Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

FORECAST 2014 RESORT PRICE SEASONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The material below shows the different resort price seasons at Walt Disney World at different times of the year in 2014.

(If you are looking for current deals and discounts, click here. For 2013 prices, click here.)

Ticket prices don’t vary over the course of the year–although they typically have an annual increase in the summer. See this for more on ticket prices.

Resort prices, however, are almost twice as high during some periods as they are at others.

Projections for 2014 resort price seasons based on recent Disney World practice follow. These will be updated when Disney releases actual 2014 prices–expected to happen on July 10, 2013.

2014 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS

[Read more →]

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, see this.

A PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD LITTLE MERMAID ROOM

Standard 4-person Little Mermaid rooms have the same size and a similar layout as those in the other value resorts. It still has full beds, though–with n\most other values having or moving to queen beds.

What’s particularly different is the specific decor, and the deep Disney theming that you won’t find in the other values.

You are “Under the Sea” in this room, a position that the carpet and how it works with curtains  and the beds is meant to reinforce.

Closing your eyes and saying “I believe in orange as an undersea color!  I do!!” helps a bit in getting this.

The room has two full beds, with Sebastian and Flounder between them. The “pearls” on the headboards are reading lights.

Here”s a closer view of the headboards…

…and of Sebastian and Flounder.

Towards the end of the beds, there’s a painting of Prince Eric.

On the other side of the room, you’ll find a table and chairs with a fun light fixture and mirror above, and a dresser with a TV above and a fridge inside. No coffee maker, though…

The chairs are fun for kids, but cheap looking…

…while the table has these sheets from a musical score embedded.

The dresser has the TV above, drawers on one side, and a mini-fridge on the other.

Here’s the drawers and mini-fridge. Note only three drawers. There’s a shelf above the hanging rack in the bath with more storage, and also room for suitcases used for storage on the floor between the fridge and the bath.

The bath is separated from the main living/sleeping area by a curtain.

There’s also coat hooks in this area.  The wall where the coats hooks are is where the door would be in a room outfitted with connecting doors.

Here’s a closer view of the coat hooks.

The bath has a single sink…

…and a large hanging area to its side, with a shelf above it, and an ironing board, iron, and safe.

The toilet and tub are closed off into their own space.  The shower curtain presents the first appearance of Ariel in the room.

The tub surround is themed to Ariel’s lair.

THE FAMILY SUITES AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

This review continues here.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

• Overview of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Little Mermaid Area and Rooms
• Photo Tour of a Little Mermaid Room
• Overview of the Family Suites Areas
• Accommodations in the Family Suites
• Photo Tour of a Finding Nemo Family Suite (plus bed dimensions, storage, etc)
• Photo Tour of a Lion King Family Suite
• Photo Tour of a Cars Family Suite
• Amenities at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

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 150+ stays in them

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

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: SEPTEMBER 29 TO OCTOBER 7, 2012

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.

(For more on September 2012 at Disney World, see this, and for more on October,  see October 2012 at Walt Disney World.)

[Read more →]

FREE DINING AND OCTOBER ROOM RATE DISCOUNT NEED TO BE BOOKED SOON

Walt Disney World has two deals for the general public out now:

• One offers free dining for select arrival dates September 2012 through December 2012. For more, see this
• Another offers discounts on room rates of 15-30% for most nights from late September well into December 2012.  For more, see this

The free dining deal needs to by booked by September 29.  

For the room rate deal, October travel also needs to be booked by September 29, but you can still book this deal for November and December 2012 up through October 31.

Steve from MilitaryDisneyTips.com has a great post here on the top ten things you need to know about Disney’s Military Salute tickets.

It’s based on trying to answer the most common questions he gets around this fantastic, but often confusing, deal.

Check it out!

(This is an entry in a series on personal favorites)

GUILTY PLEASURES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Welcome to those coming from Capturing Magical Memories as this month Magical Blogorail Teal focuses on guilty pleasures!

GUILTY PLEASURES EXPAND MY WAISTLINE

Most of this site’s itineraries, in addition to recommending dining spots, also recommend a few special snacks as well.

I’m not a gourmet, nor a foodie, but I have cured and smoked my own bacon, and made ice cream at home from scratch! And this should hint at my guilty pleasures…

Yup, I just love junk food at Walt Disney World! [Read more →]