Disney Answers
All Walt Disney World resort pools, including the three pools at Disney’s Pop Century Resort are heated year round. Every single day of they year, all Disney pools are 82 degrees.
By the way, Pop Century has three pools, the Hippy Dippy Pool, the Bowling Pin Pool and the Computer Pool, all heated all year round. Happy swimming!
While Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Contemporary Resort are only about 1,000 feet apart, you cannot walk between the two. They are separated by a body of water, the canal that runs between Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. While World Drive runs in front of both resorts, there isn’t any sidewalk or anyway to walk on the road.
While you can’t walk from the Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary, there is a boat that runs between the two resorts as well as the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, so you can get back and forth between the two.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a theme park located at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida, and is known for attractions such as The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Toy Story Mania! and Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. It is one of the four theme parks located at Walt Disney World. It opened in 1989 as Disney-MGM Studios, and was renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008.
Universal Studios consists of two theme parks, both also located in Orlando, Florida. Universal Studios also a theme park in Universal City, California. The Orlando locations are located 12 miles north of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and consist of the original Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Universal Studios Florida features Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts, Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. Islands of Adventure features The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and The Incredible Hulk. If you want to ride Hogwarts Express in real life, it runs between the two theme parks.
Questions like this are very subjective, and there isn’t necessarily a correct answer. I may love Soarin’ but you may think Test Track is better. So, please take these answers with a grain of salt, and pick which rides you think your family will enjoy.
FastPasses allow you to basically bypass the line at Disney. You are allowed to book up to 3 fastpasses per day either online or via the WDW smart phone app. Reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance of your trip.
In Epcot, due to the reduced number or attractions, they have put the fastpass options in two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. Here are the options in each tier:
You are currently allowed to select 1 option from tier 1 and 2 options from tier 2. Once you have used all three fastpasses that day, you are allowed to make an additional reservation from any tier, if there are any times left.
From tier 1, I would avoid Illuminations. Now, DO NOT avoid the show itself, it is fantastic, but the fastpass allows you access to a reserved standing area, and the view from there is no better than anywhere else. 15 minutes before the show starts, find yourself a spot somewhere around the lagoon with a good view of the center.
If you have little girls, get Frozen Ever After. Beware, these go super quickly, and are usually gone within a few minutes of being made available.
Both Soarin’ and Test Track are great options for a thrill ride, pick one of the two, and then arrive at Epcot a few minutes before opening and go directly to the other one and get in line. Your wait should be pretty short, and much shorter than any other time during the day.
From tier 2, it really depends. Mission:Space is a no brainer, it is the other thrill ride in Epcot. The other options would be wisely used on something your family would like. Personally, I love Living with the Land, and Spaceship Earth is fantastic, but you can usually find both of these rides without lines late in the afternoon. If you have kids, the Disney Pals meet and greet is quite fun, and a great way to meet a lot of Disney characters in just a few minutes.
When I do Epcot Fastpasses here are my choices:
I think Epcot is harder to figure out then any other Disney theme park. It is pretty easy to pick the best 3 or 4 rides in the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, but because of the tiers, the three most popular rides are limited to you, so you have to pick between rides that really do not need a fastpass most of the time. Pick what works best for your family.
Each night in the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, Fantasyland (or parts of it) is closed for the nightly fireworks show that happens on and around Cinderella’s and Sleeping Beauty’s Castles. While all of Fantasyland in Disneyland is closed during the fireworks, only the part between Prince Charming Regal Carrousel and Cinderella’s Castle is closed in the Magic Kingdom, while many of the rides behind the carousel will remain open during fireworks. This really is unfortunate for many as a large part of the park must shut down hours before the normal closing time. However, some nights, Disney will reopen Fantasyland after fireworks.
The answer to the Disney question really depends on park hours. If there is enough time after the fireworks end, then Fantasyland will open back up. If the nightly fireworks are towards closing time, then of course, Fantasyland will not reopen until the next morning. I have found that if the fireworks start 2 hours or more before park closing, then Fantasyland will reopen. Once you get inside that 2 hour window, it really doesn’t make sense for Disney to reopen a large part of the parks just for a few minutes.
The current Magic Kingdom fireworks show “Wishes” is a 12 minute show, while the current Disneyland show “Remember…Dreams Come True” is closer to 16 minutes long. It takes quite a while for Disney to clear Fantasyland after the fireworks, but you can expect Fantasyland to be open sometime around 15 – 30 minutes after the fireworks end, and it should remain open until park closing.
Tonight in the Magic Kingdom, Wishes is scheduled for 9:00 PM, and the park is open until 11:00 PM, so you should have access to Fantasyland for a bit over about 90 minutes after it reopens.
Please note: Currently, Disneyland DOES NOT offer fireworks during the week, they are only allowed to present their fireworks show on weekend nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights), so Fantasyland will remain open all night on weekdays.
DisAnswers Hint: If you want to ride Peter Pan, head to the back side of Fantasyland in Disneyland right after the fireworks open. Disney will start a line for Peter Pan near Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and will only allow about 50 people in the line. Once Fantasyland is ready to open, they will escort that line to Peter Pan and start loading the ride. Once that line is in place, they will drop the rope and allow everyone else into Fantasyland.
Historically, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World has been a “dry county”, no alcohol was served anywhere in the park. That has actually changed a bit in recent years with some of the table service restaurants adding wine and beer as dinner drink options. Epcot has been much more open about selling alcohol in the parks, especially in the World Showcase and even more so during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival (and to a lesser extend, during the Flower and Garden Festival). That is great, but can you get a drink at Disney’s Hollywood Studios?
In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, most of the table service restaurants (50’s Prime Time Cafe, Mama Melrose’s and Hollywood Brown Derby) all feature extensive wine, beer and cocktail options during both lunch and dinner hours. Most of the counter service restaurants also feature limited beer and wine options for both lunch and dinner. One unique thing about Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the presence of two lounges, the Tune-In Lounge located at 50’s Prime Time Cafe and the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge located at the Hollywood Brown Derby. Both lounges feature limited food items and extensive cocktail, wine and beer menus, and are open without reservation.
Please note that Disney does not like you to take your alcoholic drink on a tour of the park with you, drinks need to be consumed inside the restaurants.
