Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

Touringplans.com and others are reporting that Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be opening, in effect, at 8.30a rather than the usual 9a the rest of this week–til Friday.

See this for the details.

This is the second page of this review; for the first page, click here.

RECOMMENDED FOR FIRST TIME AND FREQUENT VISITORS

For the record, I recommend that first time visitors don’t get guidebooks.

While there are several, including The Complete Walt Disney World 2012, on my recommended books page, I advise against buying them, for the simple reason that a lot of the fun of the first time visit to Walt Disney World cones from the surprises of the rides themselves.

The wonder of “What Happens Next?” and subsequent surprise and gratified high expectations are a key part of a first visit.

There can only be one first time, and it is at its best when accompanied by wonder and curiosity, not “I know what will happen to me on this ride.”

The problem with guidebooks is that it’s hard to not read their material on the attractions before visiting. The wonderful Mike Neal and Disney photos of The Complete Walt Disney World 2012 make it doubly hard to skip this material; they are simply too darn seductive.

For repeat visitors, however, guidebooks are another story, and make up part of the fun of recollecting prior trips and getting ready for future ones.  It’s for these purposes that The Complete Walt Disney World 2012 really shines.  [Read more →]

OVERVIEW: THE COMPLETE WALT DISNEY WORLD 2012

I still remember my shock when I opened the first book in of this series. Such gorgeous photos, and so many of them! So many details and so much trivia! And such a nice typeface and design.

All other Disney World guidebooks immediately looked 20 years out of date after Julie and Mike Neal published theirs (Julie is the writer, Mike the photographer).

Their latest update, The Complete Walt Disney World 2012, came out in December 2011. As frequent readers of this site know, I’m particularly keen on page 375.

Unique features include a guide by character to where characters can be found, and an overview of the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  Distinctive features include the number, excellence, and quality of reproduction of photos, and the level of detail on the rides themselves. Even the most learned of Disney World scholars will find something new in the detail.

For Walt Disney World fans, it’s an essential part of a Disney library. First-time visitors don’t really need guidebooks if they use this site, but if they want one, it’s one of the guidebooks I recommend.

[Read more →]

WALT DISNEY WORLD DEAL NEEDS TO BE BOOKED SOON

One of Walt Disney World’s current deals is expiring soon.

The deal offers discounted rooms for many arrival dates from February 21 through March 31 2012, but needs to be booked by January 22 2012.

For more on this deal, see this.

This is the third page of this review. For the first page, click here

THE THEMING OF DISNEY’S BOARDWALK INN

Disney’s BoardWalk Inn opened in July 1996, and in 2009 completed a major renovation.

According to Disney World’s website, the BoardWalk Inn

“…captures the charm, whimsy and elegance of 1940s Atlantic City. Sitting along a boardwalk packed with amusements, the Resort offers dynamic views of activity below and of the glittering waters of Crescent Lake.

Take in lively sights and sounds of midway games and performance artists all along the quarter-mile, Coney Island-style boardwalk. The striped awnings and saltwater taffy-colored facades lend themselves to a friendly carnival atmosphere.”

Well, that’s about half right. 

The BoardWalk Inn has two very different sides.

The overall Boardwalk complex includes the BoardWalk Villas, a Disney Vacation Club resort, on the left side of the map, and the BoardWalk Inn in the right center.  The two are joined by a lovely central lobby.

On the lake side of both facilities is Disney’s Boardwalk (top left on the map. curving along Crescent Lake), a combination of restaurants, shops, entertainment venues, carts, and other stuff fun for adults and kids.  This area best matches Disney’s “Atlantic City” description.

However, the architecture of the BoardWalk Inn itself, and especially the areas surrounded by the hotel wings–top center on the map–has a very different and much more peaceful heritage. [Read more →]

If you are a military or retired military family, are related to one, or are friends with one, and have a Kindle, sign up for the Military Disney Tips blog right away.  The link to sign up for it on Amazon is here.

MilitaryDisneyTips.com and its blog focuses on Disney World and other central Florida opportunities for military families. All the material on it has some military connection, but much is of interest to the general Disney fan community as well.  It is particularly strong on military discounts and Shades of Green.

New discounts and such typically come out first on the site’s blog.  These discounts can save military families hundreds of dollars, and almost all can be shared by military families with their extended family and friends.

Long-time readers of this site know that Steve, the author of MilitaryDisneyTips.com and its blog, and I collaborate all the time.  My site focuses on first time visitors, some of which are military families; his site focuses on military families, some of which are first time visitors.  So we work together to help our shared audiences.

Subscribing to the MilitaryDisneyTips.com blog on Kindle is like signing up for any other blog with a kindle feed–the first 14 days are free, and after that you pay a 99 cent monthly charge.  You can cancel anytime.

Why Kindle it when you can get RSS or just go to his site for free? 

Well, different people will choose the web vs. RSS vs. Kindle for blogs for different reasons. 

I signed up for Steve’s blog on my Kindle because first,  he doesn’t post that often, and I don’t want to miss anything, and second, his stuff is so potentially  important and money-saving for my military visitors that I want it pushed to and waiting on my Kindle, and thus readable anywhere and anytime.

Most of the great Disney blogs don’t have a Kindle version (use the comment form below to highlight those that do!) and I think it’s great that Steve’s blog is available on Kindle.

LINKS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

• Military Families at Walt Disney World
• Deals and Discounts
  • Military Discounts and Deals
  • Other Walt Disney World Discounts and Deals
• Shades of Green
  • Review of Shades of Green
  • Splitting Your Stay Between Shades of Green and Another Resort
  • Overflow Rates at Shades of Green
  • Shades of Green website
• Other Resources for Military Families
  • DisneyMilitarySales.com
  • Disneyworld.com/military
  • MilitaryDisneyTips.com