Fastpass+ Explained!

Disney World has what they call Fastpass+. It's a way to hold your place in line at all of the most popular attractions so you only have to wait a few minutes to experience them instead of possibly hours. The service is free to all park guests and can really help maximize your time in the park.

The Fastpass system has been around for years but the original system worked a little differently than what we have now. The new system has a lot of pros and cons, many people loving it, many people hating it. I personally love it.

First of all, you need to create a My Disney Experience account, either on Disney's website or on their app. You cannot use Fastpass+ without an account. 

Desktop version

App

Next you need to have a valid park ticket linked to your account. If you have a resort package, the tickets will be included and the entire package needs to be linked to your My Disney Experience account. If you are not staying at a Disney resort, you need to purchase a park ticket and link it to your account.

Now you can pick out 3 Fastpasses for each day of your trip. Which means you must decide which park you will go to each day of your trip. You can still use the Hopper option if you choose to purchase it, but you do need to decide ahead of time at least one park you will go to each day. I recommend using the Fastpasses for the most popular and newest attractions, such as 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Frozen Ever After, Soarin', Flight of Passage, Na'Vi River Journey, Expedition Everest, Peter Pan's Flight, and Splash Mountain during the hotter months. Or slow-loading attractions such as Rock n Roller Coaster, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain. Also, a good use is the popular character meet n greets such as Princess Fairytale Hall, The Character Spot, and Mickey Mouse at Town Square.

Resort guests can book 60 days prior to check-in. Non resort guests can book 30 days prior to check-in. A HUGE perk to staying at a Disney resort, especially if you want to ride some of the most popular attractions where the wait times easily reach triple digits (in minutes). As a travel agent/travel planner specializing in Disney vacations, one of the services I provide is booking Fastpasses for my clients. I get online and do it for them so they don't have to worry about it. 

Fatspasses are booked with a one-hour availability window, for most attractions. Some shows only have a 15 minute window, which grants you early seating in the theater before guests in the standby line. 

After they are booked you can view them in your My Disney Experience account either on a desktop or the app.

Desktop

App

Once you arrive at the park, you an enter the Fastpass line at any time during your hour. So if your Fastpass return time is 1:30-2:30, you may enter the line at 1:30 on the dot, but not a minute sooner, and have til 2:30. If you are unable to get there by the ending time, the Fastpass will expire and you will not be able to use it. When you approach the line, you must scan your Magic Band (resort guests) or park ticket (non resort guests). The scanner will illuminate green if you have a valid Fastpass, red if you do not. You may have to scan again at the end of the line. This prevents line jumpers from hopping over from the standby line. 

After you have used all three of your pre-booked Fastpasses, you can go on the app and book more! You can book them one at a time.

The Fastpass+ system is a great way to minimize your time waiting in long lines and ride your favorites faster :) If you'd like help with this or any thing else Disney, book your trip with me!! I'll do all the work and you just enjoy!!

Top 6 Disney Souvenirs!

In my opinion, you can't go to Disney World and NOT buy anything. Most trips I have to really control myself and not buy every single awesome thing I see....which is very difficult because there are awesome things EVERYWHERE!! But over the years I have become really skilled at asking myself if I really need something before I buy it. Will I actually use it at home, or will it collect dust?

So here's my list of the best souvenir buys for your next Disney vacation!

* Photo Albums

I am a huge fan of photos. Always have been. And I need them printed and in albums. We usually get Memory Maker so I can have all the fun photos. I buy a photo album (or two!) every trip. Usually I buy the one with the year on it. I display all the albums on a shelf in my living room. They're so pretty!

* Ornaments 
I just started this a few years ago. It started simple with one ornament with the year on it. And well..... Now I buy like 3 or 4 every trip. I love all the fun ornaments they have! I started the Shoe Collection!

* Jewelry
I have a few pieces I've bought during our trips. They're not expensive pieces, but I love them. I love wearing them :) I usually go for the more subtle things...not the ones that scream "DISNEY!!!!" but that's just me. My favorite is a necklace that says "Love" in rhinestones with a tiny Mickey head off the "L".

*Housewares
We all have a kitchen at home. We all use dishes. So this is definitely a souvenir that gets used. I have a few mugs, some kitchen clips, a set of vintage Disney glasses, a Mickey pancake mold. There's a set of Mickey flatware I've had my eye on for a couple years, but have yet to actually buy it.

* Sweatshirt 

Where I'm from, it's cold for many months out of the year. And even in the warm months, it's chilly at night. So we own sweatshirts...lots of them. Disney sweatshirts are pricey, but they're good quality and we get lots of use out of them.

* Pressed Pennies
I got kind of obsessed about this one for a while ;) Disney has Pressed Penny machines all over it's property. Don't know what a Pressed Penny is? Basically the machine takes your penny...and 50 cents... and squishes it. When it come out it has a new picture pressed into it. All kinds of pictures, from Mickey and friends to princesses, to attraction logos and other fun stuff. They even sell books to hold all your pennies. I have a few. I counted once. I think I had over 300 different pennies just form Disney World. And there were tons I hadn't gotten. The machines are easy to spot. Make sure you have tons of quarters on you and nice shiny pennies.

So what are your favorite souvenirs?? Anyone wanna share their souvenir regrets? That will be an upcoming post ;)

How to Maximize a Short Trip

A Disney Parks vacation is amazing. We simply adore it and try to get there as often as we can. But many times, for various reasons- time, money, etc... to get there, we have to keep it short. We've done 2 short trips in the past and one is coming up. My idea of short is 4 nights or less. Many may disagree with that and consider it a perfect amount of time. Others may gasp in horror at even thinking of only going for 4 nights. For us, 4 nights with 3 full days and 2 half days, is relatively short because most of our trips are 7 or 8 nights with 8 or 9 park days. And when you're not used to cutting the trip basically in half, it can leave you feeling as if the trip flew by and you didn't get to do nearly as much as you wanted. It can leave you disappointed.

But there are ways to avoid disappointment!

- First of all, remember you are in Disney! And any time there is better than none!! Savor every moment!!

- Limit yourself. You may have to limit the number of parks you visit, or limit the days you spend at each park. It's a personal preference. In my opinion, you cannot do everything there is to do at Magic Kingdom or Epcot in one day (each). So on a short trip, you will need to decide between visiting all parks for only one day each, or skipping one and spending two at your favorite park. I might get yelled at, but I'm gonna say it- Animal Kingdom is our least favorite park. There just isn't much there that appeals to us. There is nothing there that is a must do for us. We do love it and there are many awesome things, but we can survive without it. So on short trips we will skip it in favor of two days at Magic Kingdom. We prefer two at Epcot as well, but MK wins for us.

- Don't waste time. When you only have one day at each park, you need to skip things that just take up too much time. Like midday breaks, parades, browsing every gift shop, Kidcot stations, street entertainment, play areas such as Honey I Shrunk the Kids, character meet n greets, basic rides that seem to have really long lines (Tomorrowland Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Peter Pan, unless you have a fastpass). But if those things are very important to you, do them. You just need to realize you may not accomplish as much in the parks as you may be used to.

- Use Fastpass + to the maximum your day! Schedule your 3 ahead of time for as early in the day as you can. Then when you're there, you'll be able to get more sooner. Once you use your 3 you can book more, one at a time, using the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device.

- Keep meals simple. One thing that sucks up a lot of park time is sit down meals. Especially if you need to leave the park to get to them. An average sit down meal eats up at least an hour and a half to two hours, not including travel time. Depending on time of day, you can do a counter meal in half that time, or less, freeing you up to do more with your day.

- Skip Disney Springs (Downtown Disney). It's a great place and it can be really fun, but in the end. it's mostly just shopping. And as much as we all want the perfect souvenir, I'm not willing to pass on park time to shop for hours to find it. If you have time in the evening, sure! Especially on a day where a park closes early, like Animal Kingdom.

I think that's it! If you have questions, or more tips for maximizing your time, please post them! Enjoy every moment of your short trip! Suck up every second of Disney magic that you can!

Top 5 Lessons Learned: The Hard Way :(

A Disney Parks vacation is the most magical family vacation, in my opinion. Nothing whisks you away from reality quite like Disney does. Most of our trips have been filled top to bottom with amazing memories and so much fun. BUT...... we have experienced unpleasantness, too. You can't always escape it or even prevent it, but you can be prepared.

Here are my top 5 lessons learned the hard way :( Hopefully you can learn from them.

#1- Rain

It rains in Florida. Sometimes just a little. Sometimes a lot. It depends on the time of year. But if you're traveling in rainy/hurricane season, which can be anywhere from June to November, you need to be prepared for inclement weather. I always knew it could happen, so we always brought dollar store ponchos. Those teenie tiny clear plastic things that are almost as thin as Saran wrap. I'm sure you know where this is going. Some years they were fine, but not when there is a torrential downpour. If you will be traveling during rainy season, please invest in some good ponchos or rain coats. Something with some weight to it. Even better if the sleeves are gathered at the wrist so they can't blow all around. And bring some kind of footwear that does not need to be worn with socks. Water shoes, good flip flops, Crocs, Keens, etc.. Even if you just throw them in your bag or stroller and change into them only if necessary. It is NOT fun to walk through unavoidable deep puddles in sneakers and socks.

#2- Sick Kids

Many trips are great and no one gets sick. But it's happened-minor things to almost as bad as you can imagine. Last trip I woke in the middle of the night to my daughter scrambling to get to the bathroom to vomit. A few years ago my son's breathing issues became so bad due to the high Florida humidity that he had to be taken to Celebration hospital, and then transferred to Orlando hospital. We spent the first 3 days of our trip there. My only advice is to take preventative measures ahead of time and load up on Vitamin D, Airborne, etc. --but I'm still not convinced that really works--and have a plan just in case. When my daughter was sick, my mother in law volunteered to stay with her so we could visit Magic Kingdom with my parents that day, who were only at Disney with us for 2 days. My husband had planned on doing it until she offered. When my son was hospitalized, we rented a car and took turns staying with him while the other took our daughter to the parks. Pack every med you might need, even though they do sell most common medications at the resort gift shop.

It makes me so sad to look at this awesome pic and my daughter and mother in law are not in it :(

He looks pretty happy in his hospital bed :) He had some good moments, but much of the experience he was miserable :(

Here he is the day he was released from the hospital. We headed to Magic Kingdom and he had a great time!

#3- Heat

It's unavoidable. It's hot in Florida, especially if you travel between April and October. All you can do is be prepared. Dress in light fabrics and colors. I prefer skirts and sundresses in the summer months. Bring sunglasses and hats. Purchase personal misting fans at home or buy the ones they sell in the parks. Take breaks. Especially midday. If you don't want to leave the park to go back to the resort and swim, do some indoor attractions. It's a great chance to do those things you might have skipped otherwise. Get a Fastpass for water attractions midday- like Splash Mountain and Kali River Rapids. Stay hydrated. The kids WILL whine about the heat, so prepare yourself for that too! Listen to your body and don't overdo it.

#4- Sore Feet

Another inevitable thing. They say the average person walks an average of 10 miles per day! That's a lot of time on your feet! Not counting the standing in place, which is worse in my opinion. My solution is to wear a different pair of shoes every day. I don't mean you need a different pair for each day of the trip, but at least 2...3 is better. Never wear the same pair two days in a row. And decent shoes. Not cheap flip flops. I actually have fabulous flips flops from Teva and Clarks, and those are great. I love my Crocs sandals and ballet flats. Hubby swears by his Keen sandals. Bring a stroller for the kids, even if they are way too old for it. Kids don't have the stamina we do, and severely lack the ability to keep their complaints to themselves. It's better for everyone to have it. I have no shame in admitting I brought a double stroller to accommodate both kids until my daughter was 9-1/2. (She has always been very petite) And our last trip with the stroller for my son was when he was 5-1/2. (He was 6-1/2 our last trip and we didn't take it, but he did pretty good. My daughter is definitely more of a complainer! LOL!)

#5- Cold

Believe it or not, Florida can get downright cold, especially if you're traveling between December and February. One trip, there was unusually cold weather the entire winter and it got downright chilly. Lows in the 30's! Even as life-long north-easterners, we weren't quite prepared, and had not brought anything heavier than sweatshirts. I remember the coldest day that week...we all had on two long sleeve tees, two sweatshirts- one with a hood- and the kids were in the double side by side stroller with a fleece blanket tucked around them. I think the Photopass photographer thought we were completely nuts because we shed our sweatshirts for one photo. We all had homemade matching shirts on and I wanted at least one picture of them! We bought hats and gloves. We had to. So my advice for that time of year- bring coats and hats and gloves. Bring long johns! Bring an extra suitcase if you need to. You might regret not doing it.

The one pic we all took our sweatshirts off to take. It looks so deceiving. Sunny, but very very cold!

So there ya have it. My top five lessons. Hope they help you!!

Day #6: Disneyland Day #3

It was our last day at the Disneyland resort. And we were ready for it to end and continue on with the rest of our vacation - a weekend in Las Vegas and then a few days in Hollywood and So Cal. We chose to go back to Disneyland for our last day, since there were a few things we hadn't done yet.

As we entered the hub, we realized there was something going on on the bridge into Sleeping Beauty's Castle. There was a person lip syncing to a version of it's a small world being played and there were camera people. So of course we had to be nosey and take a few photos.

I ended up finding out months later that it was a social media thing and this girl was some kind of youtube singer or something. I got to see the official video that came from this little photo shoot, so it was really cool to be like "Hey...I was there! Just on the right of the castle when this was going on!"

We headed to Fantasyland and rode Casey Jr.'s Circus Train and Storybookland Canal Boats. The boat ride was very very cute. I loved all the tiny little kingdoms :)

We did a meet n greet with Tink and her friends :) It was really cute. Way nicer than the Pixie Hollow meet n greet area in the old Toontown at Magic Kingdom.

We rode Splash Mountain again, cause it was hot and we love it :)

We rerode some of the other things we loved, like Pirates and haunted Mansion. We then got some good seats in the shade for the afternoon parade- Mickey's Soundsational Parade. It was really cool! I loved all the dancers and the floats were fun.

After that we were pretty much done. We had experienced pretty much everything we could and like I said earlier, we were ready to move on. We headed to Downtown Disney for some dinner and my daughter was begging us to go to the Build a Bear there. As if we don't have one at home. But it was her money, so we let her. We ended the evening with some more swimming at the hotel. :)

Overall, we had a fabulous time at the Disneyland Resort. There were a few bumps, but we were so so glad we made this trip. Carsland itself was worth the journey. And just like every Disney trip we take, the memories we made and the fun we had as a family was 100% worth every dime. Don't think we'll be in a hurry to go back to DL though. If anything, the trip made us miss WDW and yearn to go back. (We already have a trip planned for September!) But I was very glad to be there and see the original park, even if it doesn't really look like it anymore. :)

Day 4: California Adventure Day #2

Our second day at California Adventure, we bee-lined for Carsland and got right in line for Radiator Springs Racers. The standby queue for the ride is very cool. We loved the walls with the oil bottles in them. :)

RSR is such an amazing ride. It’s very similar to Test Track at Epcot, but the theming is so so cool. Especially for us, since we are huge Cars fans J We really felt like we were driving through radiator springs. 

Disney did a hell of a job on this attraction and all of Carsland. Huge kudos from the Haefner family! I’m really not kidding when I say Carsland made the entire trip worthwhile.

After that we headed into Paradise Pier. Right from the entrance it’s gorgeous. That huge Mickey Ferris wheel! We went on Toy Story Midway Mania first, which, aside from the outdoor queue, was exactly like the one in Hollywood Studios. We then did California Screamin', that cool-looking coaster. I was not a huge fan, but my daughter and husband liked it. We then rode the SunWheel. And we chose to be daring and ride the swinging inner cars. BIG MISTAKE. Oh my. Thank God it only went around one time once the thing was full. It was definitely not tummy friendly. 

That smile was totally fake.

We rode some of the smaller rides on the boardwalk and had lunch at Paradise Garden Grill and it was very tasty! As we exited the area we rode Ariel's Undersea Adventure, and it was just like the new attraction at the Magic Kingdom :)

We killed time until the Aladdin show started. I had heard such great things about it. And it did not disappoint! GREAT show!!!

After that we ended up back in Carsland. Just could't stay away! But we caught some street entertainment. VERY cool!

We kinda spent the rest of the afternoon wasting time and doing little things. We were waiting around for one of the things I was most looking forward to!! World of Color!! We got a Fastpass, as we'd been instructed to do before going, and found a pretty decent spot. Everyone sat on the ground and we had a pretty good view of the water. Until about 5 minutes before the show and the cast members made everyone stand. Long gone was our decent view. And when the show started, people put their kids up on their shoulders, so the tiny bit I could see was now blocked and my kids could't see either. My husband managed to lift them a little, but kept them as low as he could so we would't be blocking other people's view by lifting them high. (We're considerate like that.) I was so upset and seriously on the verge of tears. I had waited MONTHS to see this show and I hardly saw any of it. At one point I sat down. I couldn't see anyway and my back was killing me. This was an extremely disappointing end to our California Adventure experience. 

But I managed some really cool pics of Paradise Pier at night.

Next up- our second day at Disneyland :)