Bob Sehlinger's Blog, page 1238

April 18, 2014

In Case You Missed It: Disney News and Rumors – Week of April 18, 2014

2014 Grand Floridian Easter Eggs

One of the things I love most about writing for Touring Plans is that it encourages me to go out and see things I would have skipped in the past. If you can believe it this is the third annual Easter Egg display at the Grand Floridian, but the first year I’ve stopped by for a visit. I have each and every one of you to thank, because the display is incredible! I couldn’t think of a better way to wish everyone a happy Easter and to share some photos! First the lovely Briar Rose:

And on the reverse side of the princess is her Prince Phillip. Can you believe each of these eggs is between 16 – 20 inches tall and weighs over 9 pounds even though they are hollow? Also, in frame you can see a non-Disney themed egg. There are eighteen eggs on display this year so I couldn’t feature all of them. Though I focused on the Disney eggs there are others that are more traditional or themed after famous works of art. They are all exquisite!

Another famous princess with her very own egg is Cinderella. Nineteen cast members spent three weeks creating these eggs and were given complete artistic freedom. If you were given an egg what character would you put on it? Personally, I always think Wall-E doesn’t get enough play. (Not to mention painting EVE on a egg is about the limit of my artistic ability!)

And the reverse side features the Fairy Godmother with Lady Tremaine and her daughters tucked on the side. The painted background and custom made base on this egg were really impressive!

The most popular egg while I was there featured Elsa from the new Disney movie Frozen. I suppose if it’s a 4 hour wait to meet her in person a photo with an egg is the next best thing!

Okay, I don’t know where this little guys is from but is he not just the cutest? Is he from a Disney movie and I just can’t place him? Let me know in the comments below if you recognize him. Also, note on the far right that is yet another egg in frame with expertly piped icing!

Here is a wide look at three eggs together. It’s pretty incredible that everything you see here is edible. Just goes to show what some modeling chocolate, fondant, sculpted sugar, royal icing, and Disney Magic can create!

This one has to be my absolute favorite of the bunch. Not only does it feature Lady and the Tramp but check out the base! Yep – they created a candy bowl of pasta for this egg to rest upon. The painting was so vivid on this egg. It’s amazing to think everything was created with edible paint!

And finally, the lovely Rapunzel with Flynn climbing her hair. The painting was so beautiful on this egg but even more impressive was all the detail in the base and around the egg. It’s tough to see but the magic golden flower from the movie is sprouting from the top!

Here’s the final image I’ll leave you with. I laughed out loud when I saw this one! But doesn’t Maximus deserve his close up too? What a great scene for them to choose for the egg! It was nice to see some humor when most featured strictly iconic scenes from films.

I hope all of you have enjoyed touring the 2014 Grand Floridian Easter Eggs with me and that you all have a wonderful Easter! Let me know what you’re hoping to find in your Easter basket in the comments below. As always thanks so much for reading and commenting!

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Published on April 18, 2014 08:30

Even More TouringPlans Content in 2014

By Laurel Stewart

Original Flavor Unofficial Guide

It started with a book. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Then TouringPlans.com came online in 2001 covering Walt Disney World and, later, Disneyland. Last year, TouringPlans launched Universal Orlando and Disney Cruise Line.

This year, we want to bring even more trip planning content to you. We are sending researchers out to Disney destinations over the globe, and we’ll need your help deciding the best content to cover. Over the next few months, we’ll be introducing our team, some of whom you already know from the blog, some who prefer to spend time behind the scenes. They will tell you about where we’re sending them, a little bit about their travel parties, and ask what you want to know about planning your own trips there. Nearly everyone (sorry, Morgan!) is going somewhere he or she has never been before. We’ve got whole families, couples, and friends traveling together.

You can even share the experience with us. We’ll be hosting meets everywhere we’re visiting on October 12 and would love to see you. Can’t make it to Tokyo or Paris? Follow us on Twitter (@TouringPlans #Everywhere) that day for photos and videos from your old and new favorite Disney parks, resorts, and ships.

So what are we covering?

United States – Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, Disney’s Hilton Head Resort, and Disney’s Aulani Resort and Spa; with new hotels, restaurants, and money-saving tips whether you drive or fly.

Asia – Tokyo Disneyland Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort; including how to navigate everything from buying park tickets to the trains to the parks.

Europe – Disneyland Resort Paris; including the DLRP travel packages, hotel reviews, and how to get the best airfare to France.

Disney Cruise Line – all four Disney Cruise Line ships, Magic (7-night Southern Caribbean from San Juan), Wonder (6-night Western Caribbean from Miami), Dream (4-night Bahamas from Port Canaveral), and Fantasy (7-night Western Caribbean with Falmouth, Jamaica, from Port Canaveral); with new Port Adventures and kids’ activities coverage.

As always, our trips are booked with our own money at rates available to the general public.

Stayed tuned to find out who got Hong Kong and who got South Carolina! (Actually, I got Hilton Head, and I’m pretty happy about it.)

Brian is so excited that he made this fab video:

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Published on April 18, 2014 03:00

April 17, 2014

Magic Kingdom FastPass+ Parade and Fireworks Viewing Tips and Observations

By Seth Kubersky

Get a VIP view with FastPass+ parade and fireworks viewing areas at the Magic Kingdom (photos by Seth Kubersky)

Welcome to the future of fireworks and parades at Walt Disney World! In recent weeks, as the final rollout of FastPass+ has concluded in the Disney World parks, I’ve been sharing my experiences using the system as an Annual Passholder at Epcot, as well as at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Since my last post, FastPass+ has been fully implemented for all Disney World guests, including day-guests not staying on Disney property, and I’ve finally had the opportunity to experience one of the most controversial aspects of the new system. Without further ado, here are my FastPass+ parade and fireworks viewing tips, based on my personal observations at the Magic Kingdom.

Festival of Fantasy FastPass+ Parade Viewing

When the features of FastPass+ were first announced, the private reserved viewing areas for parades and other spectaculars were the aspect I was most skeptical (even cynical) about. Personally, such performances are usually very low on my priority list during a park visit for several reasons. Most of the parades had grown quite stale to me from years of over-exposure, I have an aversion to spending valuable touring time staking out a spot of asphalt just to get a good view, and I can’t abide being crammed like sardines in the crowd that accompanies the procession. So I would normally use that time to take advantage of marginally shorter queues at my favorite attractions. If I did want to see a parade, I’d typically walk up a minute or so before it started, and make do with a partial view blocked by the sea of shoulder-sitting small-fries in front of me. With a limit (soon to be lifted) of only 3 FastPass+ reservations per day, I couldn’t see myself “wasting” one on something like a parade when Space and Splash are beckoning.

This is currently the closest you can get to Anna and Elsa from Frozen without a mult-hour wait for their meet & greet.

But with the debut of Festival of Fantasy, Disney has turned my thinking around. As we’ve previously said, the Magic Kingdom’s new parade is one of the best they’ve done in decades, and it’s a welcome replacement for the previous mothball-worthy daytime production. My first viewing of Festival of Fantasy on opening day was from in front of The Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square, and while I was duly impressed by the costumes and floats, I found the cramped quarters just as frustratingly claustrophobic as always.

This was my view the first time I saw Festival of Fantasy without FastPass+. Note the sea of sweaty bodies on all sides.

Then, a few weeks later, I returned to the Magic Kingdom, this time with a FastPass+ for Festival of Fantasy securely attached to my shiny new MagicBand.

A panoramic picture of the FastPass+ parade viewing area.

Despite my previous skepticism, the experience was vastly more enjoyable this time around. The parade viewing area is on the inner north side of the central hub, directly facing Cinderella’s castle, and extends approximately from the Liberty Square bridge to the passage towards Tomorrowland. That’s about 150 degrees worth prime real estate, reserved exclusively for a maximum of 350 people (according to cast members staffing the area).

Plenty of room to move around in the hub’s FastPass+ section.

Entering the viewing area was fairly painless, thanks to a small army of tablet-wielding FastPass+ parade facilitators, and once inside I found all the elbow room I could wish for. The typical Disney World parade experience involves standing in a 1-foot-square spot of asphalt for at least a half-hour, unable to shift more than a few inches in any direction without nudging your neighbors. Inside the FastPass+ parade viewing area, the opposite is true; I could walk freely around the viewing area without restriction, or even sit on the ground and stretch out my legs along the curb.

I’ve heard some people report that the FastPass+ parade section is “too close” to get good photographs, which may be true if you are trying to get a wide-angle shot encompasing multiple floats. But I found it to be a fantastic location for capturing details of the cavalcade’s characters, thanks to the freedom to follow the floats as they cross in front of the castle.

Several signature moments, including the steampunk-styled dragon’s dramatic fire breathing, appeared to be timed for optimal viewing from the FastPass+ parade area.

Main Street Electrical Parade FastPass+ Viewing

A few days later, I was back at the Magic Kingdom to relive one of my childhood favorites, the Main Street Electrical Parade. The FastPass+ viewing procedures for MSEP are identical to those for Festival of Fantasy, and I found the experience equally enjoyable. The vintage float designs do tend to look a little better with some distance, but I felt that was outweighed by the lack of crowding, and the ability to walk up only minutes before the parade arrived, which permitted me to take a couple laps on the PeopleMover prior to the parade.

Wishes and Celebrate the Magic FastPass+ Fireworks Viewing

Finally, the experience of watching Wishes — the Magic Kingdom’s signature fireworks show — from the FastPass+ viewing area was perhaps my most magical moment of all. The Wishes FastPass+ area is located on the northeast side of the central hub, near an area known as the “rose garden.” While everyone else is standing on cement, you will be able to stretch out on a grassy lawn, which can feel like your own personal patch of heaven after a day of plodding around the park. One young guest in the crowd I attended with said it was like “a picnic with fireworks,” and I heartily concur.

Guests relaxing in the grass at the Wishes FastPass+ fireworks viewing area.

As a two-for-one bonus, the FastPass+ fireworks viewing area opens early enough for you to catch Celebrate the Magic, the video projection show staged on the surface of Cinderella Castle fifteen minutes before each fireworks performance.

The one disadvantage of the Magic Kingdom’s FastPass+ fireworks area is that it is off-center, so the fireworks don’t appear directly above the iconic landmark like you see in television commercials. But I still thought it looked quite beautiful even from an angle, and managed to capture some surprisingly good shots of the spectacle with my iPhone.

Hey, where did the castle go?

If you can’t secure a FastPass+ for Wishes, be aware that (at least on the night I attended) a nearby section of pathway leading to the former Swan Boat docks was accessible to anyone, providing almost the same view — minus the grass to sit on.

With all the construction currently occurring on the hub, this area may well be closed off, but it’s worth asking a FastPass+ cast member if you are allowed to watch from there.

Final FastPass+ Parade and Fireworks Tips and Observations

Most of the buzz about FastPass+ has revolved around using it for attractions, but I think parade and fireworks viewing may turn out to be the program’s “killer app,” or at least a “sleeper hit.” Using FastPass+ for E-Ticket rides is certainly a great convenience, but by arriving at rope drop and following a good touring plan, you can have nearly the same experience without it. FastPass+ parade and fireworks viewing areas, on the other hand, afford a luxurious VIP-style treatment that ordinary guests can’t have (at least without dropping a boatload of money on an exclusive party). If you are only visiting the Magic Kingdom for one day, and want to experience as many of the “mountains” and other classic rides as possible, I would not necessarily recommend using one of your 3 advance reservations on a viewing area. But if you are here for an extended vacation (or are a local passholder like myself) and don’t need to cram every roller-coaster into a single day, then I strongly suggest you try spending one of your FastPass+ slots on an exclusive viewing area.

A few final tips:

On-site resort guests can book FastPass+ reservations 60 days before their hotel stay begins, and Annual Passholders and day-guests with pre-purchased tickets can book 30 days out. But viewing areas for the parades and fireworks often don’t become available through My Disney Experience until a month or less in advance. For example, at the time of this writing, FastPass+ reservations for Festival of Fantasy are offered through April 30, but not in May or June. I recommend making your FastPass+ reservations for your preferred attractions as soon as you are allowed. Then keep checking back with the app or website, and switch to a parade or firework viewing area as soon as that option becomes available.
There is often only one daily performance of Festival of Fantasy, and it is very popular due to its newness. Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade more often have multiple showings nightly, with lower attendance for the later performances. Therefore, if you must pick only one FastPass+ viewing expereince, Festival of Fantasy is probably your best value.
Your FastPass+ return window for the parade will begin 15 minutes before step-off time, but the parade won’t actually arrive at the viewing area until ten minutes or so after the scheduled start time. There’s no need to stake out a spot in advance, so feel free to stroll into the FastPass+ parade viewing area just as the parade officially begins.
On the other hand, viewing Celebrate the Magic is an unadvertised bonus included with Wishes FastPass+ reservations, so you will want to arrive at least 15 minutes before the fireworks start.

Now about that FastPass+ viewing area for Kiss Goodnight…

Have you had a chance to try FastPass+ parade or fireworks viewing at Walt Disney World yet? Please share your experiences in the comments below!

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Published on April 17, 2014 09:00

April 16, 2014

Tours of Epcot: Behind The Seeds

By Daisy Lauren

Do you love Living With The Land at Epcot? I don’t know what it is about this quiet, little boat ride that holds my attention. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s one of the few attractions that still feels like the Epcot from my childhood. The Behind The Seeds Tour at Epcot offers guests the chance to walk through the greenhouses seen on the boat ride and take a closer look. While just taking a stroll through this location is worth the price of admission, the tour offers some great “edutainment” about the future of gardening.

To sign up you simply need to purchase tickets at the desk in the Soarin’ boarding area. We’ve done the first tour of the day in the past for fear they would sell out. However, this time we showed up just 30 minutes before the last tour of the day and were able to join with no issue. Then we just had to meet back by the desk five minutes before our tour time. The below information contains lots of spoilers about the tour. If you’d like to be surprised, you might want to scroll down to the bottom past the numbered sections.

The tour begins when your guide whisks you to a backstage location to explain the tour rules. First, guests are encouraged to ask as many questions as they can. Your tour guide is normally an intern here on the college program with a shocking amount of botany knowledge. I was very impressed with our guide and the frequent questions she was able to answer! Rule number two is that photography is not only allowed, it’s encouraged! I was excited about that one because I often get lectures on tours because they see my big camera coming. It was nice to be welcomed despite the fact that we were in backstage areas. The final rule is the most important: do not touch any plants. This one seemed obvious to me, but what I hadn’t thought of the reason they make this request. In the greenhouse they have exotic plants from all over the world that many people have never been exposed to, and likely will never be exposed to again. The Behind The Seeds Tour at Epcot is not a great time to find out you’re wildly allergic to some rare plant! So that no touching request is just as much to protect you as it is the plants.

1) After the rules are out of the way you’re off to your first stop: Pests. In this room we learned about the pests that frequent the area and the different methods to dispose of them. Of course, at Epcot they’re using natural ways to defend the plants. In this case, that means releasing various bugs into the greenhouse that are beneficial to the plants but deadly to the pests. We learned about the program to breed beneficial insects at Epcot and were able to see lots of the bugs up close. (Some were even passed around.) If anyone in your party is very afraid of bugs, this might be a tough part of the tour. But they are very small, and you’re only in there for a few minutes.

2) Next we headed to the biotechnology lab. In this area there was a very interesting lecture on plant cloning. Looking into the lab, there were hundreds of little tubes full of plants. The area is very sterile, and guests are only allowed to view it through glass. Apologies for the photo: the glare on the glass was terrible. I learned that this is where they make those little plants that sprout in clear gel that are for sale in the various gift shops all over property!

3) After that was my favorite part of the tour, the hydroponics house. When you’re riding the Living With The Land ride, this is one of the last areas you enter where the plants are hanging from the ceiling with exposed roots. While we were in this area our guide explained the benefits of hydroponics in detail and described ways you could use the technique at home. I might consider it, too, because the cucumber we sampled in this area tasted amazing! If you’ve ever wondered why Disney vegetables just taste better, it’s because lots of them are grown in this greenhouse. I have the take-home informational sheet on building your own hydroponic garden; if anyone is interested in seeing it, please leave me a comment below. This is normally the part of the tour where lady bugs are released, but that didn’t happen on my most recent tour. I asked why and was told that’s just something they do when kids are on the tour. Now, I do have the attention span of a 5 year old (squirrel!), but I really felt the tour lost something without this addition.

4) Then we moved along to the string house. I’m not sure if that’s the technical name, but that’s what I have in my notes. This house shows various techniques for maximizing space by vertical growing. Remember the huge tomato tree from the Living With The Land boat ride? In the string house they explain how that was possible and show lots of other plants achieving amazing results with this technique. Have you ever wondered what they do with those freakishly large veggies they grow? There isn’t much use in the restaurants for a twenty pound turnip!, so those are packed up and shipped off to Animal Kingdom. It turns out that the animals think they are delicious!

5) The next part of the tour is all about aquaculture and takes you through those red houses with all the fish. I have to say this part of the tour was the most disappointing because we didn’t have any children in our party. In the past we’ve fed the fish, and I was ready to get video of the frenzy for you guys. Unfortunately, this is another “kids only” part of the tour. With only a group of adults we had a quick lecture about fish breeding and methods they have used to assure that their fish can’t breed with wild populations if one ever found its way to the wild. (All drains lead to the ocean, you know.)

6) Last was the temperate house, which mimics desert like conditions. This is the most beautiful and exotic of all the houses. Here we learned about amazing plants from all over the world. For example, the miracle berry is so sweet that it makes everything taste great for hours after you eat it. Our tour guide used the example that it made menthol cough drops taste like jolly ranchers! This amazing plant is being used to help chemotherapy patients eat more food after their treatments. That is just one of the plants we learned about but it gives you an idea of the amazing breadth of knowledge we hand in our tour guide!

After that, the tour is over, and you’ll wonder how an hour went by so quickly! Though, I’ve had this tour take up to 1.5 hours, depending on the guide. Not bad for just $20 per adult and $16 per child. Your typical Disney discounts are honored for DVC, passholders, and the like. Unlike some other tours I’ve been on, this one seems to only have groups of about ten people on the tour at once. I’m not sure if that’s by plan or just because it isn’t as popular as other tours. At the time of writing tours depart daily at 10:30am, 11:15am, 12:45pm, 1:30pm, 2:15pm, 3:00pm, 3:45pm, and 4:30pm. Of course, these things to change often, and it is always best to check before you arrive.

In conclusion, this is a fun tour, especially if you’ve been to Disney World several times and you’re very familiar with Living With The Land. Not that it won’t be fun for first timers – I just think you appreciate it more when you’ve looked into the greenhouse “from the outside” for a while. I will admit I enjoyed it much more with kids in the party. The adults only theme was a little dry for me, but still worth doing. Of course, your mileage may vary since I’m just a big kid anyway!

What do you think? Have you tried this tour? Do you agree with my review? Was your experience different? What tours would you like to see next? Please let us know in the comment below. As always, thanks so much for reading!

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Published on April 16, 2014 13:30

Disney is Looking For a Million Dollar Arm

By Rikki Niblett

©Disney

Do you have a Million Dollar Arm? That’s what Disney is looking for in this new contest. If you can throw a 100-mph fastball, you could potentially win $1 million.

How? Well, to promote Disney’s upcoming movie, Million Dollar Arm, on April 25-26 Walt Disney Studios is holding a competition where contestants will have three chances to throw the fastest strike they can.

Participants can attempt the feat at one of three locations. Guests can test their arms at Downtown Disney at Disneyland (California) and at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World (Florida) from 7:00 a.m-6:00 p.m. local time. In New York, the competition will take place at the Tribeca Family Festival on April 26, from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. All who participate in the contest get complimentary tickets for themselves and a guest to attend an advance screening of Million Dollar Arm at a nearby AMC Theatre.

The top three eligible contestants who throw the fastest strike at each of the three locations will then compete in the finals in California. They, along with a guest, will be flown to Hollywood for the movie’s premiere, which takes place on May 6. The finalists will be treated like VIPs, getting the opportunity to meet the stars of the movies, Major League baseball players, and other celebrities. During the final competition, if any of the nine finalists throws a 100-mph (or higher) strike during their three attempts, he could potentially win the $1 million.

To compete, you will need a valid U.S. ID, as well as a completed and signed registration form and release. Also, participants must be at least 18 years old and cannot have any prior professional baseball experience.

The official rules for the contest can be found here.

Do you have what it takes to throw the fastest pitch?

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Published on April 16, 2014 10:41

Universal’s Cabana Bay Transportation Guide

By Seth Kubersky

When you get tired of relaxing by Cabana Bay’s pool, use this transportation guide to get to Universal’s theme parks (photos by Seth Kubersky).

Cabana Bay Beach Resort, the newest Loews-operated on-site hotel at Universal Orlando, only opened at the end of March, but if you’ve been following our coverage – from my mega-sized photo gallery from opening day to Derek Burgan’s Saturday Six devoted to the property – you may feel like you’ve already stayed there. One aspect of Universal’s first moderately priced hotel that many readers have asked for more information about is the transportation options available to guests of Cabana Bay. As you may have heard, Cabana Bay does NOT offer water taxi service like Universal’s original 3 luxury properties. So I spent a recent sunny afternoon testing various methods of getting from the hotel to the parks (and vice versa), in order to bring you this comprehensive Cabana Bay transportation guide.

Parking at Cabana Bay

Cabana Bay doesn’t offer valet parking, but that deficit is offset by a $10 daily self-parking rate for hotel guests, which is significantly cheaper than parking at the other Universal hotels. Parking lots ring the hotel, so you can park right alongside your room. Unfortunately, high parking rates for non-guests ($8 for 5 to 30 minutes, $20 for 30 minutes to 24 hours) make it expensive for locals to drop in and knock down some pins at the Galaxy bowling alley.

Cabana Bay Bus Transportation

At the end of Cabana Bay’s dramatic entry driveway, immediately outside the Bayliner Diner‘s cozy T.V. lounge, you’ll find the resort’s sole bus stop. It’s impossible to miss Cabana Bay’s colorful buses, with their faux wood-panel sides and roof-top surfboards.

Buses pick up and drop off at Universal’s central parking hub, where the two parking garages meet. The bus stop is directly on the left as you descend the escalator from the elevated hub to ground level.

Universal invested in a fleet of buses dedicated to the resort, three of which were in circulation during my testing. I never had to wait more than a minute or two to board and depart, and bus drivers told me that they are aiming for 7 to 8 minutes between dispatches.

The bus ride itself takes approximately 5 minutes, including time spent waiting to turn at the traffic signal on Hollywood Way. The walk to the bus stop from either park’s front gate is about 6 minutes at my moderate pace. (Obviously, if you have younger or slower members in your party, your walk time will increase).

That makes the average total transit time 15 minutes (conservatively assuming a 4 minute wait for the bus, and excluding the walk to/from your hotel room). For comparison, that’s the same or shorter than the commute via Disney transportation from any WDW hotel to a theme park (excluding monorail hotels to the Magic Kingdom), sometimes by a factor of two.

Cabana Bay Walking Paths

As we’ve reported previously, Universal Orlando is currently in the process of building a “garden bridge” and walking path to carry pedestrians from Cabana Bay to CityWalk and the theme parks. Once complete, the path will cross Adventure Way near the northeast corner of the property, and follow the southern side of Hollywood Way until joining up with the existing Royal Pacific walking path.

Blue dots on the ground mark the path to the future garden path. For now, follow these signs to the temporary trail.

The new path will not be complete until at least mid-June. In the meantime, guests can walk from the northwest corner of Cabana Bay (near where the Starlight and Thunderbird buildings meet) and walk along the north side of Hollywood Way to CityWalk, entering near Margaritaville.

This gate leads to the temporary Cabana By walking path.

The walk from Cabana Bay’s northwest gate to CityWalk’s Margaritaville entrance took me 13 minutes. From there, it is only 90 seconds to the entrance of Islands of Adventure, or 4 minutes to Universal Studios Florida. Keep in mind that these numbers do not include the walk time from the Cabana Bay gate to your room, which will be substantial if staying in the southern half of the resort (opening in June).

Finally, here is a video I took of the route during the hotel’s opening week:

You’ll note that Orlando drivers are not particularly accommodating to pedestrians, even when they have the traffic signal, so use caution if walking with children or after dark until the overpass bridge is completed.

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Published on April 16, 2014 08:10

April 14, 2014

Walt Disney World Crowd Report – April 6 to 12, 2014

By Fred Hazelton

Anytime statisticians see a spike like the one we see on this week’s crowd report they first break out in hives, then catch their breath and look for an explanation of an outlier. The number one most common reason that our predictions miss the mark is weather. Unexpected good weather and bad weather can affect what we see in the parks and we think that is what happened last week. On Tuesday, Central Florida experienced a severe weather warning from around noon until early evening. Then on Wednesday resort guests, off-site guests and locals who were well-rested from missing most of Tuesday’s touring time flocked to the parks.

We feel this is a solid theory since wait times returned to expected levels on Friday and Saturday. If Tuesday’s spike was the result of an underestimate on our part then one would expect the rest of the week to be very crowded as well. This wasn’t the case. Also, during the day on Wednesday, Disney extended park hours to accommodate the unexpectedly large crowds.

Let’s look at how the crowd levels stacked up on other days last week.

The Crowd Report

The Walt Disney World Crowd Report

April 6 to April 12, 2014

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Park-level crowds ranged between a ’3′ at The Studios and ’6′s at the Kingdoms on Sunday. Both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were one level higher than the ’5′ we predicted which pushed the resort-wide level to a level ’5′, one higher than expected. Epcot’s crowd level ’5′ was also one level higher than predicted while The Studios’ crowd level ’3′ matched our prediction.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Again on Monday we saw a resort-wide crowd level ’5′ that was one level higher than expected thanks to two of the parks with slightly higher wait times. Those parks were Magic Kingdom where we observed a crowd level ’6′ (predicted ’5′) and Epcot where we saw a ’4′ (predicted ’3′). Extra Magic Hour morning was hosted at the Animal Kingdom on Monday and our crowd level prediction of ’5′ hit the mark.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Late afternoon storms kept the parks quiet most of the evening on Tuesday although the average wait times between 10am and 5pm were pretty close to what we predicted. We saw an overall crowd level ’3′ including ’4′s at the Magic Kingdom (predicted ’5′) and Epcot (predicted ’3′) while The Studios hit a level ’3′ (predicted ’2′). Animal Kingdom seemed most affected by the storm which is not surprising given the large proportion of attractions that are vulnerable to bad weather. There we saw a crowd level of only ’2′ out of ’10′ despite our prediction of ’5′.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Wednesday witnessed the biggest surprise since the launch of the current crowd calendar. Guests who stayed in to avoid Tuesday’s storms flocked to all four parks in numbers that drove up the crowd levels by as many as five levels. Wait times at Magic Kingdom hit a level ’9′ (predicted ’4′) as did wait times at Animal Kingdom (predicted ’5′) while Epcot spiked at a level ’7′ (predicted ’2′) and The Studios stayed at the relatively low ’5′ (predicted ’2′). Statistically this represents a major outlier since there are no reasonable explanations as to why the crowds spiked so high, other than the effect of Tuesday’s weather. We suspect the influx in wait times is the result of a combination of day guests and locals taking advantage of Wednesday’s superior weather and multi-day guests replacing a scheduled day-off with a full day at the parks.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

If Wednesday’s wait times were the “Boom” then Thursday’s waits were the “Echo”. The resort-wide ’6′ and the ’7′ at Magic Kingdom were both two levels higher than expected while Animal Kingdom’s ’8′ was three levels higher. Thursday’s crowd at Epcot was not as bad with wait times translating to a crowd level ’4′, only one level higher than the ’3′ we predicted.

Friday, April 11, 2014

If Wednesday’s spike in wait times were the result of our underestimation of the attendance in the parks then we would expect those high numbers to continue throughout the weekend but that was not the case. Friday’s crowds returned to expected levels with two of our estimates hitting the mark (Resort-wide ’5′ and Epcot ’7′) while the other three were only off by one (Magic Kingdom ’7′, The Studios ’4′, Animal Kingdom ’5′).

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Saturday’s predictions also did well with only The Studios, which hosted Extra Magic Hour morning, showing a crowd level two levels higher than our prediction of ’4′ while all the other predictions were within one level of what we observed. In fact, our prediction of a crowd level ’6′ at Magic Kingdom was exactly correct.

What to Expect This Week

April 13 to April 19, 2014

Easter is by far the most unpredictable week of the year. In years past we have seen Easter crowds that underwhelmed and Easter crowds that posted record high waits. Although Easter crowds don’t usually reach the extreme high wait times that we see between December 28th and January 1st each year, we expect Easter crowds to be extreme. Prepare accordingly.

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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Published on April 14, 2014 14:53

Observations from Downtown Disney for April 10, 2014 (Construction Walls, T-Rex, Food Trucks, New Merchandise)

By Derek Burgan

It has been several months since I have been to Downtown Disney, so it’s time to check in to see what is going on lately. After several trips in which I had to scream “Serenity Now!” while trying to find a parking spot, I realized what I needed to do in order to fix that problem: I rope-dropped Downtown Disney.

The only two places to park in front of Downtown Disney itself and these are the lot by the Marketplace and way down the other end by Cirque du Soleil. Even at 10 AM, the sign leading to the Marketplace lot said it was “full,” so we parked down by Cirque du Soleil. This lack of parking is caused by the two parking garages Downtown Disney is in the process of building. Many people are hoping for these to be done by the holiday season of this year, but guest services said it wouldn’t be until early 2015. There is also parking across the street in which you can take a Disney shuttle to Downtown Disney.

Status of the parking garage closest to Cirque du Soleil

Not only has a lot of the former parking space been taken by the construction of the parking garages, but the closest spaces to Downtown Disney by Cirque du Soleil are reserved for valet parking. Valet is $20 and begins at 4 PM.

Valet Parking at Downtown Disney

My first surprise of the day were these construction walls put up on the side of Disney Quest for Wetzel’s Pretzels and Haagen Daas ice cream. These two venues were formerly at the spot closer to the Characters In Flight hot air balloon, and that area is going to be converted into a Starbucks. I would think this spot would be a challenge to succeed in, but there is the Pop Gallery that is a similar out-of-the-way spot between AMC theaters and Splitsville that has been there for years.

Future home of Wetzel’s Pretzels and Haagan Daas ice cream

There are four food trucks at Downtown Disney, each one representing one of the four WDW theme parks. Between the Cirque du Soliel tent and the House of Blues is the Namaste Cafe truck, featuring selections found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The truck is very colorful and has artwork all around it representing features of Animal Kingdom.

The Namaste Cafe food truck

Not far way, near Wolfgang Puck, was the World Showcase of Flavors food truck, featuring options from Epcot. I have seen this truck before, and the last time it had artwork featuring the Food & Wine Festival, but this time it has artwork promoting the Flower & Garden Festival. That’s a nice touch. Several options from the Flower & Garden outdoor kitchens are featured, including the Piggylicious cupcake.

World Showcase of Flavors food truck

Flower & Garden Festivak artwork on the World Showcase of Flavors food truck

After this we came to the point of where construction walls seem to go on forever. Starting just past Bongo’s Cuban Cafe and ending at the Characters in Flight balloon are these walls, covering up what will be an upcoming Food Truck Park and one of the new Starbucks.

Construction walls starting just past Bongo’s Cuban Cafe

The Bridge to Pleasure Island was closed off, routing people to the new walkway next to the water.

“You can’t get there from here.” – anyone from New England

The walkway is filled with quotes from Walt Disney and concept art for Disney Springs.

Disney Springs concept art

I looked closely at one of the pieces of concept art, and something struck me in the bottom left of the picture. There were cars in the water. EDIT: According to a poster in the comments section, this car/boats already exists on property. Will try and get pictures on my next trip. If you have a picture, please send it to derek@touringplans.com This I need to see.

Apparently Disney Springs will be finished so far in the future we will have Cadillacs that can drive in the water by then

The walls just kept going and going.

You can see the World of Disney store beyond these walls.

Behind these walls is the building where BabyCakes NYC and Pollo Campero used to be. The structure is completely gone.

The former home of Babycakes NYC By Grabthar’s hammer, you shall be avenged!

I wanted to see what was up with the fish tank in T-REX that sprung a leak last month, and we decided to have lunch while we were there. The tank is still not repaired, and even has a scrim around it.

This was the fish tank at T-REX that was spraying water last month.

We had an 18 month old with us, so we asked not to be seated near any moving dinosaurs. We sat in the ice room. Of course, this had a dramatic impact on the quality of pictures, so we’ll just go over a couple highlights. The draft beer was served in these nice sized goblets that keep the beer really cold. In fact, it was served with almost a layer of ice on top.

We ended the meal with the Chocolate Extinction - a gigantic portion of chocolate fudge cake served with ice cream, creamy whipped topping drizzled with fudge, and caramel sauces and sprinkled with Butterfinger crumbs. I was sold on the Butterfinger crumbs. I think I’d even order a side of steamed broccoli if it were “sprinkled with Butterfinger crumbs.” The dessert also came with a cup of dry ice spilling “smoke,” which made for a neat effect. This was fantastic.

Chocolate Extinction at T-REX.

Our party had four adults and one child. Two of us had alcohol, and the other two had water. With two apps and four entries, the total was over $135. While pricey, I think the “wow” factor of T-REX is enough for families who haven’t been before, especially with young children.

The next stop was World of Disney, and outside the front was construction for the second Starbucks that is coming to Downtown Disney. This one actually baffles me. Putting a Starbucks in front of an already congested store is just asking for trouble. I imagine during busier times they are going to have to build another Starbucks in front of this one for people who need a coffee while waiting in line for their coffee.

Starbucks construction at World of Disney

One of the things I do for the TouringPlans blog is a monthly Photo Report of the Disney Outlet Store. Back in January I saw the line of “stylized” princess shirts were already at the outlets, having made their debut at the parks in late 2013. A similar style of art is on a bunch of new shirts featuring the princesses and their significant others, although the girls are now more cartoony and less “adult” looking. Each shirt was $27.95.

Also available are Ariel/Prince Eric and Cinderella/Prince Charming.

I might be alone on the island, but I’m not a huge fan of these Epcot Spaceship Earth and Animal Kingdom Tree of Life mugs.

This Sophia the First t-shirt combo for a girl and her doll is a great idea. It was $19.95

Outside World of Disney was the Fantasy Fare food truck, featuring offerings from the Magic Kingdom, including “hand dipped corn dogs.”

Each food truck had a very small area with a couple tables for guests to eat on.

A reader of the TouringPlans twitter account (@TouringPlans) asked about the Happy Hound kiosk. This is a small area dedicated to pet products, and – as far as I can tell – not a single one was related to Disney. With the amount of dog characters in the Disney library, this is a huge wasted potential.

Happy Hound pet toys and supplies

Happy Hound merchandise

Happy Hound merchandise

I made a quick store to Guest Services to ask a couple questions and buy some Disney Dollars. Here are the designs available currently. One of the questions I asked Guest Services was when the Marketplace Co-op would be opening (the store replacing Team Mickey), but the only answer they had was, “this summer.” That is one place I’m really looking forward to after seeing the Disney Parks Blog showed some pictures of upcoming merchandise.

Disney Dollars

Then I went over to Once Upon a Toy, and a whole bunch of new Precious Moments dolls have been added to the mix, including special “Easter” ones with the characters wearing purple, and Frozen‘s Anna and Elsa.

I can definitely see the charm in these.

Princess and the Frog‘s Tiana next to Lilo and Stitch.

Belle and Rapunzel with their princes.

I took a picture of these Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom action figure for two reasons. One, it’s for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and of all the movies why would you have figures from that? But two, it comes with a small Indiana Jones voodoo doll!

Voodoo doll accessory. All that’s missing is a beating heart.

Near Earl of Sandwich there was a nice photo op promoting the Flower & Garden Festival with Mickey and Minnie topiaries.

There’s a small water area nearby that always attracts a lot of kids. I’ve been by here countless times over the years, and never noticed that the water is coming out of “hidden Mickeys.”

Another Touring Plans reader asked about an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit ornament at the Disney’s Days of Christmas Store. Here it is. $17.95

Before leaving for the day, we wanted to get a drink, so we stopped at the Lava Lounge at the Rainforest Cafe.

Rainforest Cafe’s Lava Lounge

This was under construction for a while, and I’m not sure why they didn’t wait if there was going to be so much construction blocking the view. There was nobody there in the middle of the afternoon.

A million dollar view at the Lava Lounge (assuming that crane costs a million dollars)

We definitely wanted a drink by the water side, but didn’t want to just stare at a crane, so we headed over to the Margarita Bar, which had some live music playing. We got a Patrón Añejo Margarita and a Bud Light draft beer.

As for the Downtown Disney “Experience” itself, I’m not exactly sure what to tell people. This is the worst place on property to find parking, and keep in mind WDW has Disney’s Hollywood Studios parking on Star Wars Weekends, so imagine what that is saying. There are several decent restaurants to have a meal or drink at (I’m a fan of the House of Blues), T-REX is a spectacle, Splittsville is a lot of fun, Cirque du Soleil is amazing, the Dine-In theater at AMC is one of my favorite places to watch a movie, World of Disney has a ton of great merchandise, and there are several fun things for kids to do (including a small train and carousel).

The amount of construction walls is overwhelming, though, and many people have told me that this is what Disney’s California Adventure was like when they were building Cars Land and redoing the front entrance. I have high hopes for the upcoming Disney Springs, and if we get something even close to what the concept art teased, no one is going to remember this hiccup in the road.

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Published on April 14, 2014 03:00

April 13, 2014

PotterWatch: Diagon Alley Construction Photos and Early April Rumors

By Seth Kubersky

It’s been a couple weeks since our last PotterWatch look at Wizarding World of Harry Potter progress around Universal Orlando. While visible exterior changes are not as dramatic as as they were in earlier months, we can definitely see that the project is gaining new details as the expansion’s summer opening approaches. Enjoy these Hogsmeade Station and Diagon Alley construction photos from a few days ago, followed by a survey of the latest Potter rumors circulating on the net.

Diagon Alley Construction Photos

This is Universal Studios Florida‘s London Waterfront facade, behind which hides Diagon Alley, as it looked on April 7, 2014.

Note the trees that have been added to the area in front of the facade.

The pile of dirt to the right of the facade is clearly being formed into a berm that will help conceal the Gringotts ride building. I’ve heard that trees are already waiting backstage for installation on the new hill.

A closer look at the new paint scheme being applied to Wyndham’s Theatre:

The letters on the Wyndham’s Theatre facade have been unwrapped:

More details are being applied to the rest of the London Waterfront.

King’s Cross, future home of the Hogwarts Express, is also coming along.

A final panoramic look at the entire Diagon Alley project.

Hogsmeade Station Comstruction Photos

Over at Islands of Adventure‘s original Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Hogsmeade Station that will house the new Hogwarts Express is showing more dramatic progress, as work on this side of the expansion accelerates.

The top of the new station can be glimpsed in the background behind the Sindbad stadium.

While in the Wizarding World, I noticed these Marauder’s Map jigsaw puzzles for sale in the gift shop at the exit of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey:

Early April Rumors

The biggest buzz in the world of PotterWatch at the moment is about the imminent start of employee training for Diagon Alley, and possible soft openings for guests. Our own Derek Burgan tweeted that “technical rehearsals” are projected to start on May 20, with full-day soft openings for guests beginning on June 1. And long-time WDWMagic forum contributor Lee hinted that Universal guests may get the chance to do some “serious banking” in late May. Obviously these dates are not guaranteed, so don’t book your vacation around them. But I’ll certainly be on site from the first signs of any soft opening, and am staying in a Universal hotel the first week of June just in case…

In other rumor news, Orlando United forum contributor Teebin recently shared a series of riddles revolving around the new live entertainment being created for the Carkitt Market area of Diagon Alley. The first rumored show seems to involve The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and may bring to life one of five wizard folk tales, as seen in the “Three Brothers” segment of Deathly Hallows Part 1.

The second show is rumored to be a musical performance, and may be related to a recent casting notice for “African American Female Singers able to portray the age range of 30-60…able to perform in a British dialect” in a “jazz style” and “available to rehearse April 21st-May 20th.” Commenters have suggested this could be the character Celestina Warbeck, known in the books as “The Singing Sorceress.”

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