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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MARCH 28 TO APRIL 5, 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 March 2015 at Walt Disney World, click here, and for more on April, 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 3/28/-4/5/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 8a-12MN 3/28, and 8a-1a 3/29 through 4/5

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

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9.30p 3/28, and 8a-9.30p 3/29 through 4/5

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-7p 3/28; 8a-8p 3/29 through 4/2, and 8a-7p 4/3 through 4/5

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/28/-4/5/2015

Saturday 3/28 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 3/29 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 3/30 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 3/31 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 4/1 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom  Evening:  none

Thursday 4/2 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Friday 4/3 Morning: Magic Kingdom Evening: Epcot

Saturday 4/4 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 4/5  Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/28/-4/5/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p 3/28; noon and 3p 3/29 through 4/5
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9 and 11p 3/28; 10.15p and 12.15a 3/29 through 4/5

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/28/-4/5/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 1op 3/28; 9p 3/29 through 4/5

Illuminations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.30 and 10p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/28/-4/5/2015

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

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 3/28/-4/5/2015

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 Shades of Green, see this.)

PHOTO TOUR OF A SHADES OF GREEN STANDARD ROOM

Standard rooms at Shades of Green are among the largest at Walt Disney World, and are larger than those in any Disney-owned hotel.

The floor plan is of one of the newer Palm wing rooms.  Magnolia wing rooms have the same stuff, but the couch is closer to the balcony, the beds closer to the bath, and there’s short half walls separating a bit the couch/table area from the rest of the room.

At the entry, on one side is the connecting door, and then after that a large closet.

Here’s the door side of the closet…

…and the room side.

On the other side of the entry is the divided bath. One part has sinks, and unlike in many Disney rooms, there’s a door between the sinks and the hall…

…then, in their own separate room, you’ll find the tub…

…and toilet.

Further down into the room, one side has the queen beds and a table and chairs.

The beds and table from the other side…

…a closer view of a bed.

The bedside table, with a bit of storage. The black square object is a powerpoint with jacks for four power plugs.  If your laptop’s power cord explodes while it’s plugged into this, it may short out much of your room, including your TV, during the Super Bowl.  I’m just sayin’.

The table and chairs.

At the end of the room is two wide sliding glass doors that open to the balcony. Every room has a full-width balcony.

There are no bad views at Shades of Green–here’s the view from the balcony in our Palm Wing room.

The other side of the room has a convertible couch and a long TV/dresser/mini-fridge thingy.

From the other side.

The couch flips down into this bed.  I measured the bed as 72 inches long by 32 inches wide (it sleeps long–there’s a couple of inches of clearance at the ends). I spent a night on it, and slept fine.

The TV/dresser/mini-fridge thingy is enormous at eight feet long. The coffee service is on top.

There’s plenty of storage here for the five people the room sleeps.

The mini-fridge is typical except for the small freezer compartment, which is now rare in the Disney resorts.

AMENITIES AT SHADES OF GREEN RESORT

This review continues here!

PAGES:  Previous |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  Next

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF SHADES OF GREEN

• Overview of Shades of Green
• Photo Tour of a Standard Shades of Green Room
• Amenities at Shade of Green
• The Pools at Shades of Green
• Using Shades of Green’s Amenities Even if You Aren’t Staying There

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OVERVIEW: SHADES OF GREEN RESORT FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS

Note: guests at Shades of Green 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.

Shades of Green is a military-owned Armed Forces Recreation Center at Walt Disney World.

Located near the Magic Kingdom, it’s verdantly nestled among championship golf courses just across the street from Disney’s Polynesian Village resort.

It  provides really low prices on great rooms for U.S. military personnel, career military retirees, and their families and friends.

Eligible sponsors can rent three rooms, so long as one is for themselves; during much of the year, their spouse can also get another three.

So be nice to your military friends and family members and you might get invited to a room that is really inexpensive for its quality.

(More on eligibility is at Steve Bell’s Military Disney Tips here.)

My family has made a number of trips to Shades of Green. We visited most recently in late January and early February in a trip sponsored as always by my dad (above; career Navy).

Based on these visits, Shades of Green is a wonderful choice for eligible returning visitors to Walt Disney World.

However, for first time family visitors, a stay only at Shades is not the ideal choice. It does participate in several key programs, in particular  Disney World’s Early Entry program, and for its Extended Evening Hours. I believe they will also be eligible for early  access to its paid individual system for access to certain rides, but I have not yet found an authoritative statement on this (this should be cleared up soon).

However, Shades of Green has little kid appeal compared to alternatives, and despite a great location across the street from Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, because of common late starts and infrequent service in its bus fleet, so-so convenience.

Families considering Shades of Green should also check out Disney World’s Armed Forces Salute, which may give them more inexpensive lodging choices and for sure will give cheaper tickets, and should keep their eye out for Shades of Green discounts.

OVERALL LOOK AND FEEL OF SHADES OF GREEN

What is now Shades of Green opened in 1973 as the Golf Resort, and changed its name in 1986 to the Disney Inn.

In 1994 it was leased to, and in 1996 purchased outright by, the US Government, to create a resort for U.S. military personnel and their families and friends at Walt Disney World.

It is a self-funding Armed Force Recreation Center, and is managed and staffed by federal employees.

Nestled among two world-class golf courses with several inner courtyards as well, it has a lovely, tranquil setting…

…although the older three story wings aren’t as lovely as the newer five story section.

You’ll find lots of wildlife here too–I saw these deer jumping while I was walking the path down to Polynesian…

…and this bird (or perhaps an O10) deep in the resort itself.

As nice as it is, there’s hardly any Disney theming except for this Mickey statue in the lobby, and a Mickey-head pool. You really could be almost anywhere.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT SHADES OF GREEN RESORT

In 2004 a massive expansion was completed, and Shades of Green now offers almost 600 enormous rooms—at 480 square feet, the second largest standard rooms on Walt Disney World property (only standard rooms at the Four Seasons are larger).

Most rooms at Shades sleep five on two queens and a couch that folds down into 72×32 inch daybed.

There are also junior suites, family suites and regular suites.

Above is the floor plan of a standard room in the newer Palm wing.

Older Magnolia rooms have the same stuff, but have the couch closer to the window, the beds closer to the bath, and in the freed space a couple of partial walls that block, a bit, the couch and table area from the queens and dresser area.

In terms of quality of furniture, fixtures, and other amenities, these rooms are directly comparable to Walt Disney World deluxe resorts. More on the accommodations at Shades is here.

POOLS AT SHADES OF GREEN RESORT

There’s two pools at Shades of Green, both in the Magnolia wing:

…the Magnolia pool…

…and the Mill Pond pool.

Each has its positives, but together they are objectively too small for the 2500+ people the resort can hold. Luckily, typically people don’t fill the pools. More on these pools will come later in this review.

 DINING AT SHADES OF GREEN RESORT

Dining at Shades of Green is much better and more varied than that available at the Disney value resorts, but not nearly as good as that available at the typical Disney deluxe resort.

It is comparable to dining at moderates, but less expensive.

More on dining at Shades is here.

KID APPEAL AND CONVENIENCE AT SHADES OF GREEN

This site ranks resorts for first time family visitors based on their kid-appeal and then their convenience, and Shades of Green comes up short on both.

Kid Appeal. Unlike the richly kid-appealing theming of the Walt Disney World Resorts this site recommends, Shades of Green has very little evidence that you are staying within a mile of the Magic Kingdom.

Disney theming is limited to a pool shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head, and a statue of Mickey in the lobby.

Otherwise, Shades has more of the look and feel of a country club, or a business or convention hotel, and could be anywhere.

Convenience. Shades of Green has its own buses, and they run too infrequently, and (especially during off-peak seasons) too late in the morning for the resort to be convenient.

• Buses are available to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC), Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
• The first morning buses to the latter two theme parks arrive too late for you to follow this site’s itineraries. See the bus schedule (click it to enlarge it), where buses leave at 8.30a for these parks.  You should arrive at the turnstiles before 8.30a, not leave the hotel then
• The bus to the TTC is not nearly as convenient for Magic Kingdom visitors as are the buses from the other Walt Disney World resorts, which drop you off just outside—and 15-30 minutes closer—to the Magic Kingdom.
• Shades of Green visitors can walk to Disney’s Polynesian Resort, and there take advantage of its transportation options. But this walk adds another 10-20 minutes to your transportation time (depending on your pace and your room location).

It’s better to have your own car.  But while Disney resorts offer free parking at the theme parks, Shades guests have to pay $24 per day to park at the them. (Hotel parking is $7/day–much less than Disney now charges.)

PRICING AT SHADES OF GREEN

The most remarkable thing about Shades of Green is its prices.

Shades of Green sets three basic levels of prices, increasing by military rate/rank. Standard room prices per night begin at $154/night.  (See Steve Bell’s Military Disney Tips here for details)

This means that during most times of the year, you get a deluxe-level room for less–often much less–than what you would pay to stay in a Walt Disney World moderate resort.

Moreover, unlike other hotels in Orlando, these prices are not jacked up during the various higher-demand seasons of the year.

These rates can be shared with family and friends:

• Eligible guests can sponsor up to three rooms for family and friends, and, during most times of the year, their spouses can sponsor three more.
• Such guests must be checked in by the sponsor when the sponsor checks in, and check out no later than when the sponsor checks out

But do check out Disney World’s Armed Forces Salute, which may give more inexpensive lodging choices and for sure will give cheaper tickets if a four-day ticket is tolerable, and should keep your eye out for Shades of Green discounts.

BEST PLACES TO STAY AT SHADES OF GREEN

There are two wings at Shades of Green (see the map; click it to enlarge it).

• The newer Palm wing rooms (lower right) are closer to the parking garage, and, on average, closer to the lobby where you’ll find most dining and shops, and, at a lower level, the bus stop.
• The older Magnolia wing rooms (center left) are closer to the pools, arcade, and playground, but can be a hike to the main lobby.

If your group is such that you expect heavy use of the pools and playground, go with the Magnolia wing.  Otherwise choose Palm.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Eligible families looking for deluxe rooms at Walt Disney World at prices comparable to or well below those of a Walt Disney World moderate resort should investigate Shades of Green, after noting any deals and discounts that may bring Disney owned and operated resorts into their price range.

This is particularly the case for families returning to Walt Disney World.

First time visitors will likely have a better trip by staying at a Disney owned-and operated resort.

See also Steve Bell’s MilitaryDisneyTips.com for tons more on Shades, and also his ebook on Shades of Green!

Steve Bell is the Military Moderator on this site. And Steve’s Military Disney Tips has always been the go-to site for military families looking to make the most out of their Disney World vacations.

But like every other website (especially mine), finding exactly what you need to know, in the right order, sometimes isn’t as easy as you’d like it to be.

So the great news is that Steve has published a Disney World guidebook for military families.

With entire chapters devoted to the Armed Forces Salute, to Shades of Green, and to other deals and perks available to military families, I can’t recommend it enough!!

This book will be a great help to military families contemplating a Disney World visit in 2018!!

PHOTO TOUR OF A SHADES OF GREEN STANDARD ROOM

This review continues here!

PAGES: 1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  Next

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF SHADES OF GREEN

• Overview of Shades of Green
• Photo Tour of a Standard Shades of Green Room
• Amenities at Shade of Green
• The Pools at Shades of Green
• Using Shades of Green’s Amenities Even if You Aren’t Staying There

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As expected, Disney World has announced a deal for room rate discounts for nights June 16 through August 27, 2015.

At the moderate and value resorts, the deal has two levels of discounts, one for June 16-August 9, and another higher discount for August 10-27.

This deal can be booked through June 12, 2015, but rooms are limited, so the sooner the better!

Contact Kelly to book it at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com.

Deluxe Resorts

• 30% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Standard/Pool View), BoardWalk Inn, Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht and Beach Club
• 20% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Savanna View/Club Level),

Disney Vacation Club Resorts

• 30% off: Boardwalk Villas, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs
• 20% off: Animal Kingdom Villas (Jambo and Kidani), Beach Club Villas, Villas at the Wilderness Lodge
• Excluded: Polynesian Villas and Bungalows, Bay Lake Tower, Villas at the Grand Floridian

Moderate Resorts

• 20% off (25% off 8/10 to 8/27): Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, Cabins at Ft. Wilderness
• Excluded: Port Orleans French Quarter

Value Resorts:

• 15% off (20% off 8/10 to 8/27): All-Star Music, All-Star Sports, Pop Century, Art of Animation Family Suites
• Excluded: All-Star Movies, Little Mermaid Rooms at Art of Animation

(Note—on the excluded resorts, go ahead and ask for a discount on these—sometimes a 5% off offer is available…)

Contact Kelly to book it at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com.

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is in two different areas of Universal Orlando. Diagon Alley is in Universal Studios, and Hogsmeade is in Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

This page is an overview of Diagon Alley. Attractions here include

• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
• Ollivanders
• The Hogwarts Express

REVIEW: DIAGON ALLEY AT THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

Diagon Alley includes

•  A touch of “Muggle” London, well done and fun, where you’ll also find the station for the Hogwarts Express (shared with Hogsmeade)
• The richly themed area of Diagon Alley itself, with one ride and one other attraction

The rides are the all-new Hogwarts Express and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. Also worth special note is the charming attraction Ollivanders, where the wand chooses the wizard (there’s another version of Ollivanders in Hogsmeade).

• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is the best new ride I’ve been on since Expedition Everest opened at the Animal Kingdom. It’s scary, but anyone who can take Disney World’s scariest rides–e.g. Tower of Terror–will love it.
• The Hogwarts Express requires that you have a “park to park” ticket (extra $) but is an easy way to get back and forth between the two Wizarding Worlds, and is moderately fun in itself. True Harry Potter fans need to ride it.
• Diagon Alley itself is quite well-done.  It doesn’t have the charm of Hogsmeade, but is much more richly detailed, and doesn’t suffer from off-theme elements–such as the massive roller coasters that flank one side of Hogsmeade.

The upshot: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley is absolutely worth a visit if you are going to Universal Orlando anyway, and/or are huge Harry Potter fans.  If you are, the best way to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is to stay at a Universal resort hotel.  This will allow you to take advantage of its resort hotel early entry program, saving you hours of waiting in line.

If, however, you are a first time visitor to Walt Disney World, and following one of this site’s Disney World itineraries, I can’t recommend taking time out of already over-packed days to see the Wizarding World, unless your children simply will give you no peace otherwise.

Instead, save the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for another trip.

MORE ON DIAGON ALLEY AT THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

Diagon Alley is at the far right end of Universal Studios. It is hidden behind “London.”

London has fun stuff–be sure to check out the Knight Bus–but do so after you are done with Diagon Alley proper. The lines will be building while you are fooling around, you know…

Once you are in Diagon Alley, you’ll find a number of small blocks, each worth exploring for deep Harry Potter fans.

Shops and dining you’ll find here include The Leaky Cauldron, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, Borgin and Burkes, Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment, and Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour–and Ollivanders, of course, where you can watch the wand choose the wizard.

Not to be missed is the creepy Knockturn Alley…

In one sense, Diagon Alley is just one and a half new rides (half because the Express is shared with Hogsmeade.  In another sense, it’s the most deeply themed and detailed theme park area ever built.

If you are a real fan of Harry Potter, you could spend hours here.  If you aren’t, it’s still fun–especially Escape from Gringotts and Ollivanders–but you may find the rest of the setting simply a spur to thoughts of the positives of gentrification.

You can find much more detail on Diagon Alley here.

If you are a Universal hotel guest, and have a park-to-park pass, here’s the way to work both parts of the Wizarding World:

1. Be at the turnstiles for whichever park has early open by 45 minutes before early open is expected to start (if both are open early, which will be uncommon my recommended weeks, then pick Universal Studios/Diagon Alley).
2. At open, get back to the Wizarding World and ride (depending on which park you are in) Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.
3. See the Wand choosing the Wizard at the Ollivanders in either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade
4. Get in line for the Hogwarts Express, and ride it to the other park. You’ll get there just about when day guests do. See whichever of Forbidden Journey or Gringotts you missed first thing
5. Relax, and see all the other rides and wonderful detailing in both Wizarding Worlds.

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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 STORY OF MAMA MELROSE AT DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

By Jim Korkis

In the back of Disney’s Hollywood Studios is an Italian eatery called Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, and there is an interesting story behind how it got its location and its name.

When the park originally opened in 1989, the plan was to showcase Jim Henson’s Muppets in the back of the park where Mama Melrose’s is today.

The never-built Great Gonzo’s Pizza Pandemonium Parlor would have been run by Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat. Things would constantly be going horribly wrong both offstage in the kitchen and in the dining area itself to entertain guests as they dined on Italian food.

When Henson passed away in early 1990, negotiations with the Disney Company fell apart and so the Imagineers conceived of a different kind of Italian restaurant.

According to the official storyline, a young girl in a small Sicilian village in Italy fell in love with the magic of Hollywood movies while she worked in her father’s restaurant. Her father loved her dearly and shared with her all his special secret recipes that made his restaurant such a favorite place for people to eat.

At the age of sixteen, she sailed for America and found a movie career as “a stand-in for actresses with names like Gina, Sophia and Anna”.

While she waited with the other extras between scenes, she cooked up Italian dishes with a little California flavor for her friends. Realizing that her dreams of stardom were not coming true, she opened her own Italian restaurant on the back lot.

The new restaurant provided meals for a variety of Hollywood types from actors to the film crew to even producers and directors. Her flamboyant approach to life reminded the Hollywood studio moguls of the town’s eccentric Melrose Avenue, so they nicknamed her “Mama Melrose.”

It was a name that was so descriptive of her that it stuck and even today, no one can recall what her actual name might have been.

The restaurant became the location “where Italy meets California in the heart of the Backlot.” It was housed in a warehouse that was used for storing film equipment with an exterior façade that was used by motion pictures studios for shooting films based in New York City’s Little Italy.

Mama and her friends converted the interior with what little funds they had into a family restaurant. The lack of funds is why the interior still has industrial-looking light fixtures, high ceilings with clearly visible air ducts, brick walls covered with graffiti, and worn floor boards in places from the moving of heavy film equipment.

(c) Disney

To make the massive space appear more inviting, Mama decorated with whatever she had available: Hollywood memorabilia that she gathered during her years in the film business and numerous items from Italy in order to remember and honor her family back home.

That is the reason that the interior is such a mishmash of everything from Italian paintings to Hollywood movie posters to records of famous Italian singers to pennants of California sports teams to license plates to cooking utensils.

It suggests the home of a mother who accumulated many knick knacks as physical reminders of so many memories.

And, according to the Imagineers, that is how this charming restaurant got its name and unique interior design.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! And note Josh has a recent review of Mama Melrose here.

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 Resort Hotels
• Echo Park and Echo Lake
• Typhoon Lagoon

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