Suck it Up, It’s Disney: Part 3

SUCK IT UP, IT’S DISNEY!

Even since before I opened shop as a travel agent, it was no secret—I LOVE DISNEY!! I also love road trips, camping, and all-inclusive vacations.  But, I digress.  Over time, I have heard all of the arguments/complaints against going to Disney.  Yes, there are a lot of you out there that begrudgingly book your Disney vacation because every kid should see it once.  In this f-part series I will examine why you should not only put aside your “issues” with visiting the Great Mouse House, but also have fun doing it!

PART 3: I DON’T HAVE A PhD IN DISNEY

So, back to FastPass+ and all Disney reservations for that matter.  I know it is overwhelming.  There are multiple booking windows.  You worry that you won’t get the reservations you want.  And deciding where you are going at 10 am on the Tuesday of your vacation is mind boggling.  Not to mention, you are on vacation.  You don’t want to feel like you are punching a clock.  This is a long one, but this is the breakdown of how it all works.  Follow these tips and it will make things so much less stressful!

First, decide if you want to wait in line to meet characters or pay a premium to meet them at meals.  There are pros and cons to both sides and my family has done both.  In reality, with little kids under 40 inches if you choose character meals, you are still going to wait in lines to meet characters.  They love it, and you will have the time since there aren’t as many long rides lines for them to wait in.  But anyway, if you choose to go with a character meal, pick one that sounds appealing. They all have different characters and different cuisines.  

If you are looking to eat with Mickey and Friends you have a few choices.  The fan favorite is, of course, Chef Mickey’s.  But, any of the meals with those characters are good.  Don’t worry if the menu sounds a bit eclectic, there are always more “average” options on the buffet.  If you are looking to dine with princesses, I would choose Akershus over Cinderella’s Royal Table.  But, there are pros and cons there too.  One of my favorite ways to do character meals is to pick ones that are outside of the parks.  You are going to end up eating at least one meal in Orlando on a travel day.  Character meals are a great way to fill that time slot.

Always book character meals first.  Other hard to get reservations include (but are not limited to) Be Our Guest Restaurant, fireworks cruises, Chef’s Table at Victoria and Albert’s, Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, ’Ohana, and Le Cellier.  Outside of those choices, you really can’t go wrong.  So, go with the type of food you like.  Once you have decided on your restaurants come up with a basic framework for what parks you want to be in each day.  This is a great time to call your travel agent for recommendations or consult internet crowd calendars.  Keep this schedule fluid so that if you can’t get your Magic Kingdom reservations on Day 1 you can switch it to Day 5 and make Epcot your Day 1.  Another option would be to switch a dinner to a lunch.  At 180 days before your trip start date, dining reservations open for your entire trip.  

Slightly more difficult, and even more important, are FastPass reservations.  It does not matter what time of year you travel, the most popular rides will ALWAYS have the longest lines!  So, once your dining reservations are set, you should be thinking about what rides you really want to get on in each park.  At 60 day before your trip (30 days if you are off-property) your FastPass booking window will open for your entire trip.  As with dining, you want to book the most popular rides first, no matter what day of the trip you will ride it. 

Entire books have been writing on park touring plans.  So this is where you really want to do your research or call your travel agent!  The best way to plan out your day is to make your first FastPass reservation around the time you think you will enter the park.  You have an hour to make that window, so don’t worry if your FastPass is at 10 am, but you don’t get into the park until 10:30.  (SPECIAL NOTE:  If you are early risers, plan to be there at rope drop and make your 1st FastPass for around 10 am).  I stack my reservations one after the other, keeping them close together in each park (don’t make yourself criss cross the park between each reservation).  The booking system won’t let you overlap with another reservation of any kind, so keep that in mind if you get an error message.  Even though I may have reservations at 10, 11, and 12 the lines go so quickly that I can usually ride a ride or two in between.  I stack my FastPasses early because when I am done, I can pick up an open FastPass on the Disney Experience app for later in the day.  Don’t stress about the exact times either.  There is nothing wrong with having your FastPasses at 10:15, 11:30, and 12:30.  Or with pushing that 3rd FastPass until after lunch.  FastPasses are meant to give you more ride opportunities during the day.  They are not there to stress you out, so you should always book FastPasses at a pace that works for you.

Here is the dirty little secret nobody tells you about booking your trip to Disney…Even the best laid plans can go awry.  We often find that we think we will head back to the hotel at 2 pm, but we are having too much fun so we stay in the parks.  Or we decide to stay out for fireworks and the kids are too tired the next day to get an early start. Rides break down.  Sometimes it rains making indoor queues 10 times busier than normal.  No matter how much research, planning, and booking expertise you have your trip won’t go exactly as planned.  THAT IS OKAY!!!  If you get bogged down in the details of the plan, you won’t have time for fun.  You can always move FastPasses around while you wait in line.  Don’t tell, but most restaurants will hold reservations for 30 minutes especially if they know the park just got slammed because of bad weather. 

Here is my last tidbit and then I will get off of my soapbox.  There are travel agents out there that will do all of your booking for you.  You will get the same cookie-cutter trip that everyone else gets.  But, when you book with Bernover Family Travel, I take the time to talk to you about what you are looking for from your trip.  Are you thrill seekers or character greeters?  Do you have to see everything all in one day?  Or are you more laid back and see what you see kind of people?  I can give you a plan that works for you and your family.  So you don’t have to worry about whether or not you are doing it “right.” The important thing to remember is that this vacation will be magical for your kids no matter what they see and do.  Your goal with Disney Reservations, whether you plan them out or I do, is to do what you can to maximize your fun!