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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: DECEMBER 14 TO DECEMBER 22, 2013

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.

And for more on December 2013 at Disney World, see this.

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Just got back from a great week at Walt Disney World that overlapped my top ranked weeks of 2013!

This was my third visit this fall, and at first I had two goals:

1. To test FastPass+ in utterly unplanned use:

• No customizing, no MagicBands mailed ahead, no FastPass+ booked at all, much less 60 days out, not even any ADRs
• We didn’t even pick parks til the actual day of visit, and often didn’t get around to picking that day’s FastPass+ until after noon that same day.
• Another way to put this: we tested using FastPass+ spontaneously. (For more on the first test of Fastpass+, see this, and the second, this.)

2. To re-visit a bunch of DVC and deluxe resorts with a view towards refreshing their reviews:

• I’m one of the few people to have recently stayed in and reviewed every Disney World resort hotel, and every major room type within them.
• My moderate and value resort reviews are all from re-stays in 2012 or 2013. But a few of my deluxe and DVC reviews go back as far as 2009 and 2010 stays, so as part of this trip we booked seven different rooms so we could update the reviews based on fresh experiences.
• After this and my November visit, I now have a backlog of 8 and a half deluxe and DVC updated reviews to write…when they are done, my oldest review will be just 30 months old, and only four will be from a 2011 visit–all the rest will be newer

Then some other goals emerged:

• A joint fan meet-up with Jodi of Magical Mouse Schoolhouse
• Finally meeting the great pinner Linda Stevens-Jones in person
• Testing crowds these two weeks that I rank so highly
• And taking a lot of holiday shots with my new camera!

So here’s the scoop.

FASTPASS+ AND SPONTANEITY

My original thought in not booking any FastPass+ ahead of time was to test in real time at Walt Disney World just how well the MyDisneyExperience app worked from my phone.

Most of what I’d done on the prior trips–including day-of changes–was from my laptop, as were all of my pre-planned FastPass+.

Well the short answer is that the phone app worked fine and I mostly had no trouble getting on the app, setting FastPass+ up, and changing them from my phone, in both the hotels and parks. Others continue to report difficulties, especially on Android-based phones, but my creaking old iPhone worked like a champ.

I tested this to see how making and changing FastPass+ from phone apps would work for first time visitors. But without really meaning to, I was also testing FastPass+ and spontaneity.

Here’s the deal–many repeat visitors have a way of approaching Walt Disney World, that works for them and because FastPass+ is new and different, it’s raised a lot of concerns–one of them being not wanting to set their park plans in stone 60 days ahead. This is the “spontaneity” issue.

Well, we had no problems getting great FastPass+ options on the day of use–sometimes picking them in the morning, but more commonly not getting around to choosing the until the afternoon–even late afternoon. We got fireworks shows, parades, and tons of headliners offered.

See the image, of FastPass+ that I selected around 3p on a Magic Kingdom day with the full evening program and evening extra magic hours, sandwiched between two 7p close days.

Even on such a predictably rough day at MK,  I was offered even more headlines–Peter Pan, the Electrical Parade, Splash–but had already done these earlier in the trip.

(The new Talking Mickey, one of our FastPass+, weirded me out a bit.  As a severe introvert, I know how to do regular silent Mickey…but am not a chatterer. I probably weirded him out too.)

So we had absolutely no issue with spontaneity.  Now we know when to go in general, and which parks to see which days specifically, so that helped.  But even so we went to certain parks on lousy days and still had no problems.

So does this mean that like us, you can show up with no FastPass+, decide each morning which park you are going to, and still grab a bunch of great ones?  Well, I dunno…it’ll depend on the pace of roll-out of FastPass+ to other visitors, and of course when you go.  But based on this test, I’m encouraged that at least so far you can still be spontaneous with FastPass+— if you pick your dates and parks wisely.

However, there are still tons of other complaints about FastPass+–too few FastPass+ available per day; headliner restrictions; can be used in only one park per day; no repeat FastPass+ in a day–and many people are still having all kinds of technical problems.

So while I’m very happy about FastPass+ for first-timers following this site’s itineraries (after I revise the rest of them on this model…) the jury is still out on the overall initiative.

UPDATING DVC AND DELUXE REVIEWS

Between my November and December visits I stayed for multiple days in all the key room types at

• The Wilderness Lodge and Villas
• The Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani Village
• The Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower
• Saratoga Springs and the Treehouses, and
• The new DVC offering at the Grand Floridian

For all these but the last, my published reviews were for stays in 2009 and 2010, so it was time to get back for a fresh–but kinda expensive–look.

Updated reviews will be coming out soon–well, soon by my standards–for all but the Grand Floridian Villas. The review of Villas at the Grand Floridian is already being published, see this.

None of these re-visits will likely have much of an impact on the resort rankings–though I may change my mind on that, after I actually settle down and write them.

But what was reinforced from being in all these two-bedroom villas in less than a month was something I already knew and have covered here, but need to do much more sharply: there’s huge differences in livability for larger groups in the two-bedroom villas.

Two Bedroom Villas at Old Key West, Kidani, Bay Lake Tower, and the Grand Floridian are much more livable for families of 6 or more than are the two bedroom villas elsewhere. (So are the three-bedroom Treehouses, for those who can productively use the two 70 inch long bunk beds.)

See below for the starkest example–first, the dining table at the Villas at the Grand Floridian…

…and next, the dining table in a two-bedroom villa in the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge.

More on this later…

The other thing I learned from being in all these rooms is that Disney is not well set up for people staying in more than one hotel.

The system won’t check you into one resort easily unless you’ve checked out of another, and there are inconsistencies within Disney systems as to whether or not you have done so.  As a result, often our check-in took a while (though all had been completed on-line), and too often our new MagicBands were messed up–all eventually fixed except in one case, where we just made do.

Now our account–combining multiple reservations with all-new MagicBands provided at each new resort’s desk, rather than mailed to our home–was kinda complicated. But this is a bug that Disney needs to fix.

(Disney is aware of this bug–all our on-line check in packets included a handwritten routing slip letting the cast member know about our multiple reservations, and most of the front desk staff dealt with the issue immediately, and all courteously! A little more worryingly, about half of the check-in staff said that I looked familiar to them…that’s never happened before…maybe they are fans of my Facebook page!)

THE MEET-UP WITH MAGICAL MOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE

My bud Jodi of Magical Mouse Schoolhouse now lives just outside Orlando, and after the joint meet-up with Steve of MiltiaryDisneyTips.com last month, wondered if she and I could do one too!

So we did it–with help from our travel partners Destinations in Florida and 3D Travel Agency–on Wednesday.

That was a day we changed resorts, and we got into our room at Bay Lake Tower so late that I thought I might have to do the meet-up in my swimsuit and life jacket…

But, freshly showered, I met Jodi…

…gave away some Glow With the Show Ears to the fans who showed up…

…gave away some more–that’s lovely wife Amy Girl in the back, and a recipient in the front…

…and just chatted with folk.  It was fun!

MEETING A FAMOUS PINNER

The great Disney World pinner Linda Stevens-Jones was in the parks during the second half of my visit, and I had a chance to sit and chat with her and husband Dan for a bit at the Magic Kingdom.

I coulda chatted with them for hours…but we both had FastPass+ to pursue! Linda, by the way, was one of the many who were having technical difficulties with FastPass+

TESTING THE CROWDS THESE TWO TOP-RANKED WEEKS

As it happened, I was at Disney World during parts of my two top ranked weeks of 2013! So it was a nice test to test whether in fact these remain low-crowd weeks.  (They are not, by far, the lowest crowd weeks of the year–but I did forecast them as low.)

Were they?  Well, I thought they were great. But I’ve had multiple comments and emails from others about them facing longer than expected lines, and this post on TouringPlans.com supports the thought that crowds, while still low, were heavier than expected.

But if you dig into the details, what you’ll learn is that except for one or two days, the crowds were largely driven by Extra Magic Hours and the absence of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Crowds during this period go up a bit every year, but overall they were still good.  But this time of year, you really have to be careful about which park you go to which day!

A TON OF PHOTOS OF CHRISTMAS AT DISNEY WORLD!

On both the November and December trips I got a ton of photos of the resorts and parks in their Christmas finery.

I’ll never be able to use them all–unless I just do a page of photos, should I?–but the one below is my favorite!

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I’ve now published the first iterations of the key material to use in picking your dates for a 2015 visit to Walt Disney World.

This includes the first drafts of

• 2015 Weeks to Visit Disney World, Ranked in Order
• 2015 Disney World Price Seasons
• 2015 Disney World Crowd Calendar

These are drafts, and will be revised in the summer of 2014 if needed:

• The 2015 price seasons are projections based on recent Disney World practice. The real scoop won’t come out til this summer–likely June.  I’ll update these then.
• The 2015 Crowd Calendar will be revised at least once, in the summer of 2014.  I update it such every year around then, as by then almost all of the 180 or so public school calendars tat I track are out.
• And because the 2015 Week Rankings are highly influenced by crowds and prices, any changes in those may result in changes to the week rankings.

But til then, these tools are as good as you will find anywhere to help you shape your Disney World 2015 plans!

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
• For the next best dates, see this
• For the best and worst times to visit, see this
  • For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2014 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2015 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2015 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2014 price seasons, see this
  • For projected 2015 price seasons, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

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(For the first page of this review of the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian, click here.)

PHOTO TOUR OF THE MASTER BEDROOM AND MASTER BATH IN THE VILLAS AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN

The master bedroom has two entrances–one from the living room near the balcony, and one from the divided master bath. See the floor plan below.

The result is that

• Those sleeping in the living area can use the master bath without entering the master bedroom, and
• Those in the master bedroom can exit the master space without interrupting sleeping people in the living area.

The master bedroom is large, but other than having tons of storage space, is not otherwise exceptional.

One side has a king bed and an easy chair.

The bed side from near the bath.

On the bath side of the bed is this large bedside table…

…with three good-sized storage drawers. Note the interesting shape and lovely inlays on the top.

A closer view of the chair.

On the other side you’ll find a dresser with a TV on top, and a desk.

The TV side from closer to the bath area.

Here’s a closer view of the desk.

The dresser is quite large…

…with an astonishing 9 drawers.

In the back corner is an enormous closet, for anything that won’t fit in the nine drawers!

Accessed from the master bedroom through sliding doors is the first part of the divided bath, with a sink on one side…

…and a charming air jet spa tub on the other.

Beyond these is the other part of the divided bath–directly accessible via a back hall to those staying elsewhere in the villa. It has another sink and a toilet…

…and a shower. At almost 30 square feet, the shower is huge.

You could clean every single moderate Democrat and moderate Republican in the Senate simultaneously in here–and maybe you should.

As noted, there’s a second door to this part of the divided bath that leads to a hall and eventually the rest of the villa. This view is from the bath through the entry and to the entry to the bath in the second bedroom or studio.

In this back hall you’ll find the laundry…

…and also a small closet, the only one near the entry to the room, and the only one easily available to those sleeping in the living room.

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Welcome to the third stop aboard Magical Blogorail Teal. Enjoy the ride as we explore this month Disney Christmas films–shorts, movies, TV shows and more!

FAMILY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS AND DISNEY FILMS

My colleagues on Teal will talk elsewhere about a couple of my favorite Disney Christmas films–The Santa Clause and Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

(Mickey’s Christmas Carol is great, but as a kid I preferred Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol even though it scared the heck out of me…)

So my topic is a little different–Disney but not Disney–A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Now Charlie Brown, of course, is not a Disney character, nor was the film a Disney work.

But Bill Melendez, the animator of A Charlie Brown Christmas, also animated at Disney in the late 30s and early 40s, working on Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo.

After leaving Disney he worked on other classics like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and later became the animator of all the Peanuts work–including A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I was–and this won’t surprise you–an odd little kid, so I really identified with Charlie Brown, seeing in him my same issues of simultaneously being lost in the world and refusing its compromises.

So I loved all the Peanuts specials, and it was never really a holiday season until my sister and I watched Charlie Brown with my mom.

Now, slightly better adjusted–or, more to the point, just not caring how I fit with the world–I see the work more on its merits, and less about me.

And A Charlie Brown Christmas is a truly great piece of Christmas work for almost any family not put off by its insistence that Christmas is really about someone who was born more than 2000 years ago…

MORE CHRISTMAS DISNEY FILMS FROM MAGICAL BLOGORAIL TEAL

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on today’s Magical Blogorail Teal Loop is Disney with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail Teal loop should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard!

1st Stop ~ The Disney Kids

2nd Stop ~ Capturing Magical Memories

3rd Stop ~  yourfirstvisit.net

Final Stop ~ Disney with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

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OVERVIEW: THE WEEKS OF 2015 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This site recommends arriving at Walt Disney World one of the first three Saturdays after Thanksgiving.

If you can’t go then, presented below are the weeks of 2015 in order of best to worst. (For 2016 rankings, see this, and for 2017 rankings, see this.)

The ranking is designed for first time visitors who do not know whether or not they will return.

For visitors on a return trip, less concerned about ride closures, the later January and early February weeks would be ranked much higher–with the Marathon and Martin Luther King Day weeks being the worst of these.

These week rankings are based on my 2015 Disney World Crowd Calendar and on 2015 Walt Disney World price seasons.

Other factors are key as well–the Christmas season, ride closure season and hurricane season in particular.

RECOMMENDED 2015 WEEKS, RANKED IN ORDER

The recommended weeks that follow are wonderful weeks to visit Walt Disney World in 2015.

Week number one has it all–lower crowds, low prices and wonderful Christmas programs and decorations. The first Saturday of this week overlaps with Thanksgiving crowds and prices, but the rest of it will be marvelous:

• 1: 11/28/15.

Weeks 2 and 3 have many, but not all, of the strengths of week 1:

• 2: 12/5/15. Largely a terrific week with low crowds, low prices and wonderful holiday programs. However, this is a week that, because of Pop Warner football demand for resort rooms, is rarely discounted beyond its already low prices. Those intending to stay at a value resort should consider avoiding this week and target week 1 instead, as Pop Warner may make the value resorts crowded and boisterous this week
• 3: 12/12/15. A week as good as week 1 on crowds and holiday programs. Much more expensive at the values and moderates, however, than weeks 1 or 2

Weeks 4 is a very strong week. It has low crowds and prices, and most of Disney World’s holiday program except at Epcot will be in place

• 4: 11/14/15

Weeks 5 and 6 share great late autumn weather and have low crowds. These are near-tied, but are in calendar order as the best weather is earlier

• 5: 10/17/15
• 6: 10/24/15

Week 7 has many of the positive features of week 4, but a price kick-up at the beginning for the end of Jersey Week

• 7: 11/7/15

Weeks 8 and 9 share great late spring weather, low crowds but moderate prices. The April week comes out a little ahead because of slightly better weather

• 8: 4/25/15
• 9: 5/2/15

Weeks 10 is your best 2015 Spring Break bet, with low crowds and moderate prices

• 10: 2/28/15

Week 11 is similar to week 8, with slightly higher crowds

• 11: 4/18/15

Week 12 is similar to week 9, but with more chance of the beginning of summer-like weather

• 12: 5/9/15

Week 13 is similar to week 10, but has higher crowds at the beginning of the week

• 13:  2/21/15

Week 14 is similar to week 11, but with slightly higher crowds, especially at the beginning of the week

• 14: 4/11/15

This completes the weeks in 2015 that are recommended.

WEEKS I’M NOT SO KEEN ON

Weeks 15-19 all have moderate crowd levels, with different prices and weather. I don’t particularly recommend moderate-crowd weeks for first time visitors, but would go myself such weeks with no hesitation.

They are in order of least to most crowded, and within crowd groups are sorted by price.

• 15: 10/31/15. “Jersey Week”—teacher meetings in New Jersey, leading to a massive temporary immigration of New Jersey families to Orlando. Crowds moderate-minus, prices low, almost never discounted
• 16: 5/16/15. Similar to week 12 but with higher crowds and more summer-like weather. Crowds moderate-minus. Prices moderate
• 17: 10/10/15. Columbus Day week with higher crowds and prices than the great weeks (ranked 5 and 6) that follow it
• 18: 8/8/15. Moderate-plus crowds as the summer season begins to fade away
• 19: 5/30/15.  Beginning of summer–similar crowds to week 18, but higher prices in deluxes

Weeks 20-27 have one thing in common: they occur during but the peak of the hurricane season. Hurricanes are rare and even more rarely affect a Disney World vacation, but for first-timers who may never return, why not just avoid the risk? They are ranked in order of first crowd levels, and within the same crowd level prices.

Weeks 20 and 21 have among the lowest crowds and lowest prices of the year.

• 20: 9/19/15
• 21: 9/12/15

Week 22 has slightly higher crowds than weeks 20 and 21.

• 22: 9/5/15

Week 23 has higher crowds than 22, and week 24 slightly higher than 23.

• 23: 8/29/15
• 24: 8/22/15

Week 25 has similar crowds to 24, but higher prices at moderates and deluxes.

• 25: 9/26/15

Weeks 26 and 27 are the only moderate-crowd weeks in this hurricane group

• 26: 10/3/15
• 27: 8/15/15

2015 WEEKS TO AVOID AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

There’s two groups of weeks to avoid:  high crowd weeks and weeks when rides are often closed.

The first group, ranked 28-47, should be avoided because of crowds ranging from high to unbelievable.

This group includes all of later June, July and early August (massive crowds, higher prices). Prices go down in Deluxes starting in mid-July, and in the other resorts in mid-August.

It also includes the busy March Spring Break weeks beginning 3/7/2015, and the holiday weeks—President’s Day week, the weeks before and after Easter, Thanksgiving week, and the weeks around Christmas.

Click the table for exact rankings within these lousy weeks.

The next group includes the January and early February weeks when rides are often closed for repair or refurbishment—weeks 48-53.

Many of these weeks have the lowest crowds and lowest prices of the year.

(But not all--click the table above.)

However, this is the peak time for ride closures at Walt Disney World, especially the January weeks.

If this may be your only family visit, why go when you know some of the best of Disney World will be closed?

If you must go during this period, avoid the first week of January (massive crowds), and the Martin Luther King (1/17/15 arrival date) Day holidays.

The Marathon Weekend (affecting arrival dates of 1/3 and 1/10/15) complicates and crowds the parks as well.

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
• For the best and worst times to visit, see this
  • For 2015 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2015 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2016 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2015 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2016 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2015 price seasons, see this
  • For projected 2016 price seasons, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

Want a second opinion?  Then check out my book lol.

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