PLEASE answer my questions...

[kopppa33]

I feel like I have so many questions and you all have been great but our family are like disney virgins..lol

1. How do you get a fastpass? What is the cost? And what does it do?
2. Same question but instead using the term photopass? Cost? What does it do?
3. Does O'Hana at dinner still have dancers and entertainment?
4. If I was to eat at Kona Cafe which meal do you think is the best there?
5. Do you feel there is enough charecter interaction in the parks without having to do a ton ofcharecter breakfast, ect.
6. Talking about Park Fare 1900-what meal would you reccomend there breakfast or lunch?
7. Is it true its all you can drink milkshakes at whispering Canyon? If so what kinds do they have? Is it worth it? Also is this the place that have make your own smores?
8. Does anyone know what restruant has the VIP platter?
9. We are going end of May 29th-June 6th-do you think we will have free dining or will that be a miracle.
10. Also based on our dates what kind of weather will we be expecting?

 

[JimmyV]

Since this is the restaurant board. I will limit the responses accordingly. The other questions are better posted on the Theme Park board.

I feel like I have so many questions and you all have been great but our family are like disney virgins..lol

1. How do you get a fastpass? What is the cost? And what does it do?
2. Same question but instead using the term photopass? Cost? What does it do?
3. Does O'Hana at dinner still have dancers and entertainment? It has an activity for kids called coconut races, and there is some tacky singing and banter.
4. If I was to eat at Kona Cafe which meal do you think is the best there?Sushi and noodle dishes. The steak is also pretty good.
5. Do you feel there is enough charecter interaction in the parks without having to do a ton ofcharecter breakfast, ect.There is plenty of interaction in the parks, but that comes at the cost of long and boring waits. Character meals are far more personal. But they come at the cost of mediocre food and high prices. Take your pick.
6. Talking about Park Fare 1900-what meal would you reccomend there breakfast or lunch?Modest preference for breakfast.
7. Is it true its all you can drink milkshakes at whispering Canyon? If so what kinds do they have? Is it worth it? Also is this the place that have make your own smores?I'll leave this for someone who has been since the menu change.
8. Does anyone know what restruant has the VIP platter?
9. We are going end of May 29th-June 6th-do you think we will have free dining or will that be a miracle.Not likely.
10. Also based on our dates what kind of weather will we be expecting?

 

[HonestLawyer]

I feel like I have so many questions and you all have been great but our family are like disney virgins..lol

1. How do you get a fastpass? What is the cost? And what does it do?
2. Same question but instead using the term photopass? Cost? What does it do?
3. Does O'Hana at dinner still have dancers and entertainment?
4. If I was to eat at Kona Cafe which meal do you think is the best there?
5. Do you feel there is enough charecter interaction in the parks without having to do a ton ofcharecter breakfast, ect.
6. Talking about Park Fare 1900-what meal would you reccomend there breakfast or lunch?
7. Is it true its all you can drink milkshakes at whispering Canyon? If so what kinds do they have? Is it worth it? Also is this the place that have make your own smores?
8. Does anyone know what restruant has the VIP platter?
9. We are going end of May 29th-June 6th-do you think we will have free dining or will that be a miracle.
10. Also based on our dates what kind of weather will we be expecting?

1. You take your park tickets and put them in a kiosk at the individual ride. The kiosk will then spit out your ticket and a fastpass that gives you a 1 hour block of time sometime that day to come back. When you come back, you get in the fastpass line and will basically walk right onto the ride. There is no cost for this, but not all rides have fastpass.

2. Photopass itself has no cost. You give your card to the Disney photographers before they start taking your pictures. Then, at the end of your trip, all of your photos will be online. You can then decide to purchase them for a ridiculous price.

3. Yes, Ohana has entertainment at dinner, but no characters.

4. Breakfast. Two words: Tonga Toast.

5. There are lots of characters in the parks. You'll probably have to wait a long time in line to meet them.

6. Never ate breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, but I have eaten dinner there. It was typical buffet food. Not bad, but nothing spectacular.

7. The menu recently changed at WCC. Not sure what they have anymore, but yes, they used to have endless milkshakes. If you go, make sure to ask for ketchup.

8. The only "VIP Platter" I know about is an appetizer at Planet Hollywood at Downtown Disney.

9. Anything's possible, but you shouldn't plan on it.

10. Hot and humid. Check out the water parks; they're great!

 

[parkhopping]

I feel like I have so many questions and you all have been great but our family are like disney virgins..lol

1. How do you get a fastpass? What is the cost? And what does it do?
2. Same question but instead using the term photopass? Cost? What does it do?
3. Does O'Hana at dinner still have dancers and entertainment?
4. If I was to eat at Kona Cafe which meal do you think is the best there?
5. Do you feel there is enough charecter interaction in the parks without having to do a ton ofcharecter breakfast, ect.
6. Talking about Park Fare 1900-what meal would you reccomend there breakfast or lunch?
7. Is it true its all you can drink milkshakes at whispering Canyon? If so what kinds do they have? Is it worth it? Also is this the place that have make your own smores?
8. Does anyone know what restruant has the VIP platter?
9. We are going end of May 29th-June 6th-do you think we will have free dining or will that be a miracle.
10. Also based on our dates what kind of weather will we be expecting?

1. FastPasses are free and are available at a majority of the rides in the parks...definitely the busiest rides. Near the ride's entrance will be a sign saying "FastPass Distribution". Under that sign are machines. You insert your party's park tickets, and are issued a FastPass that specifies a 1-hour window to return. When you return to use your FP, show your ticket to the cast member at the entrance to the FP line. This allows you to greatly reduce your wait time for rides. Note that you can only have 1 FP at a time. A good strategy is to choose 2 popular rides that are high priority for you. Get FPs for one ride, then get in the regular line for the other. By the time you get off the ride, it will probably be about time to use your FP. Then you can repeat the process.

2. The PhotoPass system is Disney's photography service. Throughout the parks, you will see official Disney photographers. They will take your picture for free, and issue you a PhotoPass card. At the end of the day or the end of your trip, you can visit the Photo center of any park and choose which photos you would like to have printed or put on a CD. There are varying packages with varying costs for this. You can also view your photos online at disneyphotopass.com.

For numbers 3, 4, & 6-8, I have never eaten at those restaurants so I can't help you there.

5. This really depends on your kids and how important characters are to them. Often you will get in a line to meet a character and get just a few people away, only to find out that the attendant has made the cutoff point because it's time for the character to leave. So if your kids are all about getting everyone's autograph/pictures, a character meal is a great way to ensure they get the chance to do that. This can also be good if there is a specific character they really want to meet. If your kids are not crazy about the meet 'n greets, you may be better off skipping a character meal.

9. I doubt it. Free dining is usually offered during the off season to boost attendance. You'll be there in the summer when crowds are plentiful, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

10. Hot and humid. This is Florida, where it's 90 degrees in October. Bring shorts, tshirts, hats, sunglasses, and lots of sunscreen! Also plan for afternoon showers. These usually pass quickly, but can be very heavy. Pack a poncho for everyone and consider carrying a small towel, especially if you will have a stroller to stash it in.

 

[parkhopping]

Also, as JimmyV noted, some of what you're asking in this post doesn't really belong in the restaurant board. A lot of your questions can probably be answered by checking out the guides at wdwinfo.com/wdwplan.htm. If you still have questions, we are all happy to help, but check to be sure you're posting on the right board.

 

[ses1230]

1. FastPasses are free and are available at a majority of the rides in the parks...definitely the busiest rides. Near the ride's entrance will be a sign saying "FastPass Distribution". Under that sign are machines. You insert your party's park tickets, and are issued a FastPass that specifies a 1-hour window to return. When you return to use your FP, show your ticket to the cast member at the entrance to the FP line. This allows you to greatly reduce your wait time for rides. Note that you can only have 1 FP at a time. A good strategy is to choose 2 popular rides that are high priority for you. Get FPs for one ride, then get in the regular line for the other. By the time you get off the ride, it will probably be about time to use your FP. Then you can repeat the process.

2. The PhotoPass system is Disney's photography service. Throughout the parks, you will see official Disney photographers. They will take your picture for free, and issue you a PhotoPass card. At the end of the day or the end of your trip, you can visit the Photo center of any park and choose which photos you would like to have printed or put on a CD. There are varying packages with varying costs for this. You can also view your photos online at disneyphotopass.com.

Just a few addendums since these questions should be on the TPAS board.

You can hold more than one fastpass at a time. The time to get your next fastpass is when the entry window opens, or 2 hours, whichever is sooner.

If you are planning on buying at least 7 or 8 photopass photos the better bargain would be to buy the photopass CD at the prepurchase discount price. Example - one 5x7 (or one photo download) costs $14.95, the prepurchase cost of the CD is $119, so for the price of 7 or 8 single photos, you get ALL the photos the photographers take plus your edits and additions of borders and signatures.

OP - I would suggest that in addition to the wonderful advice here on the DIS, you get a good guidebook. My recommendation is the Unofficial Guide.

 

[minnie mum]

have to agree with some of the PPs. You seem to be in great need of some basic information that is already readily available. I would suggest that you spend some time looking carefully at the information available at the Disney official site, the wdw info site, and the allears menus site. I also agree that you would find the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World invaluable.

After getting what information you can from these sources, we would be more than happy to help with any further specific questions that you might want to post on the appropriate forum.

 

[chartle]

8. Does anyone know what restruant has the VIP platter?

What is a "VIP Platter"? Is it something you read that a WDW restaurant serves or is it maybe a local name for something else like the all you care to enjoy (aka eat) skillet at WCC. As posted above the only WDW hit for anything related to "VIP Platter" is an appetizer sampler at Plant Hollywood.

From allears.net

VIP Platter - Our famous Chicken Crunch, Buffalo Wings, Texas Tostados and Spinach dip (Serves Four) $20.99

But yes questions 1, 2, 5 and 10 belong on the Theme Parks and Strategy board.

3, 4, 6, 7, 8 should be here and I think 9 is covered on a Discount Codes or the Budget board but can still be on TPAS

 

[parkhopping]

You can hold more than one fastpass at a time. The time to get your next fastpass is when the entry window opens, or 2 hours, whichever is sooner.

Ah, you are right. I forgot about that. Most of the time when I've gotten FPs, the return time has been an hour from the time the pass was issued. Thanks for correcting

 

[monica9]

7. Make your own smores. They have the marshmallow roast a Fort Wilderness Lodge nightly with chip and dale campfire songs. You can purchase a kit to make your own smores around large fire pits.

 

[butsy113]

We went May 25-June 1 last year and got free dining, but I believe that special ended on May 31. I'm not sure if you could get partial free dining for your stay. Someone else may know?

 

[TDC Nala]

No partial free dining. The only way to get a partial dining plan, paid or free, is to book two separate resort reservations. This is not the greatest way to do it because a ticket purchase is usually required for both reservations (definitely for free dining).

To my knowledge there is no restaurant that has a "VIP platter." I am not familiar with Planet Hollywood but it appears they may have an appetizer platter by that name.

As Disney has now noted that it will probably not have a free dining offer for January/February, it's kind of doubtful they will have one for check-ins in May - they've only done that once in the past anyway.

For information about the parks, like about fastpasses, weather trends and availability of characters (as opposed to the restaurants), refer to the Theme Parks board.