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STAR WAR LAUNCH BAY

Star Wars Launch Bay opened in December 2015 in the old Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

It includes meet and greet opportunities with both Chewbacca and a Stars Wars villain—currently the wuss Kylo Ren, but at the time of my visit universe-class villain Darth Vader…

…A video that’s in the categories of “Making Of” and “Universal Significance” of Star Wars, particularly The Force Awakens, although this will likely shift to the next story in the saga to be released, 2016’s Rogue Wars

…and lots of fun objects to look at.

You also may run into Storm Troopers, Ewoks, and such.

The payoff here is principally for Star Wars fans, and the bigger the fan you are, the more you will likely enjoy it.

You don’t have to have seen The Force Awakens to understand the Launch Bay, but if you are not the sort to have already seen it, you may not have enough interest in Star Wars for there to be much value here.

There’s more on the Launch Bay in my co-author Josh’s post here.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

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The studios and villas at the Jambo House section of the Animal Kingdom Lodge are going through a minor renovation.

I had the chance to stay in a renovated Studio and a renovated One Bedroom Villa in late April.

I’ve since updated my review of the Jambo House villas, and in particular a photo tour of a Jambo House refurbed Studio is here, and one of a Jambo House refurbed One Bedroom Villa begins here.

This refurb is generally quite subtle.  The beds look quite different as Disney World implements here its resort-wide simple bed-striping scheme on beds that used to be among the busiest at the Disney hotels.

But otherwise it’s some paint, new carpet, new cushions–some more orange than they used to be–bigger, wall-mounted TVs, cut-down dressers, and more power points.

A few direct comparisons:

Studio Bed Side

Studio in 2014

Studio in 2016

Note in the Studio the simpler bed, new (though similar) carpet, and new cushions on the couch.

Studio TV Side

Studio in 2014

Studio in 2016

The major change to the TV side is the TV moving out of the top of the dresser and getting much larger. They are hard to spot in this shot, but 8 power points have been added to the dresser top (4 more came to the bedside table).  The fabric on the chairs is also simpler.

As expected, there has been no addition of a fifth sleeping spot.

One Bedroom Villa Living/Kitchen/Dining Side

One bedroom Villa living spaces have seen similar changes.

One Bedroom in 2014

One Bedroom in 2016

So far as I could tell, the kitchen was identical.  The carpet, TV, dresser and cushions got similar treatment as in the Studios, and note more orange in the dining chairs, now complementing the always-orange of the dining bench.

One Bedroom Villa Bath/Bedroom Side

The toilet room has a stark paint difference…

One Bedroom Villa 2014

One Bedroom Villa 2016

The king bedroom shows the same bedding, carpet, TV, dresser and cushion changes as in Studios, and in addition the desk and easy chair have been flipped, with some orange added to the desk chair cushion.

One Bedroom Villa 2014

One Bedroom Villa 2016

One Bedroom Villa 2014

One Bedroom Villa 2016

All in, I liked the old look of the beds better.  But the new TVs, cushions, and power points are a plus.  There’s more than 70 photos of these refurbed spaces in the updated review of the Jambo House villas that starts here.

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For the first page of this review of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, click here

DINING AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge has some of the more interesting dining among the Disney deluxe resorts. There’s two table service restaurants–one family-friendly, the other sophisticated–at Jambo House, a third fun table service option at nearby Kidani Village,  and a strong quick service at Jambo.

Moreover, as Disney’s Animal Kingdom shifts to being a park reliably open late, dinner there becomes an option as well, at least for those with park hoppers. A short bus ride away, the Animal Kingdom includes Rainforest Cafe, Yak and Yeti, Tucker House, and the new Tiffins. All but the Rainforest Cafe require park entry.

All dining in Jambo House is on the first floor. From the main lobby (on the third floor) , take either the elevator or the stairs.

The stairs will take you past the Victoria Falls Lounge–one of the best Disney World bars.

Keep going and you’ll find the main dining area, with family-friendly Boma on one side. Here’s the review of Boma from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019:

Next to Boma is the more sophisticated–and expensive–Jiko.

The Jiko review  from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019:

Kidani Village is Jambo House’s sister DVC resort.

Kidani is a longish walk or short shuttle ride away from Jambo House. Its restaurant Sanaa is well worth a visit…

….especially for the bread service.

Back at Jambo house’s first level, outside and down the walkway to the left you’ll find one of Disney World’s best resort counter-service locales, The Mara.

Like the other venues here, The Mara combines African-inspired and less exotic offerings as well. (Click the menu to enlarge it.)

African stew, anyone?

Hot food is ordered through one line, which can get long. You’ll get a pager, pay, and return to pick it up when the pager goes off.

The large dining area will fill during common meal hours.

There’s more seats outside, right next to the pool.

THE UZIMA POOL AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

This review continues here.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

• Summary and overview of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Theming and accommodations at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• A photo tour of a standard room at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Amenities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Dining at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• The Uzima Pool at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

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 160+ stays in them

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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.

FIRST FAMILIES OF WALT DISNEY WORLD

By Jim Korkis

A tradition started at Disneyland on July 18, 1955 was to pick a “First Family” to be honored as the first official guests to enter a Disney theme park and to reward them with lifetime passes.

That same tradition continued at Walt Disney World when the Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971.

The lucky sandy-haired father was William “Bill” Windsor Jr. from nearby Lakeland, Florida, who was accompanied by his pretty blue-eyed wife, Marty, and their sons Jay, who was 3 years old, and Lee, who was nearly 19 months old. It turned out they had arrived so early that the entire family had slept in their car overnight at the nearest roadside rest area in order to be among the first into the parking lot.

For the opening of Epcot on October 1, 1982, Richard Cason, his wife Paula, and their four children (Jennifer, 16; Chris, 15; Ricky, 14; and Jody, 13) were the first family. They were from Winter Park and got up at 4:30 a.m. to arrive at the park at six a.m. only to find the gates wouldn’t open to the parking lot until seven a.m.

Cason said he “drove around the loop” before finally making it into the parking lot. “I just told the kids to get out and run for the gate,” he told reporters at the Opening Ceremonies. They received a silver pass from Chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Productions, Card Walker.

Unfortunately, due to limited space, only the first family, Walker, the press and a handful of invited guests were allowed inside the gates to witness the opening ceremony. All the other guests that morning were kept outside and only saw the festivities on that evening’s newscasts.

For Disney MGM Studios that opened on May 1, 1989 (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios), the official “first family” was Allan and Mary Guiterrz (both 37) and their teen daughters Gina (16), Dawn (14) and Mary’s father Marshall Busser (61) from York, Pennsylvania. They had waited six hours to be the first ones.

Allan was a carpenter and Mary a postal worker and part-time belly dancer. They were greeted by Michael Eisner and Bob Hope who escorted them down Hollywood Boulevard. They commented that they were spending so much time with interviews that they worried they might not have time to see the park before they had to leave.

For the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998, by five a.m., 350 cars were waiting in the parking plaza. The park was scheduled to open at seven a.m. but there was such a crush of guests that Disney opened an hour earlier after a short ceremony that featured the song Circle of Life from the movie The Lion King (1994) and then had to close the park again seventy-five minutes later.

The first guests through the gate were Brenda Herr of St. Petersburg, Florida, her husband, Damon Chepren and their twenty-two month old son, Devon, who all napped for only two hours the night before cramped in a Mazda 626, to ensure a spot at the front.

“She was determined, and she let me know darn well we were going to make it happen,” Chepren said. “When we were waiting in the car, she looked me in the eyes and said, `You will run’.”

DAK also paid tribute to the first “Honorary First Family”, Michael Werikhe and his daughters, Acacia, 9, and Kora, 7, in a ceremony at the park’s Conservation Station. Werikhe was known throughout the world as “Rhino Man,” for his one-man crusade to boost public awareness of the plight of the black rhinoceros.

Roy E. Disney presented Werikhe with a giant “Key of Life,” in the shape of The Tree of Life, the park’s massive icon. In addition, Walt Disney World made a contribution in support of Werikhe’s conservation work.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! And 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 First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: APRIL 30 TO MAY 8, 2016

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

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.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/30-5/8/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 99a-12MN 4/30 and 5/1, 9a-11p 5/2 through 5/4, 9a-10p 5/5, 9a-12MN 5/6 and 5/7, and 9a-11p 5/8

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-10p 4/30 through 5/2, 9a-8.30p 5/3, 9a-10p 5/4, 9a-8.30p 5/5, 9a-10p 5/6, 9a-9p 5/7, and 9a-10p 5/8

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-6p 4/30, 9a-6.30p 5/1, 9a-6p 5/2 through 5/6, and 9a-6.30p 5/7 and 5/8

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/30-5/8/2016

Saturday 4/30 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 5/1 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 5/2 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 5/3 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/4 Morning:  none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/5 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 5/6 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 5/7 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 5/8  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/30-5/8/2016

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9p 4/30 and 5/1; 9a and 11p 5/2 through 5/4; 9p 5/5 through 5/7; 9 and 11p 5/8

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/30-5/8/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p every night

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p 4/30; 9 and 10.30p 5/1; 9p 5/2 through 5/5; 9 and 10.30p 5/6; 9p 5/7 and 5/8

Symphony in the Stars at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.45p 4/30 through 5/2; 9.45p 5/4, 5/6 and and 5/8

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/30-5/8/2016

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/30-5/8/2016

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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The Cabins in Fort Wilderness are being refurbed–I believe all loops but 2800 and 2100 are done. (A photo tour of the refurbed cabins begins here.)

Earlier in the refurb there was ambiguity about what would happen to the Cabins in Loop 2100.  That ambiguity is over–they are gone.

Wednesday the 20th I saw some 2100 Cabins being un-skirted but still on blocks…

…and others on wheels.

Well, they were all gone by the 22nd, and on the 23rd Josh of easyWDW got this shot from the passenger seat of my rental car of them on the old STOL strip that’s now used for construction storage and staging.

There’s no official word on what will happen to Loop 2100, but the smart money is on premium campsites for big RV rigs.

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