Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 25, 2013 TO JUNE 2, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

Star Wars weekends continue this week and increasingly are mobbing the Studios, so avoid Disney’s Hollywood Studios the 25th and 26th and the 31st through the 2nd.

Memorial Day and the week it’s in have gotten increasingly crowded recently,  and will be more so this year as many schools are out a little earlier than typical.  Avoid the Magic Kingdom the 26th and 27th in particular.

(For more on May 2013 at Walt Disney World, see this, and for more on June, see this.)

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VICTORIA AND ALBERT’S AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Victoria and Albert’s, located on the second floor of the Grand Floridian, is Walt Disney World’s highest-priced restaurant, the only restaurant at Disney World that does not seat children younger than 10, and the restaurant at Disney World with the most strict dress code—for men, dress pants, dress shoes, collared shirts and jackets.

Astonishingly expensive (expect dinner with wine pairings for two to exceed $500 including tax and tip), Victoria and Albert’s provides an even more astonishing dining experience—one worth well more than the price. [Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES COULD INCREASE AT ANY MOMENT

(This page is sponsored by my friends at Undercover Tourist.)

Universal Orlando increased ticket prices yesterday, so Walt Disney World ticket prices likely will go up any day now.

Disney World has multiple ticket packages and multiple day lengths, but I expect overall increases will range from 4.5% to perhaps as much as 7%.

Currently–this may change someday–Disney tickets, once bought, can be activated anytime without any additional payments needing to be made.  So if you buy your tickets now, and prices go up, you’ll save the difference.

My friends at Undercover Tourist, a sponsor of this site, can save you even more. Savings there vary, but can be another 3-5%.  So buy your tickets now from them and you could save 7.5% to 10% compared to buying them from Disney after the price increase!

That could save the typical family following one of this site’s itineraries more than $100!

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Just got back from a week-long visit to Walt Disney World, and coming out of that here’s what’ll be showing up soon on the site:

• Revised reviews of the Polynesian, Pop Century, and All-Star Music resorts
• All-new reviews of Victoria and Albert’s, Jiko, the Lilo and Stitch Best Friends character breakfast at ‘Ohana, and the Biergarten
• Revised Epcot itineraries–the days and dining will remain the same, but what attractions to do when, and what’s optional, will change. As part of the “optional” issue, I’ll be publishing many more reviews of Epcot rides to help families decide for themselves what to see and what to skip
• And the post I know you are all looking forward to: some whining about how hard it is to build itineraries for Epcot unless they are for two full days!

So look out for all this to come out in later May and June!

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My friend Steve has a great post here to help military families choose between the great deals available to them for most of September 2013 vs. the September free dining deal available to the general public.

The short version is that you need to do the math, as the final cost to you varies depending on family size, ages, and which hotel you are targeting!

Check out Steve’s post here.

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OVERVIEW: DECEMBER 2013 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews December 2013 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Early December, with lower crowds, lower prices, and wonderful Christmas decorations and events, has the best weeks of the year to visit.

Later December with Christmas and New Year’s weeks has the highest crowds and prices of the year. Park closings to additional guests are common in this period, as are 8a openings and daily morning Extra Magic Hours.

December also has a special party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, a special evening event–with its own ticket–that has become a family tradition for many.

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