Walt Disney World Resort
Part 2 - Brain Dumps
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| One Man's Dream in Disney's Hollywood Studios is a highly recommended (by me, anyway) attraction that every Disney Fan should see. Sponsored by D23, this building holds items from the Disney Archives, from costumes, to props, to concept models of attractions, even a multi-plane camera and Walt's second grade school desk that he defaced with his initials in 1956... |
Brain Dumps are bits of knowledge I've written about in trip reports and other venues, but consolidated here into some almost coherent thoughts. This page will probably grow as I go through my notes...
This really isn't planning material, if that's what you're looking for. It's more specific looks at various aspects of the parks. Note that I've specifically avoided any attempt at telling you how to plan a trip to Disney, since there are a bazillion other sites with that information who are probably more qualified than I am. Besides, I'm probably not your typical Disney Vacationer.
However, should you want to know how I do plan a trip, read the introductions of the post-2008 Trip Reports I've written. They sometimes get pretty detailed. They may not tell you how to plan your trip, but it does describe my sometimes twisted planning process.
Some terminology and definitions used on this site
As I rewrite this part of the website, I'm trying to eliminate all the Disney "slang" that crept in over the years. However, like any other industry or business, Disney and the Theme Parks have a unique language sub-set. (Sit in with a bunch of very technical computer programmers talking about work, and you'll soon find yourself wondering if they're still speaking the same language as you. This is true not only for computers, but finance, medicine and just about any other institution.)What I'm including here are common terms you'll find on this site. Some may be obvious, but others might not be to non-Disney... enthusiasts.
Some Disney-centric Terms
- People who go to a Disney Park are not customers, they're Guests. Thus, there is no customer service, but Guest Services and Guest Relations.
- All employees who work for The Disney Company are Cast Members, who all have a role in the company. One major role is to be a good host to a guest, which is why you're (almost) always greeted with a smile.
- All of the face that Disney shows the world is a stage, or at least a movie set. More than that, most any area that belongs to the Disney "brand" that's open to the public is Themed. ( Themeing got it's own section below.)
- Since all of the public face Disney shows is a stage, a Cast Member in any of these public areas is on-stage, where he or she plays their assigned role, whether that role is a cashier in one of the stores to one of the ultra-trained head (e.g. Mickey and Minnie) or face (e.g. the princesses) Disney characters. Areas normally off-limits to the public and not themed is considered backstage, and consequently places like break-rooms and private offices are places where Cast Members are off-stage.
- The group known as Imagineering (Or Walt Disney Imagineering, previously known as WED Enterprises) is the group primarily responsible for the design and execution of all the Disney Parks. They do the majority of the attractions within the parks, as well as resort design.
- A Wienie is a term Walt used (I'm not sure if it's a term Walt made up, but it's presented that way), which is a structure or concept that will draw the guest to it. A Wienie can range from representing a park, such as Cinderella Castle or Spaceship Earth, to the model of Donald and Daisy in front of the pin store in Downtown Disney. If you really look around in the parks, you'll start to see them.
- D23 is the official Disney Fan Club. It encompasses all things Disney, not just the theme parks. They directly support the Disney Archives. The Disney Archives is the group that oversees and maintains the history of the Disney Company, from scripts to props to the items that were in Walt's desk at the time of his death. Though D23 also showcases current events in or at Disney, I'm not sure you can really separate D23 from the Disney Archives anymore.
- Speaking of D23, it's free to join at the lowest level which grants access to areas of D23's website and archives, but you have to be a paid member to get to some of the premium events. I've had some amazing experiences though D23 at Walt Disney World, and have had the chance to preview several Disney movies before their release locally here in Chicago. The paid membership has much more value if you live in Southern California, as that's where most of the events take place.
- Let me also add that in 2014, D23 sent out 23 Christmas cards to random Gold level members, signed by some very distinguished Disney Cast Members, such as Don Hahn, Becky Cline, Bob Gurr, Marty Sklar and Dave Smith, among others. Amazingly, I got one.
Park-centric Terms
- A Disney Park has Attractions, not rides. An Attraction can contain a ride, but the overall attraction is a story that Disney is trying to tell. (A roller coaster at Six Flags is a ride. A roller coaster at a Disney park is an Attraction.) Thus, a stage show, movie, thrill ride or any entertainment venue at Disney is an "Attraction". (Sklar says he had such an aversion to the word "ride", that it was eliminated from almost all attractions. There are four exceptions across all the Disney Parks, among them The Great Movie Ride and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.)
- An attraction has several components. In order, they are:
- The Entry Queue, or the line to enter the attraction. This sounds pretty basic, but Disney in many cases is trying to make the queue less boring than just standing in line. For instance, putting interactive exhibits like the new cemetery at Haunted Mansion or the touch walls/play areas in Winnie the Pooh. Many of the Fastpass queues will bypass some pretty interesting things, so it might save you some time, but you should do the stand-by line at least once. Some of the queues are exquisitely themed... but you're still just waiting in line. :-)
- If the attraction needs one, a Pre-Show. A Pre-Show is some sort of presentation that sets up the premise or mood of the attraction. It is separate from the entrance queue, and generally has the guest in an enclosed room where Disney can control the audio and visual. The Pre-Show may also have other functions, such as getting the guest's eyes used to the dark, or just be something to entertain the guest while waiting for the attraction to start.
- The attraction itself. This can be a movie, live stage presentation, just about anything. It could also be a ride. If it's a ride, there are several more components.
- The Load Queue. Yet another line to wait in, but this time it's to enter a ride vehicle. At some point, the guest is told where to wait on the "Load Platform" by a CM.
- A ride vehicle is the vehicle the guest boards. It can be a train, boat, a roller-coaster car, a flying sailing ship... If a guest can get on or in the vehicle and it moves, it's a ride vehicle.
- The Unload Platform, which may not be the same place as the Load Platform.
- An optional post-show.
A perfect example of the above is Haunted Mansion.. The Imagineers came up with a new interactive Cemetery, meant to be touched, or even spoken to, all in a new entry queue (which you can bypass.) Once you enter the attraction, you are put into a darkened room to wait for an "elevator", then into the isolated "elevator" room for the pre-show, setting the mood for the attraction and getting the guest's eyes used to the dark. The guest exits the pre-show, and enters a load queue, the line to get to the doom buggies. The Cast Member regulates the flow of the guests onto the Load Platform, a moving belt which moves at the same speed as the ride vehicle, in this case a Doom Buggy. The Doom Buggy moves through the attraction, and ends up at the Unload Platform, another moving belt walkway. There is an optional post-show, outside the Mansion, a couple more crypts and the Pet Cemetery.
- Rehab or Refurb. It's slang for "Rehabilitation" or "Refurbishment" of an attraction. This could entail the attraction being shut down for a specified period of time, from days to months depending on the work that needs to be done. Sometimes it's as simple as a new paint job, sometimes it's the complete makeover or replacement of some interior portion of the attraction.
- A Hard Ticket event is a pre-paid ticket only good on a specific date. The two most popular are the holiday parties at Magic Kingdom, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.
- Table Service restaurants are restaurants that have waiters/waitresses and they bring the food to the table, and you pay the bill at the end of the meal. Counter Service restaurants are places where you have to get your food (a-la-carte), and pay for it before you sit down to eat it. These may or may not be a food court.
Abbreviations
I am trying to write out all abbreviations. If I do use one, I'll make sure I highlight the abbreviation in the paragraph or two previous. For instance, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP). Yes, I could paste in "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" in every instance, but... I'm not.Some legacy abbreviations (or one's that might/will still appear):
- WDW: Walt Disney World
- MK: Magic Kingdom
- DMGM or DHS: Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios).
- AK or DAK: Animal Kingdom (or more correctly Disney's Animal Kingdom).
- TTC: The Ticket and Transportation Center.
- DTD: Downtown Disney.
- EMH: Extra Magic Hours. Extended park hours for on-site guests only.
- DVC: Disney Vacation Club. The Disney not-really-a-timeshare timeshare.
- D23: Not an abbreviation, but Disney's Fan Club.
Themeing
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| Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, even the garbage cans at Disney World are themed... |
Themeing refers to the decoration and ambience of a space toward a particular concept. In the world of show business, it might be called "set dressing". In the real world, it means design, decoration, color, lighting and sound, and sometimes touch. (And sometimes even smell.) Attention has to be given to the guests entire surroundings, not just what's in front of a lens on a set. And this extends to any and all public areas owned by Disney, from a Disney Store in any city, to a Disney Resort, to an attraction in one of the Disney Parks.
There are general overall themes to Walt Disney World, which is generally followed in the absence of a more specific theme. For example, you'll rarely find straight lines at Disney World, unless a more specific theme demands it, cause straight is boring, and curves give new views all the time. So all the roads, waterways and guest paths curve. Another is most man-made structure or machinery which looks like it doesn't belong is hidden. For instance, pipes and valves are enclosed in a building, hidden by vegetation, or are backstage out of the eyes of the guest. But the pipes and valves in Living With The Land is visible in the greenhouses, because that's exactly what you'd expect to see in a greenhouse. But the pumps, pipes and valves that move the water to propel the boats are not.
However, once a more specific theme is established, nothing should break that theme unless practicality demands it. (For instance, you can theme the lobby and registration areas of the on-site hotels, but there's not too much you can do to theme the registration terminals and other office equipment.)
The theme is not only about the surroundings, sound and lighting, but extends all the way to how the cast members are dressed. Disney even has their own costuming department which turns out all the costumes and uniforms the cast members wear, from the guy who empties the trash cans, to the custom made dresses the princesses wear. (And for those ultra-high-profile characters such as Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, etc, those dresses are custom made to fit those cast members.) It's an incredible operation.
Of the four parks at Walt Disney World (or all six American Parks for that matter), Animal Kingdom has got to be the best themed park. (Not the best park, imho, the best themed park.) Stop just about anywhere, and look around. The buildings, light poles, and even the benches (or places to sit), have been given amazing detail and match the surroundings as if they belong there.
The best themed attraction is probably Haunted Mansion. From the queue that lets you see the Manor (and the new graveyard) to the Pet Cemetery, it has to be Imagineering's finest. Honorable mention to Toy Story Midway Mania and Expedition Everest's queue.
Lodging
On or off site?
First, yes, you have to make reservations before you go, regardless of where you stay. Walt Disney World is a popular place. It's been over 10 years since I've stayed off-site, so I'm probably a useless source of information in that regard. The best I can tell you, is the two best options for rooms is probably on US-192 to the South, and in Lake Buena Vista to the East.However, do the math. A cheaper hotel isn't always the cheaper option, when you consider having to rent a car or take a taxi if your hotel has no courtesy van. Airport to hotel runs and daily transportation to the park can get expensive by taxi. Renting a car and driving to the parks every day will incur a parking fee ($17 per day unless you have an Annual Pass). There was a time when I was staying off-site, arrived early to the hotel about noon, and was turned away until the 3pm check-in time. The lobby was full of people just waiting with their luggage for rooms.
Contrast this with staying at a Disney Resort. Yes, I may be a bit biased, but these are the advantages, I think.
- Assuming you fly, transportation to and from the Airport to your resort is provided at no additional charge, via a service called "Magical Express". (Where else but Disney could your get away with calling something The Magical Express?) As a matter of fact (if your airline participates in this service), once you check your luggage in at your departing airport, the next time you see it will be at the resort. On the way home, you take your luggage to the Magical Express office, and the next time you see it will be on the carousel at your home airport.
- If your room isn't ready when you arrive, Disney will hold your suitcase(s) in a secure area while you go and play.
- Disney then supplies all the transportation needs to and from your resort to the parks, Downtown Disney and other venues on property. This makes returning to your room in the hot afternoon, then going to another park later that evening exceedingly easy. Not having to drive with all the other tourists who have no ideal where they're going, nor having to deal with the parking lots at park closing was a huge plus in my decision to stay on-site.
- Safety. I suspect there is more security at the resorts than meets the eye. I once was loading my car at 4am (yes, you read that correctly) and there was Disney Security riding through the parking lot on bicycle, which made me feel much better than in some places (not necessarily in the WDW area) that had put up chain link fences around the property to keep people out.
- Extra Magic Hours. Extra Magic Hours (EMH) is a perk for on-site guests. They are typically an hour before or three hours after a park would open or close for an off-site guest. Early or late hours happens almost every day of the week at one of the four parks. I admit, I almost never do Early Extra Magic Hours, but I often do the late EMH. This sometimes keeps Magic Kingdom open in the summers to 2am...
- There are other advantages, like having your room card double as a charge card in the parks, eliminating the need to carry a lot of cash or credit card, though I do take one, just in case. (Florida law, I believe, requires all hotel rooms to have an in-room safe for storing valuables. Disney uses a one time 4-digit password electronic wall safe, big enough to hold all your other cash, credit cards, jewelry, etc.) By using Disney as your bank, the room card charges consolidates entries on your credit card, and you'll receive a day-by-day summary of your expenses during the trip, from hotel room costs to a list of the places you bought stuff from. (Charges to your room card are eventually billed to your credit card in lump sums.) This also leads to a detailed list of charges at the end of your stay, and can be printed or sent to you by e-mail. If you bought a package, then your room key also doubles as your entrance media.
Of course, you are then essentially held hostage by Disney throughout your vacation, but that isn't the worst thing. Disney had made it enticingly easy to not leave their property. It's true things like food is more expensive on-site, but you may find some of Disney's package deals more than make up for it. You just have to do your homework and figure out your costs for vacation packages with meal plans, or figure average cost of your food when making dinner reservations. (There are sites on the web that actually has menus from the dozens (hundreds?) of restaurants on property.) Though I don't personally advocate the meal plans, it does control the cost of a Disney vacation by pre-paying the majority of the expenses (lodging, food, park passes and even airfare), and is sometimes quite a deal.
So the following mostly pertains to staying on-site.
A Discussion on Room Types
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| Adjoining rooms at Art of Animation. A typical room has twin beds, and one with a King bed (only available, I believe, as a handicap room.) The King Bed room frees a considerable amount of floor space for a scooter or wheelchair. |
Things to keep in mind about Room Types.
- One option is the view. As a rule, Values and Moderates have outdoor corridors. So any view at those resorts will include other guests walking in front of your view. (The exception is the Art of Animation Family Suite buildings which have indoor corridors.) Deluxes and Deluxe Villas generally have indoor corridors. (Exceptions are places like Saratoga Springs which have outdoor corridors, and Old Key West, which are stand alone buildings.)
- Views are typically (in descending price):
- Park (Monorail hotels only), Savanna (Animal Kingdom Lodge only), Lake or Water views.
- Garden views.
- Pool views.
- Parking Lot views.
- Some have the option of a King size bed. If there are only two in the room, and you don't mind sharing a bed, a King room will free up a considerable amount of floor space for luggage and other stuff, should you need it. This is more important if you have someone on a scooter or in a wheelchair, since you need someplace to put it while in the room.
Seasonal Boundaries and Blocks of Rooms for Special Offers
If you buy a package of some type, the price of the room is the price of the room. However, if you don't buy a package, and reserve a room a-la-carte, there are a couple of things to know.First is price fluctuation. Rooms are more expensive on weekends than on weekdays, prices are higher during the tourist seasons and holidays than off-season. (Which may not really exist anymore.) If you happen to be staying during a seasonal boundary, the price of the room could go up or down by more than a few dollars. The daily breakdown of room costs will be shown to you before you finalize the reservation. If you have the flexibility, it might be worth it to move your vacation a week forward or backward to save a few dollars. This also applies to Annual Pass rates, which could go up or down or exclude certain resorts.
A more frustrating problem can arise if your vacation lies across offer boundaries. Let me give you an example of what happened to me.
I was making Annual Pass reservations for two rooms, one a normal room, the other a handicap accessible room, from date X for seven days. The Annual Pass rates expired two days after date X, so if you looked at the reservation, the first two days were at the AP rate, and the last five were full rack rate. This normally isn't a problem. Once Disney announces the new AP rates, you can call and have those last five days converted from full rack rate to the discounted AP rate.
This is where you have to understand how Disney allocates the hotel rooms. There isn't an unlimited number of special offer rooms. So there's a certain number of rooms allocated for Annual Pass rates, another set for another offer, etc. Even at the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resorts, there are blocks of rooms for DVC owners, with another for mortal rentals.
So when I called to convert the rooms to an AP rate, I found they didn't have the combination of rooms available in the new block of AP rate rooms, so I was stuck with a reservation with five days at full rack, which I couldn't get at AP rates, even though I had the reservation in hand for the rooms. (I ended up canceling everything and starting over, which was an adventure in its own right. You can read about it here.)
The discussion on resort "levels" (Value, Moderate, Deluxe, etc.) and amenities are addressed on the Walt Disney World On-site Resorts page.
Getting There by Car
As mentioned before, I'm probably not your typical guest. For starters, I live more than a thousand miles from Walt Disney World, and I drive there. (I quit flying decades ago, and I really like being on the road, so the drive is just part of the vacation.) If you decide to drive and the trip will take more than a day, see my section on How I plan a Road Trip for some travel tips and suggestions.)If you're like 99% of the country and live North of Orlando, Florida, then your approach to Disney World is via I-75 or I-95.
If you're coming down I-75 through Atlanta, you'll see the entire South Georgia Pecan and Peach Tourist Corridor, then the Florida Citrus and Disney World Souvenir Tourist Corridor. Fifteen or twenty miles past Ocala, is the Florida Turnpike. Take it, it's worth the toll. The free alternative is to take I-75 South to Tampa, then I-4 to Disney World, but you'll waste more money in gas, than you would for the toll.
Once you pass the Okahumpka rest stop, you'll have two choices. The first is Florida SR-429, another toll road, which will bring you into Disney World from the West, through the Western Way entrance. This really isn't a backdoor, but it's definitely less crowded entering the World via Western Way.
However, if it's your first time driving to Disney World, you might want to continue on the Turnpike to I-4, and take I-4 toward Disney World. (Just follow the signs, you will be making a confusing 270 degree turn from the Turnpike to I-4, so they can funnel you through the toll booth.)
If you are coming South down I-95, you'll want to exit onto I-4 just past Daytona Beach. (If you want to see Kennedy Space Center, continue South on I-95 to KSC, then Florida Tollway-528 (the Beeline) will take you straight to Walt Disney World.)
Either way, coming down I-4 will show you where Universal Orlando and SeaWorld are in relation to Disney World, as well as some of the circus along International Drive, a place that only exists because Walt decided to build his East Coast park here.
Going this way is also easier to find your resort, since they have separate exits for Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Downtown Disney and Animal Kingdom, the current four resort groupings. This route will also have access to hotels with exits to International Drive, Buena Vista, and US-192.
Are you a newbie (or at least a rookie) planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Here's a shameless plug for someone I know. It's a book titled So ... You're Going to Disney World: How I learned to stop worrying and embrace the planning process by Steve Russo, and it's available on Amazon. (He's more the norm, or at least he was (snicker), flying to Orlando, taking kids, and other things I'm either not qualified to talk about, or just don't want to talk about, like where to eat or stay.) It's humorous and informative, and the even the seasoned pro will find him/herself agreeing with his observations. No, I don't get anything for the plug, and the last time I saw Steve, I bought the scotch. Now there's gratitude for you...
I should put a disclaimer here that Disney is implementing some changes that will revolutionize the park experience, and this book won't cover those changes. But it will still provide insights into how to plan things.
End Walt Disney World (overview) - Part 2.
| Jump to: | Part 1, History | Part 2, Brain Dumps | Part 3, Pictures and Overview |
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- 06/10/2015 - Page split
- 06/21/2015 - Rewrite and update
- September 2022 - Upgrade to v5.0.
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