberty Square.

Called The Muppets Present …. Great Moments in American History, the show is delivered from the top of the Hall of Presidents…

…and from the building on the right side of the Hall of Presidents:

There’s actually several different shows–two right now, on the Declaration of Independence and the ride of Paul Revere–in which the Muppets retell colonial history in a muppetristic way that’s cute and funny but still appropriate to the formal setting and purpose of this part of Liberty Square.

Here’s the review from the just-updated The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit:

I saw the Declaration of Independence show during my mid-November visit.

The Town Crier kicks it off…

…then Sam Eagle takes over.

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo soon appear.

They shift to period dress, and take on roles related to the Declaration of Independence, with Miss Piggy as both King George and George Washington (who had nothing to do with with Declaration, and was in fact New York checking out Hamilton while it was being written and signed).

Because it’s the Muppets, chickens are soon involved…

…but all is well, the Declaration is signed…

…and celebrations fill the air.

Check My Disney Experience for times.  On early-to-dark November and December dates through the 22nd, it has 8 shows, but only one show after the parade.

If you are a Muppets fan, this is a don’t miss show.  Disney puppeteers move the Muppets to a pre-recorded audio track featuring Muppet performers Steve Whitmore, Eric Jacobson, and Dave Goelz, and the writing is pitch-perfect to the characters.

If you are not a Muppets fan, it’s more skippable.  But if as you walk by you see a rope on the ground (marking how close the audience come come), a show will be starting soon, so stick around and watch it!

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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.

CINDERELLA CASTLE MURAL

By Jim Korkis
Five exquisite richly hued glass mosaic murals adorn the interior breezeway of Cinderella Castle. Each mural is in a Gothic archway fifteen feet high and ten feet wide.

The murals were designed by Disney artist Dorothea Redmond at WED Enterprises in California to tell the highlights of the story of Cinderella as adapted in the classic 1950 Disney animated feature film.

(c) Disney

The transformation into a physical reality was given to world famed mosaicist Hanns-Joachim Scharff and his wife along with his daughter-in-law Monika.

Scharff studied art history at the University of Leipzig and was inspired and drawn to mosaics as a youth during a visit to Italy. He was an interrogator for the Nazis during World War II.

The Cinderella mural was actually Scharff’s second assignment for the Disney Company.

In 1966 for New Orleans Square in Disneyland, Scharff did thirty table tops in the Creole Café, the mosaic thresholds for the French Market, and work on two of the quaint specialty shops. The threshold designs were based on original art work from mid-19th century New Orleans.

Later, he and his daughter-in-law would do the mosaic entrance outside The Land pavilion at Epcot.

For the Cinderella murals, Scharff had Redmond’s drawings enlarged to full scale, divided into sections and then covered with fabric netting. With the help of his family, Scharff hand cut and shaped each piece of glass.

Hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass, both the smooth-faced Venetian glass and the rough-surfaced pieces broken from the Smalti (the Italian word for “glass cake”) traditionally used by Italian craftsmen were used. It eventually totaled over a million individual pieces and more than five hundred different colors.

Some pieces were as small as the head of a tack and those that were hand cut were shaped with a power grindstone to get the perfect fit. Bits of gold, silver and numerous “jewels” were also incorporated.

Using the patterns visible beneath the netting, the mosaic pieces were carefully glued by hand, one-by-one, face down onto the fabric which would later be easily removed once the panels were put in place.

Each section was transported to Florida and a crew of six craftsmen pressed the tiles firmly into the wet cement that had been applied to the walls. After the cement had dried and the fabric netting was removed, a coating of mortar was applied and worked into the gaps between the tiles to guarantee the artwork would not only stay in place but endured the constant touching of millions of guests.

From initial design to installation, it took over eighteen months.

There are five murals starting at the entrance. The first mural shows Lady Tremaine reading the invitation to the upcoming ball to her spoiled daughters Drizella and Anatasia. Poor Cinderella is sweeping the floor.

The main section of the second mural is above the doorway but a narrow portion of the mural also trails down on either side of the doorway. The scene depicts the Fairy Godmother magically creating a beautiful gown on Cinderella while the famous carriage is off to the right.

The third mural has Cinderella dashing away from the ball up a flight of stairs and leaving a glass slipper behind with her prince in pursuit.

The fourth mural is the scene where a seated Cinderella tries on the slipper. Standing behind her, Anatasia’s face is red with rage and Drizella’s face is green with envy. The footman with the slipper has the face of Herb Ryman, the Imagineer who designed the castle and the other royal courtier who is standing has the face of Imagineer John Hench.

The final mural shows Prince Charming carrying Cinderella aboard his white horse to live happily ever after.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, 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: DECEMBER 3 TO DECEMBER 11, 2016

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

For more on December 2016 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/3-12/11/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 8a-12MN 12/3, 9a-7p 12/4, 9a-11p 12/5, 9a-7p 12/6, 9a-11p 12/7, 9a-7p 12/8 and 12/9, 8a-12MN 12/10, and 9a-7p 12/11

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-7p 12/3 through 12/8, 9a-9p 12/9 and 12/10, and 9a-7p 12/11

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-7p 11/3 through 12/6, 9a-6.30p 12/7, and 9a-7p 12/8 through 12/11

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/3-12/11/2016

Saturday 12/3 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 12/4 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 12/5 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 12/6 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 12/7 Morning: none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 12/8 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 12/9 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 12/10 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 12/11  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/3-12/11/2016

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

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/3-12/11/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 12/3, 12/5, 12/7, and 12/10

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9.30p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 7p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  Replaced for the holidays with:

Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 6.45p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 12/3-12/11/2016

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

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ONCE UPON A TIME

In November 2016 Disney World replaced the castle projection show at Magic Kingdom with a new show, Once Upon a Time.

The new show is framed as a bedtime story between Mrs. Potts and Chip.

It presents snippets from across the canon of Disney tales, with settings, animated scenes, and punctuating fireworks on or around the Cinderella’s Castle.

It’s typically scheduled for about 45 minutes after Happily Ever After, and is not on on nights Wishes is not on (it’s also not shown during the Christmas parties).

It’s visible only from the Main Street side of the Castle, and good views can be had from pretty much anywhere from near the castle to back by Casey’s Corner.

Some images from my visit (as always click to enlarge):

Peter Pan

Alice in Wonderland

Winnie the Pooh

Frozen

Beauty and the Beast

More, including some fireworks:

These projections shows have been cool since they launched a few years ago, and Once Upon A Time fits nicely into the tradition.  While not, I think, a must-see, it’s pretty close to being one!

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