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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: AUGUST 24 TO SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

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

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

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/24-9/1/19

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-10p 8/24 through 8/26, 9a-6p 8/27, 9a-10p 8/28, 8a-10p 8/29, 8a-6p 8/30, and 8a-10p 8/31 and 9/1

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p 8/24 through 8/29, 9a-10p 8/30 and 8/31, abd 9a-9p 9/1

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 9a-9p 8/24, 9a-8.30p 8/25 through 8/28, 6a-10p 8/29 through 8/31, and 9a-10p 9/1

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 9a-9.30p 8/24 and 8/25, 9a-8.30p 8/26, 9a-9.30p 8/27, 9a-8.30p 8/28, and 8a-9.30p 8/29 through 9/1

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/24-9/1/19

Saturday 8/24 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 8/25  Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: none

Monday 8/26 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Tuesday 8/27 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Wednesday 8/28 Morning:  none Evening: Magic Kingdom

Thursday 8/29 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot Evening: none

Friday 8/30 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 8/31 Morning: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 9/1 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (6a-9a)  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/24-9/1/19

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon parade: 2p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/24-9/1/19

Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom: 9p 8/24; 9.15p 8/25, 8/26, 8/28, 8/29 8/13, and 9/1

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p 8/24 through 8/29; 10p 8/31 and 8/31; 9p 9/1

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p 8/24; 8.30p 8/25 through 8/28; 8.30 and 10p 8/29; 8.30p 8/30; 8.30 and 10p 8/31 and 9/1

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.30p 8/24; 9p 8/25 through 8/28; 10p 8/29 through 9/1

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom:  8.45 and 10p 8/24; 8.30 and 9.30p 8/25; 8.30p 8/26; 8.30 and 9.30p 8/27; 8.30p 8/28; 8.30 and 9.30p 8/29 though 9/1

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 8/24-9/1/19

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

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WHAT IS MARCH LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Early March can be a great time to go to Disney World, and is so in 2020. The rest of the month will mostly be lousy–with high prices and high crowds.

[Read more →]

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is one of 5 moderate resorts at Walt Disney World:

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, the first Disney World hotel to be designated a moderate, which opened in 1988
• Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort (opened in 1991 as Disney’s Port Orleans Resort)
• Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort (opened in 1992 as Disney’s Dixie Landing Resort)
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (opened 1997) and
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, officially classed as moderate in 2008, but opened (as the Wilderness Homes) in 1986. (Fort Wilderness Campground opened much earlier, but precursors to the Cabins did not arrive until 1986.)

The moderates have much more room than the value resorts, more amenities, and (except for Fort Wilderness) much better landscaping. See this for what you get by Disney World price class.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is themed to a  “blend of Spanish, Mexican and Southwest American cultures… This beautiful lakeside oasis offers classic influences, Disney touches and modern comforts to energize and inspire as you delight in an array of new features, eateries and enhancements.”

Rooms here typically have two queens or one king, and dozens of suites are available as well, uniquely among the moderates.  Club level rooms (“club” is what Disney calls “concierge”) are available as well–also uniquely among the moderates.

The resort is divided into El Centro, with some amenities and the convention center, and four differently themed lodging areas:

• The Casitas, resembling a graceful cityscape
• The Ranchos, based on Southwestern desert habitats and architecture; and
• The Cabanas, intended to give the sense of “a quaint beachfront retreat complete with cozy hammocks.”
• Gran Destino Tower, which extends the theming concept to South America and Spain, and has most of the other amenities

Gran Destino rooms are accessed from interior corridors, and rooms in the other three areas have a different layout as they are accessed from exterior corridors.

The two basic rooms types have largely similar amenities, but Gran Destino rooms have less Disney theming, better baths, yet a weak bath layout compared to standard rooms elsewhere in the resort.  Gran Destino is best for adults, and the Cabanas are best for families. See the map for their locations.

A photo tour of a Gran Destino room is here, and a photo tour of the sort of standard rooms you’ll find in the rest of the resort is here.

THE CASITAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Casitas, closest to the main building and Convention Center, have the loveliest architecture among these.

Until Gran Destino Tower opened in July 2019, the Casitas also had the highest appeal to conventioneers, being both closest to the convention center, and the location of most of the Coronado Springs suites. They remain a sound choice for convention visitors, but Gran Destino is better.

Most suites are in Casitas 1, and there are many lovely courtyards and fountains between Casitas 1 and Casitas 2.

(Yes, Coronado Springs is the only moderate with suites; these are required to compete for convention business, as they are often given away or heavily discounted to meeting planners in return for reserving a block of rooms, and are also required as sales and meeting settings by some exhibitors.)

Buildings 1, 2 and 3 are closest to the services at Gran Destino and to El Centro and to the Convention Center.  They are also interconnected by covered walkways, very handy in the rain or summer sun. Buildings 4 and 5 are balanced between El Centro and the main pool at The Dig Site. Buildings 2 and 4 are closest to the bus stop.

THE CABANAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Cabanas, the opposite direction from the Casitas, have undistinguished, dull architecture, meant to recollect casual beach houses, hence the perhaps overly subtle patching on the roofs…

…but look lovely from across the lake. These rooms have the best location for families, being in between the El Centro services and the main pool.

Alone among the three room areas of Coronado Springs, the Cabanas are fronted by beaches.

Another view of the beaches…

…and the beaches in the morning.

The kid appeal of these beaches and overall convenience to both the Gran Destino and El Centro services and to the main pool makes the Cabanas the best area for families, and is why I rate Coronado Springs as the second-best moderate for first-time family visitors.

Building 8c (formerly 9a) is the Cabanas building most convenient to both Gran Destino and El Centro and the main pool, and is the best choice for family travelers.  Buildings 8a and 8b are also fine choices–a little further from Gran Destino and El Centro, but closer to the pool and bus stop.

THE RANCHOS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The third area, the Ranchos, is the only area off the water, and has a wilder cactus-y Southwestern theme, which may be a little too realistically arid and barren for some kids to enjoy.

Theming includes dry washes…

…hitching posts…

…and animal tracks.

The buildings are meant to reflect the main buildings of old ranches. This works better in the tall buildings, not so well in the two-story buildings.

Note the stonework on the columns and the (fake) chimneys.

The Ranchos are also a hike from the resort central services and convention center, though some of these rooms are near the main pool. Building 7a is next to the bus stop but is otherwise the most inconvenient building at Coronado Springs.  If you are here as part of a team attending a convention, your colleagues are in Gran Destino, and you are assigned by your boss to 7a–well, update your resume.

GRAN DESTINO TOWER AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Gran Destino Tower is the tour-de-force at Coronado Springs, and has both the best amenities and best location, although its bus stop can be over-pressed with guests.

It is the only Disney World moderate space with accommodations, dining and bars in the same building, the only moderate space with interior corridors, and the only accommodation area at Coronado Springs with a temperature-controlled walkway to El Centro and the convention center there. The club lounge is also here.

You will read, here and there, claims that the Disney-Dali collaboration Destino deeply influenced the theming of Gran Destino Tower.  The actual influence of the film is fairly slender-the only material references you’ll find are a couple of names and dandelions. Jim Korkis has more on this here.

And if you know your Dali, you will recognize that this is a good thing. Ants turning into bicycles is not the recipe for a delightful place to stay.

What you will find instead in Gran Destino is a gorgeous set of colors and textures that, while not often much Disney, together create, by far, the loveliest spaces among the moderates.

A few more images from inside Gran Destino:

The issue with Gran Destino, if there is one, is its rooms, so let’s now turn to the two basic rooms types at Coronado Springs.

PHOTO TOUR OF A CASITAS/RANCHOS/CABANAS ROOM AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

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!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has two standard room types. One, found only in Gran Destino Tower, is covered here. The material on this page covers the other standard room type, which you will find in the other three accomodations areas at Coronado Springs–the Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas.

Coronado Springs completed a room refurb project in its Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas areas in the fall of 2018. The main differences in the refurbed rooms compared to what was offered in these areas before:

• Double rather than single sinks
• More Disney theming
• The addition of an easy chair
• Wooden rather than carpeted floors
• Higher beds, with storage underneath
• Bigger TVs and many, many more power points
• More structured storage, especially in the old closet area
• Many rooms with showers instead of tub/shower combos, and where tub/shower combos still exist, the shower curtain is now sliding glass, rather than fabric

The rooms continue to be largely similar to those in the other Disney World moderate resorts, but with a few key differences related to the importance of the convention and meetings market at Coronado Springs–specifically, a desk instead of a table and two chairs, and a dresser optimized for two convention-goers.

As you enter the room, on one side you’ll find a pair of queen beds.

The bed side from the back.

A closer view of one of the queens.

Besides the lights over the beds you can see, there’s four of these pencil reading lights–one on each side of each bed.

As has become common in recent Disney World refurbs, the beds are a single mattress on a platform, and are about 30 inches high.

Open underneath, there’s now room for you to stick your luggage under the beds–there’s about 14.5 inches of clearance.

Between the two beds is a bedside table. Note the Three Caballeros-inspired art above.

There’s multiple power points on either side of this table…

…and a drawer, small but big enough for your important books.

Inside the table you’ll find a safe.

It’s as large a safe as I’ve seen in a Disney World room, likely so it can hold to hold the valuables of two conventioneers.

To give you a sense of its size, my book is six by nine inches.

The other side of the room is dominated by an easy chair and a long mini-fridge/desk/dresser combo.

This side of the room from the back.

The easy chair by the window is new in this refurb, replacing a couple of small ottomans, and makes the room more comfortable for conventioneers or families. Note more Three Caballeros art.

Next to it is the first part of the long object…

…with a glass-doored mini-fridge below…

…and a coffee service above.

Next is the desk area with a task lamp and set of power points.

Next is the dresser with a 54 inch TV above and another set of power points in between at the right.

The six drawers of the dresser will easily fit the two conventioneers or family of four that these rooms can hold.

The divided bath is in the back of the room, separated from it by a pair of sliding doors.

The sinks are just behind these doors. Note the makeup mirror, new with this refurb.

There’s an extensive set of toiletries, including sunburn relief gel, a shower cap, and a sewing kit–more than you’ll find at other moderates, or most deluxes–suited to the demands of business travelers.

There’s some storage below the sinks…

…and also at the back of the sink area.

The formerly open closet area is now enclosed.

Inside the closet you’ll find the iron and ironing board.

The rest of the bath is enclosed behind a pocket door.

It features either a shower, or (as I learned on Mario’s terrific Coronado Springs Facebook group–also see his site and forum), a shower/tub combo with sliding glass doors. If a tub is important to you, Mario says to request one.

Either way you’ll get a rainfall showerhead and in addition a hand-held head.

As is becoming common in hotels at Disney World and elsewhere, shampoo, conditioner and body wash is available in large wall-mounted bottles.

A motion-sensitive fan is in this part of the bath, and because it is loud and seems to never shut off, it may drive you mad until you realize that you can turn it off by tapping on the left-most of the three controls in this area.

In general this refurb is a positive step. Some will object to the lost carpet, and others to the shower or the glass doors in the tub. But the added sink, added easy chair, bigger TV, plethora of power points, re-structured closet, and other additions are all positives for both business and family visitors.  And the Three Caballeros art adds a bit of Disney theming to a space that in its prior life did not have any.

PHOTO TOUR OF A GRAN DESTINO TOWER STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

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!!

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

FUN FACTS ABOUT MISSION: SPACE

By Jim Korkis

At a cost of over a hundred million dollars, Mission: SPACE in Epcot’s Future World opened in 2003, replacing the former Horizons attraction. Mission: SPACE takes place at the 45,000 square-foot ISTC (International Space Training Center) in the year 2036.

Each capsule of the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle holds a commander, pilot, navigator and engineer who are each given a task to perform during the mission. Each capsule has more computing power than a space shuttle. The attraction mechanism is basically a huge centrifuge that has multiple arms.  It spins and tilts in order to create the feeling that the guest is actually taking off and floating through space. The attraction has the rider experience up to 2.5Gs at liftoff, more than twice the force of gravity felt every day.

The Orange Mission is a trip to Mars and a descent to the surface. The Green Mission–that does not utilize the centrifuge but includes the tilting–is an orbit of the Earth.

It took more than 650 Walt Disney Imagineers more than 350,000 hours (the equivalent of 40 years of time) to develop Mission: SPACE. The Imagineers’ efforts took place over a five-year period.

Nearly 100 shades of red were tested before Imagineers decided on the color of the red planet that dominates the dramatic facade of Mission: SPACE.

The Gravity Wheel in the Space Simulation Lab rotates at one rotation per minute. It is 35 feet tall and 12 feet wide. The logo of the former Horizons attraction is affixed to the hub. The Horizons logo is also on the front of the cash register counter in the gift shop at the exit of the attraction. The planter in front of the attraction was the planter that formerly contained the Horizons marquee.

At the launch for the Mission: SPACE attraction in 2003 both astronaut Buzz Aldrin (who had shot a commercial promoting the attraction) and astronaut Wally Schirra (who wore a Mickey Mouse wristwatch during his October 1968 Apollo 7 mission) were in attendance.

The LRV (Lunar Rover) suspended from the ceiling in the Sim Lab is on loan from the Smithsonian. According to Walt Disney Imagineering, it is the only LRV constructed by NASA that is not on the moon.

The music was custom-written and scored for this attraction by Trevor Rabin, a one-time member of the rock band Yes, and a prolific composer of motion picture scores.

WDI worked with more than 25 space experts from NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory including five astronauts. NASA provided tours, briefings and discussions on current human and robotic missions, as well as the challenges that future missions, like a trip to Mars, might present.

With a career in the NASA space program that spanned more than 30 years, six-time NASA shuttle astronaut Story Musgrave is an ongoing consultant to the attraction. Musgrave describes the attraction as “a place where guests can imagine our future in space and their role in it, walking in the footsteps of heroes and building on the wealth of technology we’ve developed to date.”

Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios Dick Cook began an initiative to turn theme park attractions into films and one of the projects he approved was Brian De Palma’s Mission to Mars (2000). The finished film has little direct relationship to the Mission to Mars theme park attraction but did inspire the Mission: SPACE attraction at Epcot in Florida, with actor Gary Sinise playing the same role he did in the film.

*  *  *  *  *

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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(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has more amenities, by far, than any other moderate resort. Most are centrally located in either Gran Destino Tower or El Centro, but a few–especially the pools, but also some dining–are elsewhere in the resort.  This review has separate pages on dining at Coronado Springs and the pools at Coronado Springs. Other amenities are covered below.

GRAN DESTINO TOWER AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Gran Destino Tower is where you check in and also where you’ll find guest services for help with your tickets, luggage, or other matters.

You can valet at the large port cohere outside the tower, or self park.

The area to which you are directed for self parking is fine for check-in parking, but too small for those staying in the tower. Another large parking area, shown above, is steps away, across the bus stops and nearer El Centro. (For those returning to Coronado Springs, this second area is the old check-in parking area.)

Also outside of (and also shown above) Gran Destino Tower is a bus stop that can be overwhelmed by the net increase of about 465 rooms using this bus stop (545 new at Gran Destino, about 80 demolished in the old Cabanas 9b). The other three lodging areas each have their own bus stop.

There’s a separate set of bus stops for Disney’s Magical Express…

…and also outside Gran Destino is an area that can help with boarding passes and luggage for those not using the Magical Express. (This is a tip-based service, and not all airlines are included.)

Inside Gran Destino Tower you’ll find the lobby, with decorating concepts inspired by the Disney-Salvador Dali collaboration Destino.

On one side of the lobby you’ll find check in services, and also help with tickets, dining and such…

…some nice seating areas…

…and an area that does double duty. Sometimes it is open and you can sit/charge your electronics here…

…and at other times it used for overflow check-in services when a bolus of folk attending a conference, meeting or convention have shown up.

Also in this area is one of two workout gyms at Coronado Springs. That’s two more than at any other moderate, BTW.

The other gym is near the Casitas quiet pool, where you will also find the La Vida spa–the only spa at a moderate resort.

Most other amenities at Coronado Springs are in the next-door El Centro. There’s an enclosed, temperature-controlled walkway from Gran Destino to El Centro–in the image, it is the curving corridor-shaped space.

EL CENTRO AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

In El Centro you’ll find shops, much dining (dining at Coronado Springs is covered here) and the entry to the convention center.

The gift shop Panchito’s is large, and while it has mostly standard Disney hotel gift shop stuff, there’s a bit of a Mexican selection similar to what you can find in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion.

Coronado Springs is a convention resort, with a medium-sized convention center in El Centro, a circumstance which has led to much fussing, most of it silly.

All the deluxe resorts except the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and Animal Kingdom Lodge are also convention resorts, and these get little fuss.

Conventions yield fewer people overall because there are fewer people per room, and most of the time they are spending their time in meetings, in catered meals, and on the exhibit floor, rather than clotting the buses or food courts.

Demands for business services means that Coronado Springs also has more amenities than any other moderate–more than double the dining options and bars, club level rooms,  a real pool grill, a spa, workout gyms, a health club–none of which you’ll find at the other moderates.

But when a thousand people leave a meeting and head to the pool, you’ll notice.

DINING AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

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!!