By the co-author of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020, the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series ever.

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The Themed Areas at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort

For the first page of this review of Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, click here.

THE THEMED AREAS AT ON DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort is one of 5 value resorts at Walt Disney World:

Music, Movies, and Pop Century have queen beds in their standard four person rooms. Art of Animation standard four person rooms have full beds.  At Sports, a refurb with queen beds has begun, so queen beds will become increasingly common.

For standard rooms, for most families Art of Animation is the best choice despite the full beds, followed by Pop Century. All-Star Movies is the third-best choice.

Two value resorts also have six-person family suites–

–and for family suites, too, for most families, Art of Animation is the best choice, although in some circumstances those at Music are the better choice.

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort officially salutes

“…classic Disney films—including Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story, Fantasia, The Love Bug, The Mighty Ducks and One Hundred and One Dalmatians…the Toy Story section features a 27-foot-tall bucket of Green Army Men, a 30-foot-tall Woody icon and a 47-foot-tall Buzz Lightyear icon. The buildings are painted in bright colors and covered with playful details and hidden surprises.”

All-Star Movies has 1920 rooms in ten three-story buildings, all with elevators.

These buildings are in five areas, with each area themed around a different movie–Fantasia, The Love Bug, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, and The Mighty Ducks.

Map Disney's All-Star Movies Resort

Of these, the Love Bug and Mighty Ducks area are most distant from the central services in Cinema Hall, and the other three areas are close.

See the map–but also see below on a way to increase Mighty Ducks convenience. Parts of the Mighty Ducks and Fantasia areas surround pools–making them noisier.

Each area has distinctive multi-story statues and building decorations tied to its theme.

Fantasia Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (5)

Buildings 5 and 8, Fantasia, are grouped around the main Fantasia Pool, and very close to Cinema Hall. The pool makes them noisy, and honestly I’m a little weirded out by the Fantasia decorations and characters:

Fantasia Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (4)

Fantasia Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (3)

…especially at night.

Fantasia Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Fantasia Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

Buildings 1 and 4, 101 Dalmatians, are close to the central services, and a good choice for balancing location and lack of noise.

Pongo 101 Dalmations Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

You’ll find here Pongo…

Perdita 101 Dalmations Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Perdita…

101 Dalmations Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (4)

…and a lot of puppies.

101 Dalmations Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Once the kids get the fire hydrant joke, they’ll giggle for hours.

101 Dalmations Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (3)

There’s not much going on in the courtyard between the two Dalmatians buildings, which–at least for me–makes for a bit of a welcome respite.

The Mighty Ducks Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

Buildings 2 and 3, Mighty Ducks, are grouped around a second pool, the Duck Pond, and far from Cinema Hall–but very close to the food court and bus stops at the next-door All-Star Music Resort.

The Mighty Ducks Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

They are hockey-themed, and as with the Fantasia section, a little frighteningly so.

Food Court Options Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

See the map for how many rooms in the Mighty Ducks buildings are actually closer to the food court and bus stop at All-Star Music than the ones at All-Star Movies.

Toy Story Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (6)

Buildings 9 and 10, Toy Story, are close to both Cinema Hall and the bus stops, with some hard to find but very close parking spots (between buildings 9 and 8).

They are probably the best overall place to stay at All-Star Movies, because of kid appeal, convenience, and relative quiet.

Toy Story Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (3)

The courtyard between the two buildings, watched over by Buzz and Woody, is themed at its center as a multi-story version of Andy’s room.

Toy Story Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (5)

This shot gives a better sense of the scale of this space.

Toy Story Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (4)

Army men guard the ramparts.

Love Bug Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

The final themed area, Buildings 6 and 7, Love Bug, is as distant from Cinema Hall as the Mighty Ducks.

Love Bug Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (4)

There’s not a lot to the theming here–the front half of the Love Bug comes out of one building…

Love Bug Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (3)

…and the back half from another.  Note also the screwdriver and wrench theming along the walls–a visual that just screams “vacation.”  To someone.

Love Bug Disney's All-Star Movies Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The central area between the two buildings is set up for award presentations–a lot of youth sports teams competing in tournaments at ESPN stay at the All-Stars, and can congratulate themselves here.

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

This review continues here.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

 

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May 25, 2015   No Comments

A Friday Visit With Jim Korkis: The Fireplace at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

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 FIREPLACE AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

By Jim Korkis

Jim Korkis on the Wilderness Lodge Fireplace from yourfirstvisit.net (2)Visitors in the lobby of the Disney’s Wilderness Lodge can glimpse over 1.6 billion years of history depicted on the majestic fireplace in the corner.

The fireplace is based on that at the Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon which has a small geologic fireplace that was quarried directly from the layers of the Grand Canyon.

But the WDW Imagineers went for a more dramatic storytelling version for the Wilderness Lodge.

The fireplace is an intricate 82 foot high replica of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim strata. As you ascend the levels of the lobby, you travel upward to modern times.

Lobby Wilderness Lodge Fireplace from yourfirstvisit.net

To see evidence of the first creatures to squirm over and under the surface of the earth, guests should go to the Wilderness Lodge’s fourth floor and search the layers of Tapeats Sandstone for worm borrows and trilobite trails.

Disney sent paleontologist (and artist) Robert Reid to study the actual walls of the Grand Canyon.

His studies were reproduced in a detailed book that was used to help contractors create the fireplace replete with a kaleidoscope of colors, rocks and fossils—many of which are real.

Some of the fossils of prehistoric plant and animal life are several hundred millions years old and are carefully embedded in the correct stratus for a historically accurate view. They pre-date the dinosaur era.

Jim Korkis on the Wilderness Lodge Fireplace from yourfirstvisit.net

Over 100 colors in hues of green, magenta, buff, red, black and brown are visible. From the Vishnu Schist to Bass Limestone to Tapeats Sandstone to the Redwall and Temple Butte Limestone and finally ending with Kaibab Limestone and Toroweap Formation, the fireplace represents the 1.6 billion years of the time it took for the layers of rock to form.

The variations are recreated in the same proportions as those that appear in the real Grand Canyon that range from 50 to 700 feet thick.

The Fireplace is built to scale with the geologic layout of the Grand Canyon, complete with geologic disconformities (periods of deposition, erosion, tilting and renewed deposition on top of the older rocks). The detail is nearly perfect with the textbook diagrams documenting the geology of the Grand Canyon.

Samples of elements from each strata are housed in glass display cases near the fireplace on each floor level. These displays describe the epoch that section of the fireplace rock represented.

One of the things that does not exist in the real Grand Canyon is a Hidden Mickey but one does exist in the Wilderness Lodge fireplace.

Wilderness Lodge Fireplace Hidden Mickey from yourfirstvisit.net

Directly facing the fireplace, on the right hand side of the three-sided fireplace where a lodgepole is jutting out before the next floor and in the reddish rock is the famous three circled Mickey Mouse head.

At the Guest Services front desk, guests can get a riddle clue sheet to help them locate the over two dozen Hidden Mickeys at the Wilderness Lodge Resort.

By the way, the Wilderness Lodge fireplace is a real working fireplace. Originally, it burned wood, which caused several challenges over the early years, including raising the humidity level in the lobby that led to cracking the wood used in the massive totem poles.

It was converted to a gas burning fireplace for a number of reasons including the fact that gas is safer and can be more easily controlled.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! For more on the Wilderness Lodge, see this. And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis.

In the meantime, check out his books, including The Vault of WaltWho’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

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May 22, 2015   No Comments

Next Week (May 23 Through May 31, 2015) at Walt Disney World

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 23 TO MAY 31, 2015

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

Disney World 5-23 to 5-31-2015 from yourfirstvisit.net

The same stuff is in the image, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on May 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 5/23/-5/31/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-1a 5/23, 9a-12MN 5/24 through 5/29, 8a-1a 5/30, and 9a-6p 5/31

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 8a-10p 5/23 and 5/24, 9a-10p 5/25 through 5/28 , and 8a-10p 5/29 through 5/31

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-8p 5/23, 8a-8p 5/24 and 5/25, 9a-7p 5/26 through 5/30, and 9a-8p 5/31

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/23/-5/31/2015

The Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom from yourfirstvisit.net

Saturday 5/23 Morning:  none Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 5/24 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 5/25 Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 5/26 Morning: Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 5/27 Morning:  Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios  Evening:  none

Thursday 5/28 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Friday 5/29 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Saturday 5/30 Morning:  none   Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 5/31  Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Mickey and Minnie Festival of Fantasy Afternoon Parade from yourfirstvisit.netPARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/23/-5/31/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/23-5/31/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 5/23 through 5/30

Illuminations at Epcot: 9p every night

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

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom from yourfirstvisit.net

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/23/-5/31/2015

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/23/-5/31/2015

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:

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May 21, 2015   No Comments

Win a Free Copy of The easy Guide!

Disney in Your Day is running a giveaway of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit–the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook ever.

The giveaway is on this page, at the end of the review.

The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit 2

Good luck!!

May 20, 2015   No Comments

New Year’s Eve 2015/2016 at Walt Disney World

2015 NEW YEAR’S EVE AT DISNEY WORLD

New Years Eve 2015 at Walt Disney WorldNew Year’s Eve festivities and fireworks will happen on December 31, 2015 at Disney World’s Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios theme parks, and also at the Magic Kingdom on December 30.

The Animal Kingdom has no special New Year’s Eve fireworks, but will–for the first time– be offering a “New Year’s Eve Street Parti” in Africa’s Harambe Market from 3:30p to 8:30p.

Hours may be extended, but here’s what’s currently scheduled:

  • Epcot is scheduled to be open until 1a on New Year’s Eve; Disney’s Hollywood Studios until midnight for the general public, and 2a for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests; and the Magic Kingdom until 2a
  • The Magic Kingdom will have Wishes at 6.30p, and special New Year’s Eve fireworks at 11.50p
  • Epcot will have its Illuminations fireworks show at 6p and 11.40p, plus DJs in various pavilions.
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have fireworks at midnight
  • Note that alcohol is not available at the Magic Kingdom, but is available at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios

The Magic Kingdom will have the same fireworks at the same times on 12/30. This date will likely be a little less crowded than 12/31.

DISNEY WORLD PARK CLOSURES ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

Disney closes parks due to crowding often on New Year’s Eve. “Closes” means closed to additional guests–those in the parks do not have to leave.

See this for more on how Disney World park closings work.

The Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are the most likely parks to close, and Animal Kingdom the least likely.

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May 19, 2015   63 Comments

Review: The Pools at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort, see this.

THE POOLS AT PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort has 6 pools–a large themed main pool on “Ol’ Man Island,” and five smaller ones scattered around Magnolia Bend and Alligator Bayou.

THE MAIN POOL AT PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

Main Pool Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The main pool at Port Orleans Riverside (along with that at its sister resort Port Orleans French Quarter) is middle-of-the pack among the moderates, with the main pools at both Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs much better, and that at Fort Wilderness much worse.

Sawmill Flume Main Pool Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The main pool is themed to an old lumber mill, with the theme mostly presented through flumes dropping water (above) and a water slide themed as a flume (below).

Slide Main Pool Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Main Pool Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

Another view of the flume theming.

Main Pool at Night Port Orleans Riverside from yourfirstvisit.net

The main pool at night.

Like those at the other moderates, the pool is too small for the number of people who want to use it. (Hence the five other pools.) It also has more shade than is common–those seeking a main pool with more sun are welcome to use the one at Port Orleans French Quarter.

It has this kids pool, without the theming, sprays, or splash play you’ll find  at Port Orleans French Quarter, Caribbean Beach or Fort Wilderness…

There’s room here for a more sophisticated kids water play area–see the circled area in the image. Since sister resort Port Orleans French Quarter got a terrific version of such a play area in 2016, I keep hoping we’ll see a comparable play area one at Riverside…

Hot Tub Main Pool Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Port Orleans Riverside also has a hot tub. Note the hammocks!

Bar Main Pool Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The pool bar is typical of the moderates, though the lumber mill theming eliminates its chance for grace. Like most– but not those at Coronado Springs or Fort Wilderness–there’s no real food here.

There are some interesting lighting effects at night here.

Some more shots of the main pool:

THE QUIET POOLS AT PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

Like the other moderates except French Quarter, the sprawl of Riverside means many rooms are a hike from the main themed pool.

Five smaller pools are thus scattered around the resort to provide nearer access and, in general, more pool capacity. The traditional lingo for these has been “quiet pools.”

Two pools (near-identical so far as I can tell) serve the 1000+ rooms in Magnolia Bend, and three smaller pools (that are similar to each other but not quite identical) serve the 1000+ rooms in Alligator Bayou.

Towels are available at each, sometimes inside the laundry room.

South Pool Magnolia Bend Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

South Pool Magnolia Bend Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

One Magnolia Bend pool (photos above) is between the two Royal Room buildings, 90/Oak Manor and 95/Parterre Place.

Another very similar pool is between the two other Magnolia Bend accommodations buildings, 80/Acadian House and 85/Magnolia Terrace. (Photos below.)

North Pool Magnolia Bend Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (3)

North Pool Magnolia Bend Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (4)

There are three pools in the Alligator Bayou section–three because one of the least-known features of the overall theming of Port Orleans Riverside is that the accommodations buildings of Alligator Bayou are meant to be perceived as being in three groups.

(I learned this from portorleans.org, a great fan site covering both Riverside and French Quarter.)

Map Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort

See the map for the three different colors it shows for Alligator Bayou–grey, blue, and purple, going counterclockwise from Magnolia Bend.

The idea is that as settlers penetrated the backwoods of the Sassagoula basin, it became harder and harder to ship or afford the comforts of civilization.

Alligator Bayou Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

So the buildings of Alligator Bayou closest to Magnolia Bend (gray on the map) have fancy citified brick columns and tin roofs (not shown)…

for crop (800x530)

…while those more distant from Magnolia Bend have more humble and simple construction.

This is all too subtle to have ever much worked, but the three slightly different themed areas is why there are three quiet pools back here–one for each area.

Each is similar to the rest, and each is both much more curvy than the Magnolia Bend pools and more verdant and shaded (like a forest pond, as opposed to a formal fountain).

North Pool Alligator Bayou Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net


Above is the Alligator Bayou pool closest to Magnolia Bend, serving the grey buildings.

Northwest Pool Alligator Bayou Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Here’s the middle pool, serving the blue buildings

West Pool Alligator Bayou Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort from yourfirstvisit.net (2)

And here’s the far pool, serving the buildings purple on the map. Far from Magnolia end, that is: these purple buildings are very close to the resort’s central services area.

All of these pools are open to any Port Orleans guest–as is the main pool and great kids play area at Port Orleans French Quarter.

Aim for the main pool for the theming and the bar, or a nearby quiet pool if the main pool is too far or full.  The Alligator Bayous pools have more shade and a laid-back feel; the Magnolia Bend pools more sun, more grace, and more formality.

THE HISTORY OF DISNEY’S PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

See Jim Korkis on the history of this resort here.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

 

 

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May 17, 2015   No Comments