A Blog About Disney Stuff

Imagine if you could go back to early 2001, fire up your Gateway computer, and log on to your AOL account. What would the Walt Disney World website have looked like back then? Thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine we can do a little time traveling and find out.

What did the home page of one of the world’s most popular travel destinations look like in early 2001? This is it. Not much to it, right? Websites in the early 2000s were extremely light compared to sites of today. Back then computers were much weaker, and more importantly most people had slow connection speeds. Broadband internet was slowly being added to more homes in 2001, but dial-up modems with speeds of 56 kbit/s or lower were the norm at this time. With that in mind it’s easy to understand why most pages on disneyworld.com only had 1 picture.

It’s always fun to look back at old Disney maps. Here you can see the park almost 20 years ago where the most obvious differences are the extinct Mickey’s Toontown Fair and the remnants of the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea lagoon.

 

FastPass was only a couple of years old at this point, so it was still very much a new and exciting thing that had many people curious. As you can see, the roster of attractions that featured FastPass was slim back then, especially when compared to modern times.

In the FAQ section you can find answers for every possible question you could ever possibly have about dining in Walt Disney World. Just kidding. As you can see, the dining FAQ has ONE SINGLE question and answer.

One of the coolest features I found on this old website was live webcams. As you can see the camera in the Magic Kingdom had an especially cool vantage point where it offered a stunning elevated view of Cinderella Castle. If the current Disney theme park websites had webcams I think they would be enormously popular, especially during this year when most people stayed at home during the pandemic.

Before we move on, anyone who has ever tried to do even the most simple task on the Walt Disney World website should be familiar with the “Someone Ate the Page!” screen. This screen is shown when any one of the dozens of technical issues with the WDW site pops up. Curious about what this page looked like in 2001? Here it is:

Mickey does look pretty sorry.

I found an error! On the Country Bear Jamboree attraction page there is a picture of Gomer in his Vacation Hoedown attire. This version of the Country Bear show was unfortunately long gone by this point.

 

While we’re on the subject of attraction pages, rides and shows that are now extinct are still immortalized on this old version of the site.

Another extinct show, The Making of Me at Epcot. I’m fairly certain this is the only time the word “fetus” has appeared on any Walt Disney World website.

Circling back to the FAQ, you can see this section which shows attractions that had recently closed in 2001. It’s sad to see some all-time classics on the list!

Again I have to mention how striking it is to see how simple the WDW website was back then. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. A good aspect of this is the site is very simple to navigate. There’s very little bloat, as seen on this page which features the list of attractions at Magic Kingdom.

The price of a 1-park 1-day ticket in early 2001 was $48 for adults. That’s $70.26 adjusted for inflation. As of now, tickets range from $116.09 to $169.34, depending on the time of year.

They were practically giving away annual passes in 2001. A Premium Annual Pass was $469. That’s $686.54 adjusted for inflation. This pass is currently known as the Platinum Plus Pass and goes for $1,379.18. The Annual Pass (now know as the Platinum Pass, $1,272.68) was $349, or $510.88 adjusted for inflation.

In 2001 you could stay on Disney property starting at $77 a night ($112.72 adjusted for inflation). After inflation the price of a value resort isn’t too different than it is now. For example I glanced at standard rooms at All-Star Music and found rates ranging from $112 to $226 throughout the year.

We’ll revisit other ancient Disney websites at some point but for now that’s going to do it.

What internet memories do you have from the early 2000s? Share them in the comments below.

The post Let’s Take a Tour of Walt Disney World’s Website in 2001 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Just For Fun, Walt Disney World (FL), just for fun

It’s hard to believe that Labor Day weekend is here. The flow of time and dates just seems off this year, doesn’t it? But the first major holiday weekend since Orlando’s theme parks reopened is here.

Our Crowd Calendar showed all four Disney parks at a level one this Thursday and Friday, as they’ve been practically all of the time since reopening due to fewer people traveling, fewer hotels open, and Disney’s park reservation system. However, today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) show an increase to level two at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Let’s see how wait times looked during the days leading up to Labor Day weekend and how our new Lines 2.0 app showed expected wait times compared to Disney’s posted wait times. (Also, can we all just bask at how beautiful our redesigned Lines app is?)

EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Afternoon Wait Times

September 3, 2020 and September 4, 2020

EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios open the latest of the four Walt Disney World theme parks. We typically see wait times peak between 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Although there are patterns we typically see each day with wait times sometimes things change like an attraction goes down unexpectedly. Our Lines app uses real time data to make adjustments so you can optimize your plan and save as much as time as possible. We use in-park data to produce Expected Wait Times that are typically more accurate than Disney’s Posted Wait Times.

• Frozen Ever After – 1:00 p.m. vs. 3:00 p.m.
  • Posted Wait Time 25 / Expected 20
  • Posted Wait Time 45 / Expected 34
• Test Track
  • Posted Wait Time 25 / Expected 22
• Soarin’
  • Posted Wait Time 10 / Expected 6
• Gran Fiesta Tour
  • Posted Wait Time 20 / Expected 12

Let’s take a look at yesterday afternoon’s wait times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway 1pm vs. 3pm
  • Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 38
  • Posted Wait Time 70 / Expected 45 / Actual Reported Wait Time about 35 minutes
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 28
• Rock N’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 25 / Expected  12
• Star Tours 1pm vs 3pm 
  • Posted Wait Time 25 / Expected 15
  • Posted Wait Time 5 / Expected 12

You can see there was a 25 minute difference in our Lines app Expected Wait Time and Disney’s Posted Wait Time around 3:00 p.m. for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Runway Railway does experience occasional down times during the day, and it did yesterday afternoon. It is possible Disney inflated the posted wait time in case the attraction went down again.

EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Evening Wait Times

September 3, 2020 and September 4, 2020

We’ve seen time and again since the parks reopened that the last 90 minutes or so of park operating hours have the lowest wait times of the day. Without a nighttime spectacular to anchor guests and without park hopping, the last hour or so leads to most guests clearing out. Frozen Ever After is often an exception to this with wait times before at their lowest first thing in the morning and climbing throughout the day.

• Frozen Ever After 6:00 p.m.
  • Posted Wait Time 30/ Expected 26
• Test Track
  • Offline around 6:00 pm
  • 8:00 p.m. Posted Wait Time 45 / Expected 30
• Soarin’
  • Posted Wait Time 10 / Expected 8

Let’s take a look at yesterday evening’s wait times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway 
  • Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 38 / Actual Wait Time Reported 25 – 30 minutes
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Down time from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. due to severe weather
  • Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 30
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 15 / Expected  11
• Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run
  • Posted Wait Time 30 / Expected 21

On the above graph the green dots represent actual wait times reported in our Lines app by users, known as Liners. Actual wait times for Runaway Railway average around 30 minutes in the early evening.

We all know this year is dramatically different than any other time in Walt Disney World’s history. But, since we have the data (we’re nerdy and scientific that way), let’s take a look at the wait times for this equivalent day last year (the Friday of Labor Day weekend) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Clearly things are dramatically different this year compared to last year. Still, it’s fun to look back. Let’s compare last Friday to yesterday to see how much of an impact Labor Day Weekend had on wait times. Overall the observed wait times are not dramatically different between last Friday and yesterday, though that is what we expected with Crowd Levels being at 1 on both days.

We’re sure to see an increase in wait times this weekend. Stay tuned to our social media channels and blog as we continue to cover the parks. You can probably tell from our screenshots that our Lines app has been completely refreshed and is rolling out to iOS and Android devices this month. Let us know what you think of the new app and what you think about these kinds of blog post.

 

The post Labor Day Weekend Kicks Off With Slight Increase in Wait Times appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Trip Planning, disney reopening, disney wait times, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, epcot rides

Hello everyone! It is time to swim back over to the Dolphin for some nice deals in September and October!

If you recall, way back in February 2020 (approximately eleventy-two months ago) we posted some Dolphin deals you could find in the $130 and above range. I now scoff at those prices! Scoff!

If you are in the market for some nice weekday deals early in September, or any weekend all the way to Halloween, then Priceline Express is offering rooms at the Dolphin as low as $93, but most in the $107 to $130 range.

An easy way to spot the Dolphin in Express Deal results is to look for a 4-star, 7-guest rated resort in Bonnet Creek with 700 reviews. It is the only resort with that combination of ratings and reviews. (In fact, right now the only other resort in Bonnet Creek that is 4-star, 7-guest rated is Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani. I would be flabbergasted–and might even scoff again–if someone told me they saw a deal for that resort at these prices.)

Before I post the calendar of deals (not but maybe it should be), I need to post some additional info to help you find them. There are times that Priceline Express fails to include some deals in search results unless you jump through a few hoops. or maybe even hop a fence, in a friendly, non-trespassy kind of way. This is one of those times.

Here’s an example that should help you tease out these Dolphin deals without much fuss: I’m going to search Priceline Express for a deal on September 7. When looking for Disney or Swolphin resorts, you always want to limit your search to the Bonnet Creek and Disney Springs areas. Here’s a shot of some of the results.

If you look at the pair of 4-star resorts here, you’ll see that neither of these appear to be the Dolphin: the 7-guest rated resort is in Disney Springs and the other resort has an 8-guest rating. (Also, both have only 500 reviews.) What to do? Click the “Choose” button on the Bonnet Creek resort to open up that deal and you’ll find some additional deals pop up below it.

Now, that 4-star 7-guest looks like a good match for the Dolphin. BUT – We have another problem! Priceline is always making changes to their site and one of their recent updates broke the links on all those pop-up deals. If you try to use them right now, you’ll just get a blank web page. (They did the same thing last year and it took a few months for them to fix it.)

Luckily, there’s a way around that problem. Remember I asked you to open the 4-star Bonnet Creek resort deal – if you go the new new tab that opened, you can scroll to the bottom of that page and it will show you these same additional pop-up deals. (and maybe even a few more.)

If you open up that middle result, you’ll find it is indeed a Dolphin deal. One of the clues to look for when seeking the Dolphin are rooms with two double beds. You’ll also want to look for a mandatory (aka resort) fee – most often $30 lately, but Priceline does like to change that amount slightly sometimes to keep us on our toes.

My last tip: Don’t forget to try out any Priceline codes you see when you visit the site. The current code takes 10% off these deals – in this example you’d be getting the daily rate of about $85 (before adding on the resort fee, which annoys me no end I can tell you). That is the lowest rate I have recorded for the Dolphin in the 2 years I have been watching prices.

Now, you’re not likely going to see that low price on any of the other days below, but I think you’ll agree they are all still pretty nice deals for a 4-star resort. In comparison, if you booked this same night through the Swolphin’s own web site, you’d pay $156 (pre-resort fee) for a non-refundable pre-pay room. If you used the AAA rate, it drops to $140.

If you’ve taken advantage of any of these deals or have any questions, please let us know in the comments!

The post Priceline Express: More Dolphin Fun! appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: discounts, Resorts, Walt Disney World (FL), priceline