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OVERVIEW: SEPTEMBER 2012 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews Walt Disney World in September 2012: crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, special events, and operating hours; and ends with week by week summaries.

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DISNEY WORLD’S SPECIAL HALLOWEEN PARTY

While Halloween itself is October 31st of course, Walt Disney World provides a special celebration at the Magic Kingdom many evenings in September , October, and even November 2012.

This celebration is called “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.”

At the party, many of the Magic Kingdom’s rides are open, and trick or treating, special events, and slightly different parades and fireworks are offered.

The official Disney World page for this event can be found here.

MORE ON MICKEY’S NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY in 2012

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OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT

Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, one of the Epcot resorts, is the seventh best deluxe resort at Walt Disney World for first time family visitors.

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.

However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.

(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)

Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having (on average) the most amenities, nicest views, best dining options, best transport options, largest rooms, best service, and highest prices.

Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort has a lot of positives.

It stands out for sharing with the Beach Club the best pool on property, sharing with the Beach Club and the BoardWalk Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also sharing with these resorts a short walk to dozens of interesting table service dining options located in these resorts, at the Swan and Dolphin, on the BoardWalk, and in Epcot.

(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.) [Read more →]

DECEMBER 2011 VERY DIFFERENT THAN DECEMBER 2010 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD?

Later today the Walt Disney Company will release its FY12 Q1 earnings, covering October through December 2011.

Comparison of such results to year-earlier figures is always of profound interest to analysts.

In this comparison, December 2011 may come in light at Walt Disney World and Disneyland compared to December 2010. [Read more →]

FANTASMIC CONTINUING AN EVERY NIGHT SCHEDULE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD?

Fantasmic is re-opening on February 13 after a rehab, and Disney World’s August calendar is out.

Once it re-opens, Fantasmic is scheduled to show every night through August, except for March 21 and June 6–the two off nights likely due to private parties at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

The important point is that Fantasmic is showing every night in August 2012–including the last week, when Disney World shifts from its summer/peak calendar to its Autumn-Winter-Spring operating calendar.

This suggests that Disney World will continue to show Fantasmic almost every night in the rest of 2012. [Read more →]

This is the fourth page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.

MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

The BoardWalk Villas opened in July 1996 as the second of the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) resorts. Its floor plans set the basic pattern for all those that would follow.

Much smaller than the spaces at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, its floor plans are still larger than most of the next wave of DVC resorts.

The BoardWalk Villas share the lobby, shops, and services of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn; you can find more about the BoardWalk Inn here.

PHOTO TOUR OF A ONE BEDROOM VILLA AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

You enter to find an entrance area with a closet to one side and walls on the other.

As you proceed into the villa, a kitchen opens on one side.

On the other side, you’ll find a hallway that leads to the door to the washer-dryer closet, a door to the split bath, and a door to the master bedroom.

The kitchen includes all necessary appliances and a good selection of plates, cups, pots and pans, and other kitchenware.

Counter space is at a premium, and the attached breakfast bar is small and comes with only two chairs.

Opposite the kitchen is a very small dining table and two more chairs.

Note the wall behind the dining table–this is a mirror, which increases the sense of spaciousness of the room.

Further back you’ll find the living area.  A TV and dresser are on one side, and a fold-out couch on the other.

In rooms with connecting doors (they connect to a studio, so that the collection can be sold as a studio and a one bedroom, or as a two-bedroom), an armchair is next to the couch.

In the room we stayed in, without a connecting door, the armchair was back where the connecting door would be.

This led to a feeling of spaciousness so extreme the room felt empty.

The master bedroom is accessed through a small hall near the entry to the room.

This hall passes a closet containing a stacked washer and dryer, and has an entry to the bath.

The bath is divided into two areas.  One, accessible from both the hall and the master bedroom, has a toilet, sink, and large shower.

The second part of the bath is accessible from both this space, and from the master bedroom.

It includes a large whirlpool tub, with a shutter-able opening to the master bedroom itself, a nice vanity and sink, and a large closet.

(The shutter is on the left side of the image, above the tub.)

The master bedroom contains a king bed, upholstered chair, and a TV and dresser.

There’s a balcony here as well–the main living area also has a balcony.

Other than the flaw in the placement of the connecting doors in Two-Bedroom Villas (see the discussion here), the BoardWalk Villas are the most livable DVC spaces in the generation of DVC resorts built after Disney’s Old Key West Resort and before Kidani Village and Bay Lake Tower.

Compare the One Bedroom at Saratoga Springs–pretty much the nadir of DVC design.

The entry closet in the Saratoga Springs floor plan is missing entirely–there’s only one small closet, in the shrunken master bath.

Each Saratoga Springs space is narrower–the living room space so much so that it’s unusable when the fold-out couch is open.

And of course there’s just one balcony in the Saratoga Springs floor plan, rather than the two at the BoardWalk.

Disney’s BoardWalk Villas strengths for first time visitors are this livability (which carries over into all of its room types), and its convenience to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney’s BoardWalk Villas principal negative is the absence of any real kid appeal compared to alternatives like The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House.

EXTERNAL LINKS FOR DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS:

• Official BoardWalk Villas web page

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MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

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• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For thedeluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

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• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

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• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

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• Military/DOD families should look at this

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• Tightwads should look at this

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• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this