Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: NOVEMBER 23 TO DECEMBER 1, 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.

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Rikki Niblett posted yesterday on the TouringPlans.com blog more winter 2014 Disney World winter ride closures.

One of the most common questions I get around here is why my Week Rankings view so negatively a lot of January and February weeks that are low-crowd and low-price.

The reason is that my week rankings are for first time visitors who may never return.  These weeks are in the peak of the ride-closure season—so why should a family who has never been, and may never return, go during a time that predictably they may miss some of the best of Disney World?

But families that don’t care about ride closures should take a close look at January and early February.  Click the links for more on those months at Disney World—or play with the Week Picker!

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OVERVIEW: JUNE 2014 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews June 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.

If you must go to Disney World in the summer, the beginning of June is your best choice for a first visit.  Crowds while not good, are lower then than most of the rest of the summer, prices are OK–except at the value resorts–and the full weight of summer weather is not yet in place.

(The end of August is the next best choice.  Prices and crowds are much better, but you are not only in peak summer then, but also the peak of the hurricane season.)

Crowds build over June, peaking the week that includes the 4th of July (a Friday in 2014, so the most crowded June week is that beginning June 28).

Moreover, Star Wars Weekends look to continue through June 8 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, leading to massive crowds there on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the 8th.

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REVISED SUMMER ITINERARY FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD COMING

Walt Disney World did its first release of it June 2014 operating calendar yesterday, and it revealed a different pattern of summer operations than has been the case the last few years.

As a result of these changes, my current integrated Summer Itinerary which I’ve offered for more than 5 years (with tweaks) won’t work as well as I’d like it too, and the issues are too big for tweaks. (For the current, won’t work, version, see this–but remember not to use it!)

So between now and the end of the month, I’ll be re-writing my summer itinerary.

My plan is to generate two summer itineraries:

• one that uses FastPass+, and
• a second one that relies solely on traditional Fastpass,

but with the same parks and restaurants on the same days and at the same time on each. By doing this, people will be able to do their dining reservations without having to know whether they will be using FastPass+ or traditional Fastpasses.

To build these, I’ll be using both my own experience and thinking, and also the thoughts of Josh of easyWDW.com (with his permission and collaboration–thanks, Josh!).

IRRELEVANT ASIDE

Josh’s site has become one of the most-copied Disney World sites on the web. (Mine is copied a bit, too…)  For what they are worth, here’s my thoughts for those extensively relying on the hard work of others:

• Do your own work–don’t pass off other people’s work as your own, or create the impression you’ve had an experience–like stayed in a certain resort–that you haven’t
• If what you publish relies on other peoples’ work, if it’s just a bit you’ve taken, give them credit and a link; if you are taking a lot, ask them for permission and how they’d like credit to be noted
• Above all, don’t take other people’s work, derive new-looking material from it, pass it off as your own, and then turn it into an e-book that you charge for!

OK, sermon over…and yes, I am both sinned against and a sinner on this topic, especially on the middle point! But I promise to do better…

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OVERVIEW: THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA

The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (a Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) resort paired with the Grand Floridian, one of the Monorail resorts) is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay, and for many room types is the most livable and flexible of the DVC resorts.

For typical first-time visitors, I don’t recommend the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

That said, these “DVC” resorts can be a great choice for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.

Among the Disney Vacation Club resorts, the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa ranks fifth overall for first-time visitors, and is particularly strong for quality of dining, compactness, convenience to the Magic Kingdom, and very livable rooms.

THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA AND THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

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MVMCP: A REVIEW

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (“MVMCP”) is a special event that takes place during the Christmas season at Walt Disney World.

It requires its own ticket, which is entirely separate from regular Disney World tickets, and is only shown on certain nights from early November through mid-December.

(For more on MVMCP tickets and show nights, see this.)

Even though it is expensive (tickets for a family of four will cost over $200) it’s been part of this site’s Basic December Itinerary since the site opened, for a couple of reasons:

Going to it lets people sleep in an extra morning. 

Disney limits the amount of tickets it sells to each show of MVMCP.  As a result, waits for the rides are low.  Going to it and getting some popular rides in saves a morning in the Basic Itinerary for sleeping in that would otherwise have to be used getting up and going to the Magic Kingdom

Going to it guarantees seeing an evening parade and fireworks. 

At the time of year the Basic Itinerary covers, the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom may happen just a couple of times a week on non-MVMCP nights.  Sending people to MVMCP guarantees your family will have the opportunity to see an evening parade and fireworks.

I recommend people go to Walt Disney World in the early part of the Christmas season…so how can I not send them to this show?

It’s silly and fun!

In November 2013 I had a chance to see it again, for the fifth time  The rest of this entry is the review of that visit. [Read more →]