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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: SEPTEMBER 26 TO OCTOBER 4, 2015

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

The same stuff is in the image, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on September 2015 at Disney World, click here, and more on October, 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 9/26/-10/4/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-10p 9/26, 9a-7p 9/27, 9a-9p 9/28 through 9/30, 9a-7p 10/1 and 10/2, 9a-12MN 10/3, and 9a-7p 10/4

Epcot will be open from 9a-10p 9/26, 9a-9p 9/27 through 10/1, 9a-10p 10/2 and 10/3, and 9a-9p 10/4

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-7.30p 9/26 and 9/27, 9a-9p 9/28, 9a-7.30p 9/29 through 10/3, and 9a-9p 10/4

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-5p 9/26, 9a-6p 9/27, 9a-5p 9/28 through 10/1, 9a-6p 10/2 and 10/3, and 9a-7p 10/4

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26/-10/4/2015

Saturday 9/26 Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 9/27 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: Epcot

Monday 9/28 Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 9/29 Morning: Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 9/30 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening:  none

Thursday 10/1 Morning: Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Friday 10/2 Morning: Animal Kingom Evening: none

Saturday 10/3 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 10/4  Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26/-10/4/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 8 and 10p 9/26; 8p 9/28 through 9/30; 9 and 11p 10/3

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26-10/4/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 9p  9/26 and 9/29 through 9/30; 10p 10/3

Illuminations at Epcot: 10p 9/26; 9p 9/27 through 101; 10p 10/2 and 10/3; 9p 10/4

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8p 9/26 and 9/27; 8 and 9.30p 9/28; 8p 9/29 through 10/3; 8 and 9.30p 10/4

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26/-10/4/2015

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26/-10/4/2015

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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Usually reliable sources have let me know that Disney World is expected to offer a couple of deals for 2016 early next week.

They say that both a room rate deal and “Stay, Play, Dine” deal will come out September 28 and cover many dates from January 2 thru March 19.

As usual, not all room types will be included.

I also hear there may be major news on a different topic late this week.

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For the first page of this review of the Disney World Swan and Dolphin, see this.

STANDARD ROOMS AT THE SWAN

The Disney World Swan completed a room refurbishment in 2016. This photo tour is of one of these refurbed rooms.

Some Swan rooms have balconies, but most don’t.  The floor plan and tour is of a room without balconies. It happens to be of a corner room, so has two windows. Most have just one window, at the end.

Most hotel rooms have at the entry a closet on one side and the bath on the other.  Swan rooms have everything on one side of the entry.

Thus, outside of the full bath there’s a sink on one side…

…and a closet on the other. Although there’s not a lot of width to this closet, the extra hanging rods on the right make great use of the available space.

Beyond these is a full bath, with another sink on one side…

…and the tub/shower combo on the other.

Deeper in the room on one side you’ll find two queen beds.

The bed side from the back of the room.

A closer shot of a bed.

Between them is a bedside table with some storage shelves…

…and next to them, a little cramped, is an easy chair.

The TV side of the room has a dresser/mini-fridge thingy, and a table that can serve as a desk and chair towards the back..

The TV side from the back of the room.

A closer view of the dresser thingy.

Part of the dresser thingy holds the mini-fridge…

…the rest is four large drawers.

With the four good-sized drawers and the well-structured closet, there’s plenty of storage here for the four people these rooms will hold.

Here’s a closer view of the desk/table and its chair.  Note that the table is on wheels.

As noted earlier in this review, most Swan rooms do not have have balconies, and very few have the two windows my room had.  Most rather have just large one large window and no balcony.

As we’ll see in a minute, the core differences between Swan and Dolphin standard rooms are:

• Swan: queen beds. Dolphin: full beds
• Swan: two sinks. Dolphin: one sink

The two sinks and queen beds make the Swan rooms a better choice for almost all.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT THE DISNEY WORLD DOLPHIN

This review continues here. 

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OVERVIEW: APRIL 2016 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews April 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.

Whether or not April is a good time to go is almost entirely a function of the timing of Easter and the patterning of spring breaks after it. 2016 combines an early Easter with relatively few April breaks (compared to March), so most of the month is recommended.
[Read more →]

MICKEY’S NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (“MNSSHP”) is a special, separately ticketed party that happens on certain nights every September, October and some years even early November at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

At the party you will find un-crowded rides, a special parade (shown twice, at 8.35 and 11.15p), special fireworks at 10p, a Hocus Pocus show, trick-or-treating, a dance party…and a ton of guests in costumes!

I had a chance to see it again in mid-September 2015, and the scoop follows!

(See this for more on logistics–Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party dates, ticket prices, etc.)

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2015 AT MICKEY’S NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

The most important change for 2015 is that the parades and fireworks are more spread out, and later.

Last year the first parade was at 8.15, the fireworks at 9.30, and the second parade at 10.30p. This year, the first parade is 20 minutes later at 8.35, the fireworks are half an hour later at 10p, and the second parade is 45 minutes later, at 11.15p.

So far as I could tell, though, this isn’t really thinning crowds in front of the Castle, mainly because the new Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular (photo above, and also at the top of the page), with its showtimes of 8p, 9.20p, 10.40p and midnight, is packing them in.

The best approach to the Party remains the same–see rides until the Fireworks and watch the second parade rather than the first–but, because of the 9.20 Hocus Pocus, it will be hard to get to the hub after riding rides to see the 9.45p Celebrate the Magic and 10p HalloWishes from there.

Frankly, much as it pains me to suggest this, the hub congestion is not worth seeing Celebrate the Magic. And while HalloWishes, like all Magic Kingdom fireworks shows, is best seen from between the Castle and the Main Street railroad station, it does work really well from elsewhere in the park, because of things that happen in the finale that I’m not gonna spoil here.

So do rides until a little before ten, watch the fireworks from wherever you are, then continue with rides (or see the characters and go trick or treating), see the 11.15p parade, and see the midnight Hocus Pocus show. A late night, but one that avoids the congestion around the Castle hub and Main Street.

Also new for 2015 is that the dance parties we used to see in Cosmic Ray’s and the Diamond Horseshoe are gone.  There’s still a dance party in Tomorrowland.

COSTUMES AT MICKEY’S NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

Costumes are not required, and not everyone wear them.

The most common costumes I saw in my September 2015 visit to MNSSHP were, as usual, princess costumes and pirate costumes, and after that Star Wars costumes. Lots of Princess Leia hair!

And this group in Tomorrowland proved a Disney princess theme was not required!

THE PARADE, FIREWORKS, DANCE PARTIES AND TRICK-OR-TREATS AT MICKEY’S NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

MNSSHP has a special set of Halloween-themed activities (see above–click it to enlarge it).

For example, the parade–Mickey’s Boo-to-You Parade–is seen only at MNSSHP.

It starts with ducks and mice…

…but then shortly shifts to my favorite part, Haunted-Mansion themed dancing gravediggers and ghouls.

More ghouls.

These are followed by Disney villains, but the parade returns to “not-so-scary” at the end, with candy!

There’s two showings of the parade, at 8.35p and 11p, with spectacular Halloween-themed fireworks between at 10p.

While the fireworks are best seen from in front of the Castle with the Main Street train station behind you, this will lead you into a wildly crowded section of the park.

Because of their spectacular finale the fireworks can be seen from elsewhere in the park–you’ll miss a little but gain a lot of comfort from avoiding the mobs in front of the Castle.

This year I watched them from a new spot, near Big Thunder Mountain. As usual my photos don’t communicate it, but this was a cool spot, and I particularly liked the reflections on the water.

The Liberty Square and Cosmic Rays dance parties are gone, but there’s still an outdoor dance party at the thingy between Astro-Orbiter and Space Mountain.

Character meet-n-greets are all over the place–with both common and unusual characters–and there’s also a ton of trick or treat locations…both of which raise an issue.

STRATEGY AND RIDES AT MICKEY’S NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

All the major rides are open, and many minor rides as well. Most have very short waits–e.g. 10 minutes for Space Mountain. In our visit, only Peter Pan and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had annoying waits.  Josh has wait times for the party here.

The trick-or-treat spots and character greetings, on the other hand, have pretty long lines.

So the best approach is to skip the character greetings and trick-or-treats–or delay them until after the fireworks–and spend the first part of the evening on rides.

Do rides until just before the 10p fireworks show and watch it.

Some families will be worn out by now.  If yours has energy left, keep going with with more rides, or trick-or-treating or character meets! Then see the second (11.15p) parade and the midnight Hocus Pocus show.

I struggle with whether or not this party is worth the money for first-time family visitors who may never return.

It’s quite expensive–more than $200, and even over $300 on some dates (prices vary by date and whether or not you buy in advance–see this) for a family of four.  And it’s just a five hour show (7p to midnight)–though Disney unofficially lets you in starting at 4p.

Yet the fireworks are the best Disney World offers, the parade is a hoot, the rides have short lines…and the costumes are fun!

My overall take is that for first-timers this time and money is better spent elsewhere, but that’s a really close call, and for sure I’d recommend it to returning visitors!

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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 CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS

By Jim Korkis

Years before Disney World even opened, Walt Disney tried to convince General Electric to sponsor a new addition to Disneyland called Edison Square.

In one of the Edison Square buildings would be a show in four scenes that would have followed the story of a family over the decades as their life was constantly being improved by new gadgets made by G.E.

The concept evolved into a theater where the audience sat in seats that revolved around the different stages. That attraction debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair as The Carousel of Progress. It was so popular that after the fair it was relocated to Disneyland.

Over thirty-one million guests experienced that version of the attraction at Disneyland from July 2, 1967 to September 9, 1973.

With the opening of the Magic Kingdom in Florida in October 1971, General Electric saw the opportunity to reach a new audience. Surveys had shown that only eight percent of the guests visiting Disneyland came from east of the Mississippi.

So, the still popular Carousel of Progress closed and was relocated to Walt Disney World.

The Carousel of Progress opened in Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World on January 15, 1975 along with another attraction, Space Mountain, as part of the original Phase Two plan for the vacation destination where new things were to continue to be added between 1971 and 1975.

Extensive changes were made to the attraction, from the elimination of the Kaleidophonic Screens in the prologue and epilogue to the removal of the second floor model of Progress City—an early Epcot concept.

The theater no longer rotated clockwise since there was no reason to position guests to go up a speed ramp to see the Epcot model on the upper floor. Now the theater rotated counter-clockwise, with the exit being right next to the entrance.

There had been a change in leadership at General Electric and the new powers-that-be felt that the iconic Sherman Brothers song There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow was implying that G.E. customers should wait to purchase products because new and better things were coming just around the corner.

The Sherman Brothers composed a new song, The Best Time of Your Life, often mistakenly referred to by its opening lyric “Now is the Time. Now is the Best Time.” Now was the best time to buy products from General Electric instead of waiting for the beautiful tomorrow.

Not only was there a new theme song that was repeated throughout the show but the final scene was updated to showcase the 1970s, and a new voice cast recorded dialog for the entire show. Other minor changes were made as well.

The final scene was once again updated in 1981 to showcase the future of the 1980s. Early in 1985, General Electric decided not to renew its contract for the show, especially since it was sponsoring a similar show at the newly opened Epcot entitled Horizons that included some references to the carousel show.

So the Disney Company once again updated the show, removing General Electric references (although the Hotpoint oven in Scene Two and the G.E. refrigerator in Scene Three remained).

Finally, in 1993, the entire attraction was once again rewritten and re-recorded with another new voice cast and re-named Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. The original theme song returned to the show. It is now supposed to be a museum of earth technology in the space port of the future to entertain travelers as they wait for their flights.

Over the decades, this show has changed more than any other Disney attraction. Some of those changes have been relatively minor such as changing Orville from a cousin to an uncle, while others have been significantly more major including reformatting the scenes to reflect different seasons of the year.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim. I never knew before the theory behind why the Carousel is in Tomorrowland!  And 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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