Category — i. Itineraries for Walt Disney World

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: AUGUST 31, 2013 TO SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(And for more on September 2103 at Walt Disney World, see this.)

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: AUGUST 24, 2013 TO SEPTEMBER 1, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(And for more on August 2103 at Walt Disney World, see this.)

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(See also What You Need to Know Now About Fastpass+.)

ON JANUARY 23, 2014, TRADITIONAL FASTPASS DISAPPEARED, AND FASTPASS+ BECAME THE ONLY OPTION

On January 23, all the Disney World theme parks became be FastPass+ only.  The old “legacy” Fastpasses are gone.

As of now,

• Guests in Disney owned hotels and in the Swan and Dolphin can book FastPass+ beginning  60 days before their arrival date.
• Everyone else with a linked ticket can book FastPass+ beginning 30 days before their visit.

YOU NEED TO HAVE SIGNED INTO “MY DISNEY EXPERIENCE” TO RESERVE FASTPASS+ AHEAD OF TIME

You can’t do anything for Fastpass+ ahead of time unless you’ve signed in to My Disney Experience.  Go to MyDisneyExperience.com to sign up and sign in.

YOU NEED YOUR HOTEL RESERVATION LINKED TO GET FASTPASS+ 60 DAYS AHEAD OF TIME

When you are in MyDisneyExperience (henceforth “MDE”), check “My Reservations” to see if your hotel reservation is there.  If not, you’ll need your reservation number.  With it in hand, find the button that says “Link a Resort Reservation.”

YOU CAN ONLY MAKE FASTPASS+ RESERVATIONS IF YOU HAVE LINKED TICKETS

Your tickets need to be linked to your MDE account for you to be able to use it to pre-book FastPass+.

NOT ALL OFFERINGS ARE THE SAME ALL DATES FOR ALL USERS

FastPass+ parades and fireworks seem to be released much closer to arrival date than 60 days. So far, they seem to be showing up for the next month near the end of the current month .

“BE OUR GUEST” WORKS COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY THAN FASTPASS+

The chance to reserve Be Our Guest for counter-service lunch is actually unrelated to the Fastpass+ test.  As near as I can figure out, anyone with a Disney hotel reservation can try for such a reservation.  You need your 12 digit numeric reservation number.  See this for more on how to get this.

CRASHES, FRUSTRATION, INCOMPLETE STUFF ARE STILL ALL TOO COMMON

Reports suggest this is going fine for most people, and gets better every week, but that crashes, incomplete data, mystified cast members etc., are still all too common…

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WHAT FIRST TIME VISITORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DISNEY WORLD’S FASTPASS+ PROGRAM

(See also Frequently Asked Questions about FastPass+.)

I’m gonna focus here on prioritizing your FastPass+ at each park.

(Note that if you are using one of my itineraries, this prioritization is already done for you.)

I’m assuming that you will still arrive at the parks early in the morning, well before opening.

Arriving plenty early means you can experience at least one more headliner with a low wait beyond what you can get on FastPass+.  Since you will be limited to 3 pre-booked FastPass+, this is a big deal. (You can add fourth and following FastPass+ one at a time in the parks once your first three are used.)

Picking your early morning target is tricky.  There’s two good ways to pick:

1. A ride with a really distinctive queue that you will largely miss if you go through the FastPass+ return line—for example, Test Track and Expedition Everest.
2. A ride you know you will want to see again, since you can only pre-book one FastPass+ per ride per day—more relevant to returning visitors who know what they want to repeat than for first timers.

So based on this, and on what’s being offered right now for FastPass+, here’s my suggestions by park:

FASTPASS+ AT EPCOT

Epcot: Plan to arrive early and see Test Track.  Target for FastPass+ first Soarin, then Mission: Space, and then Spaceship Earth.

FASTPASS+ AT DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Plan to arrive early and see Rock N’ Roller Coaster. Have Toy Story Mania be your headliner FastPass+, and your next priorities Tower of Terror and the Frozen Sing-along.

FASTPASS+ AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:  Plan to arrive early and see Expedition Everest.  Prioritize Kilimanjaro Safaris as your first FastPass+ selection, then Kali River Rapids and DINOSAUR.

FASTPASS+ AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM

Magic Kingdom: Much tougher, as there are many rides that build long lines quickly.

The ones to target are Anna and Elsa Meet n Greet, Big Thunder Mountain, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

There’s enough there for two or three days’ worth of FastPass+ at the Magic Kingdom.

So here’s the thought for now:

• FastPass+ Priority Targets:  Anna and Elsa (lines can be too long even at open), the Mine Train Ride (same reason), Splash Mountain (you don’t want to get wet at open)
• Park opening first ride (without FastPass+) targets: Space Mountain, Peter Pan, Big Thunder Mountain
• Other possible priorities: Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion

There’s many ways to do this. Here’s one approach:

• Day 1 at the Magic Kingdom: Plan Peter Pan at open, then FastPass+ Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain
• Day 2 at the Magic Kingdom: Plan to repeat the favorite from Day 1 at open, then FastPass+ Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and Enchanted Tales with Belle
• If you have a third day at Magic Kingdom with a morning, then plan to save the first ride for a repeat of a favorite, then book as FastPass+ repeat visits to Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Peter Pan—almost everyone’s list of Magic Kingdom favorites includes at least two of these three…

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: AUGUST 17, 2013 TO AUGUST 25, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(And for more on August 2103 at Walt Disney World, see this.)

[Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: AUGUST 10, 2013 TO AUGUST 18, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(And for more on August 2103 at Walt Disney World, see this.)

[Read more →]