Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

The 2013 dates for Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween Party (“MNSSHP”) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (“MVMCP”) are now confirmed.

• For the dates for Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween Party (“MNSSHP”), see this
• For the dates for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (“MVMCP), see this

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My friend Steve  is celebrating the fifth birthday of his site MilitaryDisneyTips.com.

Steve opened his site just about a month after this one opened, we soon discovered each other, and we’ve been helping our mutual readers ever since.  Just this year, he became the moderator of this site’s military comments!

So wander on over to his site to help him celebrate, to hear his thoughts on the renewal of the Disney Armed Forces Salute, and just to say thanks!

And from me–Thanks, Steve, and happy birthday to your site!

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Frequent readers of my disclosure page 🙂 will have noted that over the weekend I inked a deal to partner with Undercover Tourist.

Undercover Tourist has all kinds of tools and tips, but they are best known for being one of the few legit sources of discounted Walt Disney World tickets. (They also have discounted tickets for other Orlando area attractions.)

The Disney World discounts often aren’t that big–Disney will discount hotels frequently, but very rarely tickets. But for larger families or those who need to squeeze every penny that they can, the savings can be meaningful.

Undercover Tourist reached out last week with the following kind words:

“We just recently discovered your blog over here at Undercover Tourist and we’re quite impressed with the level of detail and unique point of view you’re providing.  Looks like your consulting days at McKinsey are being put to good use as you are effectively solving the “first visit to WDW” enigma. ;)”

So after that, how could I not partner with them?

I’ve known about them forever–they are highly recommended by some of the writers about Disney World that I most trust. So I’m honored that we have a relationship, and we’re already talking about other stuff we could do together that would help all of you even more!

And as a result of the partnership, if you buy stuff from Undercover Tourist via a link from this site, then they share a little pixie dust with me, which helps compensate for all of the time I put into it…

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OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S OLD KEY WEST RESORT FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Disney’s Old Key West Resort (a Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resort) is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay.

It’s the most spacious, most livable, and least expensive of the DVC resorts, and is my personal favorite among them.

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, Disney’s Old Key West Resort ranks eighth overall for first time visitors, with its particular strengths being livability and value for money.

OLD KEY WEST AND THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

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OVERSEAS ROOM RATE DISCOUNTS FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD HINT AT U.S. DEALS TO COME?

Update 5/9/13:  This deal is now out!  See this.

The mysterious “J” let me know this morning that room rate discounts for South American and European residents will come out May 9 as well–this on top of the Disney World Free Dining deal that she says also will come out on May 9, 2013.

Here’s the scoop so far as “J” knows now:

• Booking window: May 9 till September 15
• For stays: from August 15 till September 28
• Includes: all rooms except Little Mermaid and 3 bedroom villas
• Room rate discount amounts: Still no details about the percentage of the discount

I’ll post more as I learn more, but for now U.S. residents should view this as a hint about what might be offered to them.

SOME US RESIDENT WILL GET AT LEAST SOME DISNEY WORLD FREE DINING IN AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER!

Lots of feedback and concern continues to come in about Tuesday’s news that Free Dining may open for overseas visitors for visits in September 2013. I’ll catch up with the comments soon.

Perhaps most importantly, Dad’s Guide accepted my Free Dining SmackDown. He thinks there will be no August or September free dining for US residents, while I’m forecasting that there will be.

Whoever is right on this prediction will have breakfast at Disney World bought by the other–so at least one of the two of us will get at least some free dining out of all of this!

By the way, I’ve gotten a ton of private messages that split evenly into two claims: there will be no U.S. resident free dining in August or September 2013, or that I’ve already won my breakfast!  So nothing profoundly useful in the mail…and I’m sticking with my forecast.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: APRIL 27, 2013 TO MAY 5, 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.

Note that there’s some unusual Extra Magic Hours this week.  See this if you are using one of this site’s itineraries.

(For more on April 2013 at Disney World, see this, and more on May 2013, see this.)

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