You mean I DO get to go to WDW in 2014?? - Link to TR in post #523

[dgbg100106]

Alison... Your plans look great!

The Karmel place is one of my favorite stops... I always think "This time I am getting an apple" and I never do, but they always looks so yummy...

I love their candies, I just can't get enough of that wonderful karmel

 

[rentayenta]

Yup. They are sure taking the fun out of it all.

What's the purpose and the protocol, do you know? I hope Disneyland doesn't adapt this. Well at least I hope they don't until I learn something about it.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What's the purpose and the protocol, do you know? I hope Disneyland doesn't adapt this. Well at least I hope they don't until I learn something about it.

If I were cynical, I would say it's to remove value out of the equation of guests and to increase revenue for Disney. Cynical. Yeah. No cynics on the Dis, right?


I hope DLR doesn't adapt it so soon either.

 

[franandaj]

I did just did a dummy Fastpass+ reservation.

Hollywood Studios Tier 1 (one selection)

Beauty and the Beast
Rock'n'Rollercoaster
Fantasmic!
Toy Story Mania

I am really surprised that Tower of Terror is not on this list, but this is a tier 2 attraction.

Epcot Tier 1 (one selection)

IlumiNations!
Maelstrom
Character Spot
Soarin
Test Track

Corinna

I completely understand the whole thing now after a looooooooooong phone call with Disney IT folks.

Tiered?



Great day planned Alison. So many good CS to choose from in Epcot. We love the CS in Morocco best but also enjoy Yorkshire and Mexico's CS. Gabby loves Japan's CS.

Now that I understand FP+ this is probably going to change all my days that I've planned.

I agree re Star Wars / HW out by then! Sounds like a nice plan to go to MK in the morning and hit EPCOT. It is so lovely to have breakfast in the DVC unit. We do this we rent a car and stock up at Walmart

Lol re fixating on some figurine. With me it's always a t shirt! We then have to get CM to phone and find out where they have any left. One year had us go to the shop at the contemporary resort...then to the shop at AK...both showed stock but they weren't there! Finally my patient DW found one in OKW store lol. I still look at the t shirt and smile.

Narcooseers sounds lovely! Hoping the car is for your trip to a certain place that stocks lots of Disney props....

I'm going to have to rethink my entire days knowing now how the FP+ system works. Fran fixates on just about anything. One day it's a figure, the next it's a painting, a mosaic.

Yup. They are sure taking the fun out of it all.

Pretty much.

Alison... Your plans look great!

The Karmel place is one of my favorite stops... I always think "This time I am getting an apple" and I never do, but they always looks so yummy...

I love their candies, I just can't get enough of that wonderful karmel

I love the marshmallow and caramel pinwheels, those are my favorites!

What's the purpose and the protocol, do you know? I hope Disneyland doesn't adapt this. Well at least I hope they don't until I learn something about it.

I doubt that Disneyland would adopt this, not with over 1 million So Cal AP holders who just would not put up with that much planning. That's another reason they have so many varied QS options. So Cal folks don't like to make reservations, and certainly not 6 months in advance!

If I were cynical, I would say it's to remove value out of the equation of guests and to increase revenue for Disney. Cynical. Yeah. No cynics on the Dis, right?


I hope DLR doesn't adapt it so soon either.

I think it's to discourage park hopping and spontaneity, they can keep track of who rides what and when they are going to do it so that they have adequate staff to cover the attractions and no one attraction gets too busy.

 

[franandaj]

So my FP+ window opens up in about 10 days. I wanted to make sure that I was all prepared for this, so I logged into MDE to check on my AP. It showed that MY pass was linked to an MDE account, but that I still did not have a valid WDW AP.

So again I was on the phone with IT, turns out passes issued in CA just aren't recognized by the WDW system. After a long time on hold listening to just about every ride soundtrack from MK, she finally got back to me. What I guess they did was issue me a "dummy" WDW pass which she said "would in no way affect my DLR pass" and it's functions, and that I could just leave that pass at home as my MBs would do all the functions of the pass. Well, I'm not sure that the MB is going to get us our discount at the stores, so we'll be bringing the passes!

So she also informed me that in addition to my two MBs that I'm getting for CSR and VGF, I get another for being an AP holder! Yay! TWO more wasted bands! Right now as an AP holder I can make FP+ selections 30 days in advance without a reservation on property. But 60 days out, I will be able to make them for my entire stay. That's March 30th for the VGF. So I began to play with the system and thought I would demonstrate for any of you out there who are confused, *cough* Jenny, like I used to be on how this works.

The first thing you do is select that park that you will be visiting for the day.



I picked Epcot for this example because Epcot and DHS are the only ones right now showing the Tiering. So you can pick one ride from the top selection and two rides from the lower selection. You scroll through to see which rides are offered in which tier and the "next" button won't light up until you have made three selections. See so Corinna was right when she said I wouldn't be able to do both Soarin' and Test Track, so I'll skip Soarin'. I can ride that anytime in CA.



Once you've picked your three attractions, it asks you to prioritize them.



Then MDE chooses your options for you. This is the part that I don't like.



It picks what it thinks are your best matches which were all early FP+ selections before noon. I didn't like the best match, but thought option B was a better fit for us.



I wanted to see what happened next, and I guess that was the last step, because now I have FP+ for April 15, 2014 at Epcot. I need to figure out how to cancel these!



Well, I went back and played with it some more and it seems that once you have your times confirmed you can go in and change them individually. See I moved the attractions around and now are FP+ are all in a row. This would actually work out well for us on this day (if we were going to be in Epcot). Because on one of our Epcot day we have a Le Cellier reservation at 7:30PM, we could arrive in the park late, do three attractions, have some time for shopping and still make our reservation!



So there you go! We might actually ride some things a little bit more than we would have prior to FP+!

I'm still not sure if I like though.

 

[PrincessInOz]

YAY for having your FP+ booked.

Yes, that MDE isn't very user friendly, is it? But the main thing is that you've got your FP+ booked in and the times changed to suit yourself.

 

[franandaj]

YAY for having your FP+ booked.

Yes, that MDE isn't very user friendly, is it? But the main thing is that you've got your FP+ booked in and the times changed to suit yourself.

I booked my FP+ for April 15th. We don't arrive until May 28th!

We're not even going to be in Florida for that day. I hit the "next" button thinking it would give me another screen asking me to confirm my choices, but it just said "Congratulations! You have FP+ for April 15!

I'm probably going to have to call them up and cancel via the phone. There doesn't seem to be a way to do it online.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I booked my FP+ for April 15th. We don't arrive until May 28th!

We're not even going to be in Florida for that day. I hit the "next" button thinking it would give me another screen asking me to confirm my choices, but it just said "Congratulations! You have FP+ for April 15!

I'm probably going to have to call them up and cancel via the phone. There doesn't seem to be a way to do it online.

You got to pick FP+ for April 15th??? And you're not even going to be there???

That's a new one for the system. I assume that this is because you got dummy MB; or is this because you have AP??? WOW! Just think! You could have FP+ booked for every day of the year!!!

 

[eandesmom]

You've got it exactly right. Once you book them, it is easy to move them around to better fit exactly what you want. It is rare that the 3 are at the right times from the git go, even with them giving you 4 options! We like to book afternoon/evening ones and then hit a different park in the AM.

With the AP my understanding is you can book 7 days of FP within a rolling 30 day window that keeps rolling. Or something like that. I too will have 3 bands for this trip, last time my bands worked on both rooms but we will see if that happens this time. I am collecting every color lol. What colors did you pick?

 

[stasijane]

Isn't it funny how many MB you can end up with on one trip alone. Its silly. I have every color already which is good if I want to match my outfit other than that its a pain.

 

[franandaj]

You got to pick FP+ for April 15th??? And you're not even going to be there???

That's a new one for the system. I assume that this is because you got dummy MB; or is this because you have AP??? WOW! Just think! You could have FP+ booked for every day of the year!!!

It's the AP, it only let's me look 30 days in advance with the AP so just started poking around in April. March 30 I will be able to book all my stuff.

You've got it exactly right. Once you book them, it is easy to move them around to better fit exactly what you want. It is rare that the 3 are at the right times from the git go, even with them giving you 4 options! We like to book afternoon/evening ones and then hit a different park in the AM.

With the AP my understanding is you can book 7 days of FP within a rolling 30 day window that keeps rolling. Or something like that. I too will have 3 bands for this trip, last time my bands worked on both rooms but we will see if that happens this time. I am collecting every color lol. What colors did you pick?

I think we're going to book mostly afternoons as well only because, we plan to be lazy on the mornings that we aren't doing SWW. Well at least a couple of them. I like your idea of being able to stroll into a park afternoon and not worry about some of the better rides.

I just got gray for the first night since it's only one night. I got red for my AP one and yellow for my VGF one.

 

[eandesmom]

I think we're going to book mostly afternoons as well only because, we plan to be lazy on the mornings that we aren't doing SWW. Well at least a couple of them. I like your idea of being able to stroll into a park afternoon and not worry about some of the better rides.

I just got gray for the first night since it's only one night. I got red for my AP one and yellow for my VGF one.

I got yellow for my AP, I already have a yellow one but it's not an AP one. LOL! What did Fran get?

The afternoon FP+ worked GREAT for us this past trip. I don't know how much we will use it in May, we've only booked it for 4 out of our 6 days but we will see.

 

[rentayenta]

I love you for posting the screens and walking through the process. Bummer your FPs are for a month before.

 

[jedijill]

Yay for figuring out the FP+ system and "fake" scheduling for April. You are ready for the real show!

Jill in CO

 

[dgbg100106]

Nice tutorial Alison! Thanks for the lesson... Now if I ever get to go back I might get use it!

 

[ACDSNY]

Congrats on mastering the FP+. I keep thinking all this planning for FP+ is going to take all the spontaneity out our trips.

 

[franandaj]

I got yellow for my AP, I already have a yellow one but it's not an AP one. LOL! What did Fran get?

The afternoon FP+ worked GREAT for us this past trip. I don't know how much we will use it in May, we've only booked it for 4 out of our 6 days but we will see.

Fran got Orange and Blue, we'll end up being UCLA for the majority of the trip with our gold and blue.

I love you for posting the screens and walking through the process. Bummer your FPs are for a month before.

I thought you would appreciate the little tutorial. I wondered how the whole thing would work and since I couldn't have a "valid" pass I couldn't see all the screens that others did. I thought it might help the overall confusion to give a few screen shots of what was possible.

Yay for figuring out the FP+ system and "fake" scheduling for April. You are ready for the real show!

Jill in CO

I'm glad that I understand how it will work before we actually have to make our selections. By the time we see each other I hope I have it all sealed up!

Nice tutorial Alison! Thanks for the lesson... Now if I ever get to go back I might get use it!

Hopefully you will get back there sometime! It's been a long time, you guys need to find at least a weekend trip or something!

Congrats on mastering the FP+. I keep thinking all this planning for FP+ is going to take all the spontaneity out our trips.

It will. But in reality, we don't have a lot of spontaneity in our trips. At least as far as rides go. This just means that we can get on the rides we want to without having to jump through hoops or do the single rider line. I can still do those things if I want.

 

[franandaj]

Day 6 of our trip is for an off campus Disney experience.

If you remember all the way back to the beginning of this PTR, the whole reason Fran said we could come back to Florida was that Theme Park Connection was moving to a bigger better warehouse and would be able to put more of their *FANTASTIC* merchandise on display. This was the day that made the most sense to visit the warehouse since SWW wasn’t going on and we would finally be rested up from the plane trip and able to take it all in.

As far as I know they open at 10AM and we plan on arriving right at “rope drop”. I believe that Ruthie plans on joining us as well as Paula and Jo from the UK. It turns out that their travel dates are almost identical to ours and we may run into them at SWW as well since we have similar plans to shop, catch the parade and other things. Besides those of us in scooters just tend to “run into each other” and I don’t mean literally!

I only have some pictures from the old TPC, so you’ll have to be happy with that.













The last time we hit up TPC it was a morning event and we were well finished by the afternoon. In fact we were able to hit our favorite chain steakhouse on International Drive, (Lonestar Steakhouse) for some good hearty Rib Eye steaks for lunch and one of those Bloomin’ Onions that are so full of that hearty fried goodness. You see the one in Long Beach that we used to frequent shut down about 3 years ago. There is still one in Tustin, but that’s about 30 minutes or more away from home. Is it worth the drive to get a Rib Eye for under $25? Depends, we did it two Saturdays ago, but that was starting out from Disneyland so we were only about 5 miles away, from there it was a no brainer. Especially when we had enough gift cards to cover the meal! From our own house, we have yet to set out from here, we’ve only been there when we’re already over in Orange County, but I digress…

OK back to the PTR, who knows what we will do once we leave TPC. Obviously we will need some lunch, but I doubt we will go the Lonestar route on this day because we have a reservation at Le Cellier. Last time after the lunch we hit Walmart, but since we’re nearing the end of our trip we might not, but then again we’re talking about Fran here. If she has a chance to shop, especially at Walmart, we’re going there, so shall we place bets on what we do after TPC??????

We’ll have to return the car by about 6PMish that day and then head off to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier. I’m going to put in some FP+ requests. Based on what I learned when I wrote up the tutorial, for Sunday I will choose Test Track, Spaceship Earth and I guess Mission Space. For Monday I think I’ll pick the Character Spot, Living with the Land and Mission Space. Mostly for the Character Spot, if I skip the other two I won’t be totally upset. This means that my FP+ windows will be starting around 4:30PM, it’s possible that we could still be shopping then!

Anyways, back to Dinner. We had a little surprise today, and now have yet another DISmeet in the plans. Pinkocto emailed me this morning that she was going to be the Orlando area on this night and were we interested in having dinner? I was SURE that Le Cellier would be booked up and there was no way we could expand to a party of three, but I guess the ADR goddesses were smiling on me today. I was able to find a reservation for three at 7:40PM, only 25 minutes later than the original reservation! Yay!

The last time we ate at Le Cellier, it was for lunch and it wasn’t a signature restaurant yet. They didn’t have a Rib Eye (which is one of the reasons we are finally going back) We will definitely have some more of the soup. I have made this quite a few times at home out of the F&W cookbook and it is a definite favorite of mine, not sure if Fran likes it as much, but I sure do!



Since we haven’t had the Rib eye here, we don’t have a picture. They don’t have the crazy Fred Flinstone Tomahawk Rib Eye that we love from the Del Frisco’s steakhouse, but I thought I would include a picture of that anyways. It just gives us something to look forward to in Las Vegas or some other town that has a Del Frisco’s Steakhouse.



OK, so back to the TR, I think after we eat at Le Cellier, we will be done for the night. I don’t see us hanging around for Illuminations, Fran doesn’t like it nearly as much as I do, so we’ll probably be boring and just head home for bed. We have some animals to visit in the morning!

 

[ACDSNY]

I can't wait to see the treasures you'll find shopping and a DISmeet the Le Cellier is a great way to end the day.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That sounds like a wonderful day. I can't wait to read about all your finds and what a great place for a DIS Meet. How lucky that you get the chance to meet Pam on that day as well.

Corinna