05/05/05 at WDW ?....................

[Wishing on a star]

Okay, let's say they close the parks early for special 'press' events. This would be in the days right BEFORE the opening of the 50th celebration on May 5th.. right??? May 5th is on a Thursday. We check out of our time-share week on Saturday morning. So, this leaves May 5th as the ONLY date we can see the MK if we want to see any of the new stuff, or if we don't want to deal with early closings... closed attractions... etc... No way would we want to try to do this on Friday... then get back to our room very late on Friday night.. then have to be packed and checked out for a long drive home first thing on Saturday.

Jeez.... I just wanted a nice, regular, magical visit to the MK... Not the celebration of the century!

 

[Nik's Mom]

Sounds like we'll just have to wait and see on this one. I'll still keep my dates as is (4/30 - 5/7). If things seem too busy, we'll use extra magic hour, or hop to another park. Someone mentioned that they would never close the park for the day at WDW. Hope this is true, since I already know that DisneyLAND will be closed on 5/4 for a press event.

Let's all just try to relax, I'm sure we will have a fantastic time no matter what.

 

[WDWguru]

Terry S -- it depends on the event. The MS opening was big, but nothing compared to the 100 Years of Magic event, which was nothing compared to the 25th Birthday event before that.

If it's on par with the 25th (castle cake, etc), you're talking 25,000 PLUS press people from around the world. The 100 Years of Magic was probably half that number, and MS was probably about half that again.

While the press folks do tend to bring family, they also have lots of structured events and interview stuff set up, so most of the press people aren't in the parks aside from the official events where they are closed to the public anyway. However, their families would be free to spend time at the parks while the press folks are off working.

I would think the biggest change from a normal May would be room availability, as Disney will put everyone up on property. They are probably already blocking rooms at resorts for this event, since nothing has been officially announced to the press yet. (This thread is the first I heard about it, and I've attended all the stuff mentioned above.) I just did a check on the official site to scope out room availability and very limited availability comes up for the first week of may at any deluxe resort.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Since all parks around the world are celebrating, maybe it won't be as bad. I mean, the press will have many parks to cover, not just WDW. Does that sound right? Hmmm, who knows.
I have a question. Was anyone here at the 25th or 100 years celebration? If so, please tell us what to expect? Was it so crowded that you couldn't even walk?

 

[Kitster]

so what do we get out of all this? A castle that nobody wants to see, a revamped Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear .......... whoopey.

Meanwhile WDW gets Soarin' , Expedition Everest, Stunt Show and Motor Cars, a revamped Small World, a castle that nobody really wants to see (no birthday cake thank goodness ).

As a Disneyland AP holder who's pass is up for renewal in January, I'm thinking of saving my money and letting my pass expire. This just seems to be yet another party where our park gets the leftovers, as usual. Oh yeah, we also get a park that's closed on May 4th to put all the finishing touches on it for a big press gala the next day. We're wondering if day guests, or AP holders, will even be welcome at the kick-off festivities May 5th. They sure won't be able to see anything.

I think I'll plan a trip to WDW for May. I'm sure I'll have more fun there anyway.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

All I can saw is AMEN!


WDW gets the pick of the litter this time round...

-em