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You are here: Home / Blog / Magic Kingdom Cheat Sheet Day 1 and FastPass+ Kiosks Part 1

Magic Kingdom Cheat Sheet Day 1 and FastPass+ Kiosks Part 1

January 21, 2014 ~ 11 minutes read41 Comments

It’s 7:20am on Saturday January 18th, 2k14. The foreboding monorail queue is a sign of what’s to come. Remember that the Resort and Express Monorails will not be operating most weekdays from 11:30am – 7pm through March. You’ll need to grab a bus or use the boats.

With the 8am regular open, the Resort monorail starts operating at 7am per usual. Express Monorail comes online 30 minutes before regular open and the ferry hopes to get going at the same time.

Resort monorail it is. Ordinarily, the trip from the TTC to Magic Kingdom takes about 20 minutes.

This early, it ended up taking eight minutes as zero people boarded at the Polynesian and exactly two people at Grand Floridian.

With a regular 9am open, the tapstiles usually begin operating before 8am to aid getting guests with dining reservations and tours into the Park.

Guests then wait in the courtyard area in front of the train station. With the 8am regular open, the tapstiles didn’t begin admitting guests until 7:35am.

7:40am.

7:45am.

7:50am.

7:55am. The opening show typically begins about eight minutes before regular open, featuring the Citizens of Main Street along with Mickey and the gang arriving via train. As always, the best view is front and center. But said view results in about a thousand people entering Magic Kingdom before you because the two entrances are off to the sides. You’ll have to prioritize the view or an early entrance.

Once the ropes come down, people typically run down Main Street.

Up until about here, when cast members slow them down.

Disboards’ favorite crane is onsite pulling down the Dream Lights from 11:30pm to 7pm daily through the end of March. That means there’s no crane from 7pm – 11:30pm, when Wishes and the Electrical Parade are typically scheduled. Occasionally you can luck out and it will be down earlier in the day.

Incoming crowds. Larger: https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports10/mkmorning.jpg.

Ropes may block entrance into each Land this early.

Liberty Square rope.

Tomorrowland.

Heading into Fantasyland, the rope came down as I approached at 7:59am.

Looking over the Cheat Sheet Day 1 Ideal Morning:

Use FastPass+ at Enchanted Tales with Belle, Space Mountain, and Buzz or Tomorrowland Speedway

  1. Meet Rapunzel or Cinderella at Princess Fairytale Hall if desired: 9am – 9:10am
  2. Ride Peter Pan’s Flight: 9:13am – 9:25am
  3. Ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 9:30am – 9:45am
  4. Ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant: 9:50am – 10:05am
  5. Ride The Barnstormer: 10:07am – 10:15am
  6. Meet Ariel at Ariel’s Grotto: 10:20am – 10:35am
  7. Ride Journey of the Little Mermaid: 10:37am – 10:55am
  8. Ride it’s a small world: 11am – 11:20am
  9. Ride The Haunted Mansion: 11:25am – 11:45am
  10. 10.  Have lunch. Columbia Harbour House, Pinocchio Village Haus, and Liberty Tree Tavern are close.
  11. Experience Enchanted Tales with Belle with FastPass+: 12:30pm – 1pm

Afternoon and Evening: Consider an afternoon break or visit the anytime attractions in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland like Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Prince Regal Carousel, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Tomorrowland PeopleMover, Carousel of Progress, Stitch’s Great Escape, and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. In the afternoon or evening, use FastPass+ at Space Mountain and Tomorrowland Speedway or Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.

With the 8am open, we’ll simply subtract an hour from the times listed.

I think you’ll be surprised how much we’re going to accomplish in the early morning. This is Fantasyland at 8:05am.

And this is 1:45pm. I will occasionally get a request to break down the Park recommendations to mornings/evenings like TOURGUIDEMiKE(RIP). The fact is that there is really no such thing as a bad morning on any day at any theme park, so long as you arrive 30 minutes prior to Park opening and tour efficiently. “People” will sometimes mischaracterize the website’s advice on Extra Magic Hours. The website rarely recommends visiting a theme park when it hosts Extra Magic Hours because the afternoon and early evening are so much busier than recommended days during the week. But if you actually arrive in time to take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour, you can do extremely well through about noon. By that time, the Parks are typically too busy to do anything other than the highest capacity/lowest popularity attractions. Magic Kingdom is not recommended today, but we’re going to fly through attractions first thing in the morning, like we would be able to do any other day. The difference is really what we’re able to do come 11am. On a non-recommended day like today with a high overall crowd level, we’re not going to be able to do much without a significant wait.

The big news at Magic Kingdom these days is the removal of legacy FASTPASS. As of January 14th, paper FASTPASS is a thing of the past.

On-site guests can book their FP+ attractions up to 60 days in advance via DisneyWorld.com or the My Disney Experience mobile app. Guests can also modify their selections via either method. Off-site guests and those without MagicBands can only select their FP+ experiences and modify them via in-park kiosks on the day of.

As an Annual Passholder with a MagicBand from a recent on-site stay, I can currently book up to 7 days of FP+ experiences simply by going to DisneyWorld.com and selecting FastPass+ from the drop down menu. A MagicBand is the key. With a one-night stay on-site, guests receive a MagicBand. That MagicBand can be connected to your My Disney Experience account. Connect your theme park tickets and you’ll be able to select FastPass+ experiences for each day of the theme park ticket, regardless of whether you’re staying on-site during that day/night or not. In other words, you could conceivably book a night at All-Star Sports, Fort Wilderness Campsite, or another less expensive Disney-owned resort in order to get the MagicBands, link your tickets and Bands to your account, and make FP+ reservations for your entire trip, even if you only have one night booked at the resort. Like most things FP+, this loophole could change. There is a lot of discussion on the topic in the website’s FastPass+ discussion forum. If you have specific questions, it would be prudent to sign up and create a thread. I have 11,000+ posts and try to respond to every thread.

Back to FP+ reservations on DisneyWorld.com. On January 17th, I launched the website to see what FP+ were still available for the next day.

Pick your Park.

And what’s available:






Even the night before, virtually every attraction is available, save for the nighttime spectaculars. From here, you can select any three available attractions or click “FastPicks.”

Said FastPicks, which obviously is not recommended. It will choose three high capacity attractions like Buzz.

The Cheat Sheet recommends FastPass+ at Enchanted Tales with Belle, Space Mountain, and Tomorrowland Speedway, all of which are still available. The prioritization sequence here is of no consequence. Just click Next.

Disney will then assign you times in several configurations. Option A will have morning return times, Option B is afternoon, and option C is evening. “Best Match” is usually early evening.

Option A with the morning times. We’ll be able to change the times after selecting the experiences. Most people will want to schedule their FP+ experiences in the afternoon or evening when standby waits peak. There’s no reason to schedule FP+ early in the morning when standby waits are short. I recommend selecting Option A with the morning FastPass+ times so we can reschedule them in the afternoon without having to worry about overlapping.

After booking the experiences, we can go back and change the individual return times.

Selecting Space Mountain.

This is why originally selecting the three morning times is beneficial. Space Mountain has FP+ return times available between 9am – 12:25pm, but it doesn’t display them because the times overlap with our current selections.

I’ve moved Space Mountain from 8:40am to 12:25pm.

And after some more rearranging, I’ve moved my three FP+ selections to the afternoon when they’re most beneficial.

Curious whether I would be able to schedule the same times in Park as an off-site guest without a MagicBand, I canceled my online reservations. As you can see, at 8:31am I managed to book the same attractions at virtually the same times. I probably could have moved up Tomorrowland Speedway to 1:30pm if I wanted to harass the cast member more.

The slection process took about five minutes and is virtually identical to what you would do online via the My Disney Experience app. If you’d like to set up times for multiple people, you’ll need to have each person’s ticket. You or the cast member will scan the tickets and then the times you select can be linked. You can also set up each person’s FP+ experiences/times individually or in any other configuration you like.

Here in the afternoon, I’m changing a Buzz Lightyear FP+ that I didn’t use for Big Thunder Mountain. The earliest return time was 3:45pm, which is about what you would have expected back in the days of legacy FASTPASS with crowds of this size.

You may then take a picture of your times or have them emailed. If you have a smartphone with your tickets attached in My Disney Experience, you can pull up the times in the “My Plans” tab. However, they can’t be modified via the app unless you have a MagicBand.

If you select the “FastPass+” tab without MagicBands, you’ll likely see this page.

At the moment, FastPass+ experiences on the day of are plentiful, with virtually every attraction available with return times all day. At Magic Kingdom, the two exceptions are the Electrical Parade and Wishes, which have very limited capacities. Anything else should remain readily available.

FastPass+ Kiosk Locations in Order Of Least Busy to Busiest

1. Storybook Circus

Located in the back of Storybook Circus near Pete’s Silly Sideshow, the Circus kiosks are by far the least crowded.

It’s also well stocked with cast members with iPads. Consider setting up your times here in the morning after riding Dumbo and Barnstormer.

2. Town Square Theater (with the possibility this will no longer be true if they add signage)

It may seem counter-intuitive, but the FP+ location just inside the entrance on the right is currently one of the least utilized due to a lack of signage,

Just inside, you’ll see this area with iPads. Like Sid Cahuenga’s, off-site guests can’t use these iPads because there’s no way to scan the tickets. If you’re an on-site guest or one with a MagicBand, you can access DisneyWorld.com and your FP+ experiences through the iPad. This is the best location for doing that because off-site guests won’t clog the line. This is in the middle of the day on one of the busier days of the year and there is one person here.

For off-site guests, the kiosks are located through the doors to the left of the Mickey meet.

In back on the left. It’s air-conditioned, the line is orderly, and there are plenty of cast members there to help. Highly recommended under current conditions with one caveat. Don’t use this location first thing in the morning because it can get swamped with people that want to immediately set up their selections. Waits will be shorter in the various Lands first thing in the morning, even at the kiosks that are not recommended like Stitch.

3. Adventureland Breezeway Near Diamond Horseshoe

Perhaps the hardest location to describe, the Breezeway is less obvious and thus, lines are shorter.

This is the walkway that connects Adventureland and Frontierland/Liberty Square near Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.

It isn’t as well-staffed as Town Square or Storybook Circus.

4. Heritage House next to Hall of Presidents

Heritage House is a newly converted (temporary) FastPass+ service center.

It’s an above average location with relatively short waits, but it seems to be the most recommended, resulting in lines a bit longer than the above recommended locations. Still very good and it’s indoors, so it’s a good choice in poor weather.

5. Splash Mountain FASTPASS machines

I apparently neglected to take pictures of this location HAHA but it’s at the old Splash Mountain FASTPASS machines to the right of the entrance. The attraction is currently closed for refurbishment and the area may be a bit busier once it opens, but currently lines are short through at least 11am. It gets busier in the afternoon with people arriving via the train and the fact that it’s the only FP+ kiosk location nearby. This is the last of the recommended locations.

6. City Hall

City Hall Guest Services is busier than ever these days with the addition of FP+ kiosks. Not recommended, particularly with much easier access at Town Square Theater.

7. Adventureland Veranda

Another of the more temporary locations, cast members with iPads are stationed on the Adventureland Veranda outside Tinker Bell’s Nook. Lines are long and it’s a boring place to wait.

8. Fantasyland to the right of Mickey’s PhilharMagic

This usually looks worse than it is due to the high number of cast members with iPads assisting guests. But this location gets busy earlier with its prime location and waits are long and outside in the elements. This temporary location will be replaced with a more permanent installation behind the walls to the left.

9. Stitch’s Great Escape

The line for the kiosks to the left of Stitch doesn’t look bad at first glance.

But it winds all the way back and around the extended queue. You do not want to be in this line.

10. Space Mountain

By far the worst is outside Space Mountain. It’s hard to even see where the line starts and where it goes with so many people around. You’re probably better off just waiting in the 60-minute line for the ride.

Incoming More Permanent Installations

More permanent FastPass+ service locations are being built. One is here at the old Buzz Lightyear FASTPASS machines.

And the one next to Mickey’s PhilharMagic.

And at the old Jungle Cruise FASTPASS machines.

Very Temporary Locations

All you need for a FastPass+ kiosk is a cast member with an iPad. You can run into them throughout the Park. I saw one early in the morning outside of Cosmic Ray’s and used it because there was nobody in line. If you see one and need to use it, by all means.

In Part 2, we’ll go over morning touring at Magic Kingdom with FP+.

Last modified: August 27, 2014 Filed Under: Blog

Comments

  1. Ann says

    January 21, 2014 at 11:46 am

    Thank you so much for taking the time to make this post. I have been dreading planning our next trip without knowing how to tackle scheduling the FP+ selections. Your screenshots and walk-through are very much appreciated.

    Reply
  2. Joanne Alcock says

    January 21, 2014 at 11:54 am

    Josh, I find it interesting that you state “As an Annual Passholder with a MagicBand from a recent on-site stay, I can currently book up to 14 days of FP+ experiences simply by going to DisneyWorld.com and selecting FastPass+ from the drop down menu.” I am an Annual Passholder with a MagicBand and I can only hold up to 7 days of FP+ reservations. If I try to book more, I get a message saying FP limit exceeded.

    Reply
  3. Jody says

    January 21, 2014 at 12:03 pm

    Hi Josh, it’s good you explained about being able to change FP+ times. When I first used FP+ in August 2013, I saw My Magic+ displaying “best matches” plus a couple of options for three FP+ reservations, but I did not know I could change the times later so I spent a bunch of time evaluating the small number of combinations initially provided, and then I felt stupid when I later noticed I could just change the times. Plus your “select the morning FP+ option” is great advice in order to avoid “overlap” (blocking out of times when you already have a FP+) when tying to change FP+ times from one of the initial options.

    Reply
  4. fairy8i8 says

    January 21, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    So it seems that despite all the drama with FP+, the usual advice is still the same. Arrive early and see as much as possible, get Fastpasses for the afternoon and ride the less popular high capacity rides. Granted, for the Fastpass runner in the family, 3 might seem to be limiting if you are going commando all day, but I have been to Disneyland and given away several sets of Fastpasses because I just didn’t use them (before enforced return times). DH was at conference, so I spent the day riding and collecting Fastpasses to use when he could meet up with me in the afternoon. At most, we would use 4 a day, some days only 3. 3 might not be maximizing the system like before, but I’d say it is pretty average use for more casual touring if you get there at rope drop.

    Reply
  5. Mary Ann says

    January 21, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    Thanks for the explanation of the new FP+. It seems sort of confusing at first. But I got the message loud and clear – get a MagicBand. Can you get those things replaced if you take them home and they break or get lost without having to book another night?

    Reply
  6. Tim says

    January 21, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    several Dis board members are saying you cannot make manual changes to FP+ selections if you have ADRs that are within one hour on the front side or two hours on the back side of your desired FP. In other words, if i have an ADR at noon, i cannot manually change a FP+ to be in the range from 11-12 or from 1-2. Is this true? If so, we will not do the DXDP.

    Reply
  7. MandaM says

    January 21, 2014 at 12:56 pm

    @Tim,

    I believe this is true. I was getting frustrated that I was never given any available FP times after around 4:00. After seeing the comments on the DIS, I did what some were suggesting and backed out some dinner reservations — and voila — immediately I had FP choices through the end of the night. This worked at AK, HS, and EP. (Didn’t try it at MK because there weren’t reservations I was willing to part with.)

    One poster over there is suggesting a good strategy is to book your FP+ times first, and then book your ADR’s, since the system doesn’t have any time constraints if you do it that way. Of course, that won’t work for the most popular restaurants, but it will for some of them.

    Reply
  8. greyslay3r says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    Good Post!

    Question….
    I am coming in April, and will be off-site. Obviously I know all this could change… but am I correct in thinking I could book and pay for a one night stay, say in late Feburary.. with no intention of going. Get my Magic bands in the mail, then buy my park tickets for the real trip in April… link them up, and be able to pre-book FP+ days and time for the real trip in April? Basically paying $100 for the magic bands, and the ability to pre-book FP+

    Reply
  9. Robin says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    Hi Josh! Love the site! If the limit is 7 days for annual passholders when does this start over so we can make fast plus again. We have a 9 day trip planned and magic bands from our last trip in September. This time around we are not onsite and wanted to use our bands.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    Tim , that is basically true (see the easywdw forums for more discussion) but it shouldn’t affect whether you get the DDP if you want it. You can get around any limitations by not connecting your dining reservations to the MDE app until after you’ve selected your FPs. But you can still make your dining reservations at 180 days out, if you want. Again, I recommend a trip into the forums where some of the folks that are already heavily experienced with booking FP+, MDE and ADRs can give you clearer advice.

    Reply
  11. Vicki says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    Forgot to leave my name on the post above, but wanted to reiterate that this FP/ADR timing issue does NOT mean you can’t book dining until after you make FP reservations. It just means you shouldn’t connect your dining reservations to MDE.

    Reply
  12. Ann says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    Question. Can you make FP+ for Epcot at a MK kiosk? Let’s say you are an offsiter and plan to do MK in the morning with no FP+ and plan on hopping to Epcot after a break. Can you make your Epcot FP+ in the morning at MK kiosk?

    Reply
  13. Alicia M. says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    Maybe this will encourage people to leave their iPads at home for fear of being harassed by guests mistaking them for CMs. Then there will be less people holding them in front of my face so they can film the ride.

    Reply
  14. josh says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:38 pm

    It should read up to 7 days of FastPass+ access for Annual Passholders under ordinarily circumstances. Thanks for pointing that out.

    They should be able to replace MagicBands if you’re staying on-site at no cost. I’m not sure what the procedure is for Annual Passholders or those not currently staying on-site. I would suggest not losing the Band. Theoretically, your ticket or Annual Pass should work the same as the MagicBand. You can scan your Annual Pass instead of the MagicBand at FP+ attractions, for example.

    You may want to use another email address to book dining reservations – one that isn’t used in conjunction with your My Disney Experience account with all the FP+ reservations.

    Yes, you can currently book a night on-site in order to get the MagicBands then link them to your My Disney Experience account and theme park tickets and use FP+ for the duration of the ticket.

    Currently, the 7-day limit will stick until you use one of your days. So if you’re booked for seven consecutive days, at the end of the first day, you’d be able to book one additional day so the total is again 7.

    You can currently only book FP+ for the Park you’re in via the in-park kiosks. So if you’re in Magic Kingdom, your choices will only be Magic Kingdom.

    Reply
  15. Dawn H says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:38 pm

    @ Vicki
    so.. if having ADR’s attached to MDE instigates the FP+ problem, making all your ADR’s by phone would be beneficial..rather than booking them on line, the on line bookings are ‘automatically’ attached to your MDE, whereby the phone reservations are not …or at least this was my experience

    Reply
  16. Dawn H says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    with three days in MK, one being a EMH morning, Im trying to ‘change it up’ a little, would your suggested tour ‘work’ if I do Belle first thing (on the EMH day) with PP, pooh and so on following?…we will be there prior to rope drop…
    which raises on other question/cofirmation, if we are doing an 8AM EMH..will the resort monorails be running at 7am?

    Reply
  17. Vicki says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    @Dawn H, someone else suggested it was your phone # connecting them to MDE but I don’t personally know. Email makes more sense to me. Mine were already part of my MDE stuff and I haven’t hit my FP reserving window yet, so I guess we will just work with what we have. If something in particular seems very problematic, then I might try to “disconnect” that ADR from MDE.

    Reply
  18. Bill M says

    January 21, 2014 at 2:13 pm

    Thanks for the tip about selecting the morning grouping to make the afternoon changes easier.

    Reply
  19. Milton says

    January 21, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    What crowd level # would you estimate this at, Josh?

    Reply
  20. Milton says

    January 21, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    How does the new Fastpass+ plus stuff if you want to book Fastpasses for more than one person?

    Reply
  21. Keri says

    January 21, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    You guys talking about ADRs and FP+:

    This morning, I made an ADR for The Plaza Restaurant at 11:05am on February 2nd.
    I just now was able to book FP+ for both 10am-11am (BTMRR), 12pm-1pm (Enchanted Tales), and 1:40-2:40pm (Space Mtn). The ADR is definitely attached to my MDE account, because the “lunch” thing shows up when I go to plan my day.

    Perhaps the block is only if the reservation is outside the park? IDK. I’m also going to Jiko that day, but not making the reservation until I find out if I’ll be alone or with friends.

    I don’t actually care about these FP+ tickets. The only thing I want to do that I don’t care to wait around in line for is the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, but since it made me pick 3, I went ahead and chose the heavy hitters. I am kind of curious about Enchanted Tales, though, after seeing one of Josh’s photos where EVERYONE in the outer room was smiling.

    Options for Wishes or the Electrical Parade weren’t available for me. But that’s okay because I’m planning to be at AKL around then anyway.

    Reply
  22. Keri says

    January 21, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    Actually, now that I’ve left my comment… I clicked “done” and it’s showing me my plans for the day, which only include TWO FastPass+ reservations, plus lunch and my Coronado Springs check-in.

    So what’s up with that. Other than it being buggy, as expected.

    Still, I’m specifically going down on Super Bowl Sunday because it’s usually a quiet day with nice weather, and not necessarily planning to use these FP+ spots.

    Reply
  23. Sharon says

    January 21, 2014 at 5:33 pm

    Does it really take from January through March to take down the Castle Christmas lights?? That seems like a really long time…please tell me the crane isn’t up that long.

    Reply
  24. Kris says

    January 21, 2014 at 10:40 pm

    @ Sharon they’re do a refurb too

    Reply
  25. Stacy says

    January 22, 2014 at 2:25 am

    josh – I cannot thank you enough for doing this. I don’t think I would have the strength to figure all this out on my own and would have probably already cancelled my trip. I know for certain if my husband knew anything about all this “pre-work” involved we would definitely NOT be going to Disney. Disney should have you on their payroll! You are providing a fantastic service for their guests and although we haven’t tried out your advice yet it is already worth millions – thank you!

    Reply
  26. Easywdad says

    January 22, 2014 at 5:14 am

    Keri…

    That is the same strategy we are employing this year. We are arriving feb 2 at 11 roughly and after checking in at Coronado we are headed over to MK. 10 days and counting…

    Reply
  27. rachel says

    January 22, 2014 at 7:36 am

    Is it true that if you don’t use all of your fps in your chosen park, you can hop to another park and a cm can wipe them out and you can choose new fp+ selections in the new park?

    Reply
  28. Frank D says

    January 22, 2014 at 10:14 am

    So far, not so bad. Loved using the Magicband in December, but I’m an off-property this June. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for Splash Mountain, Peter Pan and Storytime with Belle. I’m a rope-drop kind of guy, so I think we’ll be alright.

    Reply
  29. danielle says

    January 22, 2014 at 11:05 am

    Thank you so much for this!! We have APs and are planning a (offsite) weekend trip next weekend. We have 3 sets of MagicBands from previous trips. How do I know which MBs my FP+ selections will be linked to? Do I just deactivate all but one set? Also, I see it mentioned above that we could (theoretically) just tap our AP instead of the MB – has this been tested?

    Reply
  30. Janine says

    January 22, 2014 at 11:10 am

    Thank you for walk-thru on selecting FP+. Very, very helpful (and time consuming, I’m sure).

    Reply
  31. keri says

    January 22, 2014 at 12:02 pm

    Easywdad –
    I’m just going for one night! I wanted to get out of town for a weekend, but can never convince myself to go somewhere new, so WDW it is. 🙂 I wavered on booking it, and by the time I did yesterday, Coronado was my best (cheapest) option. I’ve never stayed there before, so I almost wish I’d arranged for a longer stay, but I’m planning to check in closer to 8 and RD the MK to enjoy rides, leaving the afternoon for a book or knitting with hot chocolate at one of the resort lounge areas – perhaps Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk, maybe Crew’s Cup or that sunroom at the Beach Club – before a late dinner at Jiko.

    I live 2 hours away, and some of my favorite one-day-escapes have been spent in a WDW resort lounge with a book or knitting and a cocktail, plus a couple hours in one of the parks for my favorite attractions. The 2-hour-drive is important, because then I feel like I’m actually going on a vacation (if only for one day!).

    Reply
  32. Andy says

    January 22, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    We are coming to Disney World for Spring Break this year and I have been down the “rabbit hole” of websites/message boards/blogs/podcasts for several weeks now.

    this is easily the best/most helpful post I have found yet. Well done and thanks.

    Reply
  33. Sharon says

    January 22, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    From what I understand, the room-only reservations (which you would make if you have an AP) have a 5-day cancellation policy, and package reservations (those with park tickets included) have a 45 day cancellation policy. I would imagine that you could book a room-only reservation, get the Magic Band in the mail, and then cancel your room-only reservation, as long as you cancel more than 5 days in advance. No charge!

    Reply
  34. wizwit says

    January 22, 2014 at 9:29 pm

    I’m sure its not nearly as complicated as it all sounds, but geez, it all sounds so damn exhausting….

    Way too much planning, thinking, and work to call this a vacation anymore. At least for me.

    Reply
  35. snarkymama says

    January 23, 2014 at 9:41 am

    @wizwit nailed it for me: “I’m sure its not nearly as complicated as it all sounds, but geez, it all sounds so damn exhausting….Way too much planning, thinking, and work to call this a vacation anymore. At least for me.”

    And also absolutely agree that Josh is the voice of reason on this subject (wouldn’t even think of reading DISboards right now), which is why I keep reading here–well, that, and the fact that he’s always entertaining–even with no trip on the horizon. Still, just feel it’s gotten to the point where you have to do SOOO much planning to really get the same, or similar, experience that drew me to Disney in the first place. The “magic” has been sucked out of a lot of it for me.

    Like I said once before, prior to FastPass, I’d been to Disney, but didn’t get the magic. It was fine, and fun, but I didn’t feel a compelling urge to return regularly. It was my first FastPass trip that made me the DisneyWorld/Land advocate for our family trips. Less time waiting in line, more time enjoying myself and as I learned more and, yes, planned more, the trips did get better. But when the time to plan the vacation is actually greater than the time SPENT on vacation, I gotta say stop.

    I’ve got a full-time job. I don’t need my vacation to feel like a second one.

    Reply
  36. Different Josh says

    January 25, 2014 at 11:54 am

    Friend of the site at 7:55 taking drank of whiskey out of a water bottle. Can’t say I haven’t been there myself. Time and time again. We call ’em Eye Openers and I’m Captain E.O.

    Reply
  37. Nia says

    January 30, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    Question, Does Shades of Green count as onsite? Will I get a MagicBand if I stay there? I was there this past September, but they were still just testing with a few properties.

    Reply
  38. Talah says

    February 17, 2014 at 8:34 am

    Just wanted to share that we just received our email stating we could book our FPP selections. We are staying at POP just one night (Fri) to surprise the kids and then off-site the rest of time. We were able to link our MB to our 5 day tickets. However, we CANNOT make FPP selections for any other days during our stay other than the two days surrounding our one night stay at POP (Fri and Sat). Sad because we are actually planning on hanging out at the resort and not going into the parks on those two days and are visiting the parks later in the week. Will have to end up using the FPP kiosks on each day of our visit.

    Reply
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