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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.

STITCH IN TOMORROWLAND

By Jim Korkis

The problem with Tomorrowland at the Disney theme parks was that the future always came much quicker than expected making the land look quaint rather than innovative no matter how often it changed.

In 1994 for the Disney Imagineers the solution was to make Tomorrowland “the future that never was.” It would be the future that resembled the one predicted in all the science fiction magazines and movies of the early Twentieth Century. It would be a timeless future that would never be out of date.

Entering Tomorrowland, guests are not just in the future but in a hometown community like Main Street U.S.A. that serves as a galactic space port.

In keeping with the theme that this is a city of the future, at the entrance is a huge sign from the Tomorrowland Chamber of Commerce that welcomes guests with its motto: “The Future That Never Was Is Finally Here”.

This is a metropolis where humans intermingle with aliens and robots and is the headquarters for the League of Planets. This main street of the future is officially known as the Avenue of the Planets. However, unlike in many cities, there are no shields at the entrance of Lions Club or Kiwanis organizations.

Instead, there are colorful emblem logos representing The League of Planets, The Loyal Order of Little Green Beings, the Galactic Association of Retired Aliens and the Sleepless Knights of the Milky Way.

All of these clever details exist to suggest that there is a much larger community than what guests will be able to see and experience during their visit. At one time there was even a poster for “Lunar Disneyland—The Happiest Place Off Earth”.

In 1995, the attraction building to the left of the entrance became the InterPlanetary Convention Center with additional advertising inside about upcoming community events and a demonstration of the latest in teleportation technology from X-S Tech.

The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter was a frightening interactive experience of what happens when people trust in untested technology.

In 2004, the building was converted into the Galactic Federation Prisoner Teleportation Center to handle “undesirables”. Using the same teleportation equipment as X-S Tech, guests see a demonstration of how convicted prisoners are teleported away from this city of tomorrow.

(c) Disney

Inside is the infamous and mischievous Stitch from the Disney animated feature Lilo and Stitch (2002) that was made by Disney Feature Animation Florida. Of course, something goes horribly wrong and Stitch escapes but that comes as no surprise since the attraction is named Stitch’s Great Escape.

Not only has Stitch escaped to plague the guests in their seats but he has burst through the ceiling of the nearby merchandise shop, The Merchant of Venus, and the ceiling is covered with his distinctive footprints.

Along the sides of the shop walls are “faux” windows revealing Tomorrowland overflowing with Stitch’s many cousins, introduced to audiences in the Disney Channel television series and made-for-video sequels based on the original film.

The Merchant of Venus (a pun on Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”) is laced with blue cable coils from the ceiling that connect to collection orbs atop the fixtures so quality goods from throughout the universe can materialize in these mini teleport chambers.

Stitch has even invaded Mickey’s Star Traders just down the block. A huge mural with seven hidden Mickeys encircles the ceiling. It details the escape from the city of a screaming Stitch as well as Jumba and Pleakley’s ship in hot pursuit besides some other surprises.

The Merchant of Venus and Mickey’s Star Traders merchandise shops theme into the concept that any community, even one in the future, would need a variety of businesses and services like shops and dining options for the residents and visitors.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim!

Here’s the review of Stitch’s Great Escape from The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2017:

There are rumors that Stitch’s great Escape might be replaced with a Wreck-It-Ralph attraction…

Come back next Friday for even 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: AUGUST 27 TO SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

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

Josh and I will be doing a meet and greet and book signing Sunday 8/28 –in Mexico at Epcot at 1p, and at Tortuga Tavern in Magic Kingdom at 4p!

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

For more on August 2016 at Walt Disney World, see this, and for more on September 2016 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/27-9/4/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 8a-12MN 8/27, 9a-10p 8/28 and 8/29, 9a-9p 8/30 through 9/1, 9a-7p 9/2, 8a-1a 9/3, and 9a-12MN 9/4

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9pevery day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-11p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/27-9/4/2016

Saturday 8/27 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 8/28 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 8/29 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 8/30 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 8/31 Morning: none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 9/1 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 9/2 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 9/3 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 9/4  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/27-9/4/2016

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p  every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9p 8/27 through 8/29; 9 and 11p 0/3 and 9/4

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/27-9/4/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 8/27 through 8/29; 9p 8/30 through 9/1; 10p 9/3 and 9/4

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.30p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.45p every night

Jungle Book Evening Show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 9 and 10.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/27-9/4/2016

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/27-9/4/2016

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

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As noted in the Orlando Sentinel yesterday, for the just-released 2017 edition of The easy Guide, co-author Josh (of easyWDW.com) and I have removed the word “First” from the title–it’s now The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit.

You can meet us and argue about the title in person this Sunday, 8/28

• At Epcot we’ll be outside (not inside like in the photo) and to the right of the Pyramid entrance in Mexico from 1 to about 2p.
• At Magic Kingdom we’ll be in Tortuga Tavern, which is back towards the Frontierland end of Adventureland, from 4 to around 5p.

We had a number of good reasons for changing the title, and all were captured by commenter Jeff on Friday:

“The name change is very smart.

“I actually put off buying the book for a couple years because I’m such an experienced Disney World visitor, and I didn’t see the point of buying a book geared to rookies.

“Once I finally purchased the book, I realized how much I’d been missing and was then inclined to visit your two great web sites.

“It really is the best WDW guide book, by far, and I’ve bought ALL of them.”

Thanks, Jeff!!

We changed the title, but did not remove one word of material aimed at first timers. Rather, we added material for returning visitors–especially to Chapter 1, see the example below–and changed the language to be more inclusive of returning visitors in multiple spots later.

We knew from our first 2014 edition that this book was quite valuable for returning visitors–especially the 80% of the book that is about when to go, where to stay, what to do in the parks, and where to eat.

Chapters 2 and 3 frankly are not helpful to returning visitors.  They are on how old kids should be, and on how long to stay–returners have figured all that out.  We left them early in the book even so because they are such key topics for first timers.  However, between them they only include 12 pages, and because of our simple organization it’s easy for returning visitors to skip them.

Changing the name makes it more likely that the book will find its way to helping other people like Jeff!

And remember, also new for 2017 is our free update program.

If people forward their 2017 edition Amazon purchase confirmation to us as instructed in the book, we will let them know on that email address how to get a PDF version of our updated book!

Here’s explicitly what the book says about updates in the Introduction:

We talked about many other titles before settling on simply taking out the word “First.”  I happened to especially like “Dave and Josh’s Best Walt Disney World Guide Book Ever,” but no one else did.

Come by and meet us on Sunday, and suggest a different title!  But get the book first, OK? You’ll be glad you did.

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Some rather curious articles lately, especially one in Motley Fool, have suggested that Disney is backing away from its new evening program at the Animal Kingdom and “taking the night off.”

I think this comes from

1. Lack of familiarity with the Animal Kingdom’s common past operating hours, which typically showed 7p or 8p closes the busiest times of the year, and 5p and 6p closes the rest of the year (that is, no one who knows Disney operations well would have expected 11p closes at Animal Kingdom in later September), and
2. Lack of familiarity with how Disney for a while now has been under-gunning operating hours in its calendar releases until the final update it does a couple of weeks before the affected month starts.

I have great sympathy for this, as Disney World is about the hardest trivial topic there is to master, with the possible exception of fantasy football.

COMPARED TO PAST PRACTICES, ANIMAL KINGDOM IS OPEN ONLY ABOUT 45 MINUTES LESS IN SEPTEMBER THAN IT WAS IN THE SUMMER

This summer through Labor Day, the Animal Kingdom is open until 11p. This is three to five hours later than the old typical close.

This September after Labor Day the Animal Kingdom is open until 9p every night through September 29, and until 8.30p on September 30. In 2015, in contrast, Animal Kingdom closed at 5p almost every night. This 2016 schedule is, on average, about four hours later than the old typical close.

The average difference between the extended hours of the summer of 2016 through Labor Day and September 2016 after Labor Day is 45 minutes. Hardly “taking the night off.”

To get to this, let’s look at some data, starting first with sunset and twilight to set the context.

THE CURVES OF SUNSET IN ORLANDO

The chart below shows the times of sunset (the lowest line), full dark (the highest line) and the three intervening periods of twilight for Orlando in the summer.

I’ve explained the twilight times elsewhere, but think that explanation was too technical.

So let’s try again–imagine me piloting a small sailboat on the Potomac, as I did in my teens, dealing with three types of the fading of the day:

• During civil twilight, the details of objects are still visible, so I could clearly see what I was about to run into. You would not do an evening show during civil twilight.
• During nautical twilight, it’s dark enough that most stars are visible, but light enough that you can still see a clear horizon dividing the earth from the darkening sky. Sailors would use this period of nautical twilight to measure the angle of specific stars from the horizon as an aid to navigation, hence the name. You can’t see details, but masses of objects may still be visible, especially early in the period, and later if they are occluding the horizon, so I’d likely see what I was about to run into, at least at the last moment. This is a fine time for an evening show.
• Astronomical twilight is the period between when the horizon disappears and full dark. You can’t really see anything, so I’d know I ran into something only from the thumping and sea-muffled screams, perhaps my own. This period is so close to full dark that I wonder if it was just made up by Astronomics so that they could get their names in the paper.

The next chart layers on 2016 Animal Kingdom closes (the top green line) and 2015 closes (the bottom purplish line, with the dotted purplish line showing the average 2015 close up to Labor Day, and then after Labor Day).

It also adds as red dotted lines the 2016 9p and 10.30p times of the Jungle Book show, which is not scheduled after Labor Day—at least so far; most people think it will be over then and dark until Rivers of Light opens.

Three things are especially worth noting:

• Disney routinely kicked off the Jungle Book show in later June and earlier July at the beginning of nautical twilight
• After Labor Day, the park is not open deeply into full dark the way it was in the summer
• However, if you compare the green line to the purplish line, you can see that post Labor Day hours are still quite extended compared to 2015.

The next chart makes this last point more explicit by showing the difference between 2015 and 2016 operating hours and hours open after the end of civil sunset.

The top blue line is extra hours in 2016 by day compared to the same date in 2015, and the black dotted line within it shows the average extra hours up until and then after Labor Day.

In the 2016 summer up until Labor Day, the Animal Kingdom is open on average just a little more than 4.5 hours extra compared to 2015, and after Labor Day it is open on average just a little less than four extra hours.

The difference of the two averages is 45 minutes. So your headline could be “Animal Kingdom Open Almost Four Hours More in September 2016 than 2015” or it could be “Animal Kingdom Open 45 Minutes Less in Later September than in Earlier Summer 2016,” but “Animal Kingdom Taking the Night Off” is a goofy response to the data.

The bottom orange line shows a more significant difference.

It depicts the hours after civil twilight ends that the park is open, with averages up until and then after Labor Day shown in the red dots.

Up until Labor Day the schedule has at least 2 hours of park open after civil twilight, while after Labor Day there’s only at least one hour of civil twilight—with a 75 minute difference between the averages.

So there is less time in later September to experience Animal Kingdom in the dark. There’s enough, if no Jungle Book, but much less than in the earlier months.

Right now for most of October Animal Kingdom is showing 7p closes. (A few are later). As the table below notes, civil twilight ends at ~7.30p at the beginning of the October, and 7p late in the month.

Given this and the pattern of September, I expect Animal Kingdom October closes to be extended to 8.30p early in the month and 8p later if Rivers of Light is not open then, and to have either yet another hour of opening added after the end of civil twilight if Rivers of Light is open, or the scheduling of a second Rivers of Light half an hour after park close, as commonly happens with the second Fantasmic show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Updated hours? What’s that? Well, that’s the second topic on which the articles about the Animal Kingdom “taking the night off” are a bit goofy.

DISNEY ROUTINELY UNDERSTATES EVENTUAL OPERATING HOURS

The same articles displayed a certain level of conviction that the closes Disney is currently showing for October and after will be maintained. But for quite a while now Disney’s operating calendars have shown shorter hours than what it often actually eventually opens for.

For example, Disney is showing 9p Magic Kingdom closes for the incredibly busy later March spring break weeks.  Not gonna happen—final closes will be much later than that.

The Animal Kingdom in fact may close at the times after September currently indicated on the calendars. But no experienced Disney World watcher would bet on that.

The calendars for a month don’t get real until about two weeks before the month starts. After that update is the only time you can treat them as data. Until them, they are interesting tales about minimum hours, but not indicative of actual hours.

(Sunset and twilight data from this handy link—click at the bottom for different months)

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OVERVIEW: MARCH 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews March 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

The first week of March can be a great time to go to Disney World, and is so in 2017, up until March 10.  The rest of the month will be lousy–with high prices and high crowds.

[Read more →]

My co-author Josh of easyWDW.com and I will be somewhat awkwardly meeting our fans and random passers-by who mistake me for a character on Sunday August 28 at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

• At Epcot we’ll be outside and to the right of the Pyramid entrance in Mexico from 1 to about 2p.
• At Magic Kingdom we’ll be in Tortuga Tavern, which is back towards the Frontierland end of Adventureland, from 4 to around 5p.

We’ll sign pretty much anything you stick in front of us, including small children, but will get a special frisson from signing the latest edition of our top-reviewed guidebook series, the just-released The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2017.

Note that if you are already in Orlando that Amazon will deliver a copy to your hotel, in conveniently anonymous plain brown packaging. Call your front desk to get the right shipping address.

And make sure you save your confirmatory email from Amazon, as we have a new way to get you free updates! A screenshot from the 2017 edition:

We will be joined by friends from the travel agency I work with, Destinations in Florida, and between us will likely have some fun giveaways as well.

You should also feel free to wish me happy birthday, as that date is six days after my actual 8/22 birthday!

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