Disney World Blog Discussing Parks, Resorts, Discounts and Dining | Only WDWorld

How To Beat The Summer Heat At Disney World

2010-07-24T16:15:00.000-04:00

As the summer temperatures reach record levels it is a good time to think about how to stay cool at the Walt Disney World Resort.

If the best time for your family to vacation at Disney World is during the summer, then the Florida heat is something that you will have to contend with.

There are many ways to escape the heat at Disney World, whether you are looking to cool off a little or cool off a lot. Let's look at a list of some of your options:

Disney Resort Pools - The Walt Disney World Resorts all have pools for you to enjoy and there is no better time than during the summer. Many have slides and special splashing areas for young children. This is a great way to break up the day and cool off a little bit before you head back into the parks.

Disney Attractions That Get You Wet! - There are many Disney World attractions that will get you wet, from just a splash to a drenching downpour. The summer is the best time to enjoy the cooling off benefits of these attractions. Favorite Disney Attractions that get you wet are: Kali River Rapids & Splash Mountain (note: You actually get the wettest at the beginning of theSplash Mountain as you approach the area pictured above). Other attractions that may get you wet include: Maelstrom, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Muppet Vision 3-D, Voyage Of The Little Mermaid, & Captain EO.

Disney Park Misters - Within each of the Disney World Theme Parks there are several misters to help cool you off as you walk by. These are very refeshing and do a great job to beat the summmer heat. For an in depth look at misters (with lots of photos) in each of the Disney Parks read: Disney Parks - Staying Cool In The Summer Heat.

Club Cool At Epcot - The refreshing stop should be on every Epcot park visitors list, especially during the summer. Within this air conditioned building in Future World are a selection of FREE soft drinks to taste. You probably can't stay hydrated by visiting here alone (although I'm sure there are those who have tried), but you can quench your thirst by trying several of the chilled carbonated beverages.

Disney World Water Parks - For the ultimate "Get Wet" experience, try one of the Walt Disney World Resort's Water Parks - Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. All of the Disney World theming and detail that you love in their theme parks applied to a Water Park.

Disney World's Frozen Treats - One of the best ways to stay cool is to try one (or more) of the great Disney World Frozen Treats that are available. Favorites include: the famous Dole Whip and Dole Whip Float, Frozen Lemonade, Tropical Smoothies, Milk Shakes, Ice Cream, Ice Cream Sundaes, the American Dream in Epcot, & Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches.

Florida Brief Rain Storms - Another way to cool off is to enjoy the near daily afternoon rain showers that central Florida are known for. Use these brief showers to cool off and refresh. Don't get soaked and be miserable, but sometimes being a little wet feels good on a hot day.

Take Advantage Of Late Disney Park Hours - During the busy summer season it is not uncommon for the Disney Theme Parks to have extended hours. The Magic Kingdom can be open as late as 3:00 AM if you are a Disney Resort guest. These late hours are the coolest of the day and can help you beat the heat. The Disney Parks also take on a different feel at night and it becomes another experience to enjoy.

Enjoy Disney World! - No matter how hot it gets there are always ways to beat the heat and have a great time at Disney World. Use any or all of these tips and don't let the heat slow down or take away the magic from your Disney Vacation.

Earth Day 2010 At Disney World Celebrated With Energy Savings Announcement

2010-04-22T12:26:00.002-04:00

As we celebrate Earth Day 2010 today on April 22nd, the Walt Disney World Resort announces a Green Initiative that will result in a major energy savings.

Adopting Green Lighting Choices Nets Big Results

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Apr. 24, 2010 – One small change by Walt Disney World Cast Members has the potential to save enough electricity to power more than one thousand homes for a year.

Disney Cast Members are retrofitting more than 1000 theatrical spotlights and floodlights around the resort with more efficient and longer-lasting light fixtures. Some of the fixtures include LED (light emitting diode) lights which can be 330% more efficient than other lights. For example, a 575-watt spotlight may be replaced with 70-watt LED light that puts out the same light equivalent.

Some of the attractions slated to “lighten up” include Gran Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, Test Track, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Snow White’s Scary Adventure and many more. Engineers estimate this one small change will save more than 2.5 million kilowatt hours annually, which is enough to power to light 1135 homes for a year.

Walt Disney World Resort recently intensified efforts to embed environmental stewardship into the decisions and actions of Cast Members and guests through a series of science-based programs and policies. The efforts include effectively managing resources through energy management, water conservation and waste minimization.

Disney Fans and Bloggers From NC Got Together For 1st 2719 Hyperion Sweatbox

2010-04-14T21:20:00.001-04:00

On April 10, 2010 in Archdale, North Carolina the 1st 2719 Hyperion Sweatbox was held to bring together Disney Fans and Bloggers from all over North Carolina.

The event was organized by George Taylor of the Disney Blogs - 2719 Hyperion & Imaginerding , as well as, Jeff Pepper from 2719 Hyperion and George's brother Andrew Taylor from the Imaginerding site.

Although there were only 15 of us gathered for this initial meet, there was a good mix of Disney Blogs, Disney Podcasts, ex-Disney Cast Members, and Disney Fans represented.

George stated that once he realized how many Disney Blogs were being written by Disney Fans living in North Carolina he thought that it would be great if we could get together in person to interact and thus the idea for the meet, aka Sweatbox, was developed.

For those that must know - according the the folks at 2719 Hyperion:

"SWEATBOX was used as both a noun and a verb by Disney veterans. Originally, the sweatbox was a tiny room about the size of a closet. The closet became a makeshift projection room in the early thirties at the Hyperion studio site. Animators would sweat because of the closeness of the room and/or because of the anxiety of having their work analyzed and scrutinized. Even after the move to the Burbank studio and spacious projection rooms, the term sweatbox was still used. sweatbox became a verb When someone would sweatbox a work in progress or analyze it to see if it was ready to move on to the next stage of production."

From Working With Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists by Don Peri

After introductions, George and Jeff gave the initial presentation entitled: "Meet Buddy Robinson" which detailed Los Angeles in the 1920's and 1930's as we followed Walt Disney's and the Disney Studio's movements through those formative years.

Afterward, Jeff Crawford and Michael Crawford from Progress City, U.S.A. presented a humerous slideshow depicting their most recent trip to Walt Disney World.

Disney Blogs represented:

Links:

It was great to meet everyone that was at the 1st 2719 Hyperion Sweatbox and I look forward to the event growing and meeting even more Disney Fans and Bloggers. It is fun to get together with other self professed Disney Geeks and share your experiences and knowledge. It is amazing what you can learn about a topic that you are very familiar with.

Next 2719 Sweatbox
The next 2719 Hyperion Sweatbox has already been scheduled for Saturday June 12th at 6:00 pm at he Archdale, NC Public Library. Visit: 2719 Hyperion Sweatbox for more information.

Tron Legacy Monorail At Disney World

2010-03-28T15:48:00.000-04:00

Tron Legacy Monorail
Tron Legacy, the upcoming sequel to the 1982 Disney sci-fi hit Tron is making its presence felt at the Walt Disney World Resort.

In a move to promote the movie, the folks at Disney World have chosen to use the monorail as a giant billboard. The graphics look great and can be seen on one of the monorails that travels between the Ticket and Transportation Center and Epcot.

Tron Legacy is scheduled to be in theaters December 17th, 2010.

The sequel will feature Jeff Bridges in a reprisal from his role in the original albeit, 25+ years later. He is still within the Tron Game and now his grown son intends to find out what happened to his father so many years ago.

Here is a synopsis of the movie from Disney Pictures:

Tron:Legacy is a 3D High-Tech Adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant Qora (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

One Really Cool Looking Monorail
However you stand on the idea of using the monorails to help cross promote and advertise other Disney businesses the stunning graphics on the monorial look great! It certainly gets your attention.

Only WDWorld Launches New Disney World Community On Lunch.com

2010-03-12T13:34:00.000-05:00

Only WDWorld has launched a new Disney World Community on Lunch.com to create a place for Disney World Fans to interact utilizing the tools on the Lunch.com site to write reviews about their favorite Disney World topics and rate the reviews of others.

Lunch.com
LOS ANGELES, CA and AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - March 12, 2010) - Lunch (http://www.lunch.com), a social media website that connects people to their common ground with others, today announced the release of 'Communities on Lunch,' its most significant expansion to date. The feature allows people to create and curate their own personalized review websites on the Lunch platform. Communities on Lunch uniquely provide the 'review' context, an unprecedented format for connecting around shared interests online. This environment draws out more useful content around niche topics, encouraging substantially more people to feel comfortable contributing quality content that can genuinely benefit others.

The release of Communities on Lunch represents the next evolution of user generated content, culminating the brand's overall strategy to elicit the most thoughtful, relevant, and compelling content online.

Only WDWorld Community
The Only WDWorld Community on Lunch.com is different in that YOU are asked to share your knowledge and your experiences to contribute by writing reviews, lists, discussions, or micro-reviews. By having many different people with many different experiences to share, it is the hope that this site will become a fantastic resource for all Disney World fans and people looking to learn more about the Walt Disney World Resort.

The combination of many, many Disney "experts" contributing to their favorite Disney World topics will create a virtual Disney World Guide that will far surpass that of any one person's opinion. By using the Lunch.com rating system, the best reviews for each topic will make their way to the top of the list, allowing you to find the information that you are looking for.

Here are some screenshots from the actual site:

The Only WDWorld Community has gotten off to a great start through the help of some fellow Disney Bloggers that have been contributing reviews:

Chip from Chip and Company
Chris from EverythingWDW
Gray from SoloFriendly
Lisa aka @UnbalancedLibra on Twitter

Join the Only WDWorld Community
The Only WDWorld Blog will continue to bring you Disney World news and articles on various Disney World topics ranging from the Disney Dining Plan to unadvertised activities to try during your next Disney World vacation.

The new Only WDWorld Community will utilize the powerful Lunch.com platform to create a more intelligent interactive site that will allow you to leave reviews and read the best reviews from others on the Disney World topics that you are interested in. This will be a much more useful platform that just a message board site, with honest, first hand experienced reviews to check out.

This community is for the Disney World Expert, as well as the family planning their first trip. I hope you will take the time to check it out, and become a member of our growing community. It will continue to get better as it grows.

To join: Only WDWorld Community

To follow on Twitter: OnlyWDWorldComm

Disney Shares Gardening Secrets During 2010 Epcot Flower & Gardening Festival

2010-03-08T12:05:00.001-05:00

The landscaping at Epcot is impressive year round, but during the 2010 Flower & Garden Festival, which runs from March 3rd – May 16th, the results are inspirational.

Disney World realizes that their “inspired” guests would love to take a little bit of this Disney magic and bring it home to their own yards and gardens.

Disney World Guests Learn From the Experts
During each weekend of the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, Disney World presents members of their horticultural staff, as well as, nationally recognized gardening experts to lead a series of presentations. Topics such as “Creating Backyard Garden Retreats”, “Disney’s Top Picks For Mixed Containers”, “Easy To Do Water Features”, & “The Small Budget Garden” will be presented during the festival.

The presentations occur on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday with different topics and Gardening experts to speak. There is the “Disney Gardening At Home”(11 am & 2 pm), and the “Great American Gardeners” (12 noon & 3 pm) sessions available to all Epcot guests. These are included for FREE with their park admission. The sessions take place in the festival’s Garden Town which is located next to Mission: SPACE in Epcot.

Here is the full schedule of topics for the 2010 Flower & Garden Festival:

March 5-7 Disney Gardening at Home: Easy-To-Do Water Features
Great American Gardeners: Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening (Robert Bowden)
March 12-14 Disney Gardening at Home: Fun Family Gardening Projects
Great American Gardeners: The Truth about Garden Remedies (Jeff Gillman)
March 19-21 Disney Gardening at Home: What’s Old Is New
Great American Gardeners: Gardening with Heirloom Seeds (Lynn Coulter)
March 26-28 Disney Gardening at Home: Butterfly House-How To Create a Pollinator
Great American Gardeners: The Small-Budget Garden (Maureen Gilmer)
April 2-4 Disney Gardening at Home: Disney’s Horticulture Past-Festival Favorites
Great American Gardeners: Bringing Nature Home (Douglas Tallamy)
April 9-11 Disney Gardening at Home: Irrigation ‘How To’
Great American Gardeners: Stylish Sheds & Elegant Hideaways (Debra Prinzing)
April 16-18 Disney Gardening at Home: Creating Backyard Garden Retreats
Great American Gardeners: Sweet Herbal Recipes & the Creative Herbal Home (Susan Belsinger)
April 23-25 Disney Gardening at Home: Disney’s Top Picks for Mixed Containers
Great American Gardeners: His & Hers–What Makes a Great Garden (Tom & Joani MacCubbin)

Take The Disney Gardening Magic Home
Plan to visit this year's Epcot Flower & Garden Festival and take advantage of these great Gardening Seminars. Then you can be creating some of that Disney magic in your gardens that you can enjoy long after your vacation is over.

Disney World Ticket Tips To Help You Save Money

2009-06-03T05:51:00.000-04:00

The tickets for the Disney World theme parks are one of, if not the most expensive portions of your vacation.

Here are some basic tips to keep in mind when you are looking to purchase your tickets:

Disney World does not offer much in the way of discounts on theme park tickets. The current system is called Magic Your Way.

They instead offer a tiered pricing system that favors longer stays. You get a much better deal for stays that are 4 days or longer. See table below:
For days 1 through 3 you average over $70/day. Starting with day 4 the average cost per day goes down dramatically.
You are much better off planning one 6 - 7 day trip instead of two 2-3 day trips.
The park hopping option costs $50 per ticket, no matter how many days you buy the ticket for. This really only makes sense for the longer visits. Otherwise save your money and don't get this option.
You can always upgrade your tickets at the parks, even after you have used them, as long as you upgrade within 14 days of initial use. If you are unsure about Park Hopper option, don't get it and add later if you really need it.
You can not downgrade tickets, or get refund for unused options. If not sure buy lower amount and upgrade when needed, no cost penalty to do so.
When you are ready to purchase your tickets, stay with a reputable ticket seller. There is too much money at stake for minimal savings.
I recommend these 3 options for buying your tickets:
- On-line with Disney World: http://www.disneyworld.com/
- Purchase through AAA either on-line or at local office
- Purchase through: Undercover Tourist at: http://www.undercovertourist.com/
There are a few other reputable dealers out there, but I have used these three and I trust them.

Once you understand how the system works you can make intelligent decisions that will help you save money.

For more ticket information go to: http://onlywdworldtickets.blogspot.com/