Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

As predicted, Walt Disney World released today two deals for early 2014.

ROOM ONLY DISNEY WORLD DEAL FOR EARLY 2014

One deal is a room discount deal, and covers January 5 – April 12, 2014

This deal needs to be booked by December 31, 2013, and offers the following discounts (except between March 6-13, when discounts, if available, will typically be 5 percentage points less.):

Value Resorts:

• 20% off: All Star Music, All Star Sports, Pop Century Resort
• 15% off: Art of Animation Family Suites
• 5% off: All Star Movies
• Excluded:  Art of Animation Little Mermaid Standard Rooms

Moderate Resorts:

• 25% off: Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, Fort Wilderness Cabins
• 5% off: Port Orleans French Quarter

Deluxe Resorts:

• 35% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Standard & Pool View), Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn, Polynesian Resort, Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa , Wilderness Lodge (Standard & Woods View)
• 25% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Club Level & Savanna View), Wilderness Lodge (Club Level & Courtyard View)
• Excluded (or perhaps 5% off): Other view types

DVC Resorts:

• 35% off: Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn Villas
• 25% off: Villas at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas
• 5% off: Bay Lake Tower
• Excluded: Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and 3-bedroom Villas

Disney World’s page on this deal is here.

DISNEY WORLD EARLY 2014 “PLAY, STAY, DINE AND SAVE” DEAL

Disney World also released today a “Play Stay Dine” deal for early 2014. It covers arrival dates from January 5 through March 5, 2014 and needs to be booked by December 31.

This deal does not look quite like similarly named deals Disney has released in the past. On its webpage, for an example 4 person family, savings are on the order of $120/night at eligible deluxes and moderates, and $80/night at value resorts.

Savings on this deal will vary quite a bit among families of different sizes and ages and in some cases the room-only deal will be better. In general, the smaller and older your family, and the more expensive your room, the better the room only deal…but sadly you–or your travel agent, or the Disney cast member you call–will need to do the math.

Disney’s page on this deal is here.

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yourfirstvisit.net’s 2014 Disney World Week Picker is an alternative to the 2014 Week Rankings particularly suited to returning visitors or first-time visitors with specific weather concerns.

The way it works is that on this page there’s four ways to think about wait times, and underneath each four ways to think about prices.

Find how you think about crowds, then click the link underneath that fits how you think about prices.

That link will take you to a page asking what you think about weather.  Click the link on that page, and you’ll get your results!

Ready?  The 2014 Walt Disney World Week Picker starts now!

Click the link that best matches what you think about crowds and prices:

You wish to consider only weeks with low crowds, and:

• Low prices
• Low or moderate prices
• Low, moderate or high prices–just not the highest prices
• You don’t care about prices

You wish to consider only weeks with low or moderate crowds, and:

• Low prices
• Low or moderate prices
• Low, moderate or high prices–just not the highest prices
• You don’t care about prices

You wish to consider weeks with low, moderate, or high crowds–just not the highest crowds, and:

• Low prices
• Low or moderate prices
• Low, moderate or high prices–just not the highest prices
• You don’t care about prices

You don’t care about crowds, but are seeking:

• Low prices
• Low or moderate prices
• Low, moderate or high prices–just not the highest prices
• Damn…you don’t care about prices, either

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For the first page of this review of Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, click here.

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort includes an arrival building called Cinema Hall where you will find most of its services and amenities.

You are greeted at Cinema Hall by a red carpet!!

Cinema Hall has a lobby where you check in and can buy tickets and make reservations. Note the Hollywood Hills in the background.

As in all Disney World hotel lobbies, there’s also a spot where you can plop the kids in front of some Disney programs while you are waiting in line. Or vice-versa.

Each of the All-Stars has a hall of fame with images and mementos related ot its theme…

…and photographs of exceptional performers.

Also here, just outside, is the bus stop.

Back inside you’ll find the gift shop…

…and the food court–by far the best among the All-Stars.

In the back of the food court–you can see it to the far right in the photo above–is a bar that serves both the pool and the food court.

In this same area there’s a microwave and toasters for anyone to use.

Like the other values, All-Star Movies has no sit-down restaurant.

But it does have two pools…

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

This review continues here.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

• Overview of All-Star Movies
• Photo Tour of a Refurbed Room at All-Star Movies
• The Themed Areas at All-Star Movies
• Amenities at All-Star Movies
• The Pools at All-Star Movies

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 5 TO OCTOBER 13, 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 September 2013 at Walt Disney World, see this, and more on October, this.)

[Read more →]

Update 10/8: These deals are out!! See this.

My bud Joe Black’s disboards post here has the details on a Disney Visa room-only offer for 2014 at Walt Disney World that came out this morning.

I expect a general-public deal to come out October 8 that’ll be very similar.

Here’s the scoop he’s reporting, slightly edited and re-ordered…

Dates: January 5 – April 12, 2014 (certain dates may vary slightly, especially between March 6-13 where discounts will be  less.)

Value Resorts:

• 20% off: All Star Music, All Star Sports, Pop Century Resort
• 15% off: Art of Animation Family Suites
• 5% off: All Star Movies
• Excluded:  Art of Animation Little Mermaid Standard Rooms

Moderate Resorts:

• 25% off: Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, Fort Wilderness Cabins
• 5% off: Port Orleans French Quarter

Deluxe Resorts:

• 35% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Standard & Pool View), Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn, Polynesian Resort, Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa , Wilderness Lodge (Standard & Woods View)
• 25% off: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Club Level & Savanna View), Wilderness Lodge (Club Level & Courtyard View)
• Excluded (or perhaps 5% off): Other view types

DVC Resorts:

• 35% off: Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn Villas
• 25% off: Villas at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas
• 5% off: Bay Lake Tower
• Excluded: Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and 3-bedroom Villas

There’s also a “Stay Play Dine” Disney Visa offer, but I don’t quite get its terms yet, so I’ll add that later.

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WDW MAGAZINE DEBUTS WITH SOME GREAT ARTICLES, PLUS MINE

My bud Carl Trent, founder of Dad’s Guide to WDW and a real friend of this site over the years, has just launched the brand-new WDW Magazine available for iPads (and soon iPhones) here.

Carl rounded up a stable of terrific writers, articles, videos, and photographs…plus me.

Carl asked me–out of desperation, no doubt–to be the lead columnist on issues first-timers face, so I’ve got an article in there on how old your kids should be on their first visit.

Check out WDW Magazine if you have an iPad–and if you don’t, isn’t this a great reason to buy one?

And by the way, I have nothing to disclose here, as I have no financial relationship with WDW Magazine other than being a writer.  But Carl does still owe me breakfast…

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