DISNEY WORLD TRAVEL
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Home > Travel Tips Here are some helpful hints on making the most of your Disney World vacation.
One night (December 2001) while I was at Disney World, the temperature dropped below freezing. The next day I saw gardening crews digging up frostbitten flowers and replacing them with new ones. Q: What gives me the right to maintain an unofficial Disney World advice page? A: Taking my vacation at Disney World. Q: What is Disney World? A: The entire 47 odd square mile tract of land near Orlando Florida owned by the Walt Disney Company. This tract is about the size of a roughly square area encompassing downtown San Francisco and immediate Pacific coast suburbs, or twice the area of Manhattan Island in New York. (Individual theme parks, resorts, etc. should be referred to by their names such as "Magic Kingdom", "Pleasure Island", "Coronado Springs Resort", etc. Disney Parks Close Due To Storm On September 14 and 15, 1999 all four Florida Disney theme parks were closed. I am told this was the first weather closure in Disney World's history. On Tuesday morning the 14'th, Hurricane Floyd was still over 300 miles from Miami. But Floyd was one of the biggest storms ever measured, winds over 60 miles per hour in a space 600 miles in diameter, bigger than the state of Texas. Disney, which can serve as an evacuation haven for most hurricanes, would have experienced the full fury of the storm had it come ashore at that latitude. As it turned out the storm missed Disney World, delivering only a few strong wind gusts. Yet Disney had served the public interest better by not opening its parks. The news reports did not say whether resort guests stayed in their rooms. Disney World has become so large and complex and serves so many people that it takes "a hell of a long time" to shut down from a full operating condition. Once the theme parks go into emergency mode, all the guests have to be bused back to the resort hotels. For each park, rides and attractions have to close immediately since the guests won't leave until this happens. Then everyone leaves at the last minute. No matter what you do, the bus stations and parking lot exits will be jammed for hours. Buses will be mired down in traffic. The earlier the parks close completely, the earlier the evacuation and busing will effectively begin. Meanwhile back at the resorts, the check out desks will be jammed. We estimate that some of the resorts (at least three) will take upwards of six hours to check everyone out not counting "frictional" delays such as guests' asking for refunds and complaining. Then throngs of people would be waiting for shuttle buses to the airport. For them the choices are three, find shelter in a Disney building, at the closed airport, or at some shelter in between. Shortage of bus transportation would probably force the first choice on many. I am told that most Disney World buildings are constructed to withstand hurricane force winds, but the hotel rooms and resort common areas have large expanses of glass that could be shattered by tree branches torn off and flung about. With the theme parks closed on Tuesday, people had nothing to do except leisurely pack up and check out.Whether they did so at eight AM or at 1 PM, everyone was treated equally. They could loll around the pool (but probably not go in) while waiting to check out. With the theme parks closed, the departure of guests from the resorts can be expected to be quite evenly distributed without undue traffic jams. Many guests for whom the storm hits in the middle of their vacation will want to check back in after the storm. I am not sure whether this happens but it makes sense for Disney to delete the nights the rooms are closed from guests' folios but not actually check the guests out. Transportation to shelters would have to be provided directly from the resorts since the guests are not apt to consume their airport return vouchers just to wait out the storm at the closed airport. In the theme parks the employees would have time to put away tables and chairs and take down hanging signs and banners tied to lamp posts. Late Wednesday all danger from the storm had passed and Disney announced that the parks would re-open on time on Thursday. It is reasonable to expect guests to pay the normal room rate if the storm is not too severe and they stay in their rooms. But all "food 'n fun (R)" passes and "unlimited magic" passes should be recomputed to exclude the days the parks are closed, and appropriate refunds made. A Tale Of Two Trips To Disney World (For budget conscious travelers) Although the actual trips were taken solo, we have estimated two sets of figures, the first is the cost for a couple, and the second is for a family of four. Theme park admission is not included; it would be the same regardless of whether you stayed at a Disney resort. Trip #1 -- Staying at a Disney Resort (Trip used for comparison was taken over Thanksgiving)
Trip #2 -- Renting a car and staying outside of Disney Worls (Trip used for comparison was taken two weeks before Christmas)
Things we estimate will be the same for both trips:
Things Not To See At Disney World You spent a lot of money to travel down to Florida. Therefore you should see and do things that you couldn't see and do back at home. Disney makes the most money when you stay in their resorts, buy "length of stay" park privileges, but go off and do activities outside their theme parks. This is not a hard and fast rule but in general the following places and things should be avoided: 1. The AMC theater near Pleasure Island
2. Downtown Disney Market Place
3. The video games in the Epcot Innoventions building.
More Do's and Don'ts If you arrive late in the day or will be departing early in the day, do not go into any of the theme parks unless you have a "length of stay" pass or an annual pass. You don't want to consume a day's worth of the pass for just a few hours. If you arrive late in the day, the AMC theater or skating rink may make sense. If your child is not old enough to go off on his own, he is not old enough to hold his own ticket or ID card. You should collect all of the tickets, etc. just after everyone passes through the turnstiles at the park entrance. Tickets should be kept in a pocket that can be zippered or buttoned shut. An alternative is a tight fitting sleeve such as the Water Wallet (R) that is safety pinned inside a pocket and that covers the card completely. Replace the ticket in the sleeve as soon as you are done using it. Tickets and dollar bills should not be loose in a pocket, when you pull something else out of the pocket the ticket may fall out. You may punch a hole in a ticket (not through the magnetic stripe or printed information) and safety pin the ticket to the inside of a pocket. Disney tickets must be guarded as carefully as airplane tickets or cash. If one is lost it should be reported because the electronic systems have a chance to capture the card. There is still no guarantee it will be found. Hint from a Disneyinfo.com forum contributor: Photocopy twice all airplane tickets, park tickets, passes, vouchers, reservation confirmations, both sides. Leave one copy at home, bring the other copy with you but keep it safe (in the room safe if possible). This will help if the tickets themselves get lost. When it comes to spoiled vacations Disney is not truly heartless. Go to a guest relations department in any park or resort and ask for help. If you had a purse with all the children's park passes stolen, or if you are staying at a Disney resort, chances are you will get a substantial discount in getting back park entry privileges for the rest of your stay. The so called unlimited magic or length of stay pass is easy for them to replace. Do not walk around with anything visible from a back pants pocket. That object will certainly rise up and fall out. Or it might be pilfered. It is OK to fold large cards but not pictures so they will fit completely in a pocket. As of this writing, you can enter Pleasure Island without paying admission and without using your park pass or ticket before 6 PM. However to buy alcoholic drinks or enter any of the clubs, you need an ID bracelet which you can only get by exiting and coming back in through the turnstile after 7. So if you don't have a length of stay privilege you can save on the admission price if you don't drink. If there is a Disney Store near where you live, you are better off not buying souvenirs at Disney World. Buying souvenirs at the parks means more luggage you have to carry home. More Mickey and Donald I was at the Animal Kingdom this month and talking to some of the employees. One of them commented that patron suggestions included a lot of "we would like to see more Disney characters." So a section of that theme park has been set aside for costumed Mickey Mouse and friends. Choosing a Disney Resort The All Star resorts, in addition to being the least expensive within the Disney complex, have the advantage of better bus service during off hours due to the bigger population. Phase 3 (with a "movies" theme) opened in early 1999 bringing the total number of budget rooms to nearly 5800 and the peak population to about 15000. The three resort bus stops are very close together so the ride to the destination is more direct. Reserve well in advance, internal sources tell me the occupancy rate so far tends to be above 90% most of the time with many sold out nights. Rates per night are approximately (1998, in USD) $80. fall, $90. summer, $100. Christmas. The Pop Century resort will also have upwards of 5000 budget rooms and is opening little by little starting in 2002. For the next step up in resort luxury, Port Orleans also has a critical mass to receive good bus service. Rates are (for 1998) approximately $115. fall, $135. summer, $150. Christmas. (Dixie Landings is now called Port Orleans Riverside.) The most cost effective use of Disney World means spending very little time in the room. Therefore further step ups are probably not worthwhile for the average family. Do you really want to pay "a $200. per night surcharge" just to have monorail transportation to the Magic Kingdom? Even if you don't have a length of stay pass, Disney doesn't mind if you stay in their resorts and go off to other places like Universal Studios or Sea World. In fact, shuttle buses (extra cost) run regularly to Universal Studios and a few other selected locations. If you have a car, some hotels and motels outside the Disney complex, even some on U.S. 192 within a mile of the Disney freeway entrance (World Drive), can be had for half the All Star resort rate. Shop around. Fast Pass Is For Everybody A reminder, anybody can use Fast Pass to reduce time spent waiting in line. Fast Pass is like making an appointment. After you get your Fast Pass, you can have lunch or do other things including waiting in line for the same ride and saving your Fast Pass to ride it a second time. However Fast Pass is not meant to get you into the ride sooner, you always have to come back later. You can get another Fast Pass two hours later or when the Fast Pass you already have matures, whichever comes first. Since park hopping consumes time for travel, you are better off spending the entire day in one park during which time you can probably get at least 5 Fast Passes. If you have an older admission ticket or hopper pass that does not fit in the turnstiles, you should exchange it at the ticket window before entering the park, they will give you a ticket with the same number of days remaining that fits the turnstiles and Fast Pass machines. Some variations of Fast Pass exist, for example Universal Studios gives out a card where they will stamp a return time (appointment time) for each ride you wish, subject to capacity (availability).. Most rides allow isolated seats or parts of a bench to go empty if the next group of people can't all fit. Test Track at Epcot is an exception, they fill every seat whenever possible. In addition to the Fast Pass line there is another line for "single" riders. If your group does not mind being split up, you can use this line for a shorter wait. Some VIP passes are issued. I got one for Test Track when I took a backstage tour (extra cost) at Epcot which included some behind the scenes views of Test Track. Every ride has a "capacity" in terms of number of riders per hour. Fast Pass is intended to commandeer a percentage of the ride's capacity, anywhere from 40 to 80 percent based on secret formulas that vary with day and time. If the ride has a capacity of 1000 riders per hour and 80 percent is commandeered for Fast Pass, then the machines will issue 800 Fast Passes stamped with a return time within that hour. Eighty percent means that on average four people are served from the Fast Pass return line for every one person served from the regular (standby) line. After the allotment is consumed for all hours up until park closing time, the Fast Pass machines are "sold out" for the day. This can happen before noon. Currently (2001) VIP passes, privileges, and perks consume a negligible part of the capacity of rides, probably less than one percent. Often the VIP entrance is via obscure doors and corridors or by "walking up the down staircase". Rumor has it that Disney may some day take a significant part of ride capacity for VIP use, which might include guests staying at some of the pricier resorts, or guests who purchase (at great cost) VIP privileges. There may even be single ride coupons sold for a fee, similar to the way rides were individually ticketed when the Magic Kingdom first opened. VIP riders would probably enter via the Fast Pass line since the obscure doors and gates would require too much supervision. The result would be fewer (free) Fast Passes issued before the machines are sold out, and/or more times when the regular (free) waiting line gets only 20% of the ride capacity. We cannot blame Disney for this as Disney is a profit making corporation. There is still room in the Fast Pass system for error. Sometimes the ride operator uses the wrong formula for how many Fast Pass riders to admit. If a ride breaks down (the popular Test Track breaks down a lot) guests with Fast Passes that expired during the breakdown are still admitted and the Fast Pass line can back up. According to Corey Sandler, author of the Econoguide book series, Universal Studios in Orlando has offered a limited quantity VIP four hour visit with line cutting privileges. Up to 15 people for $90.00 apiece or $900.00 for a group of 11 to 15 you assemble yourself (1997 prices), go with a tour guide. This tour does not include lunch. This writer believes that families accompanying handicapped children should have VIP privileges. This may be limited to rides the handicapped child is able to ride and to family members in his/her presence. Not all rides have or will have Fast Pass because of the cost of the equipment and remodeling of the queueing and loading areas. For rides that tend to have little or no wait during a few hours of most days, you are simply advised to come back during those times. How Effective is Fast Pass? Very. Let's say a ride has a capacity of 1000 guests per hour and the park is open 9 to 9. During these 12 hours approximately 12000 guests can ride and that is it. Before Fast Pass, if the average wait was one hour then people that day spent 12000 hours altogether waiting in line for that ride. That was easy to compute. By the way 12000 hours is about 16-1/2 months or almost 1-1/2 years. And it was repeated the next day. Next suppose that three Fast Pass riders were admitted for every one regular (standby) rider. This means that of the 12000 riders that day, 9000 of them had Fast Passes. Let's say that Fast Pass forced the regular riders to wait 1-1/2 hours instead of 1 hour while Fast Pass riders didn't wait at all. So we have 9000 people who did not spend any time waiting and 3000 riders who waited an average of 1-1/2 hours each for a total wait of 4500 hours. That is about six months of waiting compared with 16 months without Fast Pass. Thus Fast Pass saved ten months of standing in line! Fast Pass generally does not push what was a one hour regular wait up to two or more hours because people just don't join the waiting line when it gets that long. Someone on "The Dis" (disneyinfo.com) suggested that instead of three Fast Pass riders for every one regular rider it should be the other way around, one Fast Pass rider for every three regular riders. That would mean that the 1000 rider per hour ride would have only 250 Fast Passes per hour, or 3000 passes issued between 9 AM and 9 PM (or earlier if the machines ran out sooner). The 3000 Fast Pass riders would suffer no wait while the 9000 regular riders wait the same way as before Fast Pass was invented, which was one hour. (Remember that at 1000 riders per hour only 12000 lucky souls get to ride at all that day.) The total time spent in line is 9000 hours or slightly over one year. This is twice as much waiting compared with three Fast Pass riders for every one regular rider. OK, OK, Fast Pass riders really didn't escape waiting. After all they had to spend some time fetching the Fast Pass from the machine, and also the Fast Pass line sometimes backs up. Let's say that on average, each Fast Pass rider spent 15 minutes waiting. So 9000 people with Fast Passes (3 to 1 ratio) cumulatively spent 2250 hours waiting while the 3000 people without Fast Passes cumulatively spent 4500 hours for a total of 6750 hours or about nine months. Still a savings of seven months compared with the 16 months of waiting before Fast Pass was invented. Annual Passes The best way to get annual passes is directly at one of the four major theme parks, go to the guest services window. Some folks have purchased annual passes at resorts but this is subject to change. Disney has experimented with different ways of renewing annual passes and this has caused confusion. The latest rule (2001) more closely fits the definition of "renew" in that the next annual pass activates the day after the previous one expires regardless of when you perform the renewal. Depending on when and how often you visit, you may save money by letting the pass expire and buying another one (without the renewal discount) on your next visit. You cannot truthfully say you have been a Passholder since such and such a year if, during that time span, you have let a pass expire and it was weeks or months later before you purchased another. Hopper Passes Currently (2002) using an "option" on a Hopper Plus pass does not consume a "day". Therefore it is more cost effective to visit Pleasure Island or water parks on a day that you do not go into any of the major theme parks. Older hopper passes gave unlimited admission to the water parks and Pleasure Island for the first seven days since the first usage anywhere. Brought back weeks or months later, they therefore cannot have any "options left". Probably in response to Universal Studios' second day free program, Disney has offered its "bounce back" feature for single day tickets during certain times of the year. Bounce Back offers $5.00 off for a second day out of the next three days and $10.00 off for a third day within a week of the first day (any one park per day). Also Pleasure Island has from time to time offered an upgrade to five more consecutive nights for a few dollars ($5.00 as of 12/00) after your purchase of one admission as a single ticket. Although Hopper pass unused days never expire, these occasional bonuses induce visitors to buy more single tickets and encourage more future trips to Disney World to finally consume the the previously bought hopper passes. Some of the hopper and single day passes given as gifts by time share condominium operators do expire, usually after a year. It has been said (Paul Harvey radio news feature) that half of all gift certificates issued and sold by stores are never redeemed. We can estimate that there are a lot of partially used hopper passes sitting in people's dresser drawers and elsewhere that have long been forgotten and Disney has profited handsomely by selling these passes with no expiration date. The official Disney web site: (http://www.disney.com) An unofficial site full of
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