Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

As you may know, along with Josh Humphrey of easyWDW.com I co-author the best-reviewed Disney World guide book series ever published, The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit.

The 2016 edition of The easy Guide has been available as a paperback and a Kindle book for a few weeks now, and I’m delighted to announce that for the first time The easy Guide is available in PDF format!

WHY WOULD YOU EVEN WANT A PDF?

For guide books, I’m a real fan of printed books. It’s easier to flip back and forth to make comparisons; you can easily scribble notes to yourself on page or on the inside covers; and the images are easy to read. So for most, a copy of our paperback is going to be the best choice.

The main issues with a paperback are portability and access, and that’s why we’ve always made The easy Guide available as a Kindle Book as well. If you have one of Amazon’s apps, you can read a Kindle book on almost any device with a screen. Kindle books are also by tradition the least expensive way to get a book.

However, if you like to keep some material handy—like the step-by-step park touring plans in Chapter 6 of The easy Guide–you can’t print anything from a Kindle book. Images don’t come across as well in Kindles, and you can’t resize images (like our park maps and charts of the best times to go) to be able to see more of their details in Kindles or Kindle Fires.

Enter the PDF, which, while not perfect, combines a lot of the best of the above while avoiding most of their negatives.

• PDFs are the most ubiquitously readable document format in computing, so you can read our or refer to our book from almost any device with a screen, usually without having to take the extra step of downloading an app or a reader.
• You can zoom the view on a PDF, so you can see our images at any level of detail you wish to.
• And probably most handy, you can print anything from a PDF you want—from the entire book to a page or anything in between.

(Above is a screenshot of a zoomed page from our PDF edition.)

Do you mostly want to see our book on your devices, but also want to print the Disney World restaurant reviews in Chapter 6 to scribble all over them, or print the park touring plans in Chapter 5 to stick in your back pocket, or print the To-Do Lists, or FastPass+ step by step guides, in Chapter 8 so you can cross each step off when you’ve completed it? A PDF lets you do all that.

To get a copy of the PDF edition of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, click here!

(And to join our new affiliate program, see this.)

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Josh and I have set up a mechanism whereby all the people who so kindly share news about The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit can actually get a little pixie dust if anyone buys the paperback, Kindle edition, or PDF edition via specialized links that this page tells you how to set up.

THE KINDLE OR PAPERBACK EDITIONS

If you don’t already have an Amazon Associates account, set one up and use it to create links to the paperback and Kindle editions of The easy Guide.  It’s free, and requires only that you have an Amazon account.

The fee that Amazon pays you per sale will vary, but something like a dollar for each paperback or seventy cents for each Kindle edition is typical.

More on Amazon Associates accounts begins here.

THE PDF EDITION

To get credit for sales from you of our brand-new PDF edition (because we don’t share with Amazon, you get $4.99 per PDF sold via your links) you have to do a couple of things:

1. Set up a Gumroad account, if you don’t already have one (most don’t), and confirm it by clicking the link Gumroad will send you
2. After you’ve confirmed your email, then email me the email address that you used for your Gumroad account at davidhobartyfv@gmail.com
3. I will then use that email address to add you as an affiliate, and then Gumroad will email you the link to use to get credit for your sales

Once you are in, Gumroad is very easy to use, but the first minute or too is a little odd, so I’m gonna take you through the steps with some screenshots below.

Step 1: Go to Gumroad.com. You’ll note in the first couple of steps that all the copy implies that you are the seller/creator, not an affiliate.  No worries–it’s just that there’s only one account type. Click “Start Selling” in the top menu bar to get started.

Step 2: A window will open inviting you to sign up.  Fill in the right side stuff and click “Create Account.”

Step 3: A Welcome page opens, and asks for more info–if you’ve done anything like this before, your country, and, at the bottom, “What are you working on”–another feature aimed more at authors/creators than affiliates.

Answer the first two queries, and for the third, click the star at the far right “Nothing yet.”

Step 4: The “Get Started” page will open.  Ignore it, and instead click on, at the top right “My Account,” and from the drop-down menu, click “Settings.”

Step 5:  The Settings page will open. On its menu click “Payout” (circled in red)

Step 6: A page asking for details about how to pay you will open. Fill it in!

Step 7: Gumroad will send you an email asking you to confirm your email address. Click the link in the email to confirm it

Step 8:  Send me the email address you used to open your Gumroad account, to davidhobartyfv@gmail.com

Step 9: I will add you as an affiliate, and then Gumroad will send you your own link to use.  The email will look like the above–be sure to use the first link!!! Sales that occur from this link will earn you $4.99 per copy!

RECAP OF THE AFFILIATE OPPORTUNITIES

So to recap:

1. Set up an Amazon Associates account if you don’t already have one, and get from it a link for The easy Guide in Kindle and paperback
2. Set up a Gumroad account, confirm it by clicking the link Gumroad will send you, then email me at davidhobartyfv@gmail.com the email address you used for the account
3. Gumroad will send you a link after I enter you in; use that link for your PDF edition link.

WANT SOME PICTURES?

None of these links will do anything for you if you don’t post them somewhere–on your blog, your website, your Facebook page, twitter, a Disney World forum, Trip Advisor, etc.  If you want to add a photo to your material, I’ve got some you can right-click and save below!

QUESTIONS??

If you have a question, probably others will be wondering about the same thing. Just use the comment form below!!

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Josh (of easyWDW.com) and I will be doing a meet-up, book signing, and giveaway at the Magic Kingdom on Sunday, November 8.

We’ll be at the Tomorrowland Terrace at 5.30p.  This location is circled in red on the map:

This time allows us to meet both those in the park for a regular day and also those who have come early for the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party later that evening.

We’ll sign any edition of the Disney World guide book we co-author, The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit–oh, honestly, we’ll sign anything. Plus we’ll have a few copies of The easy Guide to give away!!

Come on by–and no, I won’t mind that you are really there to meet Josh, or my wife, the lovely Amy Girl.  I’ve gotten used to that!!

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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.

TOTEM POLES AT DISNEY WORLD

By Jim Korkis

There’s two areas with particularly authentic totem poles at Walt Disney World: in the Wilderness Lodge, and in the Canada Pavilion at Epcot.

DUANE PASCO AND THE WILDERNESS LODGE

In 1994, the Disney Company hired Duane Pasco to carve the two 55-foot-tall totem poles for the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge Resort.

Though not a descendant of Pacific Northwest Indians, Pasco is considered one of the most adept among the handful of Canadian and American master carvers working today doing such work.

“These totem poles measure 3-feet wide at the top and 5-feet wide at the bottom and each is constructed of two 27-foot sections spliced together,” Pasco said. “The choice of characters and their placement were the choice of Disney World’s consultants.”

“I made very detailed drawings for this project because there were to be three assistants helping me: Pat Huggins, Loren White, and Scott Jensen,” he said. “I drew front, side, three-quarter views and lots of cross sections. In this way the client, the contractor and all the carvers can see exactly what the end product should look like.”

“The goal in designing the totem poles was to use legend and lore that was common among many tribes of the Northwest Coast but not necessarily specific to any one tribe,” wrote Pasco’s wife, Katie.

“This was easy to accomplish because the figures and the stories they represent remain fairly consistent. Characters on the Disney poles are pan-coastal in nature, with a particular attempt to portray figures not associated with inherited stories or family crests.”

It took six months to complete the two poles.

Pasco and his assistants began cutting away material with chainsaws. For finer details they used adzes, knives and other traditional carving tools.

The poles are made from four old-growth red cedars each about five feet in diameter at the base. The big cedars had to be hollowed out and there was considerable rot inside that had to be removed. Pasco reinforced the centers by splicing in new wood.

After the poles were carved, they were finished with Thompson’s Water Seal and then painted. The installation, which took place January 1994, took five days. The poles are flanked by stone walls and tied to steel I-beams.

DAVID BOXLEY AND CANADA AT EPCOT

In 1998, the Disney Company employed Tsimshian artist David Boxley from Alaska, noted for his decades-long creation of totem poles, to carve an authentic 30-foot totem pole for the Canada Pavilion at Epcot.

During the carving process, the log was laid on its side on a raised platform in front of the pavilion, where Boxley worked and interacted with the guests until it was erected next the Trading Post on April 1998.

This beautiful totem pole tells the tale from the Pacific Northwest Indians of Raven and Sky Chief.

When the Trickster Raven came to earth, the people lived in the dark without shadows and without the sun, moon, or stars. Raven began a search for light. He noticed Sky Chief kept a bright light in his home hidden away in a box.

Raven transformed himself into a pine needle that floats into a stream just as the Sky Chief’s daughter is taking a drink. She unsuspectingly swallows that needle and Raven becomes a baby in her stomach and is born to the delight of Sky Chief.

Sky Chief brings out the box to show his “grandson” the golden ball of light. Raven grabs the shiny ball, turns back into his true form and flies up into the sky where he tosses the light so all people can enjoy the sun, the moon and the stars.

I suspect most guests are more eager to locate the two small green Hidden Mickeys under the bending elbow near the top of the pole.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim.

Come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including The Vault of Walt, Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South?, and The Book of Mouse, 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: OCTOBER 31 TO NOVEMBER 8, 2015

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

The same stuff is in the graphic, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on November 2015 at Walt Disney World, click here.

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 10/31/-11/8/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-7p 10/31 and 11/1, 9a-11p 11/2, 9a-9p 11/3, 9a-11p 11/4, 9a-9p 11/5, 9a-10p 11/6, 9a-11p 11/7, and 8a-7p 11/8

Epcot will be open from 9a-10p 10/31, 9a-9p 11/1 through 11/5, 9a-10p 11/6, and 9a-9p 11/7 and 11/8

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-8.30p 10/31 and 11/1, 9-a8p 11/2 through 11/4, 8a-7p 11/5, and 9a-8.30p 11/6 through 11/8

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 8a-6.30p 10/31 and 11/1, 9a-6.30p 11/2, 9a-6p 11/3, 9a-5p 11/4, 9a-6p 11/5 and 11/6, and 9a-8p 11/7 and 11/8

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/31/-11/8/2015

Saturday 10/31 Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: none

Sunday 11/1 Morning:  none Evening: Hollywood Studio

Monday 11/2 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 11/3 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 11/4 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 11/5 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 11/6 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 11/7 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Sunday 11/8  Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/31/-11/8/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9 and 11p 11/2; 7 and 9p 11/3 through 11/6; 9 and 11p 11/7

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/31-11/8/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 11/2; 8p 11/3 through 11/6; 10p 11/7

Illuminations at Epcot: 10p 10/31; 9p 11/1 through 11/5; 10p 11/6; 9p 11/7 and 11/8

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 7.30 and 9p 10/31; 7 and 8.30p 11/1; 7p 11/2 through 11/5; 7 and 8.30p 11/6 through 11/8

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/31/-11/8/2015

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/31/-11/8/2015

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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I just updated my review of Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort, based on my September stay (my ninth at Riverside since I started this site.)

The full review begins here, but most of the updates are in the amenities page, pools page, and especially in the review of the Alligator Bayou rooms.

The Alligator Bayou review has all new photos, many in focus!

The update review begins here,

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