Help needed: First trip in 9 years - Oh my how things have changed!

[Nancy O]

I am in early stages of planning my first trip to WDW in 9 years. Last trip was in 2009 which was a quick trip for two. We went in 2008 with the kids. (Yes there are TR on here somewhere but that was too long ago) The youngest is now 17. She says she hardly remembers going. The plan is go to late May (Memorial Day Weekend) for a week. We are for sure doing 4 days at Disney but the DH now wants to add on a day at Universal. We have a family of 5 so that would add nearly $1000 for the trip. Of course we still have time to sort it out. We did Universal the summer before the new HP section was added. We will be staying off site. I looks like there are some condos for $72 a night on VBRO. You just can't beat that. I will be happy with $99.

Anyway I'm gong to have a few questions. I've been trolling around here for the past week when we realized that this may happen. I can't find some answers.

1)Magic Bands: If you don't have magic bands what do you use for your Fast Pass? I assume it is on your park ticket. If I were to decide to get magic bands even if we are off site do we still link them to a debit card? I think this would come in handy if we separate and the kids decide to eat. Are Magic Bands really worth it? They look like they would make your wrist sweaty.

2) How does the the 7 dwarf mine ride compare to Space Mountain? I have one that hates big dips but will ride Space Mountain.

3) What are the chances of me being able to get FP for Frozen, 7 dwarf mine and either ride in Pandora with just the 30 day window?

4) Are there any must have aps for my phone? I prefer them to be free.

I'm sure to have more but that is all I can think of for now.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I am in early stages of planning my first trip to WDW in 9 years. Last trip was in 2009 which was a quick trip for two. We went in 2008 with the kids. (Yes there are TR on here somewhere but that was too long ago) The youngest is now 17. She says she hardly remembers going. The plan is go to late May (Memorial Day Weekend) for a week. We are for sure doing 4 days at Disney but the DH now wants to add on a day at Universal. We have a family of 5 so that would add nearly $1000 for the trip. Of course we still have time to sort it out. We did Universal the summer before the new HP section was added. We will be staying off site. I looks like there are some condos for $72 a night on VBRO. You just can't beat that. I will be happy with $99.

Anyway I'm gong to have a few questions. I've been trolling around here for the past week when we realized that this may happen. I can't find some answers.

1)Magic Bands: If you don't have magic bands what do you use for your Fast Pass? I assume it is on your park ticket. If I were to decide to get magic bands even if we are off site do we still link them to a debit card? I think this would come in handy if we separate and the kids decide to eat. Are Magic Bands really worth it? They look like they would make your wrist sweaty.

2) How does the the 7 dwarf mine ride compare to Space Mountain? I have one that hates big dips but will ride Space Mountain.

3) What are the chances of me being able to get FP for Frozen, 7 dwarf mine and either ride in Pandora with just the 30 day window?

I'm sure to have more but that is all I can think of for now.

1) Yes, if you don't have Magic Bands, you will access your FP+ using your plastic park ticket. If you are staying offsite, you will not be able to link a debit or credit card to the Magic Bands. I, personally, wouldn't purchase Magic Bands if staying offsite.

2) 7DMT is tame compared to Space Mountain. When riding, it will appear as if you will go down a big dip, but then it fools you with a little dip within the dip ( I hope that makes sense!), so there are no big drops. You could probably find a POV video of 7DMT on youtube if you want to get a sense of the ride.

3) I honestly can't answer this as I haven't stayed offsite since these rides opened. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in on this one!

 

[Surgie2]

3) What are the chances of me being able to get FP for Frozen, 7 dwarf mine and either ride in Pandora with just the 30 day window?

My experience with a 30-day window in January for 2 people was no problem getting Frozen and Navi River right at the 30 day mark (at 7:00 am EST). I happened upon 7DMT a couple weeks later when practicing refreshing and modifying on the app. I did not get Flight of Passage at all (despite frequent checking) so we rope dropped it (arriving to the turnstile 90 minutes before park opening).

 

[friedela]

Welcome! I haven't been to Disney yet so I don't know all of the answers but for the magic bands I do know that if you don't have them you will use a swipe card instead for your fast passes. If you are not staying on site you will not have charging privileges with your magic bands. Only on-site guests get that perk. We bought magic bands for our kids simply because I don't want to hear, "mom! Can I have my card!" every time we are using our fast passes and I don't trust that they won't loose them on a lanyard. Plus they are pretty neat

For Frozen, 7 dwarfs and Pandora we are staying off site so only could book FP's 30 days out and we were not able to get a FP for 7 Dwarfs nor Pandora. We got Frozen no problem though. We are hoping to just get to those attractions first thing in the AM or keep watching to see if more open up or someone cancels.

HTH!

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I really liked the convenience of the magic bands and not having to fumble with cards. I was staying offsite and just popped into the Disney store at the airport and bought one of the basic colored bands for $12.99. I had bought my ticket on undercover tourist which I had already linked to MDE since they just give you the ticket number and then I just linked my band while on the ride to the hotel. I was able to bypass stopping at a ticket booth to get a plastic card. It didn't save me loads of time but it was nice to just get straight to the fun. Besides the bands are reusable for future trips.

 

[piglet1979]

2) How does the the 7 dwarf mine ride compare to Space Mountain? I have one that hates big dips but will ride Space Mountain.

If your son will ride Space Mountain he will be fine with 7 Dwarfs. I refuse to ride Space Mountain but love 7 Dwarfs. However I will ride Splash now but it took me a long time for my husband to get me on it because of the drop. I still don't like the drop but I suck it up to see the rest of the ride.

 

[marshallabney]

If you decide you want magic bands for everyone and want the 60 day FP+ booking advantage, you might check out a throwaway room...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/throwaway-room-update.3539209/