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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 SECRETS OF SPACESHIP EARTH

By Jim Korkis

Spaceship Earth at Epcot was not meant to be a museum, but even so, many of the props and inscriptions are authentic reproductions of the originals.

Imagineer John Hench insisted that the props in the attraction should be the closest approximation that could be created, even though few guests would be knowledgeable enough to know the difference.

Here are a handful of examples to look for on visits to the attraction.

Cro-Magnon Scene: The animal skulls in this scene include a saber-toothed tiger, a lion, a cave bear and two dire wolves. They were cast from molds of actual animals in the Paleolithic collection of the Page Museum in Los Angeles.

Egyptian Scene: The hieroglyphics are accurate and the gods Anubis, Soker, and Thoth are all represented. The translations of the hieroglyphics takes up several pages but are all authentic to the time period.

Roman Scene: The Latin inscription which appears at the entrance to the Roman scene comes from the first of The Twelve Tables of Roman Law that were codified about 451 B.C. and were regarded by later Romans as the foundation of all their laws. The laws were originally written on bronze tablets and placed in the marketplace for all to see and discuss.

The statue in the Roman scene is Augustus. The graffiti which appears on the walls in the “Fall of Rome” also appeared on the walls of ancient Pompeii and was taken from a collection of graffiti entitled “Loves and Lovers of Ancient Pompeii” by Professor Matteo Della Corte.

One example is “Quisquis amat pereat” that translates to “May whoever loves perish!”

Islamic Scene: The astronomer on the balcony holds a quadrant reproduced from photos of a 10th century Islamic quadrant supplied by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Medieval Scene: Mary Robertson, the Curator of Rare Manuscripts of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, was consulted regarding creation of manuscripts during the Middle Ages.

Gutenberg Scene: Carey Bliss, the Curator of Rare Books of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, was consulted regarding the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. In the Spaceship Earth scene, the page Herr Gutenberg is examining was recreated from a page from the actual original Gutenberg Bible in the Huntington Library collection.

Renaissance Music: Experts in the field of Renaissance musicology like Genette Foster from Occidental College in Los Angeles were engaged to consult and perform the music in this scene. The male musician is shown playing the lute and the female musician is playing the lira da braccio.

Steam Press/Newspaper Scene: The steam press which dominates the newspaper scene was designed from the actual patent drawings filed by William Bullock in 1863. The newspaper is a reproduction of the “New York Daily”.

Telegraph Scene: The calendar in the telegraph scene is a copy of a calendar from 1867 by Hatch and Co. Lithographers supplied by the Smithsonian Institution, from the collection of Business Americana.

Telephone Scene: The magneto switchboard was fabricated from an actual model circa 1898, supplied by AT&T.

This is just a quick glimpse into the many layers of authentic detail that the Disney Imagineers painstakingly added to this attraction. There are many more secrets waiting to be shared.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim. Come back next Friday for 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.

MORE DISNEY WORLD HISTORY POSTS FROM JIM KORKIS

• “Summer Magic” on Main Street
• Muppets and Mama Melrose
• Peter Dominick and the Wilderness Lodge
• Dixie Landing and Port Orleans Riverside
• The History of Splash Mountain
• The First Disney World Hotel
• The “Sharing the Magic” Statue
• The First Disney World Monorails
• The Water Park River Country
• The Epcot Fountain
• The Fireplace at the Wilderness Lodge
• Sid Cahuenga at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Spaceship Earth
• Downtown Disney
• The Missing Resorts
• Echo Park Homages
• Typhoon Lagoon

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: AUGUST 1 TO AUGUST 9, 2015

The material below details 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 August 2015 at 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 8/2/-8/9/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-12MN 8/1 through 8/3,  8a-12MN  8/4 and 8/5, 9a-12MN 8/6 and 8/7, 8a-12MN 8/8 and 9a-12MN 8/9

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-10p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-6 8/1 and 8/2, 9a-7p 8/3 through 8/7, and 9a-6p 8/8 and 8/9

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/2/-8/9/2015

Saturday 8/1 Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 8/2 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 8/3 Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 8/4 Morning: Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 8/5 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening:  none

Thursday 8/6 Morning: Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Friday 8/7 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Saturday 8/8 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 8/9  Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/2/-8/9/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9 and 11p every evening

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/2-8/9/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p every night

Illuminations at Epcot: 9p every night.

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9 and 10.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/2/-8/9/2015

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/2/-8/9/2015

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

STANDARD ROOMS AT THE DOLPHIN

Standard rooms at the Dolphin sleep four in two full beds. At the Dolphin (but not at the Swan), you can book 5 and get (for $25 a night more) a roll-away bed for the fifth. I haven’t done this, but think with the rollaway set up the room would be mighty cramped.

These rooms are being refurbed, but will still have full beds after the refurb. This photo tour is of an un-refurbed room. A photo tour of a refurbed Dolphin room is here.

The room layout is traditional with a bath on one side of the entry and a closet on the other.

The closet is large but not as engineered for capacity as are those in Swan rooms.

Next to the closet is a small station with a coffee service on top…

…and a mini-fridge below.

Next to the mini-fridge are storage shelves.

The divided bath has an angled sink and vanity area…

…then in their own space a toilet and tub/shower combo.

Deeper in the room the bed side offers two full beds.

Here’s the beds from the back.

A closer view of one of the full beds.

Between them is a small bedside table.

Also on this side is an easy chair and small table.

The other side of the room is dominated by a dresser/desk thingy.

The thingy from the other side.

Note at the bottom right of the photo an unusual but quite sensible fix to the common problem today of not enough power power points to charge all the things we carry…

…a power strip!

Here’s three of the eight drawers you will find in the thingy.

Dolphin rooms have a variety of views, and most don’t have balconies.

Our room overlooked the Swan and the walkway between the Swan and Dolphin, and while we couldn’t see Illuminations, we did note that the walkway had a color light show going on during Illuminations—see the next three photos!

PHOTO TOUR OF A REFURBED ROOM AT THE DISNEY WORLD DOLPHIN

This review continues here.

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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

Rooms at the Disney World Swan are being refurbed, and this photo tour is of one of the non-refurbed rooms. Refurbed rooms have a similar layout, except for having a separate dresser and desk table, and have different colors and soft goods.

Some Swan rooms have balconies, but most don’t.  The floor plan and tour is of a room without balconies.

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 (note the one-cup coffeemaker at the left edge)…

…and a closet on the other. Although there’s not a lot of width to this closet, the extra hanging rods on the left make great use of the available space, unless you really have a lot of ball gowns.

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…

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

The TV side of the room is dominated by a long dresser/desk/mini-fridge thingy.

The thingy from the back of the room.

Part of the thingy holds the mini-fridge.

The rest is mostly drawers–two units like the one shown above, with a total of four drawers…

…but also a bit of shelves.

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

As noted earlier in this review, most Swan rooms do not have have balconies, rather having just large windows.

Our view in this room was of the BoardWalk Villas.

I could see a bit of IllumiNations at night, although the absence of a balcony made this a bit of a strain.

Refurbed rooms have almost all of the positives of the un-refurbed rooms, but are less garish and have a more flexible desk/table arrangement.

PHOTO TOUR OF A REFURBED STANDARD ROOM AT THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN

This review continues here. 

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OVERVIEW: THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN AND DOLPHIN FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Note: guests staying at the Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program and for its Extended Evening Hours. They are also eligible for early access to Disney’s paid system for individual access to certain rides.

The Disney World Swan and Disney World Dolphin, like Shades of Green and the Four Seasons, are non-Disney hotels located in the heart of Disney World.

These two adjacent Epcot resorts, connected by a covered walkway, were intended for the convention business, built by Tishman after a billion-dollar lawsuit, and designed by Michael Graves among toaster dreams.

Currently managed by sister Starwood flags Westin and Sheraton respectively, but after the Starwood merger Marriott properties, the 758 room Swan and 1,509 room Dolphin feature a great location for an Epcot-centered trip, great dining for adults and so-so dining for kids, a strong pool complex, adequate rooms, so-so convenience, interesting interior spaces, garish exteriors, and weak kid appeal.

Compared to the other Epcot resorts–the Beach Club and Villas, the Yacht Club, and the BoardWalk Inn and Villas–prices are usually quite nice, even after you pay for a resort fee–which the Disney resorts do not charge.

The Swan and Dolphin share more Disney hotel perks than the Four Seasons, most importantly eligibility for Disney World’s Early Entry program and for its Extended Evening Hours.  They are excluded from the Disney Dining Plan and have converted to their own transport system–Disney buses used to serve them.

I rank resorts on this site for first time family visitors who may never return first based on visual kid appeal, and second on convenience for a trip focused primarily on the Magic Kingdom and secondarily on Epcot. My views on the Swan and Dolphin come from my four stays here, most recently in January 2017.

None of the Epcot resorts have strong visual kid appeal compared to the best alternatives, and none is particularly convenient to the Magic Kingdom. Among the Epcot resorts, the Swan and Dolphin are particularly weak on visual kid appeal, and no more (or less) convenient to the Magic Kingdom.

Standard rooms are in general weaker than those at the Disney Epcot resorts, particularly at the Dolphin, which offers full beds.

However, for a trip more focused on Epcot–or one aimed at deluxe-ish accommodations at lower prices–the Swan and Dolphin, and particularly the Swan with its queen beds, are well worth considering.  Having  access to Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours makes them distinctive among the non-Disney resorts, and while they are less convenient to Epcot than the Disney Epcot resorts, the difference is not huge.

There’s no great source of price info for rooms at these, but prices–traditionally quite low compared to the nearby Disney deluxes–seem to have gone up since the Marriott merger, but are still below Disney levels. There’s a broader range of discounts possibly available (e.g. for teachers) than you’ll find at the Disney-owned resorts.

This page presents an overview of the Swan and Dolphin.  The full review contains the following pages:

• Overview of the Swan and Dolphin (this page)
• Photo Tour of an Swan Room
• Photo Tour of a Dolphin Room
• Amenities and Dining at the Swan and Dolphin
• The Pools at the Swan and Dolphin

OVERALL LOOK AND FEEL OF THE SWAN AND DOLPHIN

The Swan and Dolphin were designed to serve massive conventions while at the same time to look very distinctive and entertaining.

Here’s what Jim Korkis says in our book, The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit:

There’s more from Jim on Graves and the Swan and Dolphin here.

The hotels certainly ended up looking quite different.

The Swan has the proportions of a stretched toaster, with swans on top…

…and the Dolphin has odd-looking dolphins on the sides, peaking to a pyramid. (The highest floors of the pyramid are just for show–they are shelled, and don’t have rooms.)

The public spaces inside are much more broadly appealing.  The Swan has a number of warmly-detailed and inviting spaces, including some nice private-feeling exterior courtyards that I failed to photograph adequately even by my low standards.

Here’s some other shots of the interior of the Swan:

Note the starry sky in the second shot.

The Dolphin public spaces are larger, grander, and frankly, a little harder to navigate, spread as they are over the first and third floors.

In sum, there’s a lot of exterior design that will strike adults as either playful or silly, but that comes across to kids as monumental rather than welcoming. The interior spaces have their charms, but there’s nothing about them that shouts “Disney World.”  You could be anywhere.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN AND DOLPHIN

Standard rooms at the Swan and Dolphin are similarly-sized (the bedroom area dimensions are almost identical) but have key amenity differences that in almost every case will push family visitors towards the Swan.

Dolphin rooms, at ~360 square feet, are about 20 square feet larger than Swan rooms. Most of the difference comes from 8 inches of extra width, which is not material to the livability of the space. Dolphin rooms completed a refurb in 2017.

The bedroom space at both the Dolphin and the Swan is comparable to that at the smallest Disney deluxe resort rooms–the Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges–and is smaller than that at the Disney moderates.

Like the Disney values, the Dolphin rooms have just one sink, and like most of the Disney values, Dolphin rooms have full beds.

Swan rooms completed a refurb in 2016, and are better than Dolphin rooms for most families, as they have two sinks instead of one, and queen beds instead of full beds.

Refurbed Swan rooms (above) have the same basic amenities as before the refurb–the main difference is look and feel, and the separation of the long desk/dresser/mini fridge thingy into a separate desk/table and mini-fridge/dresser thingy.

Most rooms at the Swan and Dolphin don’t have balconies.

Each hotel is designed with a predominant long wing and some shorter wings off of it. Long wing rooms don’t have balconies, but most short wing rooms do.

The upshot is a cleaner facade for such key elements as painted waves, but diminished livability for those without balconies.

In addition to the plethora of suites you’d expect at a convention hotel, there’s a bewildering variety of room classes you can buy, all with the same basic layout as the other standard rooms in the respective hotel.

The basic Swan room, refurbed:

The basic refurbed Dolphin room:

The whole view thing is pretty complicated. Moreover, the absence of balconies from so many rooms at both the Swan and Dolphin makes some views frankly worth a lot less.  If you have your heart set on optimizing a particular view, go ask on Dan Murphy’s Swan and Dolphin thread on disboards.com.

There’s detailed photo tours of Swan rooms and of Dolphin rooms later in this review.

THE POOLS AT THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN AND DOLPHIN

There’s more on the pools later in this review, but the key point is that the Swan and Dolphin share the third best pool complex at Walt Disney World (the best is the pools at Four Seasons, and second the pools shared by the Yacht and Beach Club).

What makes this pool complex special is not so much the merits of the individual pools–though the Grotto pool, artsy evening shot above, is pretty cool–but rather the sweep of pool after pool after pool. As Hegel or Marx or Lenin or Stalin or somebody once said, quantity has a quality all its own.

See the map, where the pools and beaches available to Swan and Dolphin guests are in the left center (as always on this site, click it to enlarge it).

DINING AT THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN AND DOLPHIN

Perhaps because of the expense account crowd at conventions, you’ll find a wider variety of strong dining options–especially for adults–at the Swan and Dolphin than at any single other area at Walt Disney World except among the Magic Kingdom resorts and at Disney Springs.

Highlights for adults include Todd English’s bluezoo, Shula’s Steak House, and Kimonos.

While kid-appealing dining is rarer and weaker, there is (in Garden Grove) a character meal (characters only at dinner, except Saturday/Sunday where they also appear at breakfast), and, rare at Disney World, there’s a counter service offering open 24 hours, Picabu in the Dolphin.

There’s more on dining at the Swan and Dolphin later in this review.

PARK TRANSPORTATION FROM THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN AND DOLPHIN

The Swan and Dolphin used to be fully integrated into the Epcot resorts’ bus transportation system, but now have their own transportation. I have not yet tried the new bus system here since the changeover.

Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are served both by boat and by walking paths.

The boat dock is between the two resorts, and the route is Studios->Swan and Dolphin->Yacht and Beach Club->BoardWalk Inn->Epcot and then back again in reverse. The walking path is over the bridge to the BoardWalk.

Whether walking or taking the boat, it takes longer to get to Epcot than from Disney’s own Epcot resorts.

The Studios are closer by boat than that park is from Disney’s own resorts, and a shorter walk than from any Disney Epcot resort except the Boardwalk Villas.

Buses serve other Disney World destinations–the Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, the water parks, and Downtown Disney. There’s a bus stop at each of the Swan and Dolphin.

OVERALL TAKE ON THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN AND DOLPHIN

For an Epcot-centered trip where Disney theming, Disney’s Magical Express, and balconies don’t matter as much as the lower prices here do, the Swan can be a great choice. The Dolphin, with its full beds and only one sink, will be a less good choice for most families.

However, for first timers on a Magic Kingdom-centered trip looking for deluxe accommodations, I can’t recommend either.  Too little kid appeal, and too little convenience.  If you need a deluxe for such a trip but don’t want to pay the premium for a monorail resort, pick the Wilderness Lodge instead.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT THE DISNEY WORLD SWAN

This review continues here.

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On July 18, an updated version of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit became available for sale.

So the best reviewed Disney World guide book, ever, is now also the most up to date!!

SO WHAT’S THE EASY GUIDE?

For those new to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, here’s the recap:

Co-authored by me and Josh Humphrey of easyWDW.com, the 2014 edition came out about a year ago, and the 2015 edition came out about 8 months ago.

We did an update to the 2015 edition in March, and just published another update on July 18.

Between them, the two editions have had almost 170 reviews on Amazon—of 95% gave five-star ratings. With an average star rating of 4.92, The easy Guide is the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook in history.

The easy Guide is short, has a big type size, and emphasizes very specific advice for those on their first—especially those on perhaps their only—visit to Walt Disney World.

But with its expert advice on how to use and optimize FastPass+, when to go, where to stay, what to do, and where to eat, it’s also tremendously helpful to returning visitors, too.

The easy Guide is available in both paperback and Kindle editions.

If you buy the paperback, we make the Kindle edition available for free through Amazon’s “Matchbook” program.

KEY JULY CHANGES TO THE 2015 EASY GUIDE

Our publisher Theme Park Press just updated The easy Guide with more than 20 pages of changes and updates from me and Josh.

Anyone who buys it for the first time will get the updated version—the most up-to-date Disney World guidebook available; those with an older Kindle version of the 2015 edition will have it updated if Amazon decides to issue an “Automatic Update.”

Here’s examples of some of what’s different:

• Multiple changes to Chapter 5 (Where to Stay), especially the refurb and construction status of the Polynesian Village, Wilderness Lodge, and Caribbean Beach
• Multiple updates to Chapter 6 (How to Spend Your Time), including recent changes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and completely updated and revised Cheat Sheets for all four parks
• Multiple changes to Chapter 7 (Where to Eat), including recent changes to the dining plan, new food offerings at the Animal Kingdom, new meals available at Be Our Guest and Chef Mickeys, and new restaurants at Downtown Disney

Curious about The easy Guide? Learn more here, or check it out on Amazon here.

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