Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

Sometime today, this site’s millionth visitor will stop by. 

Whoever you are, I hope the site helps you, is interesting, or both! And thanks for visiting!

I could not have imagined this number of visitors when this site launched with the thought that first time visitors to Walt Disney World could use a little more assistance than they were finding, and that maybe I could help them out.

Thanks to all of you who have visited, asked questions, posted comments, disagreed with me and thus made the site better, emailed your friends about it, liked it on Facebook, plussed it on Google, provided wonderful puffery, linked to it on message boards, cited it in newspapers, and posted about it on your own blogs and websites!

You energize and inspire me, and thanks for all your help…

Humbly, Dave.

One of Disney World’s room rate discount deals, covering periods through December 23, 2011, expires soon!

This deal must be booked by November 19th. For more, see this.

Other current Disney World deals have later expiration dates. See this for more.

This is the second page of this entry. For the first page, click here.

JIM HILL PREDICTS A FIFTH GATE BY 2021

As noted a week or so ago, Jim Hill speculated recently at the end of this article that Disney World will open a whole new fifth park sometime near its 50th anniversary in 2021.

Jim Hill is usually reliable on what people at Disney are actually talking about and working on.

That does not mean, however, that what he reports must come true.

Like any other creative business, Disney generates many more ideas than it can possibly act on (and discusses these ideas…and thus engenders rumors).

So a fifth park by 2021 is a real possibility, but not even close to a certainty. And as explained here, the earliest official confirmation would come, in my judgment, is mid-2015.

Given that, there’s three things worth addressing whenever the fifth gate question comes up:

• Is there space?
• Aren’t there better things to do with the capital?
• Won’t the new park have horrible economics from cannibalization?

IS THERE SPACE FOR A FIFTH PARK AT WALT DISNEY WORLD? [Read more →]

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

MORE ON DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

There are currently 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.

In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are

1. Polynesian
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
4. Contemporary
5. Grand Floridian
6. Beach Club
7. Yacht Club
8. BoardWalk Inn

Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

A DVC property at the Grand Floridian will open in late October 2013. I’ll post a review of it in mid-November.

ROOMS AT DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

[Read more →]

Disney released and discussed fourth quarter and fiscal year results last week. Overall, Disney shot out the lights, particularly in parks and resorts.

In domestic parks and resorts, small increases in attendance–and small declines in hotel occupancy–were more than made up for in higher realized prices.

The discussion of the these results in the associated earnings call reinforced what Disney has been saying for a while now–discounting will continue to be cut back, and there’s no out-of-the-ordinary domestic theme park capital spend currently planned for after 2012. [Read more →]

VETERANS DAY 2011

Thanks so much to all of you who have risked harm’s way to keep this great country free, and thanks to your families for helping you do so.

Happy Veteran’s Day!!

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