Update for August 28 ? September 4, 2006
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News and Views
First hurricane of the season may be heading for Florida
Ernesto, the first hurricane of the Atlantic tropical cyclone season, was showing
a track on Sunday that would take it through the northern portion of Florida.
While currently downgraded to a tropical storm, Ernesto is expected to become
a hurricane again after crossing Cuba and getting into the warm waters of
the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm shows only a 6 percent chance of hitting Orlando with hurricane-force winds, but a 43 percent chance of hitting with tropical storm-force winds, most likely on Wednesday.
If widespread evacuations are announced for areas of Florida, look for crowds to increase at Walt Disney World, as it is one of the safest places to be during a hurricane. Its utilities are all underground, meaning that winds cannot knock out power, phones or other services, and downed trees cannot hurt the utilities, either. There is a sufficiently large staff to care for guests, and plenty of food. While it may be a concern to you if you are planning to fly in on Wednesday, you should be fine otherwise. As always, you can obtain up-to-date information from several online weather sources, including the National Hurricane Center (link).
Construction walls are up around the World Showcase Promenade as Epcot prepares for the Food & Wine Festival. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
Keys to the Kingdom sweepstakes deadline is Thursday
Just a reminder that the Keys to the Kingdom Sweepstakes entry deadline is this Thursday. If you haven’t registered yet, time is running out! Register for the sweepstakes online (link).
The Yorkshire County Fish Shop gets some touch-up work done. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
Magic Kingdom bus stops shuffled
The bus stops at the Magic Kingdom are going through a major restructuring through December 20. Currently, the north bus loop?which includes stops 1 through 5?is closed to allow for the removal of stone pavers, which will be replaced by concrete. The loop should be completed before the peak holiday season. After the holiday crowds clear out, the south loop closes for the same refurbishment treatment.
Update: We have received many inquiries as to whether the stone pavers being replaced are the “Walk Around the World” bricks. The answer to that question is no. The pavers are those in the roadway that the buses drive on. If you notice the second photo below, you can see the grey pavers in the roadway. The “Walk Around the World” pavers will remain where they are.
The north bus loop is blocked off for major construction work. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
Due to the reduction in the number of stops, the Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness will not have direct bus service to the Magic Kingdom until the work is completed. Guests will need to either take a boat directly between the Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness and the park or take a bus to the Transportation and Ticket Center, then a monorail or ferry to the Magic Kingdom.
Construction vehicles prepare to tear into the stone pavers in the north bus loop. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
The current restructuring of the bus stops is as follows:
- 1-5: closed
- 6: Yacht & Beach Club Resorts (formerly 8)
- 7: Saratoga Springs Resort (formerly 2)
- 8: Coronado Springs Resort (formerly 10)
- 9: Animal Kingdom Lodge (formerly 3)
- 10: Old Key West Resort (formerly 9)
- 11: Port Orleans French Quarter Resort (formerly 6)
- 12: Port Orleans Riverside Resort (formerly 5)
- 13: All Star Movies Resort (formerly 12)
- 14: All Star Music Resort (formerly 13)
- 15: All Star Sports Resort (formerly 14)
- 16: Caribbean Beach Resort
- 17: Boardwalk Resort, Swan & Dolphin Hotels (formerly 7)
- 18: Pop Century Resort
We’ll let you know as we get more information on the next phases of this project.
Very Merry and Not So Scary traffic jams may be ahead
Back on June 26 (link), we reported that it appeared that Disney was going to be closing the Magic Kingdom to the general public at 7 p.m. on the nights that the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was scheduled to start, the same time that the hard-ticketed event was to start. At the time, the dates for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party showed a 6 p.m. closing time for those nights, giving the usual one-hour cushion to clear the park.
The following week (link), we noted that we had been reassured by a source that the park would indeed be closing at 6 p.m. on the nights of the Christmas party, and that the problem was due to a change in the scheduling systems.
We’ve now been advised by the same source that the park will indeed close at 7 p.m., not only for the Christmas party but for the Halloween party as well. This is to reduce guest complaints for not being aware that the park was closing early, despite the schedule being available online months in advance and signs being posted at the entrance to the park all day. The park will also have a showing of Wishes at 6 p.m. on the nights of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so that guests will not be able to complain of being unable to see fireworks to conclude their Magic Kingdom day. It will still be too light out at 6 p.m. to show Wishes before the Halloween party.
Apparently, the same accommodation is not being made before the Nights of Joy hard-ticketed event, with the park closing at 6 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. start of the special event. On the nights of the Disney Pirate and Princess Parties in January, February and March, the park closes at 7 p.m. with a 6:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m. or 7 p.m. showing of Wishes before the special event is held from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Look for the schedule of the Halloween and Christmas parties to be backed up by a half-hour next year to match this schedule.
Since the times have reverted to those in our original story, we’ll reiterate our concern.
The park has already been experiencing a problem with non-paying guests hiding out in the park until the event starts and taking advantage of viewing the parades, fireworks and other special entertainment for the party without wearing event wristbands. (The wristbands, obtained in exchange for the special passes for the hard-ticketed event, are really only checked when the guests attempt to board an attraction.) Without the time to sweep the park for non-paying guests, it’s almost guaranteed to be a mob scene as hundreds or even thousands of extra guests swell the park beyond the 25,000 people who paid to attend the “exclusive” event.
It’s unknown at this point whether Disney has another method in mind for clearing those who did not pay in order to preserve seats at popular shows for those who had actually paid for the privilege. Also endangered is the supply of free hot chocolate and cookies given to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party guests.
Perhaps Disney will have roving teams of cast members prepared to eject those who do not have the requisite wristbands during the party, or the various lands of the Magic Kingdom may go through an early “soft-close” for all guests not wearing wristbands. We’ll have to wait and see how well things work out. If you’re going to be attending one of these parties, please let us know how the crowd-control issues sort themselves out.
A dream of freedom from snow globes
While I was at Walt Disney World with my family and friends last week, I somehow managed to never be at the Magic Kingdom at 3:00 p.m. to catch the revised Disney Dreams Come True Parade. Fortunately, Brian Warneke was, and provides this look at the changed floats in the parade.
The parade’s opening unit bears the new name. Photo by Brian Warneke.
Mickey can breathe easier without his snowglobe on the “It All Started With a Mouse” float. Photo by Brian Warneke.
The “Wish Upon a Star” float has exchanged its globe for Gepetto’s wood shop. Photo by Brian Warneke.
The “A Thousand Dreams to See” float is now globe-free. Photo by Brian Warneke.
The “Face the Darkest Fears” float has replaced its snow globe with a library for Maleficent. Photo by Brian Warneke.
Cinderella, her prince and the Fairy Godmother ride the first portion of the newly reassembled “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” float. Photo by Brian Warneke.
The floral structure over Belle and the Beast is smaller without the snow globe to support it. Photo by Brian Warneke.
Ariel and Prince Eric bring up the tail end of the three-part float. Photo by Brian Warneke.
We haven’t bothered with the “As Long As There Is Imagination Left In The World” float, as the snowglobe has remained a part of the float.
