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You are here: Home / Blog / Hello and Welcome to easyWDW 2.0!

Hello and Welcome to easyWDW 2.0!

December 13, 2015 ~ 4 minutes read78 Comments

Okay, so after five years of having a basically unusable website, I finally made the change over to a new layout. This took a lot of work. I’m sure considerably more than it probably looks. It would not have been possible without the help of Matt Turk of http://www.turkmandu.com/. If you’re looking at creating or redesigning a website, I really cannot recommend him enough. He’s put up with waaaayyyy more than any human being should have to deal with over the course of several lifetimes. Now that most of the work behind the scenes is complete, we can return to more frequent on-site updates.

So what’s changed…You should notice the new menu at the top. I wanted to organize it mostly by Park. So if you mouse over Animal Kingdom, you’ll see a variety of categories from the dropdown menu. I revamped each of the attraction pages. You’ll now find a variety of pictures for each attraction and I added a lot more information about wait times and FastPass+. For example, you’ll now find a chart of FastPass+ availability throughout the day for each ride, in addition to charts of wait times based on crowd level, FP+ priority, total experience time with FP+, what you miss using FP+, etc.

All of the menus and items at the quick services have been updated. So if you’re wondering what Harambe Market serves or would like to see all of the items I’ve reviewed in the past, you can pull up a page like this. I also spent a lot of time revising the “Best of” pages. So if you’re interested in eating a quick service meal at Epcot, but aren’t sure where, you can pull up a page like this that compares all of the major quick services in a variety of categories, including most unique menu, most expensive meal on the Disney Dining Plan, best value out of pocket, best seating, best food, and an overall best of list. There’s about 30 pictures that go along with it as well. These are available for each Park.

I’m still going through the restaurants updating the content for each, but I finished Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios and should have Magic Kingdom updated shortly. What you’ll now find are links to my previous reviews of each restaurant at the top. So if you pull up something like the Hollywood Brown Derby review,  you can click on the various review links at the top. Each link also has an HTML anchor tag so it will skip down to exactly where that restaurant review starts, rather than just linking to the beginning of the post. The reviews otherwise include information on discounts, price points, food type, advantages, disadvantages, tips, and links out to current menus.

The Theme Park Touring section links to the new versions of the website’s cheat sheets as well as listing all of the information in text. I have in mind to bolster this section quite a bit in the coming weeks with additional advice, but it’s all you’ll need to efficiently tour the Parks.

You’ll also find a more convenient way to pull up live wait times at the Parks.

The Resorts section has been updated with new “Best of” posts that compare the resorts in each class in a variety of categories. So if you’re trying to decide between Port Orleans, Coronado Springs, and Caribbean Beach, you can pull up this post which lays out the differences nicely. I’m mulling over what to do about the full resort pages. Unfortunately, one of the reasons why this redesign has been delayed so long is that the website just covers too much stuff. I may just link out to Dave’s excellent reviews at yourfirstvisit.net. We also have a lot of good information in the current version of our guidebook.

Otherwise, I’m on Facebook now. You can find me over at www.facebook.com/easywdw. I’m going to use it for quicker updates on things that take me a while to get around to writing, in addition to being able to post more timely updates. You’ll already find some tips on dealing with the current parking situation at Hollywood Studios, in addition to this week’s Times Guide, a look at Animal Kingdom Christmas decorations and my meal at Jiko last week, etc. Facebook is basically a popularity contest, so I would appreciate it if you’d take a moment to “like” me. I’m sure you can mute me or something after. I actually have virtually no idea how Facebook works. The whole thing really creeps me out. But don’t think about any of this and just click “like.” Don’t let your dreams be dreams…

Ummmmmmmm…I guess that’s it? I’m pretty excited about the changes. I think the website is much more functional now. There’s still some work to be done linking things and I have in mind to bolster what you see now with additional content. I’m headed back to Washington state for the holidays next week, so I’ll have some time to write up some posts on Extra Magic Hours, buying theme park tickets, etc.

Enjoy!

Last modified: December 13, 2015 Filed Under: Blog

Comments

  1. JulieHFJ says

    December 13, 2015 at 7:54 pm

    It’s launched! Cheers!

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:04 pm

      Cheers!

      Reply
  2. MKS says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    Love the new site!

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:03 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  3. WDW101 says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    AWESOME! Thank you for doing this site. Over the last 10 months I’ve been researching for our first-time trip, and this site has helped me so much. It is thorough, but also honest and realistic, which is missing from much of the literature out there. Now I can actually find things quickly! Thanks!

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      Thank you, I think it is a big improvement!

      Reply
  4. Sarah says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:17 pm

    Site looks great! Thanks for taking the time to make it a bit more user-friendly … and of course, thanks for all your hard work on the site on a regular basis!

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Cindy says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    Looks great.

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  6. Jenn says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Love the new design – definitely easier to find everything!!

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      I hope so! Thanks!

      Reply
  7. Mimi says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Looks great on my phone! It seems like it might be loading faster too.

    The menu icons are adorable, which I’m sure is exactly what you were going for.

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      That’s what I strive for in everything I do, thanks!

      Reply
  8. Beth says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

    Looks awesome! I’m super excited you’re on facebook now. Thanks for all the great information you share, I give your book to anyone even thinking about planning a WDW vacation.

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:23 pm

      Thank you, I look forward to seeing you over there!

      Reply
  9. Beth says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm

    Congratulations! This looks amazing. And while I was totally willing to search for all I needed, it’s awesome to have it all so beautifully organized.

    I bought a book, but I was also hoping for a donate button… ?

    Reply
    • josh says

      December 13, 2015 at 8:24 pm

      Maybe if I can figure out how to add one!

      Reply
  10. Bobby says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    Nice!

    Reply
  11. karin del valle says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    Looks great! thank you so much for all you do

    Reply
  12. Monica says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    looking good
    thinking may be more likely to persuade reluctant spouse to commit to The Trip?

    Reply
  13. GrumpyDad4 says

    December 13, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    Good looking format.

    Reply
  14. projectx says

    December 13, 2015 at 9:15 pm

    Soooooooooooooooooo much easier to navigate. Thank you!

    Reply
  15. alex says

    December 13, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    Love the updates. THANK YOU for all you do. I appreciate your efforts that have helped make countless memories for me and my family on our trips.

    Rock on!

    Reply
  16. Billy says

    December 13, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    Looks great…..I cant wait to click through it and also to see what else you have in store for the future…..keep up the great work

    Reply
  17. Amanda says

    December 13, 2015 at 10:16 pm

    Wow, it looks like the best WDW site just got even better! Love the new layout — very easy to use, and makes all the information more accessible. Thanks for all you do, Josh!

    Reply
  18. Sarah S. says

    December 13, 2015 at 10:16 pm

    Looks great! Thanks for all you do!

    Reply
  19. Jess O says

    December 13, 2015 at 10:21 pm

    Great job as always. Excited to see what the facebook page brings to the party!

    Reply
  20. Lee says

    December 13, 2015 at 10:25 pm

    Looks great and I am so glad that you are on Facebook now too!!

    Reply
  21. TriSeb says

    December 13, 2015 at 10:44 pm

    A proper CMS, UI design/functionality… plus automation. Very nice, of course, technology without the content is just veneer. Great work as always 🙂

    Reply
  22. Zavandor says

    December 14, 2015 at 3:41 am

    Excellent work as usual.
    However, did the RSS feed disappear? It was a very convenient way to be alerted of new updates.
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Rose says

      December 14, 2015 at 11:13 am

      Wondering this as well! The new posts didn’t update in Feedly for me.

      Reply
      • Mireille says

        December 14, 2015 at 11:17 am

        Yes, please make sure this still works, I don’t want to lose any of this wonderful content 🙂 Everything looks terrific otherwise!

        Reply
    • Matt says

      December 14, 2015 at 12:27 pm

      There is a RSS icon on the right-hand column … it’s a black icon between the Facebook and Twitter icons. You should be able to update your RSS aggregators with that.

      Reply
      • karl_nj says

        December 14, 2015 at 8:51 pm

        Thanks! I overlooked that, thanks for pointing it out.

        Reply
  23. David says

    December 14, 2015 at 5:03 am

    I’m also creeped out by Facebook so won’t be visiting you on there. Other than that, the new design is awful. Please go back to old one. Thanks.

    Reply
  24. wongck says

    December 14, 2015 at 6:32 am

    Looks great.
    Easier to navigate with the buttons to the various parks.

    Reply
  25. Amy says

    December 14, 2015 at 6:38 am

    Josh, Your new website is amazing!! I look forward to your posts and I’m really looking forward to wasting time at work today pouring over your new 2.0 format!! Congrats! (Thx for doing launch bay on day 1! It was really the most informative article that didn’t sugar coat, it helped me fix my plan…so thank you!)

    Reply
  26. Rebecca says

    December 14, 2015 at 6:58 am

    Wow! Great job Josh, all of your hard work really shows with the new layout. I just wanted to say that I have been reading your blog since the first month you started ( has it really been five years!?!) when I googled ” WDW crowd calendars”. You have been the biggest help EVER in planning each of our seven trips since. I don’t know what we would have done without you! I really can’t thank you enough. (P.S. – I’m not on Facebook either – I think it’s creepy too.)

    Reply
  27. Sharon says

    December 14, 2015 at 7:22 am

    Thanks for all of your hard work! It’s fantastic!!

    Reply
  28. BoSoxGal says

    December 14, 2015 at 8:30 am

    Pretty!!!! Can’t wait to explore more. Thanks for all you do!!!

    Reply
  29. Julie says

    December 14, 2015 at 8:40 am

    Hi, Josh. I’ve spent many of my lunch hours over the past five years smiling/laughing while reading your website. I’ve loved every minute of it. But, whenever I went to find a nugget of information that I (or a friend) needed, I wanted to pull my hair out because I couldn’t navigate the site. So, thank-you for revamping the site and making life easier!

    Reply
  30. Dante says

    December 14, 2015 at 8:50 am

    Thank you so much Josh, the site is awsome now, so easy to search for previous posts. You take me from Brazil to Disney in each post, thank you again

    Reply
  31. Steve B says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:04 am

    I was expecting you to call the new-look website “easyWDW+” 🙂

    Otherwise, the new look almost appears professional – which is a welcome change. Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  32. Steve G says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:23 am

    Love the update. Have been a big fan of your site for years but now it is so much easier finding what I need. Great job!

    Reply
  33. ALISON says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:35 am

    Love it! I already checked your website every day…now it just got easier!

    Reply
  34. Claytonia says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:44 am

    Everything looks AWESOME!!! The site is a thing of beauty. Way to go. You have always been the best WDW planning site out there, and now your info is easier to find and use. I’m not a tweeter (Twitterer?) so I’m actually really glad you’re on stalkerbook now too. I raise my glass of scotch in tribute to your hard work!

    Reply
  35. Ana says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:45 am

    Oh! So fancy!! I love it!! And so happy you are FINALLY on Facebook 😉

    Reply
  36. Denise25 says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:51 am

    This update is great — everything looks wonderful. So much information at my fingertips! Thank you!

    Enjoy your holidays!

    Reply
  37. Tara says

    December 14, 2015 at 10:02 am

    The website looks awesome! Yay for Facebook! Thank you for everything you do!

    Reply
  38. Ben says

    December 14, 2015 at 10:12 am

    Fantastic upgrade – everything looks slick and is very intuitive. Thanks for all your hard work – you’re a god among men.

    Reply
  39. Sam says

    December 14, 2015 at 10:34 am

    Wow! Josh it looks so wonderful! Fantastic work to you and your designer, I can’t wait to explore more!

    Reply
  40. Molly says

    December 14, 2015 at 11:44 am

    Wow, it looks great! There’s a really nice streamlined look to it now and it’s more readily accessible. Navigating through the tabs is much easier too. It really looks fabulous. Good work!!

    Reply
  41. Alcachofa says

    December 14, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    Wow.

    Reply
  42. Mel says

    December 14, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    I’m not a huge fan of change but I LOVE your new site. Very sleek and easier to navigate!

    Congrats, and thanks for all your hard work!

    Reply
  43. Stephan says

    December 14, 2015 at 12:35 pm

    Suggestion….

    your new design is pretty cool. I really love it.
    do you think you could put in you 4 parks menu (MK, HS, EP, AK) another ‘wait times’ menu but it would be historical weekly average wait times instead of current wait times? I think you have this information but it id displayed in different posts…..

    Thanks

    Reply
  44. Cassie says

    December 14, 2015 at 1:10 pm

    Fantastic! I loved the old site, love this one even more. Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into this.

    Reply
  45. Lisa says

    December 14, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    Looks awesome! Great work!!

    Reply
  46. BeckyW says

    December 14, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    Looks awesome, Great update! A++++
    🙂

    Reply
  47. Dan Murphy says

    December 14, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    Looks great, Josh. Thanks for the excellent update to an already great information website. So many appreciate all the work and thoughts you share. Best wishes going forward.

    Dan

    Reply
  48. Kim G says

    December 14, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    Love the new organization. Everything looks great, so much easier to navigate!

    Reply
  49. Different Josh says

    December 14, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    A couple of my favorite non-WDW blogs have changed formats lately, much to my dismay. Your site, however, is an excellent upgrade! I’m actually glad to see a few ads, without going over the top with them — hopefully you’ll pull in enough $ to help keep the site going for years. Funny, though, the first ad I saw on the new format was a NIKON add! Bwahaaaahahahaaaa!

    Reply
  50. Lindsey says

    December 14, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    So phresh! ?

    Reply
  51. Colette says

    December 15, 2015 at 6:03 am

    Great job Josh, it looks fantastic!

    I often read YOUR old resort or dining here so I’m excited that I’ll be able to find them more easily now.

    Reply
  52. Cari says

    December 15, 2015 at 8:49 am

    Love the new site! Loved the old one, but this is a great upgrade! Thank you for all of the hard work!

    Reply
  53. Karine Létourneau says

    December 15, 2015 at 8:52 am

    Bravo!!! J’adore! Love it!
    From Québec, Canada

    Reply
  54. Scott says

    December 15, 2015 at 9:18 am

    Josh, the new *design* is nice. The ads? Not so much. Your site was so fast and so clean before. Ads slow it down and add clutter. But I understand, you gotta eat too.

    Careful about Facebook. You start adding more content there and I, along with others, might just visit you more there and not here (backfiring on that ads strategy – fewer hits and click-throughs).

    Thank you for all the hard work you do!

    Reply
  55. weepstah says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:00 am

    A+ + + +

    Love the new design and layout

    Reply
  56. JayStemple says

    December 15, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    I may be the only person to say this but…. FINALLY an advertisement!
    Your information is too valuable for you to not be profiting off of it. Your new site looks great and I hope it brings in some extra cash for you and your family!

    Reply
  57. April says

    December 15, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    Wow this is soo cool!

    Reply
  58. IndyND says

    December 15, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    I like it. The layout for the attractions and restaraunts are excellent. Still more to go through, but so far, really cool.

    Reply
    • IndyND says

      December 15, 2015 at 3:04 pm

      *restaurants* – Ok, the reply function could use a spell check or even an edit function for people like me.

      Reply
  59. mlm says

    December 15, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    When are you going to update EasyUniversal to the new format?

    Reply
  60. Tabitha says

    December 15, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    Loving the new site. Great work. Thank you!!!

    Reply
  61. Scherri says

    December 15, 2015 at 6:14 pm

    LOVE the new website! Thank you for all of your hard work which makes it easier for all of us when touring.

    Reply
  62. Amy says

    December 17, 2015 at 11:21 pm

    “Nothing Gold can Stay…” is my thought about the drink missing in Mickey’s hand in the easywdw logo now. But serious kudos on the other site re-vamps.

    Reply
  63. LesliePR says

    December 21, 2015 at 12:31 pm

    AWESOME JOB, Josh and Matt!!!

    Reply
  64. Julie says

    April 7, 2016 at 11:44 pm

    I read your site via RSS, and while I realized a while ago (like, in December) that I didn’t seem to be getting any updates, I just sorta chalked it up to you being busy and not posting. Imagine my chagrin to realize you’ve been posting all this time and it just wasn’t showing up in my feed, because the feed address changed. Well… now I guess I know what I’m doing for the next few days. 🙂

    Reply

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