Make Disney World Reservations before March 21, 2018 to Avoid Parking Charges

by John Featured, Planning

Disney has officially announced a new overnight only (for now) parking charge coming to its resorts for reservations made March 21, 2018 or later. Blog Mickey was the first place I saw with the pricing:

Disney Value Resorts: $13 per night
Disney Moderate Resorts: $19 per night
Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts: $24 per night (because the pavement at deluxe resorts costs more to upkeep ???)

Aside from the increase in cost resulting from this (for example, our recent 5 night stay at the Beach Club would have been $120 more), I think I’m most bummed out by the “makes Disney World like everywhere else” aspect. I’m sure I’ll get over it (and I’m not going “stop” going to Disney because of it), but, right now, it feels like a bummer.

It also changes the cost calculation for some of the 3-4 day trips that Elyssa and I like to take. Before, I would probably be torn between getting a cheap rental or taking an uber / lyft from the airport if I was going to spend a long weekend at the Yacht Club (current estimated cost per the Lyft app: $31.85). Now, it’s a no brainer to get the uber / lyft when dealing with the $24 in parking I’d pay on top of the rental car fee. (And, yes, I know Magical Express is a thing that exists, but I just get really antsy when I fly in at 7:00pm on a Thursday and want to just get to Disney World.) Of course, it also probably makes it more likely I just grab at room at Flamingo Crossing instead of staying onsite at all (at least until they add a parking charge as well.)

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Dining, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Planning, Resorts, Walt Disney World

We talked yesterday about the changes coming to Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend at Disney World, but what are we to do with the news of menu changes, new dessert parties, and (sadly) more price increases? Sounds like it’s time for another edition of the Rope Drop [dot] Net News Nuggets! Before we get to the majority of the Nuggets, we should need to point out one huge item:

Purple MagicBand now available for Disney World guests – All the cuts / price increases are forgiven! (I kid, but I’ll probably get one.)

With that out of the way, let’s get to the rest of the News Nuggets:

New Wishes Dessert Party Debuts at Narcoossee’s – Huh. I know Disney loves it’s dessert parties, but this location seems like a bit of a stretch. I really like Narcoossee’s, but I don’t think of it as a great place to watch Wishes from.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishment to be later in the year. – It seems to make sense to wait until after the “Peak’ season to do a refurbishment on one of Disney’s signature attractions.
Sneak peek of The Jungle Book coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios – I guess there’s no reason to “close” the exhibit part of One Man’s Dream, but it’s weird that you walk through that on the way to see excerpts from the next Disney movie on the horizon.
Two New Nighttime Parties Coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. – DFB point out information about some nighttime enhancements coming to Animal Kingdom (easyWDW also has a breakdown. The Tree of Life “Nighttime Awakenings” especially sounds like it could be cool. Nothing on Disney’s page seems to point to these being hard ticketed events, so I hope this is all just new entertainment for all Animal Kingdom guests.
Details from Walt Disney Co. annual shareholder meeting – The big items seem to be that Star Wars Land construction starts in April, and that Disney is building two more cruise ships. Breaking ground on Star Wars land is especially important since, as we know from analysis from Wes James, once Disney actually starts construction, things move right along. (See also, Wes’s appearance on Mighty Men of Mouse).
Josh from easyWDW recently spent at day at Animal Kingdom and noticed the impact of park staffing cutbacks – It’s sad to see something like Kilimanjaro Safaris get such a long wait when simply operating the other side of the loading area would drastically reduce everyone’s wait.
Disney Dining Plan Rates Increasing – It’s the time of year for price increases, but it still doesn’t feel good to read about them. (There are also reports about not being able to book a Disney Vacation “package’ with only 1 day of park tickets.)
Disney World it’s a small world Attraction Adds Personalized Farewell – This kind of personalization was one of the things that Disney used to sell MagicBands and MyMagic+. I’m glad we’re starting to see some of these features (especially with reports that these features were never going to come.)
Last chance to catch Gi-Tar Dan at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Though he has never been a “must see” for Elyssa & I, people who are fans might want to catch one of his final shows.
Minnie’s “Springtime” Dine comes to The Studios – I like this conceptually (and the spring outfits look pretty cool), but $47 per person is a lot to pay to eat at Hollywood & Vine.
Rumors of a Resort Fee Coming to Disney World – There has already been a lot of reaction to this (almost all of it negative.) One of the best reactions comes from Dutch Lombrowski at the end of this week’s Mighty Men of Mouse podcast.
Joy and Sadness to Join Baymax in Newly Expanded Epcot Character Spot – There was rumors of this back in January / February. I’m glad we finally got confirmation that it is happening.
Rumors of Premium Parking coming to Walt Disney World’s parking lots. – There was have been rumors like this since the Richard Petty Speedway started coming down. Part of me is almost surprised it took Disney this long to start testing it.
Night Safari at the Animal Kingdom Lodge now open to all – I never have done this safari, but I have visited AKL to view animals in the dark after sunset. It’s a pretty neat experience to put on night vision goggles to view the animals.
The Braves are looking to move out of Wide World of Sports – I haven’t been in a couple of years, but I would be sad to see the Braves leave Disney World for their Spring Training. That said, I understand how being hours away from most other teams can kind of be a pain.
‘Ohana dinner hours extended at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort – Dinner at 3:30pm might be a little early for some, but having more ADR availability at ‘Ohana is never a bad thing.
Special Easter Entertainment Coming to the Magic Kingdom – The Easter season is an especially busy time at Disney World, so it should be no surprise to see Disney adding a bunch of extra entertainment during that period. That said, the other recent cutbacks on staffing, etc… mean these additional offerings were a little more ‘up in the air” than in past years.

Though not a traditional “news nugget”, I would also like to point out that Disney plans to launch “Frozen” and “Tangled” themed wedding packages!. Yes, they’re only available in Tokyo now, but, if you ever need photography for Disney wedding (Frozen themed or not), feel free to contact Elyssa at Kivus & Camera. I bet there would be a discount for involved for getting to photograph that.

Changes to Disney World’s Annual Pass, Parking, and Tables in Wonderland Pricing

by John Planning, Walt Disney World

As first reported by WDW News Today, Disney World has changed the Annual Pass pricing structure, effective immediately.

For Non-Florida residents, the Annual Passes now come in two options: “Platinum Plus” and “Platinum”. Both passes include admission to all 4 parks (with park hopper privileges), free parking (which has been raised from $17 to $20 per day) and photopass downloads (a new addition this year). The Platinum Plus option also includes admission to Disney’s waterparks, ESPN Wide World of Sports, and the Oak Trail golf course. There are also a number of changes to the Florida resident pass options ,which can be seen at WDW News Today and TouringPlans. These changes include new “Gold” and “Silver” options that include certain blackout dates, and could possibly point to the tiered pricing structure that we have seen hints of over the past couple of months.

Looking at the numbers, renewing my annual pass as a new “Platinum Pass” is going to cost $102.24 more this year than it did last year (including tax). I had assumed that the amount would be closer to a $50 increase, but I can (kind of) stomach the larger increase because of the inclusion of Photopass downloads as part of the pass (especially since I have previously said that I don’t think Memory Maker is worth its cost.)

In a related move, Disney has increased the cost of Tables in Wonderland by $50 for annual pass and DVC members. Translated, this means that you have to spend $750 in food at Disney World in a given year to break even on your Tables in Wonderland purchase (up from $500 a year.) Based on Elyssa’s and my eating habits on our Disney World visits, this price increase might mean we will no longer be purchasing Tables in Wonderland.