Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

A day or so ago, the latest edition of the highest-ranked guide book series about Disney World, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, was released on Amazon–just in time to be a marvelous Christmas present!

As always, we will be offering free updates, and you should know that our first update will come out very soon, once we have a solid set of experiences with and opinions on Rise of the Resistance.

The easy Guide series has seen Amazon reviews on the order of 90% 5 stars since it was first published back in 2014.  See above for a 2018 example.

This makes sense–my co-author Josh, of easyWDW.com, is the best in the world on touring the parks, and one of the best in the world on dining at Disney World; I’m the best in the world on the Disney World hotel options; and the two of us are both pretty good on that whole “when to go” thing.

But don’t listen to me. Here’s some reviews of the 2019 easy Guide:

The Kindle version will be out shortly– it always takes it a few extra days to work through.

Get your copy of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit on Amazon here.

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE 1986 FORT WILDERNESS ALLIGATOR ATTACK

By Jim Korkis

In 1986, eight-year-old Paul Santamaria was bitten on the leg by a 7-foot-4 inch long female alligator, which had been lurking in the shallows of a pond at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

Santamaria now lives in Hebron, New Hampshire and was interviewed by a local ABC affiliate when two year old Lane Graves was taken by an alligator in 2016.

“It was pretty terrifying at the time,” said Santamaira. “Under the water, where you couldn’t see, there was an alligator.”

Santamaria had been watching ducks waddling out of a small pond, located on the grounds of the resort, when he was snatched up by the sharp-toothed creature.

Fortunately for him, his 12-year-old sister and 10-year-old brother were there to save his life.

“Instead of just freezing, they decided to fight, to help me to fight to get away, and I’m here because of it,” Santamaria recalled.

“It came out of the water, knocked me down, grabbed my leg and started to throw me around and try to pull me into the water. My sister grabbed me under the arms and started pulling me away from the alligator. My brother started hitting it with whatever he could find and trying to get it to let me go, and with my free leg, I started to kick it and try to get away from it.”

While he managed to escape with his life, he was left with large gashes in his leg and a gator tooth lodged in his thigh.

“I was very lucky,” he said. “I still have some scars on my left leg, but that’s it.”

Santamaria said that while he felt even more fortunate after hearing about what happened to Lane Graves in 2016, it hurt to know that someone had lost their child.

Santamaria, who has been back to Disney World at least three times since the attack said that while it would be wise for Disney to have signs that warn of alligators, people need to remember one thing: that creatures like alligators are commonly found in Florida and small children usually can’t read very well.

“It’s hard to say what can and can’t be done,” he explained. “I don’t want to paint this as Disney is wrong or the parents are wrong. All I know is that as a child, at eight-years-old, there could have been signs there and I wouldn’t have noticed them.

“Children can’t read signs or just don’t pay attention to them. And parents who are trying to watch their kids might not notice those signs, either. They could have all the signage in the world there, and people could still not notice it.

“While attacks are rare, they do happen, and people who live up north don’t even think about the possible danger. While it won’t affect my decision for bringing my children to Walt Disney World in the future, it will definitely have me more alert of the surroundings.

“My kids love their movies, and I even plan on taking them back in the next year or so. It’s a place that families love to go. I look forward to taking my children there. With my situation, I was more fortunate than this (Graves) family was, so their feelings might be different.”

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Disney Never Lands, and about planned but unbuilt concepts, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: NOVEMBER 30 TO DECEMBER 8, 2019

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

For more on December 2019 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 11/30-12/8/19

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-12MN 11/30,  8a-6p 12/1,  8a-4.30p 12/2, 9a-6p 12/3, 9a-10p 12/4, 9a-6p 12/5 and 12/6, 8a-12MN 12/7, and 9a-6p 12/8

Epcot will be open from  9a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 8a-10p 11/230 and 12/1, 9a-9p 12/2 through 12/4, 8a-10p 12/5, and 9a-9p 12/6 through 12/8

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 9a-9p 11/30, 9a-8p 12/1 through 12/4, 8a-8p 12/5, and 9a-8p 12/6 through 12/8

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 11/30-12/8/19

• Saturday 11/30 Morning: Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom Evening: none
• Sunday 12/1  Morning: Hollywood Studios  Evening: none
• Monday 12/2 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none
• Tuesday 12/3 Morning: none Evening: Epcot
• Wednesday 12/4 Morning:  none Evening: Magic Kingdom
• Thursday 12/5 Morning: Animal Kingdom, Epcot Evening: none
• Friday 12/6 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: none
• Saturday 12/7 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: none
• Sunday 12/8 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 11/30-12/8/19

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon parade: 2p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 11/30-12/8/19

Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom:  10p 11/30; 9p 12/4 and 12/7

Epcot Forever at Epcot:  9.30p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p 11/30 and 12/1; 8p 12/2 through 12/8

Star Wars Show and Fireworks replaced for holidays by next item

Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 6.15 and 7.30p 11/30; 6.30 and 7.45p 12/1 through 12/8

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 11/30-12/9/19

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

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(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, see this.)

THE PIRATE ROOMS IN TRINIDAD

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is this site’s top-rated moderate resort for first-time family visitors to Walt Disney World.

It gets that position because it has a little more kid appeal than the other moderate resorts.

For example, it has

• The most widely appealing setting, beaches
• The best main pool among the moderates
• And light Disney theming in many of its rooms–e.g. Mickey and Pluto in its five person rooms

Moreover, the former substantial inconvenience of these rooms (they are the furthest of all Caribbean Beach options from the central dining, main pool and shopping at Old Port Royale) had been diminished by

• The 2018 opening of the Spyglass Grill within the Trinidad village, making this the only village with its own dining venue, and adding  a handy and tasty alternative to walking to Old Port Royale for dining
• The 2019 opening of the Disney Skyliner, whose hub is just across from Trinidad. Rooms in Jamaica and Barbados on average are closer to the Skyliner, but Trinidad is on average the next closest.

On the other hand, these rooms remain the only standard rooms at any Disney moderate with full rather than queen beds. Also, they sleep only four–unlike the five person rooms available elsewhere at Caribbean Beach

REVIEW: THE PIRATE-THEMED ROOMS AT CARIBBEAN BEACH

Caribbean Beach was the first moderate resort at Walt Disney World, and shows a few first-time mistakes.

• Some sections of the resort–particularly Trinidad–are simply too far from the rest of it.
• The resort was designed with more bus stops than it could have had, partly related to an isolated check-in building, which was eliminated in late 2018 (check in is now in the central Old Port Royale)
• No elevators…

Trinidad in particular has always felt isolated from the rest of Caribbean Beach–over a bridge, out of sight.

In response, a few years ago, Disney World tried to turn lemons into lemonade, and redid the rooms in Trinidad to a pirate theme, at a higher cost–for example, standard view pirate rooms are (including tax) $376 a night on weeknights during the Fall 2020 price season, compared to $290 then for standard rooms elsewhere at Caribbean Beach.

Like Disney’s other moderate resort rooms, these pirate-themed options are spacious and livable.

One side of the room has two full beds. Note the ship theming!

The bed side from the back of the room.

A closer view of the beds. Note the detailed wheel, mizzen mast, yard, shrouds, ratlines, and lanterns aft, and the bow chasers forward.

The bedside table takes the form of a barrel, and has a storage shelf underneath…

…as well as a drawer that can hold your important books.

The TV side of the room continues the nautical theming, adding crates to the barrels.

The TV side from the back of the room.

The rug is both nautical and somewhat sea-like. It, combined with the blue (a light sky blue) wall colors, makes the “ships at sea” bed concept work a bit.

I did not spend enough time with this rug–once again, I write a phrase that no one else has ever written before–but suspect that if I had, I’d find lots of references to the movies and a hidden Mickey or two.

Back to the TV side, a closer view of the table and chairs. A compass rose tops the table.

The dresser has a 54 inch TV above, and resembles a pile of crates.

This yields four large drawers.

The coffee service is on top of a barrel…

…which encloses the mini-fridge.

At the end of this side is a treasure chest with hanging hooks above. Note that the hooks are cleats.

The chest has a large storage drawer.

Note that this room is really more nautical than piratical, with a few exceptions. One the art on the wall between the beds and the bath, featuring Captain you know who…

…and another is the curtain separating the bath area from the main bedroom area. Seeing this is a cheery way to start your morning.

Behind the moveable curtain, the bath has two sinks.

At the side of the bath there’s a closet area. Note the beam above.

In the closet area you’ll find this safe. It’s quite large–my book is six by nine inches.

Separated into their own room are the tub/shower combo and the toilet.

The shower curtain…

…is covered with ships.

These spaces have one of the weaker shower head set ups remaining among the moderate resorts…

…and have the same in-wall toiletries now common at this and lower price levels.

The extent and depth of the nautical theming is remarkable, and the less pervasive pirate theming is fun too. Back when I was a boy, I would have loved this room.

But Trinidad is still a ways away from the center of the resort and its main pool, shops and dining. The situation has been improved by the opening of the Spyglass Grill within Trinidad, and the opening of the nearby Disney Skyliner station. But unless all your kids are really into pirates, I can’t recommend it.  The value of the theming itself is not enough to offset the relative isolation…add the extra cost, and you are paying to be inconvenienced.

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

This review continues here.

PAGES IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort: Overview and Summary
• Theming, accommodations and villages at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a four person queen bed room at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a five person queen and murphy bed room at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a four person full bed Pirate room at Caribbean Beach
• Amenities at Caribbean Beach
• Dining at Caribbean Beach
• The main pool at Caribbean Beach

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

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Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park has added new and enhanced holiday decorations and shows.

Some have called the additions unprecedented, but I have been doing this long enough to have written in the past about the long-gone Mickey’s Jingle Jungle parade at this park, so have a more judicious view.

Highlights of what’s new include

• Winter puppets near the Tree of Life—this is a daylight event, and my visit was after dark. Disney describes these as “life-size, artisan-sculpted animal puppets—including a Merry Menagerie of reindeer, foxes and polar bears,” and them seem to be quite the hit.
• A winter-themed set of shows in Tree of Life Awakenings
• Added decorations in all the parks other lands, including some minor adds to Pandora—my photos of this did not turn out even by my usual lower standards.

Let’s take a tour!

The entry to Disney’s Animal Kingdom features the usual Christmas tree…

…and some holiday lights on the structures here.

Discovery Island has as noted the puppets, and also holiday decorations.

Tree of Life Awakenings can be seen from either in front of it on Discovery Island or from the back along the pathway from Africa to Asia.

The brief shows are more winter-themed than holiday-themed, and have the usual subtlety and charm we’ve come to expect from these shows.

More from the Tree of Life Awakenings.

Africa includes celebratory colors and textiles….

…and among other decorations this tree near the Wildlife Express.

Pandora has a bit of decoration from its Earth-native expats. Some have complained that these additions—all my photos are terrible, so I have nothing to show you—are off-theme, but Disney has learned the hard way in Galaxy’s Edge to not take 100% immersion too seriously. Folks don’t come to Disney World for 100% immersion; they come for fun.

Asia has added lights to celebrate Diwali––the festival of lights in India.

These fit so nicely with the already-existing evening lighting that I’d like to see them stay all year.

Dinoland has recently had strong Donald Duck (and associates) Christmas-themed meet and greets.

You’ll see this again this year, plus more decorations…

… including in the boneyard.

All in, a pleasant set of additions to a great theme park.

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

YOUR PERSONAL DISNEY LIBRARY (23)

By Jim Korkis

• The Story of Walt Disney World Commemorative Edition

New books related to Walt Disney World seem to be published almost every month these days, but when the new vacation destination first opened in 1971 there was almost nothing. Steve Birnbaum Brings You The Best of Walt Disney World did not appear until 1982, with the Disneyland edition not being issued until 1985.

Of course in 1971, there was the park’s souvenir guide that was primarily filled with colorful photos and there were magazine articles but only one bookish publication: The Story of Walt Disney World Commemorative Edition.

This oversized eleven inches by eleven inches softcover publication was 48 pages long plus covers, and only sold at WDW. The right edge was trimmed so that the cover looked like a big black letter “D” with a “D” cut-out window in the center that showed part of a color night-time photograph of Cinderella Castle that filled most of the first page on the book. The rest of that page was a reprinting of the text of the famous dedication plaque.

The book is indeed filled with lots of color photographs, some never reprinted and many showing the actual construction of WDW, but more importantly this publication includes some significant text rather than just brief picture captions.

The book was available in 1971–but collectors, be very careful. It remained in print throughout the 1970s, but each reprinting still included the yellow slanted “Commemorative Edition” banner in the lower right hand corner. As a result, many sellers offer this book at a higher price and advertise it as a first printing, when in fact it may be a later edition.

In my own collection, I also have editions from 1973 and 1978. How do I know? Because the copyright date is printed in Roman numerals at the bottom right of the inside front cover. To the best of my knowledge, this booklet was no longer published beginning in 1980.

In addition, the first edition featured the well-remembered Paul Hartley map of WDW that was displayed in the WDW hotel resort rooms. Starting in 1973, that map was replaced by a different, cartoony map that featured the newly opened Golf Resort hotel on the lower left hand side.

Also the map now included cartoonish drawings of guests enjoying all of the Walt Disney World property, along with Disney cartoon characters like Uncle Scrooge welcoming motorists at the entrance, Goofy in Scottish attire strolling a golf course and an oversized Mickey Mouse signing autographs for a family outside of the Magic Kingdom. Later editions add Space Mountain and the Fort Wilderness Resort railroad.

So when purchasing a copy, remember that the book is quite common since it was one of the primary souvenirs that guests would purchase for roughly a decade, and take into account which edition you are purchasing. Just because something is old does not necessarily make it rare or more valuable.

Interestingly, the text of the book remained much the same throughout the different editions because it was generally historical in nature even though some of the photos changed as changes were made to the area.

Think of the book as an enjoyable time capsule of what the “world” once was. It may bring back fond memories for those who were there at the time, or spark the curiosity of those who wonder about those photos of cutting the tiles for the Cinderella Castle mural or programming the audio-animatronics for the Mickey Mouse Revue.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Disney Never Lands, and about planned but unbuilt concepts, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!