Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

Yesterday, while I was tied up all day at a board retreat for the day job, Disney World released several new deals for 2020.

One is a room rate deal where you can save from 10% through 25% for stays January 1, 2020 through April 25, 2020, depending on dates, resort type, and when you book.

Despite much online confusion, the savings are more or less identical to what was offered during the equivalent period last year, with a couple of apparent exceptions:  at the values and moderates, more nights of the week are available, and there are fewer identified resort restrictions.

These last two points may not matter much, as the real issue is always how many of what room types Disney offers to be booked in the deal. That is, availability can be quite limited–and apparently was yesterday, although this may have been a systems issue.

Disney World also released other deals yesterday, including a “Kids Dine Free” deal. As always, the best way to sort through these is to work with a travel agent, who can test all the possibilities for you and put you into the best option among what’s available.

Kelly, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can help your sort through all this. Use the contact form below to reach out to her.

Here’s some more specifics by resort type, taken from Disney’s page on this offer.

DISNEY WORLD VALUE RESORT DEALS FOR EARLY 2020

DISNEY WORLD MODERATE RESORT DEALS FOR EARLY 2020

DISNEY WORLD DELUXE RESORT DEALS FOR EARLY 2020

DISNEY WORLD DVC RESORT DEALS FOR EARLY 2020

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE EPCOT AIRPORT

By Jim Korkis
In 1970, only nineteen percent of visitors came to Central Florida by airplane. The majority of people journeyed there by car, usually on their way to Miami.

It was obvious that with the opening of Walt Disney World, more tourists would be coming by plane.

By 1995, more than fifty percent of WDW guests, especially international ones, came by plane rather than car. That year counted for over twenty-two million visitors taking flights to Central Florida.

Eastern Airlines, the official airline of Walt Disney World from 1970-1987, doubled its flights to Orlando from 40 to 80 at the beginning of 1972. Eastern offered service to Orlando from sixty different cities across the United States

Walt Disney’s original plan for the Florida property was to have an operating airport with three to four parallel runways on the land that is now occupied by the city of Celebration. The entitlements in the Reedy Creek Improvement District legislation allowed for Disney to build such an airport.

An Entrance Complex and Registration Center staffed by cast members who spoke various languages would be there to assist foreign visitors.

That primary entrance to the Epcot location (the Main Gate) would be roughly across the street from Walt’s airport. The nondescript building that houses Entertainment, Merchandising and Disney Design Group on Sherberth Road is known as “Main Gate”, since that is where the planned entrance to the property was to be located.

In 1971, there was no Orlando International Airport — that didn’t come until 1976. There was just Orlando McCoy Jetport, which had limited capacity. (Orlando International’s “MCO” airport designation actually originates from the McCoy Air Force Base formerly on the same site.)

Expectations were that more than 400 people would be working at the Epcot airport by the time Phase Two of the Florida property was completed in 1976. By then, there were to have been three new resorts near the Magic Kingdom and new attractions.

Disney projected that by 1991 the airport would employ more than 2,000 full-time workers and would be surrounded by hundreds of motels accommodating the many travelers coming to visit the Epcot area.

According to Marvin Davis, who created the initial layout for Walt Disney World, “This airport was planned after one in Cincinnati. We made a special trip to New York and met with the guy in charge of that airport who said it worked like a charm.

“The circular plan cuts down the area that you need by half, instead of those long runways that were standard. They had a circular runaway plan and it worked on a banked curve for the takeoff. Of course, we would have had to get all kinds of approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration.”

As the plans evolved, this international airport would have been located in the southwest portion of the land and in the north east would be a second, smaller facility to handle general aviation.

Walt’s intention was that the architecture would mirror the distinctive Theme Building at the Los Angeles International Airport built in 1961 by architects that Walt liked including William Pereira, Charles Luckman and Welton Becket.

Disney could never get a major air carrier to partner with them in the costs for the airport, especially with the oil crisis in 1973, although Delta Airlines came close at one point to signing on.

The continuing expansion of Orlando International Airport, as well as drastic changes to the original plans for Epcot, resulted in the airport project quietly disappearing as an unnecessary expense. Basically, when Disney abandoned the plans to build the Epcot city that Walt Disney had envisioned, the airport was abandoned as well.

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, The Unofficial Walt Disney World 1971 Companion: Stories of How the World Began, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 5 TO OCTOBER 13 2019

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

For  more on October 2019 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/5-10/13/19

The Magic Kingdom will be open 8a-10p 10/5, 8a-6p 10/6, 8a-9p 10/7, 8a-6p 10/8, 8a-10p 10/9, 8a-6p 10/10 and 10/11, 8a-11p 10/12, and 8a-9p 10/13

Epcot will be open from 9a-10p 10/5, 9a-9p 10/6 through 10/10, 9a-10p 10/11 and 10/12, and 9a-9p 10/13

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 9a-10p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-9p 10/5 through 10/9, 8a-8p 10/10, 8a-9p 10/11, 8a-8p 10/12, and 8a-9p 10/13

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/5-10/13/19

• Saturday 10/5 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Sunday 10/6  Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Monday 10/7 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Tuesday 10/8 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: Epcot
• Wednesday 10/9 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Thursday 10/10 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios (6-9a)  Evening: none
• Friday 10/11 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Saturday 10/12 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a)  Evening: none
• Sunday 10/13 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a)  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/5-10/13/19

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon parade: 2p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/5-10/13/19

Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom:  9p 10/5, 10/7, 10/9, 10/12 and 10/13

Epcot Forever at Epcot: 10p 10/5, 9p 10/6 through 10/10; 10p 10/11 and 10/12; 9p 10/13

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 10p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8p 10/5; 7.45 and 9p 10/6 through 10/8; 7.45p 10/9 and 10/10; 7.45 and 9p 10/11; 7.45p 10/12; and 7.45 and 9p 10/13

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/5-10/13/19

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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Walt Disney World is closed until further notice. I can’t imagine it re-opening in April…

WHAT IS APRIL LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Late April is usually a fine time to go to Disney World, but the earlier parts of the month commonly see high prices and high crowds, depending on the timing of Easter (and its effects on spring breaks).

April 2020 sees prices and crowds are typically rough until the Sunday after Easter.

[Read more →]

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

YOUR PERSONAL DISNEY LIBRARY (21)

By Jim Korkis

• The Wonders of Walt Disney World by Aaron H. Goldberg

When reviewing a book, in general, a reviewer should try to keep at least three things in mind: What was the author trying to do? How well did they do it? Was it worth doing in the first place?

In general, I avoid reviewing guidebooks for a number of reasons. First, they have a limited lifespan since Disney changes so frequently and without warning so that they are often already out-of-date before they are even published.

Second, there are many terrific and well-proven guidebooks that are already in existence and are updated each year including the iconic Birnbaum guides as well as The easy Guide among others. In addition, for people needing information about WDW, there are multiple websites that not only supply practical information but share valuable tips and back story information as well.

When I saw the title The Wonder of Walt Disney World on a new book, I was intrigued. I also saw that the author in the description emphasizes that he was not producing a guidebook.

In the introduction, Goldberg writes, “It is a book with tips, trivia and secret stories…I aim to give you a backstory on the backstory as we work our way through each and every Disney park, visiting all the popular attractions, highlighting the secrets and magic that make WDW so special.”

With his stated goal as to create “an informative resource…that is a comprehensive and entertaining tour designed for both easy reading and reference”, then the book falls far short of those expectations.

In short, it is just another guidebook, and not a very effective one.

Goldberg admits that much of the information he uses came from WDW News, the Walt Disney Company’s fact, information and press-release website for the media and public. He uses the exact words from that site to describe the attractions, restaurants and more and accompanies them all with the review ratings (used by permission) from TripAdvisor. So much of the information comes word-for-word from those two websites.

His secret stories are often just direct quotes from other books like Rolly Crump’s It’s Kind of a Cute Story, Alex Wright’s Imagineering Field Guides, Jeff Kurtti’s Since the World Began, Melody Malmberg’s The Making of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Jason Surrell’s The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic and other familiar and still easily attainable books, as well as articles from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. I liked that he did indeed acknowledge those sources.

Perhaps my expectations were too high judging from the author’s description of what he thinks the book actually is. He emphatically states that it is not a guidebook so I am writing this book to let you know that it is a guidebook.

I was not a fan of his offhand conversational approach to walking through each park as it offered no new information or new perspective on existing information but you might enjoy it.

Goldberg has visited the Walt Disney World Resort “more times than his wallet cares to remember” and is the author of The Disney Story which is a compilation of newspaper articles and the short kid-oriented biography Meet the Disney Brothers.

I am still puzzled why he felt this book filled a gap not supplied by so many other books and websites that do it so much better, especially for people who have never been to Walt Disney World. However, I love the title of the book but in this case, buyer beware if you purchase it thinking it is something other than a guidebook.

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Thanks, Jim! Jim has more on the history of Disney guidebooks here, in a fine essay that fittingly ends with mine!  (He wrote it years before he began writing for me…) And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, The Unofficial Walt Disney World 1971 Companion: Stories of How the World Began, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: SEPTEMBER 28 TO OCTOBER 6 2019

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

For more on September 2019 at Disney World, see this, and for more on October, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/28-10/6/19

The Magic Kingdom will be open 8a-10p 9/28, 8a-6p 9/29, 8a-9p 9/30, 8a-6p 10/1, 8a-10p 910/2, 8a-6p 10/3 and 10/4, 8a-10p 10/5, and 8a-6p 10/6

Epcot will be open from 9a-10p 9/28, 9a-9p 9/29 through 10/3, 9a-10p 10/4 and 10/5, and 9a-9p 10/6

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 9a-10p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-9p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/28-10/6/19

• Saturday 9/28 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Sunday 9/29  Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Monday 9/30 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Tuesday 10/1 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: Epcot
• Wednesday 10/2 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Thursday 10/3 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios (6-9a)  Evening: none
• Friday 10/4 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a) Evening: none
• Saturday 10/5 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a)  Evening: none
• Sunday 10/6 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6-9a)  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/28-10/6/19

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon parade: 2p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/28-10/6/19

Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom:  9.15p 9/28, 9/30, 10/2 and 10/5

IllumiNations at Epcot: 10p 9/28, 9p 9/29 through 10/3; 10p 10/4 and 10/5; 9p 10/6

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 10p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8 and 9.15p 9/28 through 10/4; 8p 10/5; 7.45 and 9p 10/6

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/28-10/6/19

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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