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Here are my thoughts on rides, hotels, crowds and such at Disney World in 2017.

NEW RIDES AT DISNEY WORLD IN 2017

After the February 2017 opening of the evening show Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, 2017 will see an even deeper transformation at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as the new land Pandora opens May 27.

Pandora–deeply themed to the moon of James Cameron’s Avatar–will include two new rides, one a spectacular banshee ride through the world of Pandora, the second a boat ride through bio-luminescent forests (Disney concept art below).

(c) Disney

While there’s not much to the movie Avatar itself, it does have gorgeous and stunningly creative settings.  I expect all elements of Disney World’s Pandora to lavishly recreate the experience of being there, and the rides to be well worth doing. Joe Rohde, the original lead designer for the Animal Kingdom, remains in that role for Pandora, and I expect a great performance from him and the team.

When combined with the eventual opening of Rivers of Light, the overall attractiveness of the Animal Kingdom will be transformed.

Construction of the new Star Wars and Toy Story areas will continue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2017. I don’t expect anything much of these areas to be open until 2018 at the earliest.

DISNEY SPRINGS AND THE DISNEY RESORTS IN 2017

I don’t expect much material change at Disney Springs in 2017, nor at the current Disney resorts.

DISNEY WORLD CROWDS IN 2017

Presidents Day, February 20 in 2017, is almost as late as it can be, meaning more good January and early February dates, and fewer good late February dates.  Crowds for this week actually begin the Thursday before.

Mardi Gras in 2017 is the week after–February 28th.  A few southern school districts have it off as a single or multi-day holiday. This will lead to the weekend of the 25th being a little busier than usual, but the part of the week following the 28th will be just fine.

Easter in 2017 is late, on April 16. As a result, March breaks and Easter breaks won’t overlap, so later March will be a little better than past few years, but there will be fewer good April weeks.

Summer crowds will continue to be rough in 2017, as South Americans take advantage of their winter breaks to come to Disney World and join the hordes of US families on summer breaks.

Thanksgiving, November 23, is almost as early as it can be in 2017, giving more good late November dates but fewer good early November ones.

Christmas is on a Monday in 2017.

• Many, many school districts that take long holiday breaks will begin their breaks on Monday December 18, so holiday crowds at Disney World will begin to roll in on December 15th.
• Districts that take shorter breaks will be off something like Friday the 22nd through Monday the 1st. This means that the week between Christmas and New Years Day—always the worst of the year at Walt Disney World—will be an especially crazy mess in 2017.

DISNEY WORLD PRICING IN 2017

Disney World raised ticket prices in February 2017. Resort prices should not change again during the calendar year.

MORE ON 2017 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Disney World 2017 Crowd Calendar

Disney World 2017 Price Seasons

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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.

THE DISNEY WORLD CASTING CENTER

By Jim Korkis

Disney World staff are known not as employees, but rather as “cast members”—a constant reminder that they are part of a “show.” And where do cast members get their start? At the Casting Center near Disney Springs.

Architect Robert A.M. Stern designed the Walt Disney World Casting Center as an interpretation of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy.

He began work on the project in 1987 and the Casting Center opened in 1989.

“You have to remember that Disney is a dream world rooted in a dream view of life and of architectural history,” stated Stern.

The Casting Center faces the busy I-4 freeway taking guests to the theme parks, and acts as whimsical castle-like billboard to attract employment applicants.

The building is approximately 61,000 square feet. The entrance is right across the street from Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) so that it would be easy to locate.

The diamond patterns on the outside of the building hark back to the pattern found on the Italian harlequin, as well as being exaggerated references to the same triangular pattern on the exterior of the real Doge’s Palace, that was recreated at the Italian Pavilion in World Showcase.

The canopy awning and turrets and crenellation (notches) seem to resemble the traditional Disney castles. That airplane-wing like canopy over the entrance was actually taken from concept drawings for Tomorrowland.

The Mickey Mouse head-shaped cut-outs along the top of the building serve a practical purpose. They are scuppers, so when the rain comes, the water on the room drains through them.

The bronze doorknobs are re-creations of the famous doorknob in Disney’s animated feature Alice in Wonderland. The smiling doorknob is truly a Disney character, since he does not exist in Lewis Carroll’s original story.

After entering the building, a short walk leads to a small oval rotunda surrounded by 12 gold leaf-covered statues of Disney characters on pillars just as you might find sculptures on pillars in an Italian palace.

At this point, the only way you can turn is to the left, to ascend a ramp 150 feet long.

As you walk up the ramp, there are paintings on either side that once again mimic the murals that would be found in an Italian villa. However, the paintings on the side of the building facing the real world and paralleling I-4 depict unhappiness and road hazards. Even Mickey Mouse is getting a ticket from a police officer.

The paintings on the side of the building facing Walt Disney World property and your potential future as a cast member depict the Disney characters enjoying themselves tremendously at the parks, and even a smiling Walt Disney looking out on his dream that he never lived to see finished.

In addition to these murals, there are cracks on the wall and under the bridge. During the Renaissance, newly wealthy Italian families wanted to make their estates look old and ancestral, and so utilized the effect of trompe l’oeil (“fooling the eye”) of painting cracks and stains to create the illusion of looking antique.

From a distance these cracks look amazingly real, but they are flush with the wall. This imperfection is also designed to make the applicant feel more comfortable that not every thing at Disney is completely perfect.

The vaulted ceiling and natural lighting also provides relaxation through a sense of “openness.” And looking up, applicants can see Peter Pan flying toward Neverland, or in this case, a central receiving desk to guide them to the proper location.

The Walt Disney World Casting Center is just another example of clever Disney storytelling through architecture.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim. Stern designed multiple buildings for Disney, including the Yacht Club and Beach Club. He noted that the purpose of the design of the casting center was “to clarify Disney’s hiring process and give it an architectural dimension.”

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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THE PIRATE ROOM REFURB AT CARIBBEAN BEACH

I had the chance to stay in the newly-refurbed Pirate rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort in mid-October–my third stay in a Pirate room, and eighth overall stay at Caribbean Beach, since I started this site.

There’s a complete photo tour of one of these refurbed Pirate rooms here, and I’ve also here and there updated the full review of Caribbean Beach that starts here.

This post is just mean to highlight some of what’s new in these Pirate rooms—and what’s not.

Caribbean Beach is a great resort, especially for families with kids. There are some issues, though. The overall design of the resort yields too many bus stops, and a couple of the villages—specifically Barbados and Trinidad South, where the Pirate rooms are located—are a bit far from the central services, dining and main pool.

Caribbean Beach also was the last of the Disney World moderates to have full sized beds in its standard rooms. But after its recent refurb, standard rooms now have queens, and many of them have a fifth sleeping spot from a Murphy bed as well.

The Pirate rooms, however, kept their full sized beds and four person capacity. Refurbs here focused on new mattresses and new surfaces.

A lot of this refurb was quite successful. For example, pre-refurb the rooms had a heavy nautical theme but a light Pirate theme.

The refurb did not add a ton of pirate stuff, but in fact the simple addition of skull and crossbones pillows to the beds successfully amps up the overall pirate feel.

In the prior version of the room, the carpet was themed as ship planks. This never made much sense, as the bed-ships thus had the appearance of sailing on a ship’s deck.

The new carpet is more abstract, and works much better as a place for the bed-ships. Combined with the (sort of) sky blue of the new wall color (see the images at the top of the post), the overall sense of seafaring is heightened.

The bath shifted from a tiled floor…

…to a plank floor, and nautical detailing—posts, deck beams and their knee supports—was added to the closet.

Also worth noting was the addition of more power points to both the bedside and mini-fridge “barrels.” The net increase is seven more traditional power outlets and four USB charging outlets.

Overall, this is a minor but successful refurb.

However, the Pirate rooms are still distant and inconvenient, still have full beds, still sleep four rather than five, and are still a fair bit more expensive than more convenient standard Caribbean Beach rooms. (Most 2016 price seasons they are $50-$85 more per night than standard rooms.) So it’s pretty hard for me to recommend them for first time family visitors.

In addition to the room refurb, I saw another new thing at Trinidad South—a food truck.

The food truck menu (as always on this site, click it to enlarge it).

This food truck—if it sticks around—would go a long way to moderating one of the issues with the Pirate rooms—their distance from the dining venues at Old Port Royale.

The ESPN theming of the truck doesn’t help the overall piratical ambiance (unless it makes you think of the piratical price of your cable bill), and you won’t want to take every meal here—but having an option that doesn’t require a walk or bus or car ride does really increase the livability of Trinidad South.

For more on the Pirate rooms, see this.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 24 TO NOVEMBER 1, 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 October 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 10/24/-11/1/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-12MN 10/24, 9a-7p 10/25, 9a-11p 10/26, 9a-7p 10/27, 9a-11p 10/28, 9a-7p 10/29, 9a-11p 10/30, and 9a-7p 10/31 and 11/1

Epcot will be open from 9a-10p 10/24, 9a-9p 10/25 through 10/29, 9a-10p 10/30 and 10/31, and 9a-9p 11/1

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-8.30p 10/24 and 10/25, 9a-7p 10/26 through 10/30, and 9a-8.30p 10/31 and 11/1

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 8a-6.30p 10/124and 10/25, 9a-5p 10/26, 9a-5.30p 10/27, 9a-5p 10/28, 9a-6p 10/29 and 10/30, and  8a-6.30p 10/31 and 11/1

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/24/-11/1/2015

Saturday 10/24 Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: none

Sunday 10/25 Morning:  none Evening: Hollywood Studio

Monday 10/26 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 10/27 Morning: Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 10/28 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 10/29 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Friday 10/30 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 10/31 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Sunday 11/1  Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/24/-11/1/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9 and 11p 10/24, 10/26, 10/28 and 10/30

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/24-11/1/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 10/24, 10/26, 10/28 and 10/30

Illuminations at Epcot: 10p 10/124; 9p 10/25 through 10/29; 10p 10/30 and 10/31; 9p 11/1

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 7.30 and 9p 10/24 and 10/25; 7.30p 10/26 through 10/30; 7.30 and 9p 10/31; 7 and 8.30p 11/1

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/24/-11/1/2015

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/24/-11/1/2015

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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OVERVIEW: MAY 2016 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews May 2016 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Earlier May is a great time to visit Walt Disney World, with low crowds, moderate prices, and good weather.

Crowds build over the month, and the end of the month sees high crowds from Memorial Day, and the beginning of humid and rainy summer weather.
[Read more →]

I published this morning a new Disney World itinerary for lower-crowd weeks.

Called the 2016 FastPass+ Lower Crowd Itinerary, it’s appropriate –by which I mean “better” –for all the lower crowd weeks in 2016 from January through May than what I had been suggesting.

(Which weeks you can use it are indicated here.)

My itineraries are based among many things on the patterning of crowds at the parks. One driver of park crowding is Extra Magic Hours. Disney is experimenting with multiple EMH patterns in 2015, but has largely settled on the following pattern for 2016:

• Sunday: Morning HS
• Monday: Morning AK
• Tuesday: Evening Epcot
• Wednesday: Evening MK
• Thursday: Morning Epcot
• Friday: Morning MK, evening HS
• Saturday: Morning AK

There’s big changes here compared to the old patterns my itineraries have been based on, so I’ve been publishing a lot of “swap Sunday and Wednesday”—which helped a lot but didn’t really fix Fridays. Moreover, doing so put the Magic Kingdom earlier in a trip than I think is best.

Meanwhile, there’s some changes coming in 2016 that deserved note. Sometime, I expect, in the spring Rivers of Light will open at the Animal Kingdom, and Frozen Ever After at Epcot. Moreover, Soarin will be closing in January for a multi-month refurb.

So the new itinerary sends you to the right park on the right day and incorporates these other changes as well.  It’s here–the image overview is below.

If you’ve not made your dining reservations yet, it’s easy to convert to the new itinerary.

If you have made your dining reservations based on the old itinerary (following my “Swap Sunday and Wednesday” advice) then stick to the old itinerary…with one exception: follow the new itinerary’s FastPass+ suggestions (changed to your actual park days) if your dates put you in Disney World after Soarin closes and/or Rivers of Light and Frozen Ever After open.

I’m sorry abut the sudden changes.  I publish itineraries 6 months or so in advance so people can make their dining plans.  When Disney makes changes, I ride with them a bit–in case they are temporary.  But now that May is out, this EMH change is solid for five months…so it’s time for an itinerary that incorporates it.

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