We are back from our first visit to Disney World and wanted to say thank you to all of you who helped make it a success by answering our questions. It was a lot of fun and we totally enjoyed ourselves, however I don't know how many of you can do this all the time! So much planning is required, lines for everything, lots of waiting and crowds. And we went in low season! I'm glad we went, it's just not a 'relaxing' type of vacation that we prefer. We tacked on a few days to the end of a cruise. One day in Downtown Disney, one day in Magic Kingdom.
I personally liked the Magic Band system. It was great to swipe your band at the gift shops, restaurants, hotel room, rides, etc. We have no clue about the previous system so can't really compare. We did have issues getting the kids bands rigged up properly, apparently because we bought them at home in Canada (cards from CAA). For months prior to the trip, the tech teams tried to set them up but only the adult ones would link properly. At check in they tried again and we were told they were good to go and all the FP+ should match ours now. Once at the parks, their bands still weren't set up properly so we were told to go to the Guest Relations line....ugh! We explained to the manager what a pain this had been considering it's our very first visit and we only had ONE day in Disney. He couldn't figure out why their bands were having problems so he issued us extra paper fastpasses to use on whatever we wanted. Sweet, thank you very much!
By the end of the day, we had experienced Space Mountain, Buzz 3 times, Monster Laugh In, Peter Pan, Under the Sea, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice), Tom Sawyer Island, Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean and Magic Carpets. We also had front row seats for the Electric Parade and sat in the FP+ area for the fireworks. Thanks for the maps Robo! Tinkerbell flew right over our heads and we were able to stretch out on the grass after 12 hours in the park! It's a great spot! We wish Splash Mountain was open but oh well!! We ate at Columbia Harbour House (great gluten-free) and had a Dole Whip. There were lots of opportunities to grab a table and a quick drink & snack from our bags. We purchased our souvenirs and were on our way! The bus line back to the All Star Movies were ridiculous due to a HUGE group of dancers headed to our hotel. We noticed the line for the other All Star resort was empty so we hopped on that bus instead. The driver was very kind and dropped us off after his stop was complete.
All in all, a great trip! This website gave me all sorts of good info to make the most out of our short time. Thank you!
I personally liked the Magic Band system. It was great to swipe your band at the gift shops, restaurants, hotel room, rides, etc. We have no clue about the previous system so can't really compare. We did have issues getting the kids bands rigged up properly, apparently because we bought them at home in Canada (cards from CAA). For months prior to the trip, the tech teams tried to set them up but only the adult ones would link properly. At check in they tried again and we were told they were good to go and all the FP+ should match ours now. Once at the parks, their bands still weren't set up properly so we were told to go to the Guest Relations line....ugh! We explained to the manager what a pain this had been considering it's our very first visit and we only had ONE day in Disney. He couldn't figure out why their bands were having problems so he issued us extra paper fastpasses to use on whatever we wanted. Sweet, thank you very much!
By the end of the day, we had experienced Space Mountain, Buzz 3 times, Monster Laugh In, Peter Pan, Under the Sea, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice), Tom Sawyer Island, Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean and Magic Carpets. We also had front row seats for the Electric Parade and sat in the FP+ area for the fireworks. Thanks for the maps Robo! Tinkerbell flew right over our heads and we were able to stretch out on the grass after 12 hours in the park! It's a great spot! We wish Splash Mountain was open but oh well!! We ate at Columbia Harbour House (great gluten-free) and had a Dole Whip. There were lots of opportunities to grab a table and a quick drink & snack from our bags. We purchased our souvenirs and were on our way! The bus line back to the All Star Movies were ridiculous due to a HUGE group of dancers headed to our hotel. We noticed the line for the other All Star resort was empty so we hopped on that bus instead. The driver was very kind and dropped us off after his stop was complete.
All in all, a great trip! This website gave me all sorts of good info to make the most out of our short time. Thank you!
