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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 19 TO MAY 27, 2018

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

For more on May 2018 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/19-5/27/18

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 8a-12MN 5/19, 9a-10p 5/20 through 5/23, 9a-11p 5/24 and 5/25, and 8a-12MN 5/26 and 5/27

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9.30p 5/19 through 5/26, and 9a-6p 5/27

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-10.30p 5/19, 9a-10p 5/20 through 5/25, and 8a-11p 5/26 and 5/27

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/19-5/27/18

Saturday 5/19 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/20  Morning: Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 5/21  Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Tuesday 5/22 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/23 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/24 Morning: Epcot, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Friday 5/25 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 5/26 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/27  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/19-5/27/18

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/19-5/27/18

Happily Every After at Magic Kingdom: 9p 5/20; 9.15p 5/21 through 5/27

IllumiNations at Epcot:  9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  9p 5/20 through 5/26

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.30p 5/20 through 5/26

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 9.15 and 10.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/19-5/27/18

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

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The Disney Springs Resort Area includes seven independently owned and managed hotels on Disney World property, at the far eastern edge of Disney World. These hotels are

• B Resort & Spa
• Best Western Lake Buena Vista
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista

For 2018, all seven gained access to the two most important Disney World perks—FastPass+ bookings at 60 days, and Extra Magic Hours. This access will continue through at least December 31, 2019.

Because of their new* access those perks, I’m instituting coverage of these hotels (there’s already a bit out there, but much is comped** and frankly a bit Pollyannish), starting with an overview of their bus service to the parks and other transportation-related items. For my coverage of other Disney World hotel options, see this.

DISNEY SPRINGS RESORT AREA HOTELS BUS TRANSPORTATION TO THE PARKS

There are two different bus routes at the Disney Springs hotels, each of which during my visits in late April and early May 2018 had two theme park routes most of the day and a third route, to Disney Springs, that began at 6p.

One, Route A, serves the four hotels on the southern side of Hotel Plaza Boulevard—the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista (there are three Hiltons of different flavors among the seven hotels here, so take some care in noting which you are actually staying in), the Holiday Inn, the B Resort, and the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton.

The second, Route B, serves the other two hotels on Hotel Plaza Boulevard, the Best Western Lake Buena Vista and the Wyndham, and the one hotel on East Buena Vista Drive, the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace.

Each route runs buses that serve as many as two parks. On my visit most of the day I saw buses that served Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It may be that during times when these hotels are more heavily booked that routes are not so shared—I’ll be back in the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels in July, so will check that then.

The basic operating principle is that shared buses to all four parks will depart every 30 minutes, which is better than what you will see at most hotels not owned by Disney, but not as good as what the Disney-owned resorts (and Swan and Dolphin) provide.

Nominally, they are expected at a specific time at each hotel, e.g. “5 minutes after the hour and half-hour,” but schedule uncertainties caused by traffic lights, wheelchair lifts and such will make this a bit variable. My timing (yes, I spent hours at the Disney Springs Resort Area hotel bus stops timing the buses, because that’s what I do…) showed an average time between departures to the same park of 32 minutes, with a range of 23 to 48 minutes.

Buses start an hour before parks open, and run to 90 minutes after parks close. This includes Extra Magic Hours—buses begin an hour before Extra Magic Hours begins–and, in a nice touch, buses to hot parks may start even earlier. For example, on Sunday April 29, Disney’s Hollywood Studios had Extra Magic Hours beginning at 8a, and Animal Kingdom had a normal opening of 9a. However, not only did I see a Hollywood Studios bus at the Buena Vista Palace at 7.11a, but also there was an Animal Kingdom bus there at 7.08a, giving those looking to line up for Flight of Passage a nice early start at that park.

So the departure frequency is not quite as good as the every 20 minutes that you can expect at the Disney-owned resorts, and the number of stops among the various hotels served on the two services is also a drag compared to Disney-owned resorts, with only the moderates, Old Key West, and Saratoga Springs having a comparable number of non-park stops.

The two parks per bus also slows things down, as does the drop-off point for Magic Kingdom. If you are going to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, you’ll typically go to another park first; if you are returning from Magic Kingdom or Epcot, you’ll typically go to another park first.

And unlike the buses at the Disney-owned resorts and Swan and Dolphin, which drop you off right outside the Magic Kingdom, the Disney Springs Resort Area Magic Kingdom bus drops you off at the Transportation and Ticket Center (in the area marked in red above), meaning you have another transportation act—ferry or monorail—to actually get to that park. (Shades of Green, Four Seasons, and off-property buses have the same issue.)

Returning from Magic Kingdom to the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels is particularly painful, as you first take the ferry or monorail back to TTC, then wait for the bus, take it to the Animal Kingdom, then come back from the Animal Kingdom to the various stops at the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels. For example, it took me almost 90 minutes to get from Adventureland back to the B Resort:

• Adventureland to ferry to TTC bus stop: 27 minutes
• Wait for bus: 16 minutes
• Bus to Animal Kingdom, then Hilton and Holiday Inn and finally B Resort: 45 minutes

As noted, Magic Kingdom buses are at the TTC, in an unshaded area.

Epcot Bus Stop

Epcot and Hollywood Studios buses are more convenient, just a bit beyond the Disney buses, though also unshaded (the Hollywood Studios bus stop is being redone, so this may change)

Animal Kingdom Shared Bus Shelter

Animal Kingdom buses share a pretty convenient shaded waiting area, but this also means you have to keep your eye out for your bus to arrive, as it may be masked by other buses.

Note that if your knowledge of which hotel is where, the weather and the amount of walking suits, you can take from the parks either Route A or Route B, whichever arrives first, and then walk over to your actual hotel if you are on the “wrong” route. For example, it’s around 700 feet from either the B Resort or the DoubleTree Suites bus stop to the bus stop at the Best Western.

This works least well at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace, whose bus stop is ~2,000 feet from the nearest bus stop on the other route, at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista (I warned you all these Hiltons could get confusing). To put this in context for experienced Walt Disney World visitors, that’s a couple hundred feet further than the farthest bus stop to room walk at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

I probably should also note that the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels are among the most remote on property, with only the Animal Kingdom Lodge more distant among the Disney-owned resorts. This matters a bit less than you might think for getting to Epcot and Magic Kingdom, as there are good alternate routes from this part of Disney World that use Disney Vacation Club Way to avoid all the red lights you’ll find on Buena Vista Drive. But it certainly isn’t a positive…unless of course you are headed to Disney Springs itself, which is very close.

Overall, I’d class this bus service as worse than the worst of the service at the Disney-owned resorts, but better than that at many other non-Disney-owned alternatives.

GETTING TO DISNEY SPRINGS FROM THE DISNEY SPRINGS RESORT AREA

Disney Springs is accessible from these resorts by driving your car, in the evenings by taking a bus, or by walking. The most distant hotel (the DoubleTree) is about 3,000 feet from the nearest edge of Disney Springs; the B Resort and Best Western about 2,200 feet; the Holiday Inn and Hilton Palace about 1,500 feet, and the Wyndham and Hilton about 750 feet. And note that this just gets you into Disney Springs—the far end of Disney Springs is more than 3,000 more feet away. As a point of  context, the walk from the Epcot World Showcase entrance to the American Adventure is about 4,200 feet.

These walks are along lovely tree-shaded sidewalks for the most part, and bring you to pedestrian bridges to take you up and over the traffic at the corner of Buena Vista, East Buena Vista, and Hotel Plaza Boulevard. But weather may make it unpleasant, and there’s not an insufficiency of walking at Disney World already in hand.

In the image above, I’ve drawn a red circle centered on the middle of Disney Springs, with its outer edge touching the most distant rooms of the most distant of the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels—the Doubletree. You’ll note that this circle takes in a lot of terrain—the walk to the center of Disney Springs is about as far as walking to this spot from the farthest of the Treehouses at Saratoga Springs…

DRIVING TO THE PARKS FROM THE DISNEY SPRINGS RESORT AREA

Having a car frees you from the Disney Springs Resort Area bus schedule, but brings some other issues. Parking is free at Disney Springs, but costs (today; check back tomorrow) $22 a day at the theme parks. You will also pay parking fees at all of the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels (although that’s commonplace these days ) ranging from $8 per night to $22 per night.

Cars work well at Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. At Magic Kingdom, driving puts you in the same TTC parking area that the Disney Springs Resort Area bus system uses, so you’ll still have to use the monorail or ferry to get to the park itself.

Note that Kelly, my travel agent partner, can book you into–or help you avoid–one of these Disney Springs Resort Area. Use the form below to get in touch with her:

*The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista was the only one of these that used to have EMH access, but that ended—temporarily, as it turned out–in January 2016

**The way this site works is you patronize the various sponsors—the advertisements, my travel agent partner, etc., and/or you buy my book —and I spend the money you create by doing that in going to Disney World and then reporting to you on what I find. Nothing on this site is comped—I pay for it all at rates that anyone can get.

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That’s my mom in the group at the right, between me and my silly sister, in Disneyland’s Rivers of America.

The parks are a special place for building family memories.  Thanks, mom, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the other moms out there!

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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 EIGHTEEN HOLE VERSES OF FANTASIA GARDENS

By Jim Korkis

For those so engrossed in not exceeding the six-stroke limit per hole, or so entranced by the audio or visual treats that getting the ball in the hole might produce, that you might have missed it, here is the complete verse for each hole at the Walt Disney World Fantasia Gardens mini-golf near the Swan and Dolphin resorts, as written by Imagineer Robert Coltrin, WDI concept designer for the course.

(c) Disney

Tocatta and Fugue

1.  Our musical game has just begun/And here comes treble for everyone/Up to the top the ball must run/For any hope of a hole-in-one.

2.  The notes upon the staff you see/May seem quite lovely musically/But now as you begin to play/You’ll see they may get in your way.

3.  Before our little fugue concludes/The music swells and changes mood/Avoid the rests and you will hear/Chimes a-ringing sweet and clear.

Nutcracker Suite

4.  Spring is here and just beyond/Blossoms float upon the pond/The open bud should be your goal/Its dainty petals surround the hole.

5.  These lively mushrooms circle ‘round/While one is hopping up and down/At the feet little Hop Low/Is where you want the ball to go.

6.  As Winter arrives, the fairies create/A frost-covered pond where they can skate/Their path on the left is where it should roll/Then watch as it waltzes down to the hole.

7.  And so this musical suite we close/Amidst the flurry of winter snows/Weather the storm where snowflakes fall/Or easily putt around them all.

Pastoral Symphony

8.  Within Mount Olympus this opus unfolds/And what mythological creatures it holds!/When putting the ball, be careful to go/Straight through the pillars to the caverns below.

9.  The impish faun loves to tease/As he plays his pipes with ease/So if you putt straight and true/Perhaps he’ll play a tune for you.

10.  In all of the land there’s no one more raucous/Than this fellow here, the infamous Bacchus/He’s poured you a path that you simply putt up/Hit it just right and it spills to the cup.

Dance of the Hours

11.  You will notice in a glance/These graceful ladies love to dance/This bird ballet is lovely, but/They may distract you as you putt.

12.  And there, the dance grows even greater/Enter now: Ben Ali Gator/With hippo high, he strains beneath/Now simply putt between his teeth.

13.  After they dance their amusing duet/Hyacinth Hippo will now pirouette/Carefully watch as she spins here for you/Time it just right and the ball will go through.

14.  Twilight brings a mood of romance/The perfect time for an elephant dance/So while she strikes this beautiful pose/Aim for the path beneath her toes.

15.  Before we can finish this silly ballet/This fanciful fountain is ready to spray/So keep an eye out for each little jet/They’re hopping and hoping to get the ball wet.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice

16.  Mickey’s in trouble for casting a spell/Meant to assist him in filling the well/Now armies of brooms with a water supply/Are ready to douse anything that goes by.

17.  When Mickey is dreaming, he’s brave and he’s brash/Conducting the stars and creating a splash/From high on a cliff, he’s on top of it all/He’ll show you his stuff when you’re putting the ball.

18.  The wave has grown bigger, with magic it stirs/When up from the bottom, a whirlpool occurs/A putt to the left will spin it, and then/We hope you’ll return here again and again!

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! For more from Jim on Fantasia Gardens, see this. And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Call Me Walt, and his 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: MAY 12 TO MAY 20, 2018

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

For more on May 2018 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/12-5/20/18

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-12MN 5/12, 9a-11p 5/13, 9a-10p 5/14 through 5/18, 8a-12MN 5/19, and 9a-10p 5/20

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9.30p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-9p 5/12, 9a-10.30p 5/13, 9a-10p 5/14 and 5/15, 9a-9p 5/16, 9a-10p 5/17 and 5/18, 9a-10.20p 5/19, and 9a-10p 5/20

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/12-5/20/18

Saturday 5/12 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/13  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

Monday 5/14  Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Tuesday 5/15 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/16 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/17 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 5/18 Morning:  Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 5/19 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 5/20  Morning: Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/12-5/20/18

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/12-5/20/18

Happily Every After at Magic Kingdom: 9p every night

IllumiNations at Epcot:  9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  9p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.30p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 9.15p 5/12; 9.15 and 10.30p 5/14 nd 5/15; 9.15p 5/16; 9.15 and 10.30p 5/17 through 5/20

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/12-5/20/18

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

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In mid-March the Spyglass Grill, a new counter-service option at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, opened in Trinidad South.

This is a bit of a big deal, for a couple of reasons:

• It’s the first real fruit of the massive re-do of Caribbean Beach that’s been underway for about a year (and is expected to be mostly complete at the end of this year, although the gondola will take longer)
• In particular, while limited, it’s the first permanent dining to open/re-open here, and is for some Caribbean Beach guests a welcome alternative to the temporary dining they can find elsewhere in the resort. The menu, while slight, has both routine and interesting options.
• Finally, it greatly lessens the extent to which the Trinidad South Pirate Room area is an awkward stepchild at Caribbean Beach. Yes, this area remains the only one at Caribbean Beach with full rather than queen beds, and yes it remains a bit of a hike from the main pool. But the new Spyglass Grill option greatly simplifies guests in this area  getting a quick bite for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Trinidad South will become even less of a stepchild after the Disney Skyliner gondola system opens in 2019, as the Skyliner’s Caribbean Beach station will be just across the bridge, south of Jamaica.

On the other hand, Skyglass Grill is small, has limited seating, and—that I could see—has limited protection against weather, particularly blowing rain.

It’s also distant from the rest of Caribbean Beach—other than a couple of accommodations buildings in Jamaica and Trinidad North, the offerings at Centertown/Old Port Royale will be more convenient to most not staying in Trinidad South.

I had the chance to try it out in my late April visit, and here’s the scoop.

The Spyglass Grill is located near the water by the pool in Trinidad South. Besides some indoor seating, there’s also outdoor seating between the pool and the bus stop, and also some picnic tables between buildings 35 and 36.

The grill itself has a drinks station (you can both use and pick up your refillable mug here)…

…ordering area…

…and a few tables, roofed over and with ceiling fans above, but no particular protection that I could see from weather that might be blowing outside.

The seating from another angle.

Behind the ordering station is a prep area, with another prep area back behind it.

After you order, you’ll get a pager—handy if you are in one of the outdoor seating areas or at the Trinidad South pool.

Reportedly open from 7a til 10p  (I’m not convinced it will stay open that late forever), the Spyglass Grill offers two menus, one for breakfast…

…and one for lunch and dinner.

Note the interesting mix at lunch and dinner of standard burgers and Caribbean tacos and Cuban sandwiches, and the breakfast options ranging from a scrambled egg platter to a pretty interesting looking “Cream Cheese and Guava Stuffed French Toast.”

I tried several of the more likely broadly appealing options, the bacon cheeseburger and the scrambled eggs platter.

The burger was fine, and I appreciated the onions and pickle on the side (it comes with lettuce and tomato) , as (not surprisingly) there’s no fixin’s bar, and your other options are limited to the usual mustard, ketchup, and mayo packets. It was also nice to get fruit that was not in a cup—fresher.

The scrambled eggs platter was even better. Oddly, the toast was the highlight. I am skeptical of overengineered breads, but the “yuca and sunflower multigrain toast” was nicely light, not wooden, and subtly flavored.

Varied and adventuresome Disney World menus have a way of getting dumbed down, so if you plan to patronize the Spyglass Grill, check the current menu here, and ask at check-in what the operating hours will be.

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