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November 2014 at Walt Disney World

by Dave

November December January February March April May June

OVERVIEW: NOVEMBER 2014 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews November 2014 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Mid-November has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with cooler weather, low crowds, low prices, and fun special events.

The beginning of the month is not so good, with moderate crowds from Jersey Week, and Thanksgiving week, with high crowds and higher prices than the rest of the month, should be avoided.

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April 15, 2014 23 Comments

Thanksgiving 2014 at Walt Disney World

by Dave

THANKSGIVING 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Thanksgiving week at Walt Disney World is busy–particularly Wednesday through Saturday.

While not as crowded as some other holiday weeks–Easter and Christmas, for example–it can be very challenging, and the material below gives some hints on how to deal with it.

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April 14, 2014 18 Comments

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (“MVMCP”) in 2014

by Dave

DISNEY WORLD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IN 2014

While Christmas itself is December 25 of course, Walt Disney World provides a special Christmas celebration at the Magic Kingdom many nights in November and December.

This celebration is called “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, or “MVMCP” for short.

At the party, many of the Magic Kingdom’s rides are open, and cookies and hot chocolate, special events, and slightly different Christmas parades and fireworks, and even snow (!) are offered.

The official Disney World page for this event (where you can also buy tickets) can be found here. For a review of MVMCP, see this.

MORE ON MICKEY’S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

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April 13, 2014 90 Comments

Next Week (April 12 Through April 20, 2014) at Walt Disney World

by Dave

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: APRIL 12 TO APRIL 20, 2014

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 April 2014 at Walt Disney World, see this.

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April 11, 2014 No Comments

NPR Looks for Sound Disney World Opinions, Finds Me Instead

by Dave

With the 50th anniversary of it’s a small world today, the Orlando affiliate of National Public Radio, 90.7 WMFE, reached out for an interview.

A couple of parts of the interview are being broadcast in Orlando this morning, and you can also listen to one from the “Play Audio” link here.

(As unlikely as it seems, this is not an April Fool’s joke. My April Fool’s post for this year is here.)

I had fun chatting with reporter and host Amy Kiley about the ride, and even more fun preparing for the interview. It’s an easy ride to take for granted–it’s been at WDW more or less unchanged since its 1971 opening, and at least for adults doesn’t have a high re-ride factor.

But on this site, I try to look at things from the perspective of first time visits by families, and small world really is a good ride for kids.

First it’s about the only Disney ride I can think of that is about its audience. Other rides are about fictional characters or settings. The basic gaze of it’s a small world is kids looking at kids.
Second, it’s got most of the elements kids enjoy–miniatures, music, movement, color, toys, etc.
Third, there’s the song. It is clearly a children’s song–a round–and the familiarity of the genre broadens its appeal to kids. Plus, as any parent knows, little kids in particular like repetition.

The appeal of the ride is thinner for adults–but they can be impressed by how well it achieves what it sets out to do. In the olden days, critics used to talk about “unity”–about how the chosen and crafted parts of an aesthetic object created and contributed to its whole effect. By this standard, it’s a small world is remarkable. I could go on and on about this–I did work on a PhD in English literature, you know, before I came to my senses and got an MBA–but just a quick point:

The narrative of it’s a small world comes from setting expectations and then fulfilling them in delightful and surprising ways. At first, the visuals and song carry their plain meaning, but with repetition, and the song appearing in many languages, the deeper points of the ride–celebration of both similarity and difference, and finally celebration of similarity because of similar differences–emerge.

On the first ride, adults can simply enjoy the show; on their second ride, they can marvel at how well it is crafted. Some of the best ever worked on it–Walt Disney himself, Mary Blair, Rolly Crump, Alice Davis, Marc Davis, Blaine Gibson–and you can tell.

And then there’s that song–I did admit to NPR that it was “catchy.”

More than any other attraction I can think of, the song makes the whole thing work, both carrying and reinforcing the meaning. Literally unforgettable, the only way I’ve been able to make its presence absent when it enters my head is to transform it–singing the lyrics of small world to a different melody, the bass line of “Love Shack.” (You’ll need to add some “Baby” and “Baby Baby”s to make it scan.) Try it yourself!

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April 10, 2014 No Comments

Photo Tour of a Standard Room at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge–Jambo House

by Dave

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, click here

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

Standard rooms at the Animal Kingdom Lodge most commonly come with two queens, but rooms with one king, or one queen and a bunk bed, are available as well. Note that these rooms saw a light refurb in 2019-2020. I’ll post updated images and floor plans shortly.

The images that follow were mostly taken during a visit to a two-queen room at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge in April 2016 after a light refurb but there’s also one lousy shot of a pre-refurb bunk bed room from January 2014 as well.

The entry is similar to that of many deluxe rooms.

On one side you’ll find the door to a connecting room (if present) and a large closet.

Here’s the other half of the closet.

On the other side of the entry is the bath, with two sinks…

…and in its own space, a toilet and tub/shower. Note the decorative tiling.

…and the fun shower curtain.

Further into the room you’ll find on one side the queen beds.

The bed side from the back of the room.

Closer view of a bed. Note the draping at the head…

…and the ornate carving in the headboard.

Between the beds is a small table with storage.

Bunk bed rooms replace the queen nearer the bath with a large bunk bed.

Beds are all that fit on this side of these small rooms. Here’s the other side of the room.

The TV side from the back.

The mini-fridge and coffeemaker are near the bath.

The fridge, open, with scaling objects.

The dresser and TV take up the center of this side. These room are overdue for a refurb that will separate the TV from the dresser, and add a much larger TV on the wall and power points to the dresser.