Author: touringplans.com

Crowds returned to the Magic Kingdom today to see the new Christmas cavalcades and the return of The Muppets in Liberty Square! When we viewed The Muppets, they were just testing out moves and waving in their Liberty Square windows – they were not performing songs or even talking.

 

We received 128 actual wait times today. Let’s do the numbers!

Magic Kingdom Wait Times

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had an average wait time today of 65 minutes. Its 7-day average is 51 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 59 minutes, so today ranks #10 for the past month.

Space Mountain had an average wait time today of 45 minutes. Its 7-day average is 30 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 40 minutes, so today ranks #13 for the past month. We received 7 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 77% of the posted wait time.

Splash Mountain had an average wait time today of 68 minutes. Its 7-day average is 45 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 59 minutes, so today ranks #10 for the past month.  We received 7 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 65% of the posted wait time.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had an average wait time today of 57 minutes. Its 7-day average is 38 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 43 minutes, so today ranks #3 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 52 minutes, so today ranks #87 for the past year. We received 6 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 54% of the posted wait time.

Tomorrowland Speedway had an average wait time today of 17 minutes. Its 7-day average is 12 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 15 minutes, so today ranks #12 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 24 minutes, so today ranks #155 for the past year. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 166% of the posted wait time.

Jungle Cruise had an average wait time today of 53 minutes. Its 7-day average is 39 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 41 minutes, so today ranks #1 for the past month. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 92% of the posted wait time.

Pirates of the Caribbean had an average wait time today of 51 minutes. Its 7-day average is 37 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 45 minutes, so today ranks #9 for the past month. We received 5 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 83% of the posted wait time.

The Haunted Mansion had an average wait time today of 45 minutes. Its 7-day average is 35 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 43 minutes, so today ranks #13 for the past month. We received 7 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 71% of the posted wait time.

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Hollywood Studios Wait Times

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway had an average wait time today of 80 minutes. Its 7-day average is 76 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 80 minutes, so today ranks #14 for the past month.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith had an average wait time today of 55 minutes. Its 7-day average is 48 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 51 minutes, so today ranks #6 for the past month.

Toy Story Mania! had an average wait time today of 28 minutes. Its 7-day average is 27 minutes, so today ranks #3 for this week. Its 30-day average is 30 minutes, so today ranks #19 for the past month. We received 5 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 46% of the posted wait time.

Slinky Dog Dash had an average wait time today of 72 minutes. Its 7-day average is 64 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 67 minutes, so today ranks #6 for the past month.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run had an average wait time today of 63 minutes. Its 7-day average is 54 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 58 minutes, so today ranks #5 for the past month.

Rise of the Resistance looks like it ran pretty well most of the day, with two long pauses in calling boarding groups.  One delay started around 11:30 a.m. and lasted around 40 minutes; the other started around 12:30 p.m. and ran for around 45 minutes.

EPCOT Wait Times

Soarin’ had an average wait time today of 25 minutes. Its 7-day average is 33 minutes, so today ranks #6 for this week. Its 30-day average is 37 minutes, so today ranks #25 for the past month. We received 7 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 74% of the posted wait time.

Test Track had an average wait time today of 50 minutes. Its 7-day average is 55 minutes, so today ranks #3 for this week. Its 30-day average is 63 minutes, so today ranks #23 for the past month. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 49% of the posted wait time.

Frozen Ever After had an average wait time today of 54 minutes. Its 7-day average is 70 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 65 minutes, so today ranks #20 for the past month.

Mission: SPACE Green had an average wait time today of 23 minutes. Its 7-day average is 10 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 14 minutes, so today ranks #2 for the past month. And Mission: SPACE Orange had an average wait time today of 26 minutes. Its 7-day average is 25 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 27 minutes, so today ranks #14 for the past month.

Spaceship Earth had an average wait time today of 14 minutes. Its 7-day average is 18 minutes, so today ranks #4 for this week. Its 30-day average is 19 minutes, so today ranks #21 for the past month.

Animal Kingdom Wait Times

DINOSAUR had an average wait time today of 30 minutes. Its 7-day average is 28 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 32 minutes, so today ranks #15 for the past month.

Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain had an average wait time today of 28 minutes. Its 7-day average is 32 minutes, so today ranks #5 for this week. Its 30-day average is 32 minutes, so today ranks #18 for the past month.

Kali River Rapids had an average wait time today of 24 minutes. Its 7-day average is 21 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 24 minutes, so today ranks #13 for the past month.

Kilimanjaro Safaris had an average wait time today of 21 minutes. Its 7-day average is 19 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 22 minutes, so today ranks #15 for the past month.

Na’vi River Journey had an average wait time today of 40 minutes. Its 7-day average is 44 minutes, so today ranks #5 for this week. Its 30-day average is 47 minutes, so today ranks #23 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 60 minutes, so today ranks #166 for the past year.

Avatar Flight of Passage had an average wait time today of 45 minutes. Its 7-day average is 51 minutes, so today ranks #4 for this week. Its 30-day average is 63 minutes, so today ranks #23 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 100 minutes, so today ranks #167 for the past year. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 67% of the posted wait time.

The post Crowds (and Muppets!) Return to Magic Kingdom – Disney World Wait Times for Friday, November 6, 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Observations, Trip Planning, Walt Disney World (FL), disney christmas, disney crowds, disney wait times, magic kingdom christmas, magic kingdom crowds

One of the charming features of the EPCOT Resorts, like Disney’s Yacht Club and Disney’s Boardwalk, is the Friendships. These ferry boats create a lovely atmosphere as they sail back and forth on Crescent Lake. The Friendships have returned, bringing back the charm of this area.

Now guests in the EPCOT Resorts Area can enjoy Disney Skyliner transportation to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and connecting resorts like Caribbean Beach, Riviera Resort, and Pop Century and Art of Animation. Guests in this area can also enjoy a leisurely boat ride to EPCOT or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. A walkway connects all the EPCOT Resorts to both EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It is still faster to walk, but it is nice to rest your legs and feet as you drift along the water in a Friendship boat.

The Swan and Dolphin Hotels, which are also in this area, have changed their bus transportation to Mears, rather than Disney-owned buses. Having the Friendships return gives back a convenience that is needed at these hotels.

 

Have you stayed at any of the EPCOT Area Resorts before? Do you prefer to walk, boat, or use the Skyliner when in this area?

The post PHOTOS – Transportation Options at EPCOT Resorts Now Include Friendship Boats appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Photos and Video, Resorts, Transportation, disney hotels, disney on site hotels, Disney Transportation, epcot hotels

We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

What is backstage?

“Backstage” is Disney lingo for places in the theme parks where cast members are allowed to go, but guests are not.

Backstage is the behind-the-scenes places where things happen like food prep, cast break rooms, mechanical rooms, parade staging, waste processing areas, storage, laundry, and the like. There are “do not enter” signs throughout the parks that lead to a variety of backstage zones. As immutable as these signs seem, backstage is a slightly fluid concept.

Prior to the pandemic, Disney ran dozens of tours of backstage areas including the holiday decor warehouses, animal care areas at Epcot and Animal Kingdom, costume design workshops, train maintenance shops, and more. Under normal circumstances, if you’re older than age 16 (and in few cases younger) and willing to pay for the privilege, you would be free to see many otherwise off-limits areas of the parks.

Even now, you may be in routed to walk through an officially backstage area without realizing it. During times where there are crowds or construction, Disney sometimes asks guests to exit a land or a park via normally prohibited routes to facilitate foot traffic. One of the most common areas where this takes place is backstage behind the left side of Main Street in the Magic Kingdom as you face the park exit.

In the first photo below is an exit to backstage areas that’s next to the Plaza restaurant. The second photo below is the exact same area modified for easier guest passage. Things like cast lockers and refuse bins have been hidden to provide a more pleasant pathway out of the park. This particular modified backstage area is commonly used during events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and at the end of the day, but may be employed in other circumstances as well.

Have you ever been backstage? What did you see? Did it match your expectations?

The post Disney in a Minute: What is Backstage? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), disney in a minute

A new survey is making the rounds for guests who have stayed recently at WDW. And while surveys are never a guarantee about what the future holds, it is always interesting to pull back the curtain at a Disney think tank to see what sort of ideas they’re considering for the future. Let’s dive in.

After some initial sorting hat questions (when would you visit WDW again, how interested are you in visiting WDW in the next three years, what type of accommodations do you like when visiting WDW, and so on), a series of questions comes up about different benefits/add-ons for the future once there’s reduced COVID concerns.

 

First up, early access to dining/experience reservations for staying on site.

MagicBand customization and discount for staying on site.

The ability to bundle other things into your theme park vacation, like water parks, park hopping, and so on.

Being able to purchase the Disney Dining Plan.

Access to complimentary transportation (Skyliner, monorail, etc.).

Proximity to parks.

And access to Magical Express.

After a series of very normal things that either are currently still around or will be back in the future, then they throw in a unique one about “Connected Experiences” — some of it sounds like things related to the Play Disney Parks app, but I’m really intrigued by the “digital in-room concierge”.

Then back to some more normal things, like Extra Magic Hours.

Enhanced in-room TV is something I can’t imagine Disney wouldn’t do — what better way to encourage Disney+ memberships than to have people fall in love with it on vacation?

Virtual Queue access from your resort — although this week did see not-in-the-park access to Rise of the Resistance, could this be coming for other attractions when new headliners open? Could they eventually scale back that you have to be at a Disney resort for virtual queue before park opening?

The next one I am ALL IN. The idea of having a little more magic at resorts is such a huge draw for me. And more fountains is always a win in my book. I’d love to see “enchanted art” like on Disney Cruise Line come to WDW resorts, too.

 

In-resort character experiences were found at some resorts in the pre-COVID era. Would this be expanded to all resorts?

In-park lounges are a wonderful benefit–over the years, I’ve had access to them for passholders, DVC, and having a certain type of credit card. They don’t cost a lot for Disney, but the goodwill is great.

Extra Magic Hours at Disney Springs isn’t something that would interest me personally, but I can understand the draw.

Early access to book FastPass+ — sorry folks, if you thought FP+ was going away for forever, I wouldn’t count that as a given!

Virtual on-the-go concierge? Please call it WorldKey!!!

Free theme park parking — I guarantee, if I’m staying on site and this benefit gets removed, I’ll be… less than pleased.

And now the next one that had me sitting back and taking notice: Food delivery. Getting to my room and having churros on the way? Sign me up!

Disney then asked for guests to pick their top three. It’s a tough choice, since I don’t want any *existing* benefits to go away, but some of those new suggestions are pretty tempting. Specifically, Disney wants to know what would enhance your experience, what would give you a better impression of value, and what is most important in your view.

Finally, the survey gave a few more hints about some options, with questions about which of these were most important regarding entry:

• Exclusive extended hours at one of the theme parks per day (morning or evening)
• Extended exclusive access to finish out your day at one theme park every night
• 30 minutes exclusive entry into every theme park every day
• Early access to one theme park every morning

And some more descriptions about that possible “resort plussing”:

• Step into the art of Disney . . . resort style! As a resort Guest, exclusive access to an immersive art display that transports you into the world of Disney.
• Nighttime spectacular on the water. Guests have the ability to watch Disney stories come to life on resort waterways through lights, parades, water fountains that spray water as the backdrop for color, and characters timed to music to transport Guests into the world of imagination.
• Atrium transformation. Transforming resort lobbies into a magical display that brings the individual resort’s story to life through lights, color, music, and projections.
• Resort nighttime exterior projections. Kiss good night at resorts that bring the resort’s art style, coupled with Disney stories, to life one the exterior facade through projections that feature special effects, lighting, and soaring music.

Although having an item on a survey doesn’t mean that it is a certainty to come to Walt Disney World, surveys do give some insight into concepts that are being considered.

So now it’s your turn — in the comments, let us know what you think about these questions and what your answers would be like.

 

The post New Disney Survey with Some Unique Options for Future Benefits? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), disney survey

TouringPlans is happy to welcome Billy Hirsch for this three-part guest series about Celebrity Cruise Lines. Read part 1  and part 2 of this three-part series.

Everything is subjective, but perhaps few things as much so as food.  Food is also a big focus on ships, so let’s look at the differences between Disney Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruise Line when it comes to the dining experience and food, as well as my personal preferences.

Main Dining Room

Disney’s rotational dining is a unique concept. Most cruise lines have one or more main dining rooms which are complementary – but you don’t necessarily rotate through them.  

Most Celebrity ships have one or two main dining rooms (which are essentially identical in terms of menu and quality) as well as a variety of specialty restaurants.  On Edge (and Apex), there are four distinct main dining rooms, with menus and cocktails unique to each.  You can be assigned to one but make reservations at others – or just show up to whichever you’d like on any given evening.  We love flexibility, so this arrangement on Edge class is great for us.  Across all of the Celebrity fleet, dining when you want, with whomever you want, is an option that they call “Select Dining”.

Food comes out hot (a common issue I’ve faced on DCL), and there is a good variety of quality options.  Have a special request?  No problem.  Don’t worry about bringing a tuxedo by the way, as Celebrity has two evening dress guidelines, “Smart Casual” and “Evening Chic”, the latter of which is intended to be less dressy than traditional formalwear, though of course if you’re so inclined, you can join some other guests in dressing things up a bit whenever you’d like.

Specialty Restaurants

I’ll admit, I think DCL’s Palo and Remy are spectacular, and the various meals, such as dinner, brunch, dessert, etc. are really nice so you can mix it up.  Celebrity ships have many specialty options as well, depending on the ship and itinerary, there can be as many as seven options, including a raw bar, steak house, French cuisine, and more.  Some specialty dining options also include a show, Le Petite Chef, which I mentioned in part 2.

Another option worth calling out is Eden Restaurant on Edge class, which offers not only delicious and creative cuisine, but you get a whole different perspective on the amazing shows going on in Eden Lounge.  Explaining this space would take a while, which is why I’ve written about it multiple times over on CruiseHabit.com.  Just know you’ve never seen a show or had a meal like this.  Like all the restaurants in Celebrity, service is superb, and in fact on our last meal there our server remembered what we enjoyed on a previous sailing and had the chef prepare an extra course of that dish.

I actually feel like on Celebrity, compared to not just Disney, but several other lines, I get to enjoy the variety of dining options more because while the food is plentiful, it doesn’t tend to be over-salted or just ‘too much’.  If you’re inclined to enjoy specialty dining (as we often do – but not always), there ways to save too, like pre-booking, dining packages, or just using some of the onboard credit available in some of the Celebrity ‘perks’ packages, where you can build in drinks, WiFi, gratuities, and more.

Other Places to Eat on Celebrity

Of course there are other options like room service, poolside bars, smoothies/juices, sandwiches, and of course…buffets.  Cabanas (the buffet on DCL ships) has a fun atmosphere – but in terms of variety and quality, they’ve got nothing on Oceanview Cafe aboard Celebrity ships.  

Each meal, in addition to featured items and themes, there are multiple stations with different types of cuisine, such as Indian, Italian, sandwich stations, and pan-Asian.  Desserts are markedly better than any non-luxury line (though I’ll give an honorable mention to Holland America Line here for making sugar-free and NSA desserts that are no compromise at all). While I see Cabanas as a convenient option, Oceanview Cafe is something I look forward to.  On some sailings we’ve eaten there more than any other venue.

In Summary: Where We Landed Between DCL and Celebrity

Loyalty doesn’t pay – at least not in picking cruise lines.  To this day I don’t have a single “favorite” line, and I don’t think there is a “best” cruise line, because it’s just too subjective, and there are too many considerations.  If we’re going on a cruise with friends that have kids, we might sail based on their preferences, or if we’re looking for a specific itinerary, that might drive us.  This is why we’ll keep sailing Disney Cruise Line, and Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Celebrity, and others.  In fact, I can rattle off which lines I think have the best food, music, activities, and more (just ask, and know once I get started I don’t easily stop) – but it’s a balance, and for more and more of our trips, Celebrity strikes that balance.  The experienced and awesome folks at TouringPlans travel are great about understanding your vacation goals, so you can strike that balance, too.

Cruising in and of itself can be so wonderful, and many of us will enjoy any line we sail, so it’s easy to forget that there are other lines than the one you’re enjoying now.  Whatever your preference, just know there is a whole world of cruising options out there – and they all have something to offer.  My worst day at sea is better than my best day on land, and some of the best days at sea have been spent on cruises I’d never have taken if I didn’t try other lines and get a new fantastic point of view.

Considering a Celebrity Cruise? Thinking of sticking with Disney Cruise Line? The TouringPlans Travel Agency can help you get wherever you want to go. Get a free quote today at touringplans.com/travel.

Billy Hirsch is the creator of CruiseHabit.com where he shares tips, insights, and reviews of various cruises and related activities. He’s a Disney nerd, a cruise nut, a tech junky, and a former travel agent. Having started cruising as a baby, Billy has been fortunate enough to have taken over 60 cruises on various lines in different parts of the world. He has had a lifelong obsession with cruising, both as a leisure activity and the inner workings of the industry itself. You can frequently find him as CruiseHabit on Twitter and Facebook answering cruise questions or broadcasting live from ship and shore.  

The post Celebrity Cruise Lines Part 3: Describing Dining (and Final Thoughts) appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Beyond the Parks, Disney Cruise Line, celebrity cruise line