Category Archives: News

WDW raises ticket prices

June 4, 2013News, Walt Disney WorldticketsDoc

As expected, Disney raised ticket prices on Sunday June 2nd (while we were at the park!) across the board.

One major change – a 1-Day Magic Your Way ticket will cost more if you want to go into the Magic Kingdom, at $95+tax (up $6), whereas it is only $90 (up $1) for the other parks. A 1-Day Park Hopper or any multi-day ticket is not affected by this difference.

A contrary to rumor, No Expiration tickets are still available.

Our MYW ticket price calculator has been updated with the new prices, although at the moment it doesn’t handle the 1-Day Magic Kingdom ticket surcharge yet as it requires extra programming.

A complete list of prices is available here.

MagicBand/MyMagic+ testing potentially under way with select guests at Animal Kingdom

April 13, 2013News, Walt Disney Worldfastpass, magicband, mymagic+Doc

WDW Magic is reporting that MagicBand testing – including full features of MyMagic+ such as Fastpass+ and touch-to-pay, is taking place, although it seems limited to pre-selected guests staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and going to the Animal Kingdom park.

I have not seen any reports from any participants yet, nor any from a rumored test with Boardwalk Inn guests that was supposed to have happened already. It remains to be seen how this all works out.

WDW cancels all Epcot Segway tours indefinitely

February 18, 2013News, Walt Disney Worldepcot, toursDoc

According to this thread, all Segway tours at Epcot have been canceled effective immediately and they are contacting guests who had reservations, and indications are that they will not return.

Disney is not giving any information as to why, so naturally there is lots of speculation. However, there are two leading contenders:

Although the results of a lawsuit against Disney’s policy of allowing guests to use their own Segways in the park was ruled in Disney’s favor, there is still the potential for appeals. And the tour was often cited by the plaintiffs to show that the Segways were not as dangerous a Disney claimed.
The tour generally went around the World Showcase prior to the normal 11am opening, where guests were limited to the area between the International Gateway and the paths to Futureworld, and over to Akershus in Norway for breakfast. Now the newly remodeled bakery in France is available to guests, so there is even more foot traffic, and this could make navigating more complicated.

And it could even be a combination of the two, with the increased traffic offering a better chance for appeal if Disney was claiming the limited traffic before made it acceptable.

Segway tours at Ft. Wilderness, which are done on off-road paths, are still available.

No more Nescafé at WDW and Disneyland – to be replaced with Joffrey’s

February 9, 2013Disneyland, News, Walt Disney WorldDoc

I’m not a coffee drinker at all – tea is more my hot drink of choice – but I know a lot of them, and I know their hatred of Nescaf&eacut;, which for the longest time was the only coffee available at WDW outside of a few small locations. But Nescafé is ending its long run (thanks to the sponsorship by Nestle) at both Disneyland and WDW, and is being replaced by Joffrey’s Coffee. Joffrey’s was already operating a few kiosks and supplying specialty coffees used at some locations.

Over the next few months, Joffrey’s will be rolled in, using blends specially produced for Disney, and will be served at counter and table service locations as well as the in-room coffee at moderate and deluxe resorts.

The recently announced Starbucks agreement, where they will take over the Main Street Bakery in the Magic Kingdom, is not affected.

WDW may get rid of the No Expiration option on Magic Your Way tickets

January 16, 2013News, Walt Disney Worldmymagic+, ticketsDoc

A few weeks ago when Walt Disney World rolled out their new web site (at least to ~~North American~~ U.S. visitors), people noticed that when purchasing Magic Your Way tickets online, there was no longer a No Expiration option. It was first thought to be an oversight or bug in the new site – but when guests called, they were told that the no Expiration option would only be available on the phone or in person, not on the web site.

I’ve now recently heard that signage at WDW is being changed and the No Expiration option is not listed at all. You need to explicitly ask for it.

This is leading to speculation that they may in fact be removing the option altogether in the near future. I have no confirmation of this currently.

Note that No Expiration tickets already purchased will still be honored no matter what changes may occur.

There could be a variety of reasons for at least bringing No Expiration under cover at least. I can think of a couple (I have no info that these reasons are in fact the cause, only my speculation):

First, the option confused a LOT of guests, and they may want to cut down on the confusion by preventing people from getting it without thinking it through. It is rather expensive, and even if you used some days on the ticket and then wanted to add the No Expiration option to save the leftover days, you had to pay for the entire length of the ticket, not just the unused days. Also, you couldn’t then add days down the road – the ticket could not be modified after 14 days of first use – so adding No Expiration to save one day on a 7-day ticket and then hoping to add 3 more days on a later trip didn’t work either.

In a lot of cases as well, it doesn’t make much sense and could cost you more if you didn’t do the math. Saving three days off a 10-day ticket, and then needing to buy another ticket because your next trip needs 4 days ends up costing you more than if you just got a 7-day ticket. You had to fit two or more complete trips within the 10-day maximum for the ticket, or it didn’t make sense. Although some people would do what I call “chaining” the tickets – keep getting 10-day No Expiration tickets over and over, which is fine. Although if you could get more than 12 days or so within a calendar year, an Annual Pass was often the better deal.

Another possibility is that with the way the new MyMagic+ system appears to be headed, having these No Expiration tickets presents complications in to how the tickets themselves might be managed, when guests can reserve FastPass+ experiences, etc. So they might want to get rid of the option to solve the issues. How they’ll handle current tickets I don’t know. But a lot of changes are happening very rapidly to bring out MyMagic+, so the timing is interesting.

More info when we have it.

Some details of the forthcoming FastPass+ and MyMagic+ programs at WDW

January 7, 2013News, Walt Disney Worldfastpass, mymagic+Doc

It’s been rumored for several years – being able to book Fastpasses ahead of time like dining reservations – and it’s almost here.

Disney officially announced the new program today, which has been under some test trials since last May. There are still many, many questions to be answered, but at least we have some official details.

[FYI, this is part of the program that for a long time has been called “NextGen”]

Overall, the new program is called MyMagic+, and it advertised as a way to make the guest experience better overall. And there are three components.

It starts with a brand new web site (which went live last week for everyone) and a mobile app (already available for free for iOS and Android devices). My Disney Experience is where guests will be able to explore and set up itineraries for the visit. Specifically, through the web site, guests can:

Get more information on all Walt Disney World Resort has to offer, from resort hotels and attractions to dining and merchandise.

Design the overall experience they want, planning as much or as little as they wish.

Make dining and other reservations and FastPass+ selections.

Connect with family and friends to coordinate plans and share photos.

The big and most anticipated (or, in some cases, dreaded) part is FastPass+. This is, in essence, a way of getting a Fastpass for an attraction ahead of time, even before you arrive at WDW, for a particular time (with the usual 1 hour window). But not only for existing Fastpass attractions, but a number of additional attractions as well as other “experiences”, such as reserved parade and fireworks locations. From the press release:

Guests will be able to select FastPass+ attractions and entertainment experiences through My Disney Experience before they leave home and make changes on the go.

For the first time, guests will be able to reserve firework and parade viewing areas, shows, Disney Character Greetings and more, in addition to their favorite attractions.

For guests who don’t know where to start, Disney will recommend FastPicks – a set of three FastPass+ selections that serve as a starting point – and give guests the option to customize their selections.

Disney FastPass+ service is included with Theme Park admission.

Lastly, there is MagicBand. These are the long-rumored RFID bracelets which will combine everything that the Key To The World card that resort guests receive (room key, room charge, Magic Your Way admission ticket and Dining Plan credits), but also adding the redemption of FastPass+ access (no more paper Fastpass tickets), and PhotoPass, all in one that you just swipe on the reader.

In addition, the MagicBand will enable personalized experiences such as being greeted by name by the various characters, or having their name appear in special areas. MagicBand will only be available to guests at selected Walt Disney World resorts to start, along with guests who purchase certain other products (we believe this will apply to Annual Passholders). Other guests will be able to use their standard tickets to access most of the MyMagic+ features.

MagicBands will be available in a variety of colors, and there may even be personalized designer versions available for a fee (based on earlier rumors).

Many other questions are still to be answered. Here are some of the things we believe might come to pass…just to give an idea of our certainty, I’ve tossed in percentages based on our confidence at the current time, based on facts, rumors, conjecture and analysis. But I wouldn’t place any bets based on them. And EVERYTHING is subject to change. 🙂

We do not know when this will go live, but we think it will be within three months. (70%)

Based on testing and other documents such as the Terms & Conditions page on the My Disney Experience website, the number of FastPass+ a guest may reserve in advance each day will be limited, and the number we are hearing most is 3, although WDW could vary that number on a variety of factors, such as crowd levels, and even have different limits at different parks to entice people to less-busy parks (90%). It could even be extended to a tiered system based on resort level, but we believe that is less likely. (<10%) [Update: this article had a video with the Vice President in charge of Next Generation technology, Nick Franklin, and he stats that they are currently planning three FastPass+ advance selections, potentially more at the parks, and NO difference between resort guests and non-resort guests – all will be treated equally in the end once it is fully in place.]

It appears pretty certain that you will only be able to get FastPass+ selections in advance at a single park per day. Sorry, park hopping planners. (95%)

You can only get one FP+ per attraction/experience that day. If you want to ride again, get in the standby line. (98%)

It also appears that attractions and experiences within the park will be tiered at two levels, similar to what was done for the Birthday/Give A Disney Day Fastpass reward cards, and you will be limited to a certain number from each tier – which means you might only be able to choose one of three or four headliner (“E-ticket” or “D-ticket”) attractions, and then the balance comes from other attractions you probably wouldn’t have used a regular Fastpass on. (85%)

What we don’t know is if you can get more FastPass+ selections while you are in the park. We do know that at least for a short time, the existing Fastpass system will still exist, but if you convert your admission media to utilize FastPass+, you CANNOT use Fastpass. And we expect Fastpass to go away once all resorts are active with MagicBand and they are prepared to convert all standard tickets to RFID-compatible media. Right now, it looks like it is three FastPass+ selections, and that’s it. (80%) We unfortunately believe this, plus other uncertainties may slow voluntary adoption. This would also further limit the desirability of park hopping.

We know that Magic Your Way ticket holders, at least with resort reservations that the tickets can be associated with, will be able to make FastPass+ selections 60 days from the day of use. There will be some way to associate tickets to reservations if obtained separately (we assume the same for Annual Passholders). (98%)

We don’t know how off-site guests with Magic Your Way and Annual Passes would make FastPass+ reservations, since they don’t have a resort reservation to determine when they would be at WDW. Complete unknown.

Any time before your first scheduled FastPass+ experience, you can change all of your experiences, even to another park. Once the first scheduled time arrives and expires, you are locked in to that park, but can reschedule future experiences at least. (95%) However, if you completely miss a scheduled experience (it “expires”), it is uncertain if you still can reschedule it. The wording in this regard is unclear. We believe from our interpretation it is lost, but others say you can still reschedule. (50%)

You will be able to use a smartphone (iOS/Apple or Android) to access your FastPass+ reservations via My Disney Experience. Wi-Fi will be enabled throughout the parks, although the reliability of it remains to be seen. If you do not have/do not wish to use a smartphone, kiosks will be available throughout the parks and at the resorts. (99%) Disney could potentially make devices available as well, possibly for a fee based on past tests for other purposes, but we don’t believe so (5%) We do know that if you won’t be using a smartphone, you better have a list of your experience times on hand so you don’t have to keep track of where all the kiosks are to keep checking…

There are a number of security and privacy concerns regarding the MagicBands. Given that they can be used for purchases, and RFID based, the first concern is for someone to use an “RFID skimmer” and then go on a spending spree. You would not be responsible for those purposes – IF you notice them. However, it might be difficult for someone to tell the difference between their own purchases and others when they are all in Disney. Disney does require a PIN code to be selected and used for any purchase over $50 (similar to most credit cards now) – but it does mean you need to be vigilant – or opt out completely and not use the room charge feature. It would be nice if Disney allowed an “always require PIN code” opt-in option. [Update 1/8: I’m hearing that today they started requiring a PIN on ALL purchases…]

There is also some concern about some personal information encoded on the MagicBand. Reportedly, your name – at least your first name – is encoded on the MagicBand to be readily available for personalized experiences. It is uncertain if you can opt-out of that feature.

Another concern is reports back in October that the MagicBands are also Wi-Fi transmitters, according to documents filed with the FCC, powered by a non-replaceable battery. Since most if not all of the advertised features involve RFID scanning at a very short range, we don’t see the need for something that outdoors can be received up to 100 yards, except for tracking purposes. Whether this is part of the end design or not we are not sure.

That’s about it for now. More when we have it. We are monitoring closely. 🙂

(Source: Disney press release)

Star Wars Weekends 2013 dates announced!

December 28, 2012News, Walt Disney Worldstar wars weekendsDoc

Star Wars Weekends will return to Walt Disney World again this Spring! Following the past several years, the weekend dates this year are May 17-19, May 24-26, May 31-June 2, and June 7-9.

Also announced at the return of co-hosts Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and former Disney cast member) and James Arnold Taylor (the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and a man of thousands of voices…check out his one-man show).

Welcome to the new site!

December 9, 2012NewsDoc

Here is the all-new WDW Untangled – I’ve been working on it for a while, converting the old hand-built code to use WordPress instead. There were a number of hurdles to jump regarding the calculators, etc. but all is well now.

I hope you enjoy the new site! And be prepared to see news here as well! Although don’t expect there to be a constant stream of news here either – there are other sites for that, but expect big announcements, technical items, strategies and editorials!

Cars Land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

December 5, 2012News, Walt Disney Worldcalifornia adventure, cars, hollywood studiosDoc

Update: An expected an announcement has not taken place yet…so it appears VIASO（ビアソ）カード that this may be returning to the rumor bin…

The DIS has confirmed cheap jerseys that Cars Land will in fact come to Walt Know Disney World at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, taking the space currently occupied by Lights, Motors, Action! cheap nfl jerseys and the Backlot Tour. No timetable is known yet.

Rumors around Cars Land started cheap jerseys this past summer after the hugely successful grand opening at California Adventure, President although with the recent announcement of the acquisition of Lucasfilm, some thoughts had turned to the possibility of a Star Wars land instead. But there is still hope for that…if they took over Backlot Express and Indiana Jones, they’d have similar area available – and they could expand out back if needed, and wholesale nba jerseys relocate the main entrance road.