Walt Disney World - FastPass+

Having organized my dining reservations at 180 days out from my trip, my itinerary is taking shape.  I'm going to try to fit the rides around the dining reservations.

 

It's spreadsheet time!  Here is a snapshot of one day of my plan and how I choose my FastPass+ (FP) reservations.

 

Breakfast	Be our Guest QS
AM	Magic Kingdom
Lunch	snacks
PM	Magic Kingdom
Dinner	1900 Park Fare TS
Evening	hotel
FP 1	Peter Pan
FP 2	Big Thunder Mountain
FP 3	Splash Mountain
other	Jungle Cruise
other	Pirates of the Caribbean

 

I've added any dining reservations or other meal plans and then the park that we will be in for that morning and afternoon.  I've then written my top 3 FP choices and 1 or 2 others that I'd like to do that day. 

 

The QS and TS code is just to help me to tally the number of each type of meal (quick service or table service) for the dining plan.

 

I've been researching which attractions run out of FPs and which are more likely to be available on the day.  I know that a ride such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will run out of FP very quickly so this is one I need to try to get in advance, others such as Jungle Cruise tend to be available on a same day basis so I can save this for my 'extras' on the day. 

 

I like to write down some ideas of rides that are in the same general area of the park.  One mistake I made in the past is arranging attractions in an order than had us zig-zagging all over the parks, which was too stressful.  I really try to avoid this now. 

 

I am planning to use Dining Packages to get reserved seating at Fantasmic and Rivers of Light instead of using a FP.  As I'm on the Dining Plan, this just makes sense as a good use of a credit.  I'm not sure I'd pay the extra.

 

 

Having just read my plans, this image from my calendar sprung to mind.  Typo sell this design on a notebook, which seems like the perfect book for Disney planning! Click here to see it.  Planning a trip to Walt Disney World does come with it's own language.  I'll try to explain it below incase you aren't fluent!

 

FastPass+

Disney have created a system to book fast passes for attractions in advance via the app or website.

This is great, but it also means that I have to decide what time I want to go on what ride 60 days in advance.  (60 days because I am staying in a Disney hotel - 30 days if staying at a non-Disney hotel.......although at the time of writing this there are exceptions to this rule).

Many attractions are available for FP+ bookings, there are some that are walk up only.

Some attractions have long standby queues (no FP, just walk up and wait your turn) so these are the rides I want to get the FP for.  My aim is to not queue for more than 20 minutes per ride.  I feel like this is the tolerance level of my child and therefore my sanity.

You can book 3 per day, each gets an hour timeslot and can't overlap.  All 3 must be in the same park.  So in one day you can't choose 2 in the morning in Magic Kingdom and 1 in the afternoon in EPCOT.  I'll come back to this later though.

Top of my list at Magic Kingdom are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan, Big Thunder and Splash Mountain.  In EPCOT it's Frozen Ever After (because I'm bitter that I had a FastPass for this on a previous trip and it broke down just before I could get on and didn't come back up).  In Hollywood Studios I guess it will be for the new Toy Story Land ride(s) and Animal Kingdom - and this might be shocking - its Kilimanjaro Safari and Kali River Rapids - the Pandora rides just don't appeal to my family.

 

Let's get a bit more in detail.  I have listed for each day any dining reservations for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  This shows me where we will be on any given day.  So for example, on the Magic Kingdom day, we have plans for Be our Guest for breakfast at 8:05am so I don't want any FastPasses before 9am.  I think we might want something gently first too, so lets start with Peter Pan's Flight.  After that, we can head to Big Thunder and then Splash Mountain (when it will be around noon and perfect quick drying weather - hopefully). 

Without breakfast reservations and getting there for park opening (rope drop) the queues for the first hour or so aren't too bad so it might not be worth using a FP so early.

Now, once we have used our daily allowance of 3, we can use the app or kiosks around the Parks to select an extra FP for the same day.  We often have really good luck getting something we want for almost straight away.  Sometimes, we will get a FP for something immediately and see that the standby line is an hour long so this really saves a lot of time. 

 

Once that FP is used, another can be booked, and so on until either the park closes for the night or the system runs out of availability.  There are some rides which usually have availability late in the day and some which almost certainly don't - I'm looking at you Seven Dwarfs and Flight of Passage! 

Remember when I said they all had to be in the same park on the same day - this is where that changes.....after you have used up your selections for the day.  The extra ones can be made for a different park if there is availability.  Once that is used up, the next one could be for a different park again.....but that's a whole lot of travel!!

Something to remember is that you can only move onto the 4th, 5th. 6th etc once the previous ones have been used, so if you book one for something late in the day, you won't get this chance.  For this reason I don't book FP for evening shows. 

 

Choosing Disney World Dining Reservations

This concept sounds so ridiculous....why would you want to choose where you want to eat and at what time a full 6 months in advance?  It seems that is just the system that Disney have created and I know from experience of going with only a few days or weeks notice that some things are almost impossible to get, particularly at times that suit.

 

  

 

My priorities this trip are mainly character meals and dinner shows - my family aren't fancy eaters and we think with a 7 year old this is the perfect time to have those magical experiences with dinner, rather than just the food.

As we are using the dining plan, we have 14 credits for what they call Table Service, which is a meal where you are seated and a waiter/waitress takes your order and brings the meal as opposed to counter service which is typically a fast food system.  There are some meals which cost 2 credits, there are marked with a *.

• Cinderella Royal Table* (dinner) - because my 7 year old daughter will love meeting the princesses
• Tusker House (breakfast) - my choice - I just love the safari outfits, and the food suits.  I'm hoping to also get the Rivers of Light package with seating for the evening show.
• Minnie's Beach (breakfast) - a good chance to meet the characters
• Garden Grill (lunch or dinner) - this one has a reputation for fun character interactions
• Hollywood and Vine (dinner) - I have heard the food can be questionable but the characters
• Be Our Guest (dinner) - just to experience the atmosphere and meet Beast
• Sci Fi Dine (lunch) - husbands choice (wouldn't be mine!)
• Hoop Dee Doo* (dinner) - heard so many good reviews of this
• Spirit of Aloha* (dinner) - not convinced about this one yet.  need to see more reviews.

 

Updates

Spirit of Aloha is out and Liberty Tree Tavern is in with one other space yet to be decided. The reviews aren't great and its not my type of food so it's just not worth the credits.

Cinderella Royal Table is out - a mixture of reading reviews and the menu made us decide against it. We are hoping to do 1900 Park Fare Happily Ever After Dinner with Cinderella and Prince Charming instead for the princess fix.

Be Our Guest is out - it will have changed to a 2 credit dinner by the time we go a menu far too adventurous for us.  We may do breakfast instead.

We like to spend time at Disney Springs so we have added in 2 dinner reservations, House of Blues (for Husb) and Rainforest Café (for daughter - it has memories from a previous trip to Disneyland Paris).

 

Disney World Planning - Car Hire or Disney Transport??

This is such a tough question.  As we are flying into Orlando International (MCO) and are staying at a Disney resort, we have the option of Disney's Magical Express to take us to and from the airport and Disney transportation to take us between the resort and parks.



 

 

 

The obvious pro of Disney transport is that it is included in the price.  The hire car would be an additional cost.

I haven't used Magical Express but I have used the Disney Buses and apart from being very crowded at park closing, I've not had any problems with them.  I know other people have had problems, but I can only go on my experience.

 

The con is that it limits us to staying inside Disney property, and while that isn't a bad thing, we are quite keen to have the ability to visit supermarkets or shopping malls.  We might even want to eat outside Disney sometimes.

 

 

The pro of the car is mainly the flexibility it offers.  I can imagine an early breakfast reservation at a hotel being really tricky on Disney transport in a morning, whereas with a car, we can go directly to the other hotel, saving time and stress and still park for free.

There is the option of Uber but last time I found the prices to be quite unpredictable and struggled to get one with a child car seat.

 

If we do get a car, we can also use the Disney transport from hotel to parks if we want - hello Food and Wine - it isn't opting out of the Disney transport system. 

 

As well as the cost, the other negative of the car is the responsibility for driving in a foreign country but luckily I have hubby who is perfectly happy to do this.

 

I've been researching prices for hiring an SUV for 2 weeks and found that Alamo is the cheapest at around £400 for 2 weeks.  We have previously been caught out at the airport having booked a car that was too small for us and the luggage so this time I am going straight to an SUV, which I know will fit everything.

 

I also looked into renting through a US comparison site incase there was an extra fee for Brits (controversial, I know) but I found that there were similar or slightly higher and often expected you to have your own insurance through your regular provider.  Going through a UK company at least means that you can lock in a price in £ and not be so reliant on a good exchange rate at the time.

 

 
 

Exciting News - I'm off to Walt Disney World

 

 

 

After disappearing for quite some time (real life is too real sometimes) I'm back with very exciting news.  I'm off to Walt Disney World with my family.  I just can't wait, and even though it is a long way off yet, I'm hoping to keep track of my progress with plans and packing here.  I'm not an expert, so this is a planning journey not a guide.

 

I have been lucky enough to go to Walt Disney World a few times before but for various and sometimes bizarre reasons, never really planned a trip in advance before. 

 

 

We are staying at Disney's Art of Animation.  I've briefly visited this resort but never stayed so I'm really looking forward to it.  I've booked flights along with tickets and dining plan.  Dining Plan is a whole other conversation but after a lot of research and talking to our family we decided it was the right thing for us to do and we will more or less break even on it.  We really just want to not have to worry about it.

 

As we all know, I love a list - here are all the things I can think of that I need to sort out.  

 

• ESTA (I'm from the UK incase you didn't know - so this needs sorting ASAP)
• API - advance passenger information (I think) - again ASAP
• Car Hire or Disney Transport?
• Research closures and refurbishments
• Prepare for 180 day Dining Reservations - read my plans here  
• Think about 60 day Fastpass reservations
• Things to buy beforehand
• Things to make beforehand
• Travel Cash / Cards 

I'm going to turn list items to green when they are completed.  It's very satisfying!

Updates

• ESTA and API are done - ESTA approval was really quick this time, maybe because we have all been to USA before and behaved ourselves?!
• Transportation is sorted - see here for the decision making process

Blue Peter Badges

This is nothing to do with my usual Disney or Home Décor Posts but I wanted to write it and don't have anywhere else.  This is the information I wish I had known before my daughter asked me and I couldn't find anywhere.  This is only our experience and not in any way official guidelines.  I'm also not going to go into any detail about exactly what she made/did/wrote about to get the badges because I feel like that is cheating somehow.

 

Background

 

My daughter started watching Blue Peter when she was about 5 and I wanted her to start watching slightly 'older' shows.  I felt like she was too old for the likes of Mr Tumble but not really old enough for the topics covered on some shows aimed at older children.  I deemed Blue Peter to be safe viewing.

 

Almost as soon as she started watching, she wanted the badge.  I remember Blue Peter badges from when I was a child but I never had one and didn't know anyone that did, I always thought you had to be on the show to get one.  It seems things have changed, I looked on the cbbc website and found that you can apply for one with an interesting letter, poem, make, etc so I told my daughter and she decided she wanted to make something. 

 

Applying for the Badge

 

As it happened, there was a village show coming up and she could make and enter something into that too.  With this focus and a lot of creativity she set about making her project.  It won her a prize at the show and with this added enthusiasm and pride she wrote a letter to Blue Peter telling them how much she likes watching them make things and that she had made something and won a prize. 

 

After some help with spellings (I figured the people at Blue Peter would need to be able to read/understand it) and after some convincing that a photo of said project would be better than trying to post something very large, off to the post we went.

 

I had no idea how long it takes to get a reply, or if there is any guarantee of a reply so we waited.  I did a lot of searching, the official guidelines say that it can take 8 weeks to receive a badge but it doesn't confirm or deny the guarantee of a reply or badge. 

 

I have heard from another mum who had one child write off a poem or something and got a badge, while her other child has sent in several items and not heard back at all.

 

I made a mental note of the date we had posted the letter and thought it best to forget about it for a couple of months, but within 2 weeks there was a letter addressed to her on the doormat.  You have never seen more excited adults watching a confused child open a letter.  Even with the bulge in the envelope she didn't seem to work out what it was before she opened it.  She was so excited, it came with a lovely personalised letter, which talked about her letter and make.

 

The best thing about this for a parent's perspective is that the badge comes with an ID card  (which arrives separately usually a few weeks later).  This ID card gets the child free entry into lots of attractions, we have used it for zoos, historic houses and plan to visit many more.

It's also a great focus for an activity on a rainy day or a quiet half term day.

 

There's more than one?!? 

 

A few weeks later Blue Peter launched the Sports Badge (there are lots of Blue Peter badges now) and again, daughter really wanted to have a go.  This time, there was a form to download and complete and the task was to introduce a friend to a sport.  Luckily, she had just started a new sport and invited a friend along.  She completed the form (again, with help - I'm sure they have a lot to do and no time to decipher 6 year old writing but they were all her own words - just spelt correctly and legible) and sent it off. 

 

Again, there was a reply on the doormat within 2 weeks, this one might have been even quicker and the excitement was there all over again.

 

Isn't 2 enough??

 

After a break from badges, she wanted to try for another and chose the Silver Badge (this seems to be a part 2 to the standard Blue badge).  She wrote a letter off with photos on a different topic and off to the post we went again.  I was now pretty confident that these badges were a given and waited for the letter to arrive.  I shouldn't have been so confident.  After 6 weeks I gave up hoping and when she asked me about it, I told her that it had either got lost in the post or she could try again with something different.  Her enthusiasm for trying again straight away wasn't there and it's not something I want to push, so we left it and I didn't mention it again.  After 8 weeks, the envelope did arrive and she got her badge.  I turns out it was a good lesson is patience!!

 

Next project is the super sparkly limited edition Diamond Badge, again, this is a download and complete activity with questions and a colouring to do.  She spent some time over the school holidays completing it and seemed to really enjoy it.  We took it to the post and now we wait.......

 

 

The available badges are....

Blue - the standard badge - for appearing on the show or an interesting letter/make/idea/etc

Silver - same as blue but you already have a blue

Sport - available for a limited time each year - sport related

Orange - competition winner or runner up

Green - doing something for the environment

Purple - download a form and review an episode of the show

Diamond - limited edition in 2018 for the show's 60th birthday - download and complete

 

Gold - not really possible - this is reserved for super high achieving celebrities or people who have done something really amazing like save a life.

 

*Images are not my own, copyright unknown

 

Disney Dumbo Nursery

This is a girly nursery, I just love the combination of grey and pink.  

Ive included this gorgeous white furniture, I love the shape, it reminds me a little bit of the furniture in Beauty and the Beast.  To keep the room light, I'd have a white or pale flooring.  I would add lots of cute pink storage baskets, as there is never too much storage when it comes to babies and their 'stuff'.

I like the art because it can stay with the child as they grow, unlike a teddy bear type picture which may feel too 'babyish'.

There are lots of ranges of Dumbo nursery bedding and even curtains that are super cute, but plain white or pale pink would also be great. 

Country Cottage Bedroom Scheme

I came across this wallpaper the other day and just love it.  Plus, it has glitter, need I say more?

Just imagine this paper on one wall behind a bed with pale/white other walls.  With pink and blue accessories, white furniture, what a little country haven.