Bob Sehlinger's Blog, page 1223
June 4, 2014
On-ride Photos Will Automatically Link to My Disney Experience for Select Guests
©Disney
Guests who have purchased the Memory Maker photography package now have one less step to take in regards to collecting their on-ride photos at Walt Disney World.
Long-range read technology will automatically associate a guest’s attraction photos (given that they have purchased Memory Maker), to that guest’s My Disney Experience account via the RFID-chip found inside that guest’s MagicBand. This means that guests who have purchased Memory Maker will no longer need to stop at the attraction’s photo sales center to have the images associated with their account.
Attractions that will now automatically associate photos for guests who have Memory Maker are:
Magic Kingdom: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain
Epcot: Test Track
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest
It is important to note that a MagicBand is required for this service to function. Guests using the short-range RFID Key To The World card will not be able to take advantage of this perk. Conversely, guests who have a MagicBand but do not have Memory Maker will still need to visit the photo sales counter at each attraction to purchase their photos. Also, MagicBands and Memory Maker cards must be linked in a guest’s My Disney Experience account in order for this process to work.
Guests who have Memory Maker should be able to see their ride photos in their My Disney Experience accounts within an hour of their being captured.
This is just another perk in the MyMagic+ technology.
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Downtown Disney and Typhoon Lagoon Bus Transportation Changes
Yay Disney Buses!
Those who rely on Disney’s bus transportation will have a few new obstacles to deal with when visiting Downtown Disney and Typhoon Lagoon in the near future.
First, let’s take a look at what you’ll need to know in relation to Typhoon Lagoon. In a bit of surprising news, due to the fact that the summer season is upon us and many will be traveling to the water park, bus service to and from the park will be impacted quite a bit.
Before 2:00 p.m., all will work the same way it has in the past: guests will continue to travel back and forth between their resorts and Typhoon Lagoon via dedicated buses.
The change in transportation begins after 2:00 p.m., when guests who wish to head to that water park will first need to travel to Epcot. From there, they will be able to hop on a dedicated bus that will take them directly to Typhoon Lagoon. Similarly, when they wish to leave Typhoon Lagoon after 2:00 p.m., guests will have to return to Epcot and then grab transportation back to their final destinations. This is being done to accommodate Disney Springs construction work. This new transportation scheme begins on Tuesday, June 10.
Speaking of Disney Springs, to gear up for its official opening (the area will open in phases, starting in 2015 and will be completed in 2016), the Pleasure Island bus stop will be going away. Beginning Wednesday, June 11, bus operations will be consolidated to an expanded Marketplace bus stop. Once Disney Springs is completed, there will be one, brand new bus hub for guest usage.
The whole Downtown Disney area is a hotbed of construction, and things seem to be changing rapidly. I’ll make sure to keep you posted!
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10 Reasons to Try Disney Cruise Line over Other Cruise Lines
It’s time to try a Disney cruise! Now before the Royal Caribbean lovers and Norwegian loyals get their feathers ruffled, let me be clear – there are other excellent cruise lines out there. Even the most strident of Disney fans can have a wonderful cruise on another line. I am not saying you should never go on another cruise line. What I am saying is that there are good reasons to try a Disney cruise in particular. Yes, even over other (often less expensive) cruise lines. Here are ten of those reasons.
1. Bigger Rooms – The standard rooms on Disney ships are bigger almost across the board. There are rooms that are bigger on other cruise lines to be sure, but here’s the difference – Disney’s standard rooms are bigger. Many other lines have rooms that won’t sleep more than 2, but all rooms on Disney ships sleep at least 3 with the vast majority of rooms sleeping 4 or more. Odds are good that your first words in any cruise ship room will not be, “My word this is huge”, but there is a difference onboard a Disney ship. You’d be shocked at the difference 20 square feet can make in a small space.
2. Split Bathrooms – I cannot oversell these. Having two bathroom spaces to get ready in when you’ve got 4 people staying in a room is invaluable. While split bathrooms are found in every category except category 11 (and some accessible rooms), they are not even close to the norm on other lines. The split bathrooms on Disney ships consist of one room with a sink and toilet, and another with a sink and tub/shower. See? Priceless!
3. Family Friendly (But Not Family Only) – Disney is the perfect cruise lines for families. While other cruise lines have upped their game with kids clubs and kid’s activities, you can count on Disney to be family friendly in other ways as well. You can attend the nightly shows as a family and be confident that the content is rated G so to speak. There are no casinos on Disney ships that you have to take your kids through to get to other areas of the ship. Disney didn’t win so many family cruise ship awards for nothing! But, that doesn’t mean Disney Cruise Line is only for families either. Disney does an excellent job with their adult-only areas. If you want to get away from other people’s screaming children (or maybe your screaming children?) you can. I’ve done several Disney cruises with no kids and loved every second of them.
4. BYOB – Disney is still the only one of the most popular cruise lines that will let you bring whatever kind of alcohol you like onboard. Some other cruise lines allow you to bring one or two bottles but you’re usually limited to wine only and no beer or liquor. With Disney you can bring as much as you like of any of your favorite beverage (even cases of water) onboard, the only caveat being that it must be in your carry-on and that has to fit through the scanner on the x-ray belt. You can’t bring wheeled hard side coolers onboard if that was your next question. If you imbibe, bringing your own alcohol onboard can save you a lot of money.
5. Lifeguards – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Disney made the right call by putting lifeguards at the family pools. Hopefully all other lines will follow suit. There is nothing bad about extra eyes watching our children and keeping them safe.
6. Rotational Dining – Disney pioneered the concept of rotational dining. Instead of one large dining room where guests eat every night, there are three dining rooms that guests rotate through during the cruise. The ingenious thing is that your three servers move with you. Your servers, whom you will probably love and want to bring home with you after your cruise is over, travel to each dining room with you. This is another area where other cruise lines have realized the appeal of this concept and some are starting to implement rotational dining on their newer ships.
7. Laundry is Easy – I’m not a big fan of doing laundry on vacation, but we do it when we have to (like when I can’t possibly fit 2 weeks worth of clothes in my suitcase for our Mediterranean cruise last summer). I know others (you know who you are) who hate taking dirty clothes home and love doing laundry on vacation. The good news is that Disney’s ships have several laundry rooms and they’re easy to use and get to. There are certainly times that it’s hard to find an open machine, but the machines are there! Several other lines do not have public laundry rooms onboard (like Royal Caribbean) and you have to pay to have it sent away if you want it done. Just something to check if you’re a laundry-doing lover.
8. Soda is Free – Woo hoo! Coke lovers unite! Soda is free on Disney! Now that doesn’t mean you can order it at the bars or get cans from room service for free, but there is free soda available 24 hours a day. There are drink stations on the pool decks that are always open, and you can order soda in any of the dining rooms with any meal. Yes, even breakfast. Yes, I have done that. Don’t judge. You can buy unlimited soda cards on other lines. but it’s worth noting that it’s free on Disney.
9. Repeat Cruisers Win – Some other lines have good repeat cruiser programs but others are convoluted and hard to move up in levels. Disney’s is straight forward. It’s called the Castaway Club. If you’ve cruised once, you’re a Silver member. More than 5 time and you are Gold. More than 10 times and you’re Platinum. That’s it! Cruise lengths and itineraries don’t matter (to the consternation of some cruisers). Each level gets more perks! The rebooking onboard program is great as well. You only pay a 10% deposit (if you are rebooking a 7 night or longer cruise) and you’ll get 10% off a future cruise as well as an onboard credit. There are blackout dates and you have to cruise in the next 18 months, but if that works for you, it’s a great deal.
10. Disney Difference – I almost made it through without using the words Pixie Dust and Disney Difference, but I couldn’t. Disney Difference isn’t just a catch phrase or a set of buzz words. There really is such a thing. Disney’s attention to detail and respect and treatment of their guests are legendary. It’s what they’re known for and with good reason. They’re excellent at it. Try it yourself and you’ll see.
Do you have any other reasons to try a Disney cruise? We’d love to hear them!
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TouringPlans #Everywhere: Budgeting for A Disneyland Trip
Photo courtesy Guy Selga, Jr
Hello! You may remember from my last post about traveling to Disneyland for TouringPlans #Everywhere that I am totally “California Dreamin” (on such a…uh, spring’s day?). Well, now I am back to give you a little more insight into everyone’s favorite subject: budgeting!
What?! You don’t love to budget? I guess that’s probably normal, which explains why I do enjoy it (e.g. I’m not normal). The sad fact for those of you who do not like to discuss vacation budgeting is that it is an essential part of the trip. My plan here today is to go through my experience budgeting for a Disneyland trip, tell you my thought process, and give you some tips.
Basic Info
As you may recall (but probably don’t), I will be travelling with my wife and two children, ages 5 and 3 at the time of the trip. We live in beautiful, scenic Pennsylvania, which, if you have a knack for geography, you will notice is quite far from California. And yes, my wife has to go although “if I didn’t tell her I could leave today.” We will be traveling in early October, specifically, around the weekend of October 11-13.
Disneyland Tickets
Much like Walt Disney World, admission options at Disneyland are one of the few aspects of a vacation that is fiscally set in stone. There are few discounts on tickets, and what discounts do exist are very small and basically negligible.
We previously decided to spend 5 days at the Disneyland Resort because why the heck not. Additionally, Park Hopping tickets are a no-brainer because Disneyland and California Adventure are so close to each other. Being able to visit both on the same day is a must. The 5-day Park Hopper tickets are $305 for adults and $289 for children ages 3-9. Therefore, our ticket cost for the four of us is $1,188.
A few different types of Annual Passes are available, but to fully understand their value we need to discuss hotels and food. Towards the end we’ll get back into Annual Passes.
Hotel
I talked about our hotel choice in my last post, but I’ll rehash it quickly with the associated costs. We will be staying near the Disneyland Resort for 6 nights, although we will have been in California for a week prior to our arrival at the happiest place on Earth. The reason for the extra night is so we can drive into Anaheim later in the day, check into the hotel (to be named later…suspense! As long as you didn’t read my last post), return the rental car, and probably walk over to Downtown Disney for dinner. Then we still have 5 full park days to get the maximum value out of those tickets.
As a Walt Disney World veteran, I am used to staying in an on-site Disney hotel, so that is naturally where I looked first. At first I looked up the full price, or “rack,” rates, and then I calculated a 20% discount as a proxy for a common Annual Passholder discount (in parentheses). I will use this later to determine whether an Annual Pass is right for me. All prices are per night, found on the Disneyland website, and include taxes and fees:
Grand Californian Hotel & Spa: $525.92 ($420.73 with 20% discount)
Disneyland Hotel: $454.55 ($363.64)
Paradise Pier Hotel: $342.23 ($273.78)
Once I recovered from the heart attack those numbers gave me I started calculating. $274 per night doesn’t sound awful I guess, but that’s in the least popular on-site hotel and that includes a 20% discount. There is absolutely no guarantee that any discount will be offered, and even if there is, it will likely require me to buy an annual pass. So then I’m looking at a minimum of $342 per night, or $2,053 for the trip. Even though “all the leaves are brown and the sky is gray” where I am, the trip needs to have a slightly lower price tag than that.
Where that leaves us is off-site, which means something very different at Disneyland versus Walt Disney World. The California park is not blessed with land like its Orlando brother is, so dozens of hotels have sprung up within an easy walk of the parks. What we wanted was something that within a few minutes walk that is clean and reasonably priced. I tried to look for the Hotel California which I’ve heard allows you to check out any time you like, but the downside is you can never leave…oh well, I guessed it was time to reach out to some friends with Disneyland experience. After asking around, two hotels were recommended to me: The Camelot Inn and the Desert Inn. Let’s see how their prices check out (again all prices are per night and include taxes and fees):
Desert Inn and Suites: $195.80
Camelot Inn and Suites: $150.93
Well that is certainly lower. The room at the Camelot seems to be equivalent to a Moderate level room at Walt Disney World (such as Port Orleans). It has 2 queen beds, a table with chairs, and a mini-refrigerator. The Desert Inn room has all of that plus a sofa, which indicates to me that it is a bit bigger. Both of these are within about a 6 minute walk of the Disneyland gates and both come with good recommendations. The slight difference in size was not that important to us, but the cost is, so we chose the Camelot. The total for 6 nights is $905.58, which is $1,147.77 cheaper than the cheapest Disney hotel.
Kayak’s Price Trend
Airfare
Buying airfare has the feel of gambling to it. The price is one thing on a Tuesday, could be another thing on a Wednesday, it might go up in 2 months, or it might drop $100 for one day next week…no one knows. Luckily there is a tool that helps, although a lot comes down to research and luck.
First, a few qualifications: we live in northeastern Pennsylvania, so we have a few airport options. There are some small, local airports all within about 45 minutes, but all would require at least one layover on the way to California. For a direct flight, and many more route and price options, we can drive about 2 hours to either the Philadelphia or Newark airport. As I always do, I checked every airport around for the best flight.
When it came down to it, direct flights were basically equal in price to flights with a stop. While spending 6 hours on a plane with a 5 and 3 year old sounds sub-awesome, we decided that would be better than enduring 2 takeoffs, 2 landings, and an indeterminate amount of time in a layover airport.
To search for the flights I used the popular site Kayak because they have the Price Trend tool I mentioned above. What this tool does is tell you the likelihood that the flights you are looking at will go up in price. The trend box on the left (circled in the photo) includes a chart, their advice (in this case it’s BUY), and their confidence level (61% right now, which is not very high). It’s not exact, but it is better than nothing.
We purchase our flight on February 16 for $368 per ticket (including tax and fees), when Kayak said buy with a confidence of 89%. It turned out that the flight went down very briefly for one day in March, but has been higher ever since. We could have gotten lucky and done a little better, but it turned out pretty well. As you can see in the Kayak screenshot, the cost now is $442 (Kayak’s prices also include taxes and fees, one of my favorite features). I guess we gambled and won.
Dining
For obvious reasons, calculating dining costs are much harder than the items above. It is hard to know exactly where you will eat and what you will order for every day of your trip, so we have to estimate.
For the five days we plan to spend in the park I guessed we would eat one sit-down (or Table Service) meal per day and two fast food-style (or Counter Service) meals. This is probably over-estimating, but I’m not including extra snacks or drinks either so it may be pretty close overall.
For the five Table Service meals I priced out the 5 character meals offered at the Disneyland Resort. Those who have read my multitude of character meal review from Walt Disney World know that I love eating with costumed personalities buzzing around. Whether we will actually do all 5 remains to be seen. Anyway, the cost of these meals for 2 adults and 2 children is about $633 (including estimated tax and gratuity). The costs for each individual meal average about $34 per adult and $18 per child.
The Counter Service meals are trickier since there are so many menu items. What I did was browse through some of TouringPlans’ wonderful Disneyland menus and pick a price that seemed average. I came up with a figure of $11 for an adult entrée and $9 for a child. Adding tax and drinks comes to around $42 per meal or $455 total. Adding that to the character meal prices brings the estimated food total to $1,088.
There are some mitigating factors that may help keep the costs down. For one thing, my kids are very picky and we usually pack PB&J, so the odds that we will order each of them an entrée at a Counter Service restaurant are very slim. Additionally, if we do end up eating at a breakfast buffet with characters, we may not want 2 extra meals every day. When it comes to budgeting though, I like to be conservative, so I’m using the full amount.
Annual Pass versus Paying Full Price
Now we come back to the price and value of an Annual Pass. Since the Annual Pass offers discounts on resorts and dining, it is prudent to check and see if purchasing a pass makes economic sense. To make things more difficult, Disneyland offers a few different Annual Pass options. They are:
Southern California Select: $289.00. Meant for local residents with many blackout dates (clearly not for me).
Deluxe: $519.00. Contains blackout dates during popular periods. Offers 10% dining and merchandise discounts.
Premium: $699.00. No blackout dates. Offers 15% dining and 20% merchandise discounts.
Luckily for us, we are not visiting at a busy period, so the Deluxe pass would cover all of our days. Since we don’t expect to visit more than once this year only one of us would need an Annual Pass. The difference between an adult ticket and the Deluxe Annual Pass is $394, which we’ll use as the base for our comparison.
Dining – The Deluxe pass offers a 10% discount at most Table Service and Counter Service restaurants, so we’ll use the dining calculations above to find out the value of that. Ten percent of that (pre-gratuity) cost comes to $98.88.
Hotel – As mentioned above, there are often Annual Pass discounts on Disney hotels. If we use a possible discount rate of 20%, that would save us $410.67 on Paradise Pier, bringing the dining plus hotel savings to $509.55.
Unfortunately to get that hotel discount we also need to upgrade from the Camelot Inn to Paradise Pier. The difference between the Camelot and the discounted Paradise Pier is $737.10, so we have to add that to our total. Here is the total breakdown:
With Annual Pass: $1,402 (tickets) + $1,642.68 (Paradise Pier Hotel w/discount) + $988.76 (food w/discount) + $1,472 (airfare) = $5,505.44
Non-discounted price: $1,188 (tickets) + $905.58 (Camelot Inn) + $1,087.63 (food) + $1,472 (airfare) = $4,653.21
Well, since we would save $852.23 without the Annual Pass it seems like a no-brainer to forgo that upgrade. Our total Disneyland trip estimate comes to $4,653.21 not including souvenirs or extraneous costs like a rental car, which would not be necessary if we weren’t going elsewhere in California.
Disneyland vs. Disne y World
To look at the relationship between travelling to Disneyland versus Walt Disney World, I checked the price for a comparative Walt Disney World vacation. Here’s what I looked up:
6 nights with a room discount at Port Orleans – Riverside (similar room to Camelot Inn)
Flight (from Philadelphia)
5 day Park Hopper Park tickets
The total of the above is $3,108.26. Assuming the same dining cost (because it would be close), the total comes to $4,195.89. That is “only” a $457.32, or about a 10%, difference. There may be cheaper options for Walt Disney World (because, frankly, I didn’t look too hard), but I just wanted to show that it was closer than many think.
Well, that’s it. Sorry I got so wordy, but pricing out a vacation and proper budgeting can make or break a potential trip, or allow for more trips than you thought…so it’s important. Feel free to ask any questions or point out any errors in my math.
Thanks for reading!
(In case you youngins are wondering, quoted references come from “California Dreamin’,” the 1965 song by The Mamas & the Papas, which is even before my time. There is also an Eagles reference in there because all non-rap songs about California apparently came out at least 40 years ago.)
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June 3, 2014
Universal Dining: Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in CityWalk
By Derek Burgan
Main entrance to Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville
Universal CityWalk is currently in the process of a major overhaul, adding new dining options and getting rid of some of the restaurants locations that were lagging behind. Late in 2013, Red Oven Pizza Bakery opened, followed by Cold Stone Creamery and Antojitos earlier this year. Starbucks moved from its upper level location down to a much better spot next to Cold Stone recently, and just a few days ago Menchie’s frozen yogurt opened its doors. Hot Dog Hall of Fame and Vivo Italian Kitchen are expected to debut their original menus in the coming weeks, while Bread Box and the heavily anticipated Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar should be welcoming guests by the end of the summer.
With all the new venues coming into CityWalk, it is easy to overlook some of restaurants that have been around for a while and still offer a great experience and unique atmosphere like Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. With a prime spot close to Islands of Adventure, Margaritaville offers plenty of indoor and outdoor seating along with three full bars and a margarita to-go window. The outdoor seating at the Porch of Indecision has been recently renovated and is a great place to enjoy the weather and people watch.
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville with Islands of Adventure’s Pharos Lighthouse in the background
Relax while waiting for a table inside. Note the “bite” taken out of the Landshark branded chairs.
The Landshark Bar is located by the main entrance and has a lot of Jimmy Buffett memorabilia on the walls along with unique pieces such as giant suspended sharks and other marine animals.
There are two floors of seating, with the main indoor seating area having a large screen playing Jimmy Buffet music videos.
Inside dining area of Margaritaville
The giant suspended plane is one of the signature design elements of Margaritaville. Another large plane sits across from Margaritaville and is part of the Lone Palm Airport tiki bar. That particular plane was actually used by Jimmy Buffett and was infamously shot at by the Jamaican government, an experience which led to the Buffett song “Jamaica Mistaica.”
Guests who like the theatrics of restaurants such as T-REX Cafe and Rainforest Cafe will like the Volcano Bar. After the Buffett song “Volcano” plays, the volcano will erupt, and margaritas pour into the giant blender.
It’s five o’clock somewhere…
There are plenty of tables inside, along with a limited number of booths.
The Porch of Indecision has a newly expanded seating area. Each night there is live music at Margaritaville (CLICK HERE to see a calendar of live acts). While normally I am a person who almost always prefers indoor seating with A/C over outdoor seating, at Margaritaville I actually prefer to sit outside. The porch is right next to the waterway that leads to the Royal Pacific Resort, and that seems to add a little extra breeze. Being so close to Islands of Adventure allows you to hear the Port of Entry music loop, which is hands down my favorite background music in any theme park.
Porch of Indecision at Margaritaville
As someone who is obsessed with any food item that includes pretzels, I think the pretzel sticks appetizer is good one. While the fried pretzels at NASCAR Grille get my pick for best pretzels on property, Margaritaville’s hold up pretty well.
Pretzel sticks with mustard sauce and homemade queso
The white cheddar cheese curls appetizer is out of this world, helped out by the Landshark Lager barbecue sauce that comes on the side. Skip the marinara and ask for more of the BBQ sauce.
White cheddar cheese curds with Landshark Lager BBQ and marinara
Margaritaville offers both boneless and traditional chicken wings. They can be served buffalo style or with the “Jamaica Mistaica” jerk glaze sauce. We tried the latter, and they were tasty, similar to what you would get at Buffalo Wild Wings, Duffy’s or Miller’s Ale House in Orlando.
Traditional Wings in Jamaica Mistaica jerk glaze
We are big fans of outrageous foods while at the theme park resorts, and Margaritaville puts up a legitimate contender with the Volcano Nachos. House-made tortilla chips topped with chili, cheese, fresh guacamole, sour cream, jalapeños, tomatoes and scallions, is what it says on the menu, but that doesn’t prepare you for the sheer size of this behemoth. Highly recommended.
Volcano Nachos. ‘Nuff said.
The Landshark Lager Fish & Chips was a nice surprise. The Landshark batter made these taste exceptional although I wasn’t a huge fan of the jalapeño tartar sauce. The cilantro lime coleslaw on the side was also very good.
Landshark Lager Fish & Chips
The Volcano Burger contains Margaritaville’s volcano chili, lava cheese sauce, pickled jalapeños, guacamole and seemingly a whole bag of Fritos corn chips. It was a huge serving and fantastic.
Volcano Burger
The Cheeseburger in Paradise is the signature burger of Margaritaville. Loaded with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and paradise island sauce. it’s another solid burger.
Cheeseburger in Paradise (with sweet potato fries)
The Margarita Flight contains a sampling of some of the most popular margaritas. The flight has: Who’s to Blame, Blueberry Pomegranate, Fins to the Left, and Last Mango in Paris. Our favorite was the Last Mango in Paris.
Margarita flight
I’m a fan of gimmicky souvenir cups and loved this 22 oz. Booze in a Blender. You can have any margarita in it with an up charge of $8 (you keep the cup.) Or you can buy a blender sans drink in the Smuggler’s Hold gift shop for $9.95. The gift shop itself is surprisingly large with pretty much any Jimmy Buffett, Landshark Lager, or Margaritaville item you could possibly want…T-shirts, magnets, glasses, CDs, you name it.
Strawberry margarita in the Booze in a Blender take home cup
Margaritaville now has two desserts on the menu that are worth going out of your way to try. First up is the Chocolate Hurricane. Served on a lazy Susan, you can spin the plate and drizzle your own chocolate and caramel on top. Vanilla ice cream, brownies, shortbread cookies, banana, whipped cream, Kit Kat and Heath bars? Save room for this one. I’m all for this starting a trend in interactive desserts.
Chocolate Hurricane
Margaritaville’s new dessert shooters may be my new favorite dessert on property. You can buy each individually, or just do what we did and tell your server to “bring them all.” Surprisingly very filling, these dense shooters have five different flavors but our favorites were the red velvet, triple chocolate and peanut butter. The creator of this dessert needs to be put into the Restaurant Hall of Fame immediately. First ballot.
Dessert Shooters
Overall: With a newly refreshed menu, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville has become my new go-to place in CityWalk to have a sit down meal. I love the Hard Rock Cafe, but sometimes the noise can overwhelming and make it almost impossible to have a conversation. Margaritaville has a much more relaxed atmosphere and its menu right now can’t be beat, with the desserts being destination dining in and of themselves.
Margaritaville’s margarita to-go window
Other Universal Dining Articles:
Emeril’s Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific Resort
Jake’s American Bar at the Royal Pacific Resort
Character Breakfast at Jake’s American Bar
Backwater Bar at Islands of Adventure
Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food at CityWalk
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritavile at CityWalk
Address: 6000 Universal Plaza, Suite 704 Orlando, Florida 32819
Hours: Sunday – Thursday 11:00AM – 10:00PM; Friday – Saturday 11:00AM – 12:00AM
Reservations: OpenTable.com or call the restaurant at 407-224-2155
Special thanks to Brandon Glover for his assistance with this article. To see more of Brandon’s photos, check out his Flickr page.
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Universal Dining: Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in CityWalk is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.
Disney World Crowd Report – May 25 to 31, 2014
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We correctly predicted the resort-wide crowd level every day last week except for Sunday where we missed by one. Wait times were at or above average for most attractions all week although wait times at The Studios in between Star Wars Weekends have been quite low. We expect that to continue so you may want to plan to visit mid-week to take advantage.
Let’s look at The Disney World Crowd Report to see how the crowd levels stacked up each day last week:
Walt Disney World Resort Crowd Levels – Daily Breakdown
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
8
6
Peter Pan’s Flight (47, predicted 75), Space Mountain (41, predicted 77) and Winnie the Pooh (28, predicted 44) pushed Magic Kingdom’s crowd level to a ’6′, two down from the ’8′ we predicted. Meanwhile, we correctly predicted the wait times at Hollywood Studios would be the highest so far during this year’s Star Wars Weekends.
Epcot
9
9
Hollywood Studios
9
8
Animal Kingdom
9
8
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
7
5
Monday’s crowd at The Studios dipped much lower with Star Tours averaging only a 20 minute wait, half what we predicted. Tower of Terror also came in lower than expected with an average of 40 minutes (predicted 72).
Epcot
7
7
Hollywood Studios
8
6
Animal Kingdom
9
8
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
8
7
No surprises on Tuesday. Epcot hosted Extra Magic Hour morning and wait times peaked accordingly with averages of 81 minutes at Test Track and 84 at Soarin’.
Epcot
7
8
Hollywood Studios
4
5
Animal Kingdom
7
7
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
6
6
Epcot’s wait times on Wednesday slipped a few index levels higher than predicted although not at Test Track where we predicted an average of 73 minutes and it turned out to be 63. At Magic Kingdom our predictions were spot on with Pirates of the Caribbean being the only possible exception (predicted 23, it was 33).
Epcot
3
6
Hollywood Studios
5
4
Animal Kingdom
5
5
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
6
6
Predictions did well at Magic Kingdom on Thursday as well with only two attractions missing by 10 minutes or more, and both those (Space Mountain and Splash Mountain) were over-estimated. Disney Hollywood Studios was the place to be with wait times barely reaching moderate levels at most attractions. Toy Story Mania (61 minutes, predicted 78), Tower of Terror (35 minutes, predicted 57) and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (47 minutes, predicted 58) stayed well below average. Mid-week wait times at the Studios have been low during Star Wars Season, possibly a new trend.
Epcot
5
7
Hollywood Studios
6
3
Animal Kingdom
6
7
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
7
6
Crowds were pretty similar across all four parks Friday although our estimates of ’7′ at Epcot and ’5′ at The Studios needed to be flipped. The ’5′ at The Studios was quite surprising for a Friday of Star Wars Weekend but the wait times were definitely low including 78 minutes at Toy Story Mania (predicted 101) and 33 minutes at Tower of Terror (predicted 60).
Epcot
5
7
Hollywood Studios
7
5
Animal Kingdom
6
7
(Click to view overall details for this day)
WHAT WE
THOUGHT
WHAT WE
SAW
ANALYSIS
Magic Kingdom
6
7
Saturday brought the third consecutive day of a resort-wide crowd level ’6′ with all four parks staying between a ’5′ and ’7′. The Studios wait times underwhelmed again while the other three parks all saw wait times slightly higher than expected. Wait times were higher at Animal Kingdom but not by a lot, Expedition Everest had an average wait time of 39 minutes (predicted 24).
Epcot
4
6
Hollywood Studios
7
5
Animal Kingdom
5
7
What to Expect This Week
May 25 to 31, 2014
How Crowded is Walt Disney World?
May is over and soon, school districts will approach the end of their respective school years and we will see summer crowds begin. June can be a good time of year to visit if your kids are done school in the middle of the month, the peak of summer crowds will not begin until late June.
To see Walt Disney World Crowd predictions for the days of your vacation, check the Crowd Calendar.
To get details about our predictions of future crowds or details about crowds in the past check out the Crowd Calendar and select “Jump to Date” on the left margin.
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Disney World Crowd Report – May 25 to 31, 2014 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.
Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast: An In-Depth Review
OVERVIEW Cape May Cafe has been a favorite for years because of its consistently good food and efficient service. The restaurant is large and tables turn over rapidly, but reservations are recommended. A walk-up request for a table for three at 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning required a 48-minute wait to be seated.
The Cape May character breakfast buffet is known for specialties like Chorizo and Four-Cheese Scrambled Eggs, cold salmon, and cranberry and banana breads.
MENU Click HERE for the full menu.
Yogurts, fresh fruit, low-fat cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, capers, and more.
Scrambled eggs, Chorizo and Four-Cheese Scrambled Eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries.
French toast with caramelized bananas and other offerings.
Mickey Waffles at the Kid Station
Pastry selection with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.
Carved ham, bagels, and cream cheese.
Standard family-pleasing fare will make just about any guest a good meal, and the children’s offerings include Mickey Waffles with strawberry compote and assorted cereals. Cape May’s character breakfast buffet is a tamer alternative to Chef Mickey’s in that it can be less crowded and a bit less noisy, but only 3 of the Fab 5 Characters appear at this character dining experience.
CHARACTERS
Cape May Minnie
Cape May Donald
Cape May Goofy
DETAILS
Price: $24.99 Adult (10 and over) Breakfast, $13.99 Child (ages 3-9) Breakfast; Note that prices vary seasonally.
Hours: 7:30-11:00 a.m. Breakfast
Discounts Accepted: Tables in Wonderland (20%)
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Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast: An In-Depth Review is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.
June 2, 2014
PotterWatch: London Waterfront Lighting, Diagon Alley Return Tickets, Hogsmeade Transition, & Leaky Cauldron Food Preview
Welcome to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where time has turned purple… (photos by Seth Kubersky)
We’ve passed an important PotterWatch milestone this week: we’re most likely less than one month away from the public premiere of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida. This update will examine some new lighting along the London Waterfront, the newly revealed Hogsmeade transition area outside the original Wizarding World, and some recently revealed Leaky Cauldron food and beverage details.
London Waterfront Lighting
I took a stroll along the London Waterfront outside Diagon Alley at “magic hour” to capture some of the lighting features throughout the area. Let’s start with a panoramic overview of the construction area:
This purple illumination on the King’s Cross clock tower confuses me. Perhaps it is some sort of magical effect, or an unfinished test? Time will tell…
Neon signage in the record shop next to Leicester Square advertised “Used Rare New”.
Chandeliers can be seen through the windows of Wyndham’s Theatre.
The lamps at the top of the gateway are also illuminated.
Along the shoreline embankment, the walls appear to be completely stained.
Behind Diagon Alley, the forested berm appears more or less complete.
Diagon Alley Return Ticket Kiosks
As reported previously, the service area relief area between Men In Black and Fear Factor Live will be used to distribute timed return tickets (not unlike the old paper FastPasses) for entering Diagon Alley. Not only have the kiosks been installed, but they were operational the other evening! You will be given a choice of time slots in which to return for entry to the London Waterfront through the gates near Fear Factor.
Not coincidentally, the kiosks formerly located in the Triceratops Trail area of Jurassic Park are no longer there.
Gringotts Dragon Sightlines
Ever since the Gringotts dragon was installed on top of the Diagon Alley bank, fans have been wondering how visible it will be from various places around the park. For starters, the Dragon is completely invisible from anywhere along the London Waterfront outside Diagon Alley, which is the most important place to conceal it from a theming perspective. Once you cross the bridge towards Men In Black, you can see a semi-obscured side view of the dragon from near the Roboasis Coke display.
From the Simpsons waterfront behind Duff Brewery, the dragon is again hidden by the London Waterfront facades.
The further you move along the lagoon towards Central Park, the more of the dragon is revealed. Your closest view is from behind Bumblebee Man’s Taco Truck.
More side views are visible from Battery Park around to the Transformers ride. As you walk towards Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Mash-Up, the buildings of San Francisco again hide the dragon until you approach the London Waterfront. Obviously, the dragon is blocked by buildings throughout most of the Production Central, Hollywood, and New York sections of the park, but for guests passing Mel’s diner it should serve as a powerful “weenie.”
Hogsmeade Transition
Over in Islands of Adventure, construction walls came down on one side of the border between The Lost Continent and the Wizarding World, giving us our first look at the newly landscaped Hogsmeade transition across from the Hogwarts Express train station.
The rockwork and trees work well to beautify this brief walkway, and is much better than the tacky carnival games that once stood here. But the plain wooden fence behind the trees still seems like a bit of a compromise.
Nearby, more walls have been removed around Hogsmeade Station. We’ve heard that team members have been testing the train regularly in recent days.
Leaky Cauldron Food and Beverage Preview
The internet was buzzing last week with word of the specialty foods that Chef Steve Jayson has cooked up for Diagon Alley. The official Universal Orlando blog released this Leaky Cauldron food and beverage preview, and our friend Jim Hill got a personal taste test. We can’t wait to try the many types of pies, imported cheeses, and scotch eggs, washed down with Fishy Green Ale (mint tea with blueberry tapioca). Plus, it was confirmed that Florean Fortescue’s will serve Butterbeer ice cream!
Finally, here’s one of the latest souvenirs you can find in IoA’s Trading Company store: Gryffindor boxer shorts.
(Insert your own joke about getting into Harry Potter’s underwear here…)
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PotterWatch: London Waterfront Lighting, Diagon Alley Return Tickets, Hogsmeade Transition, & Leaky Cauldron Food Preview is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Opening Day Observations
All aboard the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at WDW’s Magic Kingdom (photos by Seth Kubersky)
Unless you’ve been living underneath a magical gem mine for the past month, you’ve probably heard about the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction that opened on May 28, 2014, at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Len Testa’s review of the ride does a thorough job of explaining why we feel this family-friendly roller-coaster is worthy of 3½ stars. I accompanied Len on a soft-opening preview of Fantasyland’s newest ride during the 24 hour “Rock Your Disney Side” party, and returned on opening day to experience the ride during official operations. Here are some Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opening day observations that may make your visit more “heigh-ho” and less “poison apple.”
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Standby Queue
The queue area around the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is lovingly sculpted and landscaped, but unfortunately there isn’t quite enough of it. The standby line runs out of the entrance (across from Storybook Treats snack stand) and stretches along the sidewalk towards Storybook Circus. When I stepped into the queue near the Mad Tea Party, the wait time was 75 minutes, according the portable wait sign held by a cast member marking the end of the line. However, by the time I reached the actual queue entrance, the wait was posted at 110 minutes, which proved much closer to my actual 100 minute wait.
Here are the stages of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, as I experienced them:
From the sidewalk near Mad Tea Party, to the main queue entrance of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: 30 minutes
From the start of the main uncovered external queue, until the first shaded section of exterior queue: 30 minutes
From the start of the shaded queue, to the first interactive “gem washing” game table: 20 minutes
From the first interactive activity to the last one (spin all 7 gem barrels to make Snow White appear on the ceiling) just inside the interior queue: 10 minutes
From the start of the interior queue to the boarding area: 10 minutes
As you can see, the interactive activities, though well done, comprise only as small fraction of the queue near its end, and if you want to fully explore them you’ll need to step out of your place in line. The unshaded exterior queues have virtually no shade, and will be brutally hot this summer. There are high-powered fans along the main exterior queue, but they don’t spray cooling mist. Disney was even handing out cups of free ice water along the extended queue on opening day, in hopes of preventing patrons from passing out.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FastPass+
In addition to riding standby for the sake of journalistic investigation, I also booked FastPass+ reservations for myself on opening day. The FastPass+ return line parallels the exit and bypasses all of the interactive queue, leading riders directly to the boarding area. From scanning my MagicBand to boarding the train took seven minutes. Until the crowds for this attraction die down, consider using FastPass+ here unless you can be among the first riders of the day, particularly if you’re not planning to use it for Space Mountain and Big Thunder.
Front Row vs. Back Row
As expected, you get a better look at the dark ride elements from the front row, while you feel slightly more sway from the swinging cars in the back. Luckily, you can decide for yourself which you like better by requesting the first or last seats. There are separate standby queues for the front and back rows; just let the attendant past the spinning barrels know which row you want to wait for.
Daytime vs. Nighttime
After taking multiple trips through the mine both before and after sunset, I can say that both day and night rides have their merits. During the day, you get a good look at the gorgeous rock work and faux horticulture cradling the train tracks. At night, the area around the tracks is oddly under-lit, leaving the spectacular scenery mostly in the dark. On the other hand, the darkness accentuates the sense of speed, making the ride feel faster than it is.
The cottage finale is a mess of glare by day…
…but quite beautiful at night.
Night rides also have the advantage of giving an unobstructed view of the cottage interior at the end of ride, while glare on the glass often makes the animatronics inside invisible during daytime. Finally, the unshaded exterior queue will obviously be much more comfortable in the evening than at midday.
Mine Train Seat Size
The mine cars hold two riders per row, with molded seats and individual lap bars. I found them fairly comfortable, and cozy enough to prevent me from sliding into my companion, as I do on some coasters. But some larger guests have reported finding them a bit too confining. Unfortunately, I don’t yet see a sample car available outside the attraction to test before you get in the queue. On the positive side, the trains sit flush with the loading platform, making it relatively easy for wheelchair users to transfer in and out.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Rider Capacity
The biggest question leading up to opening was what the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train capacity would be like. We now know that the attraction can run up to five 20-passenger trains at one time, which is more than some observers initially expected. However, the real question is not how many trains can be on the track but what the average interval between train dispatches is, as that is what ultimately determines hourly ridership capacity.
According to cast members, the minimum dispatch interval is 43 seconds between trains, which translates to 1,674 guests per hour.
In actual observations, the average dispatch interval on opening day was approximately 55 seconds, which equals 1309 riders per hour.
Once the operators and guests become more familiar with the attraction, I expect average hourly throughput to end up between 1,500 and 1,600 riders per hour. That puts it ahead of C-ticket dark rides like Peter Pan’s Flight, but far behind people-eating omnimovers like Under The Sea or The Haunted Mansion. However, it has been rumored that Disney is distributing a much higher ratio of FastPass+ reservations for this ride than usual, which would further restrict the speed of the standby line.
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Anna and Elsa from Frozen Meet and Greet Schedule Extended at Princess Fairytale Hall
I bring good news! The extremely popular Anna and Elsa meet and greet schedule has changed.
The sisters from Frozen are now meeting guests at Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom from park opening until 30 minutes prior to park close, as well as during both morning and evening Extra Magic Hours. In addition, FastPass+ availability has been expanded to offer selection times for the newly expanded operating hours.
As you can see in the screenshot to the right, their meet and greet time no longer lists the previous early closing time.
With this change, it would appear that Aurora (otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty) will remain meeting guests as the “visiting princess” opposite the two sisters. Snow White, who would previously visit after Anna and Elsa left for the day, will be heading back outside, meeting guests in Town Square on Main Street, U.S.A. Cinderella and Rapunzel will continue to meet on the other side of Princess Fairytale Hall.
Another thing to note is that recently Disney changed the policy on rope drop, due to the popularity of this particular meet and greet. Guests who would like to head to Princess Fairytale Hall first thing in the morning are now led with a rope to the meet and greet location. It is a slow walk through the park to get there, and guests are not allowed to pass the Cast Members leading the charge. This change was enacted to attempt to keep order, as well as to keep people from racing to the meet and greet, possibly causing injury to either themselves or to others.
One would hope this change in schedule will make it a tiny bit easier for guests who really want to meet Anna and Elsa.
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Anna and Elsa from Frozen Meet and Greet Schedule Extended at Princess Fairytale Hall is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.
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