Off to Magic Kingdom in the heart of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party season. Go on a Party day and enjoy relatively light crowds. Go on a non-Party day and suffer the consequences of significantly heavier crowds.
High temperatures have finally broken a bit here in sunny Florida, where we enjoyed the rainiest September on record with rain on 23 of 30 days. More importantly perhaps, it “feels” less humid, resulting in highs that are actually 82 degrees, instead of 89 with a “Real Feel” of 110.
The new roof above the Wilderness Lodge/Ft. Wilderness boat dock is red.
Even here in October among moderate crowds, Magic Kingdom is already out of ECVs at 11:45am. Arrive early or rent/ bring your own.
Waits at Tinker Bell continue to be modest with more plentiful FastPass+ availability than one might expect.
Larger: https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports12/1011.jpg
Looking over wait times this past Saturday, on what should have been the busiest day until the Saturday during Veterans Day Weekend in November, you can get an idea about just how short waits are compared to the other characters that post times.
Disney was promoting the first direct Southwest flight from Dallas to Orlando or something with the Dapper Dans, showing them singing at the airport and on the plane. I like the Dapper Dans okay, but I think I would have tried to strangle one if they walked up and down the airplane aisle at 6:30am singing “Let It Go.”
Tony’s Town Square Restaurant is located to the left of the Theater on Main Street. A more detailed lunch review and a dinner review should you wish to read up.
Lunch menu:
You’ll notice that last time’s Meatball Sliders have been replaced by a “Meatball Trio,” among other changes and price increases.
We’re joined by Jim, Jess, and family, “winners” of a radio show contest promoting a Disney World guidebook that I wrote with Dave Shute that is currently the highest rated Disney World guidebook of all time. While I was supposed to be on the hook for the bill, they ended up paying, in addition to bringing a gift bag complete with an Ole Miss koozie and an Elvis CD. Which I think means I should run more contests.
We started with the Calamari topped with Olive Relish and served with a side of Marinara Sauce – $10.99, which is your garden variety straight-from-the-freezer quality with a side of sauce from a jar. It’s not “bad,” but certainly not a standout.
The Zucchini Fries – Breaded seasoned Zucchini with creamy Sun-dried Tomato Dressing for dipping – $7.99 are better and potentially a little more unique. Each has a nice crunch and the dip is creamy and delicious.
Jim and Jess tried the Shrimp Scampi – Linguini with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Asparagus tossed in a Garlic Sauce – $18.99 which has six fairly large shrimp on top of pasta. Unfortunately, the sauce was runny and the linguini overcooked, which is the norm at Tony’s. Still, it’s a large portion for the money and while not stellar by any stretch of the imagination, will fill you up for eight or nine more dollars than a quick service burger.
After thoroughly enjoying my Joe’s Artisinal Pizza at my last lunch here, I was looking forward to the Chicken Bianca Pizza – Grilled Chicken Breast and crispy Pancetta topped with Arugula Salad – $16.99. Unfortunately, it was bone dry from the crust, to the cheese, to the other toppings. It might have been a 10/10 with a creamy sauce, but was a 2/10 as is.
A simple kids’ cheese pizza.
Dessert.
I thought the Pistachio Crème Brûlée – $5.99 was excellent – creamy and pistachio-y and “just the right size.”
Their Tiramisu – Espresso-soaked Lady Fingers, Whipped Mascarpone, and Dark Chocolate Shavings $6.49 was just as good. We all planned to have “just a bite” and ended up finishing them.
Tony’s remains on my “You can do better just about anywhere else” list. For less money, you can get a more competent sandwich at The Plaza. Be Our Guest is a better experience for potentially not a whole lot more money at dinner. For upscale fare, it’s probably a restaurant at an area resort.
Thanks again to Jim and family and sorry I dragged you to such a lousy restaurant!
The railroad is down for refurbishment through November 7th. Green tarps are up around the track that’s visible.
The scene at the Frontierland stop. The track is being replaced in parts, among other upgrades.
In the meantime, Mary Poppins and potentially her penguins meet on the upper level of the train station, though currently in only three sets:
- 9:20am-10am
- 10:15am-11am
- 1:15pm-1:50pm
Here at 1:22pm, her line is only about ten people long in this not-obvious location.
Frozen merchandise continues to be widely available outside of Elsa dresses.
Etc.
Tourists (and bloggers), you do.
And no, a tail is not pants!
Sulley is also available.
Trees and shrubs added as the Hub construction walls move closer to Casey’s seating area behind me.
Speaking of which:
Walls still line Main Street up and around the Hub area.
Work looks to have begun on what is expected to be a Main Street bypass behind Main Street. Guests would use it to enter/exit after the mayhem that is the end of Wishes.
The Buzz Lightyear FastPass+ kiosk has been “closed,” but isn’t removed and works as overflow for the Stitch location across the way in heavy crowds.
Closed but not forgotten.
Astro Orbiter recently reopened with a new paint scheme:
Unfortunately, the Orbiter is not an easy attraction to experience most days due to the agonizingly slow load/unload procedure and extremely limited capacity.
Wait times from Friday October 17th, a day with below average crowds:
Larger: https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports12/orbit.jpg
There was a version of the Cheat Sheet touring plan that included Astro Orbiter as the first step, but experiencing it after Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear is a better bet as waits will still be short once you finish with the other two. Then it’s off to Speedway. In below average crowds, you’ll otherwise wait 20 to 25 minutes in the sun/rain in a boring switchback queue at most times of day. In heavier crowds, actual waits are closer to 35 outside of the very early morning and very late night.
FastPass+ lines continue to look long from time to time. Anecdotally, Buzz’s queue spills outside after winding around to the right of the entrance at 12:15pm.
But just ten minutes later the queue is maybe half as long. There are a number of reasons for the appearance of long FastPass+ lines, most due to user error/the language barrier, but potentially also due to a large number of people returning at the same time, technical problems with the ride, etc. Out of hundreds of FastPass+ uses, I think I’ve waited longer than ten minutes just two or three times, usually at a character or Soarin’. Anna/Elsa is usually under 10 minutes and Seven Dwarfs is remarkably fast with actual FastPass+ waits usually under five minutes.
Also keep in mind that standby and FP+ are not equals. I’ll occasionally see someone post a picture of a long FP+ line and a short posted standby wait with some comment about how the wait would be shorter in standby. This is virtually never the case due to the way ratios work. FP+ usually makes up 70% of a ride’s overall capacity. So even if you have 100 people in FP+ and 25 people in standby, the 100th person in FP+ will virtually always ride before the 25th person in standby due to how much priority FP+ riders are given.
On the other hand, if you come across a ride with a short standby wait or you can easily get into the next show without FastPass+, it would be wise to pull up your handy phone app and change your experience to something else on the fly. A good example of when a FP+ will save you exactly zero minutes or exactly 20 minutes is Turtle Talk with Crush. While there is no reserved section for FP+ users at Crush, FP+ does guarantee entrance into the next show. If you time it so you get into the next show in standby, your FP+ is completely useless. But if you arrive closer to the start of the show and standby is closed, FP+ will save you the 15 minute wait
I am not a collectible popcorn bucket person, but these two are a home run.
Zero’s nose lights up. For $13.50 they’re expensive, but awfully fun.
PeopleMover’s/Astro Orbiter’s Miami Dolphins paint scheme continues over to the Disney Vacation Club booth, a sign that a larger cosmetic overhaul may be in the works.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to repaint the kiosk and nothing else.
Mine Train continues to see 60+ minute waits virtually all day with FastPass+ that are extremely limited, even 60 days out. If you can’t get a FP+, there are exactly three good times to ride:
- Immediately at Park open if you can stay ahead of the group walking in that direction. Take a right at the Castle up toward Mad Tea Party, then a left at Mad Tea Party toward The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The entrance will be up on your right.
- Getting in line about 15 minutes before Wishes.
- At the very end of the night, ideally getting in line with about five minutes to Park close. Everyone in line at close gets to ride.
Otherwise, it’s going to be 45 to 90 minutes.
There was some confusion earlier this week when a major Disney news outlet incorrectly reported a 2-sentence headline without any explanation announcing that Be Our Guest had gone “FastPass+ only.” Coupled with the “website error (Disney’s words)” that made it impossible to book Be Our Guest lunch after October 29th with FastPass+ invitations that had gone out to on-site guests, it “seemed” like big changes were coming in November.
(Un)fortunately,nothing has changed and the restaurant continues to issue return tickets for guests unable to make FastPass+ reservations. I picked this one up at 12:40pm. More info on Be Our Guest FP+ here: https://www.easywdw.com/forums/showthread.php?21033-The-New-Be-Our-Guest-FP-Guide. Otherwise, my advice remains the same. Get in line shortly after 2pm when standby is wide open or head over right at 10:30am to see if they are distributing tickets. While standby is open to guests that get in line before 10:30am, I don’t recommend doing so as you’re wasting precious morning touring time with short waits at most attractions to order a turkey sandwich.
The old mine store is walled off.
Friar’s Nook to the left of it is now open daily at 11am:
Serving up dat macaroni menu.
60 minutes for Cinderella/Rapunzel and 120 for Anna/Elsa at 1pm. That’s about average.
The Fantasyland FP+ Kiosk Megaplex is one of the only four remaining locations available in Magic Kingdom now that Storybook Circus is closed and Buzz doesn’t always operate. With the number of kiosks and iPads, waits tend to be short even if the line is longer than the other locations.
The Adventureland Breezeway FP+ kiosk is operating here with no signage whatsoever. When they do put up a sign, the two kiosks are overwhelmed and lines back up even with 15 or 20 people there.
No walls up at Peter Pan’s Flight or it’s a small world for the first time in a long time.
While permits continue to be filed for interactive elements at Pan, the queue reopened again without any for the second time. The queue is wider to accommodate ECVs and wheelchairs and the FP+ line is rerouted a bit, but that’s it for now.
October crowds.
The new normal.
Poor Rapunzel overwhelmed with strollers.
The Yankee Trader closed a few months ago for its transformation into Memento Mori, a dedicated Haunted Mansion store. Note that there is only one entrance as pictured.
Some poor cast member is stationed at this more-obvious door near the Haunted Mansion announcing that it is “exit only.”
Such a thing is necessary because the store is Harry Potter World small.
Due in part to this Spirit Photography booth, which actually seems like a good value at $19.95.
They take your picture and from straight on you look more or less normal.
Look from the sides and you look like your ghost host.
Some more lousy merch shots at unfortunately high ISOs:
Virtually everything should be available at DisneyStore.com and they have free shipping this weekend with code SHIPFREE when you purchase a “Disney Parks Product” like any of the Mansion stuff.
The merchandise has already invaded the Emporium:
M’lady.
Mori is otherwise definitely worth checking out. Most of the stuff is great. Bring your credit card.
Frontierland.
Liberty Square Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island are excellent choices here in the afternoon when waits at just about everything with a sign are over 25 minutes. Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents, and Enchanted Tiki Room are three more.
FP+ continues to pull down waits at the major attractions, this time at Big Thunder where the wait is only 5 minutes longer than it’s a small world and Haunted Mansion.
50 at Splash, where waits will fall with the temperatures.
Another example of a long FP+ return line visible, again probably due to user error of some kind. The line inside is probably nonexistent and you’d be waiting behind this many people whether it’s in front of the Mickey scanners or later on up the queue. It’s not a big deal.
Golden Oak and it’s over hyped waffle fries continues to be closed more often than not.
Though this week it was open four days:
The Halloween Parties don’t affect the quick service schedule as much as the Christmas Party, when Pinocchio Village Haus and Columbia Harbour House stop serving at 5pm on Party nights.
A family next to me as I was taking this picture commented that “the wait is down to 40 minutes if you want to ride,” something you would assuredly never hear prior to FP+ outside of maybe Christmas day.
My favorite of the remaining FP+ kiosks next to Jungle Cruise. Lines re typically shorter and it’s more organized than the other areas. It’s also away from a major thoroughfare, which may decrease the chaos inherent in other locations. That was another nice thing about the Storybook Circus kiosk (RIP).
I think that’s about it. AK up next.
4 weeks and counting
Good luck with your book, Josh!
You too!
Love the update. Great as always. Wondering if you know what the current items are for the buy more promo they normally do. Heard there was a frozen crossbody bag available is that is an optoon?
There is a Frozen bag out there:
https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports11/nfsfthj84.jpg
https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports11/nfsfthj83.jpg
but I believe it is limited to the Norway store and the resorts. I’ll have to double check what they’re currently offering in most theme park stores.
Thanks so much. Always look forward to the updates.
When we were there at the beginning of Oct. (4-11), we only saw the Frozen tote at our resort and at Wandering Oaken’s at DHS. At the other stores, it was a reversible tote bag for $25+ and a plush throw with a retro-WDW styling for the $40+ orders.
Is that Al Gore in the spirit photo?
#ratios
#yes #hashtag
So is the “new normal” longer lines at attractions because of FP+?
Yes, significantly longer lines at what used to be “anytime/secondary” rides. A lot of discussion in this post: https://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/how-fastpass-is-affecting-wait-times-at-disney-world-attractions/
Thank you Josh, I appreciate you sharing so much!
whats the estimated completion date for the Hub refurb?
September 2015 (really)
“Liberty Square Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island are excellent choices here in the afternoon when waits at just about everything with a sign are over 25 minutes. Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents, and Enchanted Tiki Room are three more.”
There’s a reason these lines are short…
Excellent update. I love the new Haunted Mansion store and really want a few souvenirs on our next trip.
Thanks for the information and photos.
*Silly questions – is that Magic Band (it appears to be a complete band and not merely a sleeve/cover) functional or just cosmetic? Are there other ride based bands out there?
It is a working MagicBand. No ride MagicBands are coming to mind, but they have run ones for the Frozen thing at Studios, the Halloween Party, Christmas Party, etc.
Picturing a plethora of little girls walking around MK with axe-wielding plush dolls of the Haunted Mansion Bride (I think Constance is her name?) and I’m torn in thinking it’s either completely awesome or macabre. Or perhaps it’s both.
Do you know if the Anna and Elsa soft dolls are the 8″ plushes?
I’m not sure I didn’t measure, but it looks to be about the right height:
http://i.imgur.com/B091jGA.jpg
Assuming they are available at DisneyStore,com, it would probably be easier and/or cheaper to buy there.
Well, I was able to get one of the big Elsa soft dolls at the Disney Store for $20 but they haven’t had any smaller ones which are generally cheaper and more my daughter’s size.
Also, thanks for the response 🙂
Eerie….
Spirit Photography even if at $1.95, I would not want to be looking like a ghost.
Thanks for the updates Josh !!
60 days out for FP+ for the Mine Train… *sigh* who didn’t see stuff like this happening. Glad I was able to enjoy DW one last time with a sane method for getting a Fastpass, you actually got it early the day you were there actually IN THE PARK.
have a dear Disney buddy who was transferred from cat coras to tonys . as much as I love her cant see me having to pay for a basic frozen food quality meal. and is it just me but is it not a disgrace that it is taking so much time to complete ” THE HUB” if this was “universal that other park ” there would have already been at least 3 new attractions built & up & running .
When’s the 2015 book coming out? Gotta get me some guidebook lovin!
Couple weeks, I think.
We rode 7DMT last night – we got in line at 1:50 AM to only a 20-minute wait. It was nice to see the regular queue for the first time, particularly at night.
We were there a day before you, Josh, eating at Tony’s (for sentimental reasons). We loved FP+. It worked great for us every time. We also used the FP kiosk by Jungle Cruise and it was very fast. Picked up two fastpasses in a row. We also rode 7DMT during Wishes–probably a 20 minute wait. It pays to read up on this site. Thanks for everything, Josh!
Thanks for the update, Josh. Love that Haunted Mansion is getting more recognition and more merch!
Thanks for the update. My husband hates going when there are so many walls up. That hub construction just looks awful.
M’Lady… lol
That colored candy corn is probably the worst thing I’ve put in my mouth at Disney. Warm, sticky, fermenting in the Florida heat all day….don’t do it! You’ll spend at least the rest of the hour picking stale popcorn out of your teeth.
On second thought, Tipsy Ducks gets the #1. That is the most foul concoction on the planet.
I ordered one only alcoholic drink on our last trip (preferring to pay half price for drinks back in the room…) – I thought Tipsy Ducks lived up to the hype. Mmmmm…Tipsy Ducks… (Insert Homer voice)
‘Only one’ – looks like I’m drinking already…
Assuming you like coffee, chocolate, and bourbon I’m not sure how you could dislike the Tipsy Ducks. But if you don’t like those things, well…
Hey Josh, how about snapping a pic of what all those beautiful walls looks like from Main Street looking towards Cinderella’s Castle? I’m curious what that looks like right now so I can set myself up for lowering my expectations for my December trip. TIA!
It’s a difficult shot to get because the area is so wide. Once you get past the area in between Casey’s and the Hub itself, you shouldn’t notice anything that unfortunate.
Ok, great! Thanks for letting me know!
@Amy:
Was just at the Magic Kingdom yesterday. You can hardly see the walls from Main Street, and they did not show up in any of our pictures either. You really don’t know that they’re there until you’re practically on top of them.
OK, thanks! I appreciate you commenting and letting me know!
I second what Sarah said–we didn’t notice them at all in our pictures. I don’t think my kids noticed them period.
Okay, now I have to get one of those Donald t-shirts. And a Cheshire cat tail. It’s nice being able to make a shopping list before going.
Thanks for the photos, Josh!
We were at MK on the 16th, too…earlier in the day and then back later for MNSSHP. Too bad I didn’t see you, Josh ~ but by then I stopped carrying the book in the backpack. I would have maybe asked you to sign a little piece of paper I could then tape inside the book later. Thanks for all you do.
With the railroad being down for track replacement, have they altered the rope drop ceremony at all? Or stopped it all together? Any knowledge of plans to do this would be greatly appreciated.
T minus 8 days til the wife and I head to Disney… wooo wooo!!
Thanks!!
Eli : )
There is still an opening show. Instead the the characters arriving on a train, they just arrive on foot.
I seriously can’t thank you enough for this post and the pics of Mori!!! We are re-doing our bathroom into The Haunted Mansion (yes we are crazy, one of the other bathrooms is the Tiki Room). My credit card is maxed out already thinking about that place! January’s trip can’t come soon enough!
I’m still pretty proud that I managed to snag a Mine Train FP+ the day before our visit in July.
Gotta love a shop named “Remember to die”!