Is It Worth the Cost and Time?

Richard Petty Driving Experience Ride Along Review at Walt Disney World Speedway

by Judy on March 15, 2011

This guest review was written by our easyWDW itinerary forum moderator and owner of Help Around The Mouse, a comprehensive Disney World vacation planning service.  If you are feeling overwhelmed as you try to plan your dream Disney vacation, you may want to give Judy a ring.  Along with her team of planning experts, Judy will listen to what you have in mind and help you plan a vacation tailored to your individual needs.   If that sounds like it might be of interest, check them out over at http://helparoundthemouse.com/.

Before Christmas last year, Richard Petty offered discounted prices on Ride Along vouchers.  Since we had a trip coming up in February, I thought it a fine idea for my husband and our soon to be 16 year old daughter — so I purchased two vouchers.  I think the price was around $60 for each one.  A little pricey, but everything I had read said that this was quite a memory for the participants, and I thought it was a unique experience they could share.  You don’t need reservations if all you want to do is the Ride Along. But– they don’t run every day, so do call before your vacation and check to see the days and hours they are running. And, if you have your heart set on doing it, don’t save the experience for the end of your trip. If it rains — you’ll be out of luck.

Luckily, we  rented a car for the trip, so getting to the track was easy.  If you have ever driven to the Magic Kingdom and parked in the Ticket and Transportation Center parking lot, you may have driven by the entrance to the track on your way out of the parking lot.  If you don’t have a car, I hear you get to the Ticket and Transportation Center, and they have shuttles that take you to the track. Personally, I am glad we had a car.

Entering the track is kinda cool.

Enter by driving under the track….

…And back up the other side.

From there, the folks at the front desk will sign you in and get you started.  You suit up in coveralls, and then, within a few minutes, head out to the track.  Jamie took a little while to find the one that would fit her.  The small was not a men’s small– just small!

Another employee will finish suiting you up, ask you to sign your life away, and then pose for pictures.

Jon went first.  A quick hop in the car, an official photo, and then, bam– he was off.   Three laps later, it was Jamie’s turn.

The time on the track was over in minutes.  After the ride, you go back inside, leave your gear behind, and they have a plaque waiting for you complete with your picture to commemorate the trip. We passed.

The entire event, from entering to exiting the Richard Petty Experience, easily took less than 30 minutes.

I am glad we did this in February when the weather was perfect.  I can’t imagine this in August. The heat and humidity, fumes and noise would not be a pleasant combination for families on a summer vacation. There is no air conditioning under the tent while you wait outside.  And did you note the coveralls and helmet? Not fun if your already hot!

Was it worth it? Yeah.  It was a different experience. I don’t think I would have been happy if I had paid full price (starting at $99 per person for the Ride Along and going all the way up to $2,099 per person for the Speedyway Challenge). But, for $120 total, they had a once in a lifetime experience.

At last I hope it’s once in a life time.  Jamie gets her license soon….. !!

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FASTPASS at Disney World – How To Take Advantage of Disney’s Fourth Greatest Invention

by josh on October 6, 2010

Updated January 27, 2012.

What is FASTPASS?

First introduced in 1999, FASTPASS is a “virtual queuing system” offered at many of Disney’s most popular attractions.  Unlike other theme parks that charge for “front of the line access,” FASTPASS is completely free for all ticket holders.  All a person needs to take advantage of FASTPASS is the ticket they used to gain entrance to the Park.

FASTPASS is similar to the “take a number” system you may be familiar with at your local Department of Motor Vehicles.  Each FASTPASS-enabled attraction has a bank of machines near its queue entrance.  Visitors may obtain a FASTPASS by inserting their Park ticket into one of these machines, which will scan and return the ticket along with a small piece of paper known as a FASTPASS.  Instead of having to wait for a number to be called, each FASTPASS has a return time printed on it for some time in the future, allowing the user to “save” their spot in line and tour the Park freely while they wait.  Once the time stated on the FASTPASS arrives, the FASTPASS user can return to the attraction and enter the FASTPASS queue, which is designed to have a wait of ten minutes or less.  This arrangement is beneficial to both theme park guests and Disney.  Just one use of FASTPASS can save a visitor more than an hour in line, allowing them to explore the Park and see additional attractions.  Disney benefits because a person that isn’t stuck in a long line is more likely to spend money at a store, kiosk, or restaurant.

As previously mentioned, FASTPASSes are printed with a return time for some point later in the day.  Each attraction prints a certain number of FASTPASSes for each return window, which is usually one hour long.  The minimum return time is 40 minutes in the future.  For example, if you collect a FASTPASS for The Many of Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at 9:00am, chances are that it will have a return window of 9:40am to 10:40am.

Each attraction distributes a certain number of FASTPASSes for each hour-long window.  If demand doesn’t exceed supply, then the machines will continue to distribute FASTPASSes with return times that are just 40 minutes in the future.  If demand exceeds supply, then the return time will be later and later in the day as the attraction runs out of FASTPASSes for each specific window.  For example, let’s say that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh distributes 100 FASTPASSes for each possible hour-long window.  That means 100 FASTPASSes would be distributed for 9:40am to 10:40am, 100 for 9:45am to 10:45am, 100 for 9:50am to 10:50am, etc.

If fewer than 100 FASTPASSes are distributed, then FASTPASSes will continue to give return times just 40 minutes in the future.  However, if more than 100 FASTPASSes for a window are distributed, the attraction will then give out FASTPASSes for the next window.  Let’s say that 500 people pick up FASTPASSes for Winnie the Pooh between 9:00am and 9:10am.  The first 100 people would get the 9:40am to 10:40am FASTPASSes.  The next 100 would get the 9:45am to 10:45am FASTPASSes.  The next 100 would get the 9:50am to 10:50am FASTPASSes, and so on.  By 9:10am, 500 FASTPASSes would be distributed and the current FASTPASS return time would be 10:05am to 11:05am, or 55 minutes in the future.  Thus, attractions that give out fewer FASTPASSes or have higher demand tend to run out of FASTPASSes earlier and give return times that are further into the future.

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Is 2012 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party MVMCP Worth the Cost?

by josh on July 21, 2010

Updated May 5, 2012 with 2012 dates, pricing, and information

What is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party?

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (often abbreviated to MVMCP) is an after-hours “hard ticket” event held at the Magic Kingdom on select dates each holiday season.  When I say “hard ticket,” I mean that you will need to purchase an additional ticket to attend (prices below).  Magic Your Way Tickets, Annual Passes, etc. will not get you into the Party.  The Party runs from 7pm through 12am.  The Magic Kingdom does not completely close prior to the event.  Instead, visitors who have tickets will trade them for a wristband that indicates they are attending the Party.  Those without tickets will be asked to leave and there will be attendants checking wristbands throughout the evening, including at each of the ride entrances.

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