In Transit Blog: Your Disney Questions, Answered

Edward Linsmier for The New York Times

My article in December about the opening of Walt Disney World’s New Fantasyland generated many good questions from readers planning their own Disney vacations. Most fell into two broad categories, parks and hotels, so I’ve answered a number of them below accordingly.

THE PARKS
A reader from Philadelphia asked whether he should avoid visiting Disney at the busiest times of year, perhaps even pull his kids out of school for a couple of days, to beat the crowds. “I’m sure Disney at Christmas or New Year’s is spectacular,” he wrote, “but knowing how busy those times are, I don’t know if it would be worthwhile.”

I’ve been to Walt Disney World during Christmastime and New Year’s, and I can tell you that it’s delightful — and certainly not as packed as you’d imagine. Many people want to be home for Christmas. Of course, late December flights are more costly. And you should make your meal reservations in advance. But a trip that time of year makes for some of the best Disney photos thanks to elaborate tree trimmings and nighttime light shows. Plus, you’ll be there for special performances and events, like Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom Park and Holidays Around the World at Epcot. You might just see Santa Claus, too. But peak periods like spring break? That I might avoid.

Another reader, from Utah, asked: When will the parks have a Star Wars attraction?
Disney’s Hollywood Studios simulates a trip through a galaxy far, far away with Star Tours — The Adventures Continue, a ride in which guests encounter C3PO and R2D2 and may also glimpse Yoda, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. The ride, which was introduced in 1989, added 3-D technology in 2011 and now has more than 50 story combinations, so you are likely to visit different planets and characters depending on when you blast off.

In the spring, Disney also organizes Star Wars Weekends, where from Friday to Sunday fans (feel free to don a Chewbacca costume) can take part in special activities, like a light-saber battle with Darth Vader (sorry grown-ups, this joust is for kids), or a picture session with their favorite Star Wars characters (all ages). I went last year, and it was a blast.

A reader in Massachusetts wanted to know if meal reservations are a good idea.
Yes. And make them as soon as you know your travel dates. The best places fill up fast. But making reservations at any Disney park or property can easily be done online.

Some readers are interested in what they don’t see, including one in Boston who asked if it’s possible to get a behind-the-scenes tour of Disney’s operations.

Disney offers “backstage magic” tours for visitors 18 and older, but it will cost you. For $229 a person, you get a seven-hour tour through Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, the Central Shops (where craftsmen make set pieces for the parks), Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (for a barbecue lunch) and the Walt Disney World Nursery and Tree Farm (to meet with horticulture experts). The tour includes Disney’s “utilidor” tunnels, used to stealthily shuttle everything from deliveries to cast members around the park.
A fellow New Yorker asked how one of her favorite rides at Magic Kingdom Park, Peter Pan’s Flight, is holding up. Unlike Snow White’s Scary Adventures — a classic 1970s ride that was sacrificed to make way for New Fantasyland — Peter Pan is alive and well, with families queuing up into the evening to board pirate ships that fly over London en route to Never Land. That reader also wanted to know if the flow and feel of New Fantasyland is smooth and “magical.” The center of New Fantasyland — where a roller coaster called the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is being built — is still under construction so the overall flow is slightly disjointed at the moment. But the large, crescent-shaped route from Enchanted Tales with Belle to the Be Our Guest Restaurant all the way to Ariel’s Grotto flows like any other area of the park. Along the way, romantic landscaping is meant to evoke an enchanted forest.

THE HOTELS

A reader in San Francisco wondered if staying at a Disney property is worth the cost and if so, whether staying in a hotel on the monorail line reduces logistical headaches.

If you can afford it, staying at a Disney Resort hotel makes getting around a breeze. There is free round-trip transportation between Orlando International Airport and your hotel. (That’s a big plus because taking a cab is at least $60 one way.) Transportation among Disney Resort hotels, theme and water parks, and Downtown Disney — by bus, monorail, ferryboat — is also included. There are other perks, too, like extended hours at a different theme park each day for guests of Disney Resort hotels. And, often, whatever you buy in the parks can be delivered to your Disney Resort hotel so that you don’t have to lug it around with you all day.

Disney has a number of “value resort hotels,” with most rates starting at about $96 a night. The newest is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort (rates start at about $112 a night), which has suites for families and allows for more affordable eating options (there are pizza delivery menus in the rooms). Some travelers may also want to consider the Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, where you can stay in an RV or tent (rates start at $54 a night).

Whether you ought to stay at a hotel on the monorail line depends on the park in which you plan to spend the most time. If, for example, it’s the Magic Kingdom, then the monorail is a great, direct option. But if it’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’re better off staying at a hotel on Disney’s BoardWalk that’s served by ferryboat. The key is to determine where you want to be most often, then select a nearby hotel. That said, all of the parks and hotels can be reached by a combination of various modes of free transportation.

Another New Yorker wrote to say that he would be staying at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel for a business conference and would like recommendations about what to see and do in the parks for adults. I created a brief itinerary of my perfect day for grown-ups, including breakfast at the Dolphin.

In Indiana, a reader asked how to have a Disney vacation “relatively cheaply.” In addition to reviewing the hotel recommendations above, buy park tickets in advance. And check out Mousesavers, which lists various places to obtain discount tickets.

I’ll wrap up on a personal note. One reader wanted to know which hotel I chose for my first stay in Walt Disney World. Alas, as a child, I did not do the hotel selection. But my parents kicked off my lifelong relationship with Disney by checking us into the Contemporary Resort, which back then was indeed contemporary.

In Transit Blog: Your Disney Questions, Answered