Disney @ Christmas Time

Christmas is the most magical time and magical season that there is. It is filled with happiness and joy. Makes sense that people want to be at the happiest place in the world during the happiest time in the world. A lot of people share this sentiment and Disney is packed for the holiday season. Other than 4th of July, the entire week before and after Christmas is the busiest time at Disney world. I went the day after Christmas before and it was difficult to even move much. However, there are some pointers in dealing with this crowded time at the parks.

First, to get the most bang for your buck at Disney, avoid the parks during those two weeks. Go at a different time in the season, all of the Christmas stuff is offered and you won't have to deal as much with the crowds. If you have a Silver pass (like us), your pass is blacked out during this time anyways. There are better times to go.

Next, determine how much the special events mean to you. The special event I am most specifically speaking of is the Very Merry Christmas Party. It is a special ticket event that is seperate from a regular day park admission. That being said, it does come cheaper than a regular park admission and offers some extra perks. Besides being cheaper it comes with a slightly less crowded park and is offered after park hours. You can usually get in at 4pm while the park closes to the general public at 7pm and you are allowed to stay until 2am (which is impossible for parents with young children). Free cookies and holiday beverages are offered at several locations throughout the park. There is also a variety of other holiday treats available for purchase. Additionally, there is a holiday stage show and a special holiday parade. Finally, the biggest draw which is special character meets that aren't available during the day. These meets included Sandy Claws (Jack Skellington), Scrooge McDuck, and the Zootopia characters this year. It is very worth it for one time, but I do not know if I'd go back since I've been once. Also it is very tough for my family to get our complete money's worth and stay until 2am because of the little ones.

Magic Kingdom does not have many holiday offerings outside of the party. The castle lights up at night and there are decorations around the park. However, if you want the holiday experience at Magic Kingdom, you need to go to the party. The special holiday treats are only available at the party.

We miss the Osborne lights a lot. That amazing experience at Hollywood Studios is never to be seen again. It is really sad that they won't have it anymore. We went a few weeks ago and were pretty disappointed at what was being offered. It was so sad. We didn't stick around for the new projection show after hearing it was just okay because the kids were tired. Honestly, this park makes me feel claustrophobic at times now and I am not that type of person. There just is not and will not be a lot to do until the Toy Story and Star Wars lands open up. Disney needs to increase the amount of character meets in this park to make it worthwhile to attend to non passholders. I go still because it does have some of my favorite rides, but I probably wouldnt spend my money to go here for just one day as of now. It will pay off in the long run, but it is not up to the Disney standard currently.

Picture of the Osborne Lights we miss so much. Disney isn't as exciting at Christmas, but its still cool.

Animal Kingdom is my favorite park and the park the boys enjoy most. It is a really cool park for the Animal lover and has a lot of boy themed attractions, while the other parks typically focus a bit more on the little princesses. It has the least holiday appeal though. It simply does not have holiday shows and lacks major holiday decorations. They do exist though, and the tree out in front is always my favorite Christmas Tree on Disney property. Do not expect much beyond that particular tree though as far as holiday appeal.

We are going to Epcot at Christmas time this weekend to catch some of those holiday festivities and will have more tips at a later date. The Christmas trees and decorations were up in mid November when we went, but the Candlelight Processional and other holiday shows were not quite ready yet at this time. The tree entering the World Showcase was a pretty awesome sight. Another cool sight was the tree in America. Finally, the holiday topiaries were also a very nice touch to the park.

If you do not care about holiday decorations and shows and just want to visit the parks, go in the morning! They are way more crowded at night because of the holiday offerings. Stay tuned in a few weeks for updates on the new Christmas offerings at Disney Springs!

From the entire Robinson clan, I hope you have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Noland

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

Every time we go to the Magic Kingdom, we walk by this little game called the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. We always say that we will try it someday, ultimately skipping over the game because there is just so much to do at the world's most popular theme park. Why waste time on a card game when there is so much to do?

Well, that was until this past weekend. I made it a point to try the game and see if Noland Jr. would like it. I figured if nothing else, we could collect the cards and be happy. With some rare and cool cards, I figured that the family would at least enjoy that. Now that it is almost summer, the crowds are picking up anyways, so it is a good thing to do on a crowded day like it would be, I thought that anyway.

My take away is that I was right and wrong in my preconceived notions about the game. It is definitely not something to do if this is your first trip to Disney World. There is simply to much to do at the park and you don't want to be playing this game if it is your 1st trip. However, if you are park veterans like us that just were skipping over the game, it could well be worth it. Noland Jr. loved this game and said he wants to play again next time. If you are in that category like we were, read on...

You sign up for this FREE game at the firehouse on Main Street USA. One person in your party becomes the key holder (we chose Noland Jr.) and that person opens the portals at each location you must travel. Once you sign up and pick a key holder, you will get a map and a pack of cards. Each pack contains 5 cards. Again, all of this is included with your park admission. That is pretty rare for an extra benefit.

Once you get the stuff to start the game, you go to a land to defeat a villain as your current mission. You must defeat 9 villains to beat the game, and we defeated 3 on the day we went. If you do not beat all 9, you can start back where you left off last time when you arrive next. That is what my family will plan on doing.

Overall, we enjoyed this game, but it definitely had some issues that we noticed and almost gave up on the game from. The practice portal in the firehouse, used our spell cards with no problems. However, once the game started, Noland Jr. could not get any of the spell cards to read. I realized after we lost the same battle 3 times that I had to hold him up or use the card myself. He is tall enough to ride Splash Mountain, so I figured this wouldn't be the case. It was the case though, he was not tall enough for the cards to read despite no issues on the practice portal. Additionally, there were one or two portals that didn't seem to work for anybody. There were 2 or 3 that we saw multiple people fail at. One a guy had to shine an extra light at the perfect angle to get the screen to read. That can be frustrating, but still through that, Noland Jr. loved the cards and we did manage to figure most of it out on the 1st day.

Pictures of cards we own/what we think of them
Sorry for the poor quality of pictures, I should have had my wife take them :)

 This card was ok. Not our favorite and didn't do much, but was okay.

 The sword was one of our next card's to try, but we did not get to try it. This card seems like it would be pretty cool.

 The Laser Blast was the next one that Noland wanted to try. It looks cool, but as big a Disney fan as I am, I did not recognize Eve. Jenna said he/she/it is from Wall-E. I hated Wall-E so that would make sense why I don't recognize the character.

 This move would probably be pretty epic, but Jr. did not want to try it.

 Jr.'s 3rd favorite move so far, he really liked the fire on the screen and it burning the characters.

 Surprised we didn't use this yet, since we love the Mad Tea Party ride, but alas we did not.

 Our most used card and the card we started with. Jr. won the 1st 3 battles with this card before we moved on.

 You see blond hair flick the screen 3 or 4 times. I was very underwhelmed with this card. Not sure what I was expecting, but Rapunzel is my favorite princess and I was not a fan of this card.

 Really neat move that we finished of Cruella with. We all liked this one.

 This was my favorite move and Noland Jr.'s favorite move. It was really cool to see on the screen with Grumpy flicking his axes everywhere. Loved this card.

 I was prepared to use this immediately after Mickey and Rafiki, but Jr. put it at the bottom of our pile because he didn't recognize it. I guess we will be watching some Meet the Robinsons soon.

 The coolest looking card and our favorite character in the group. Underwhelmed though with the card. Still cool and we enjoyed it.

 Jenna's favorite card and our main card used to defeat Shadow Man. Love this one.

 This was the last card he wanted to use. Haven't used it.

We showed no desire to use this one either, but we will get to it eventually.

A master card list is contained below. Ones that we own are bold. Cards 1-22 on this list are labeled as rare, 23-41 as uncommon, 42-60 common, 61-70 super rare. The Super Rare cards are only rumored to be available in purchased packs available at the Emporium. Feel free to offer trades of cards and or share your comments on the game in the comments section. One of these cards supposedly features the cricket, so we obviously want that one in this house.
Rare
1. Apprentice Mickey's Broomsticks
2. Belle's Mountain Blizzard
3. Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster
4. Doris's Bowler Hat Attack
5. Eve's Laser Blast
6. Fa Mulan's Dragon Cannon
7. Flynn Rider's Frying Pan
8. King Triton's Trident
9. Lythos' Rock Titan Boulder Throw
10. Maurice's Wood Chipper
11. Maximus' Horseshoes
12. Merlin's Fireball
13. Monstro's Water Spout
14. Nib's Neverland Assault
15. Rapunzel's Hair Whip
16. Robin Hood's Magic Arrow
17. Simba's Roar
18. Fairy Godmother's Pumpkin Bash
19. The Giant's Giant Stomp
20. Tinker Bell's Pixie Dust
21. Violet's Force Fields
22. Woody's Cowboy Lasso
Uncommon
23. Aladdin's Lamp
24. Bolt's Super Bark
25. Cinderella's Magic Ribbon
26. Colonel Hathi's Righteous Stomp (want this one bad)
27. Eeyore's Gloomy Cloud
28. Frozone's Ice Blast
29. Lightning McQueen's Ka-Chow
30. Mickey's Magic Beans
31. Mike's Grand Entrance
32. Pinocchio's Sawdust Blast
33. Prince Phillip's Enchanted Sword
34. Snow White's Housecleaning
35. Headless Horseman's Exploding Jack-O-Lantern (Another one we want)
36. Mad Hatter's Tea Time
37. Queen of Heart's Card Army
38. Sugar Plum Fairies' Dewdrop Spiderweb
39. Wall-E's Trash Crunch
40. Yen Sid's Sorcerers Hat
Common
41. Aurora's Rose Petals
42. Baloo's Coconut Cascade (Noland Jr. said this is the card he wants most)
43. Cabellero Donald's Pinata (Has to be awesome!)
44. Dash's Whirlwind
45. Flower's Flowers
46. Gopher's Demolition Dynamite (Excited that Gopher has a role in this game, he is often forgotten)
47. Grumpy's Pummeling Pickaxe (Our Favorite Move So Far)
48. Lumiere's Candle Blast
49. Mowgli's Swining Vine (Mowgli is in the game too!)
50. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (There you go Toad fans)
51. Pocahontas's Colors of the Wind
52. Pongo's Soot Bucket
53. Prince Naveen's Army of Frogs
54. Pumbaa's Odorous Gas (The Card I want the most :)
55. Quasimodo's Bell (Cool that he is in game)
56. Rafiki's Wisdom Stick
57. The Blue Fairy's Wand Wish
58. The Woozles' Woozle Nightmare
59. Thumper's Mighty Thump
60. Tiana's Hot Sauce (Jenna's Favorite Move So Far)
Super Rare
61. Ariel's Bubble Attack
62. Dumbo's Pin Elephant Parade
63. Finn McMissile's Missile Salvo
64. Hercules's Tower Topple
65. Jasmine's Magic Carpet Tassles of Fury
66. Mama Odie's Magic Charm
67. Merryweathers Stone Spell
68. Mr. Incredible's Power Heave
69. Mushu's Fiery Breath
70. Winnie the Pooh's Honey Bees (don't want to buy a pack, but we really want this card)

Stay tuned on the blog for more Disney World tips and tricks...Next week though, we will talk about being a one cable TV household and why that is perfect for us.

- Noland

Winnie the Pooh is the Best

My family absolutely adores the character Winnie the Pooh. He is my second favorite character,in Noland's Jr.'s top 5 (his favorite was Pooh when he was 1 and 2), and Jenna and Eli's favorite. As a family, he is our favorite character. We love the movies, the books, the stuffed animals, and mostly experiencing Winnie at the Disney Parks. Before we get into the parks though, let me tell you that the 1st stuffed animal each kid got was a Pooh character. Noland Jr. being the fantastic boy that he is gave Eli his baby stuffed animal of Tigger on the day that Eli was born!

Look @ that sweet baby and his new stuffed Tigger cuddling him!

It is a point of ours each time to ride the ride, whether we do a Fastpass+ selection or hit it early in the day. We just love the character and all of his friends and think that Disney did a great job with this character. If there could be any more with him, we would surely enjoy it!

Let's start with what they do have, before we get into what was lost.....

First, the Crystal Palace!
This is the single greatest character breakfast we have tried at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is absolutely phenomenal. I cannot believe how great this breakfast experience is. Reservations are hard to come by though, so we have only been able to do it once for breakfast. Dinner is also available, but at $12 more per person is not an option we have explored. This is the only non special event where you can meet Piglet and Eeyore and something my family will be doing again! We will certainly give Eli the opportunity to experience it!

Noland Jr. meeting Eeyore @ Crystal Palace w/ Mom (2 years ago)

Now, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride!
Many Disney purists are upset that the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride took over for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I am not one of those people, although I did enjoy the classic. Winnie the Pooh is far more marketable and has a great deal more fans than J. Thaddeus. My kids barely know about the Wind and the Willows, but I did expose them to it. However, they absolutely adore Winnie the Pooh. The bear is timeless. The toad is practically unknown by an entire generation. While it would be cool to reserruct that ride at say, Epcot, I rather enjoy that Winnie the Pooh got some more love at the Magic Kingdom.
This ride was one of the 1st rides to have an interactive queue, where kids could play while they wait for the ride. This fantastic idea makes waiting in line not such a bad thing. The pictures below are from the front of the queue and out in front of the ride. Noland loves the little Pooh house....

Front of Pooh's House

Pooh's mailbox and honey

Inside the house with Jr. and a photo bomber

The ride itself is incredibly fun and features scenes from the movie The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The actual ride focuses on the 2nd part of the movie, the Blustery Day. As I said, this ride is a ton of fun and has playful scenes. Another fun thing about this ride is it has a picture in Owl's house of Mr. Toad handing the deed of the ride over to Owl.

Ride getting ready to start!

Next, the Thotful Spot Meet and Greet!
Right next to the ride is a wonderful place to meet Pooh and Tigger. This spot is one of the most popular meet and greets in the entire Magic Kingdom. It is recommended to come at a time the two have taken a break and will be back shortly, this will decrease your wait time. This strategy also increases the chances that the duo will remain throughout your time waiting in line instead of stepping out for a break. These guys are really fun. This meet and greet occasionally features Eeyore and/or Piglet although that is rare. I have even seen Rabbit in here before with Pooh Bear. Below are some pics from our favorite meet and greet.

 Eli Meets Pooh

 Jenna and Tigger selfie w/ Eli who just wants to look @ Tigger

Noland Jr. w/ two of his favorite characters

Finally, the character breakfast @ 1800 Park Fare @ The Grand Floridian Hotel!
This is an experience we have not done yet, but are looking to try this summer! Winnie the Pooh and Tigger are a part of this character breakfast at Disney's fanciest hotel (at least that I have seen). I am sure it is a pretty epic experience to try.

There are also special meets at the Halloween and Christmas Parties!
I have said before that these are overrated to pay extra, but they are fun and I am glad we did each once to get the experience. The Halloween meet and greet with all four characters was almost worth it to do it by itself. When Eli is a little earlier, we will probably do it again. That way we  can see these characters in the best parade at Disney World and get to meet them all again as well.

Maybe a chance at the Epcot Training Meets or Character Palooza!
I have only gotten to see an Epcot Training Meet once, but I seem to remember that Piglet was in there. I have not seen any characters from Winnie the Pooh at the few Character Paloozas we have been to, but I have heard some rumors that it happens.

Rare rabbit sightings!
I have seen Rabbit @ the Thotful Spot meet and greets, and there are rumors of him being at Epcot Training Meets on occasion. One of our goal characters to meet this year is Rabbit and we will definitely be waiting in line if we see him again. Personally, I think he should be part of the Garden Grille character breakfast with Chip and Dale. Seriously is there a character you associate with gardens more than Rabbit?

They used to have him in 3 parks. Then regretfully moved him out of Epcot and Animal Kingdom. The Epcot experience was awesome because it was practically empty. You got to meet him in the setting of Christopher Robin's room and most people didn't know about it, so it was a great place to meet Pooh and Tigger. Since most people didn't know about it though is probably why they moved him out. The Animal Kingdom one is frustrating though. It was a great locale for them and it was the 1st meet and greet experience that Noland Jr. had at Disney World (pic below). It made little sense to move him out of that park where he was so beloved.
We need more Winnie! Pooh Bear in every park!!!!

I hope you enjoyed my bragging on Winnie the Pooh and talking about how you can experience him at the Walt Disney World Resort! This is our absolute favorite consistent Meet and Greet experience (Character Palooza isn't always consistent). I hope you soon get to meet him too, especially if you have children.

Join me next week as we discuss ........Continue to keep checking up for more Disney tidbits, tips, and other great tips to #LoveFL and cool things to do all over the country. Have a great week!

- Noland

10 Best Toddler Attractions @ Walt Disney World

What are the best things to do at Disney for me? This is what everyone at the park is thinking based on their current situations. We now consider ourselves experts having been passholders and want to help you out with tips for navigating the parks. From time to time we post those thoughts here. Today, we will go over the ten best attractions for toddlers. Disney can be a blast for you alone, but with kids, it is taken to a whole different level.

We will focus on the boy toddler, but most of these are great for girls as well. The focus is on the boy toddler is because we have a boy, but most of these are awesome for girls too. Additionally, the focus will be on freebies and not on add-ons you can purchase (character dining etc.).  Before we start the list, let's start with an honorable mention and that being the Boneyard in Disney's Animal Kingdom (pictured above). This attraction is an honorable mention because as cool as it is, it is a playground and not a ride at the end of the day. So with that in mind, here is the list......

10. Disney Jr. Live on Stage (Hollywood Studios)

This is a fun attraction that managed to make the list and would be higher for some. They have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse part, a Doc MsStuffins part, a Sofia the 1st part, and Noland's favorite, a Jake part. This is an awesome little show that they do throughout the day at Hollywood Studios. It is pretty neat and I recommend checking it out whether you have boys or girls. It would be higher on the list, but it has the most uncomfortable seating arrangements at Disney. Not a fan of sitting on the floor at 6'3.

09. Mad Tea Party (Magic Kingdom)

This ride should probably be even higher because it fills my son with pure joy. Everytime we ride it, he has the biggest smile on his face. He absolutely loves riding this amazing attraction. I mean just look at him, he is absolutely thrilled on this ride. He loves the spinning teacups. It is probably the most iconic ride in the park too other than maybe Dumbo. They always show this one in the commercials and it is one that everybody knows. The best thing though about Mad Tea Party is that it usually has a wait time of less than 30 minutes.

08. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (Magic Kingdom)

This ride is awesome for boys and girls, but especially boys. They get in a spinning ride and they get to shoot stuff. Each boy also gets in a ride with a character from Toy Story that is most likely their favorite. Our little guy loves Buzz and Rex and I think most boys are very similar. Not to mention that when he hears that drum in line, he dances everytime. Another great feature is that Buzz is able to be met right outside of this ride with a very short line usually. Love It!

07. The Three Caballeros (Epcot)

No picture for this one, but it is easily my favorite thing to do at Epcot with the little guy. The country of Mexico is easily my favorite in the World Showcase as well. The whole atmosphere is awesome! We love this ride because of the characters throughout and the singing during the ride. It is just an awesome experience. Of course it does not hurt that Donald Duck is the star of the attraction.

06. Finding Nemo the Musical (Animal Kingdom)

Not as cool as the other musical at Animal Kingdom, but just awesome. This is a really great show that you just must do. Jenna and I find ourselves singing the songs everytime we watch Nemo and they aren't even in the movie. In fact, we just sing them randomly sometimes. Jr. wasn't as into this as some other things so it is only 6 on this list, but he was a huge fan. His favorite part (like most of us) was when Crush entered the musical. Just Go with the Flow.....

05. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Magic Kingdom)

Toddlers love Pooh. If you are a parent of a toddler and your toddler doesn't know Winnie, you are doing it wrong. Now, this one might be controversial because it replaced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which I loved), but Pooh is more marketable and our family does like Pooh better. It has all the characters from the original Pooh movie including a lot of stuff on Gopher. My son's favorite Disney character is Pooh so obviously this ride is usually at the top of our list. Outside, you can meet Pooh and Tigger @ a Thotful Spot. Sometimes as was the case in the photo below, Eeyore and Piglet are there as well.

04. Peter Pan's Flight (Magic Kingdom)

This ride routinely has a line that is about an hour long or more. Peter Pan is one of the most popular rides in Disney. It is something that usually either needs to be a Fastpass+ selection or hit really early before the park gets busy. There is a reason for this. The popularity is because this ride is awesome. It is simple, but it is awesome. Each person gets to ride a pirate ship. Any boy that loves Peter Pan, Jake, or just pirates will love this ride. If your boy is like mine and loves all three, then you are in for a real treat. This is definitely a Disney must do.

03. Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingdom)

Who has a boy that says their favorite movie is The Lion King? I do, I do! This is easily his favorite show in the park. It has the main songs from his favorite movie, the three main characters of the movie and a lot of animal effects. This is just the perfect show and the actors are AMAZING! I can't believe that I did not do this show before last year. See it soon are you are missing out!

02. Toy Story Mania (Hollywood Studios)

This is the most popular ride in Walt Disney World. Don't you want to see why it is the most popular ride at this wonderful resort? This is just such a fun and interactive ride. It is fairly new and they are going to be doubling the size of it due to popular demand. Seriously, this ride cannot get much better. It has most of the characters from the Toy Story movies and is just a great time all around. You do not want to miss this thrilling attraction.

01. Kilimanjaro Safaris (Animal Kingdom)

The best ride at Disney though is Kilimanjaro Safaris. It is our favorite, always will be our favorite, and the whole family loves it. This is the closest you can get to a real African safari without leaving the country. I have heard it on numerous occasions and it is free with park admission. Try getting closer to a hippo than you get on this ride, it just doesn't really happen. Now, try all the thrills you normally get on this ride added with a boy that loves animals. A boy that is learning to talk and gets excited by every new thing he sees. You try riding this ride with that boy like I did, and you will never want to get off. That right there is the Magic of Walt Disney World Resort. That magic is summed up in this one experience that you will never want to end.

Hope you enjoyed this list and that you get to enjoy all the wonderful attractions at the fantastic Walt Disney World resort. As always have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned next week for more awesome tips.

-Noland

Mastering Disney's Fastpass+ System

I know that some people think Disney's Fastpass+ System is lame, but my family thinks it is excellent. Sure there can be tweaks made, but it guarantees you three rides with little wait everytime you go to DisneyWorld and that is huge. You just have to learn how to master the system. Jenna and I never waited in a line of more than 30 minutes during our entire year of passes and we went to Disney every weekend! Check out our tips!

Tip #1: Schedule Your Fastpasses the Day you are able!
The biggest key is to schedule your fastpasses ASAP. You want to schedule your fastpasses 60 days out if you are going to a resort. Scheduling this early  will allow you to see headline attractions like Toy Story Mania, Meet and Greet with the Frozen sisters, or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It will be difficult to schedule any of those attractions if you wait too long. If you are not staying at a resort, you can schedule your fastpass+ selections 30 days. Scheduling 30 days out may take away the headliners mentioned above, but not always. It gives you a chance to get on those rides and you can schedule other headliners such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Space Mountain.

Tip #2: Don't Waste Your Fastpasses
Do not use fastpass+ selections on attractions that do not need a fastpass+. Mickey's PhilarMagic will have a 10 minute wait 90% of the time and doesn't need a fastpass+. Unless the park is incredibly busy, the Mad Tea Party and Dumbo typically have less than a 1/2 hour wait. Same with Aladdin's Magic Carpets. Now, if these are the only fastpass+ selections available, then yes still use them because they save time, but they are best used on more popular attractions.

Tip #3: Schedule Your Fastpasses for Peak Times
We have often blogged about the benefit to arriving early. Arriving early is huge and let's you ride a bunch of rides with little to no wait. If you are already waiting very little time, it is pointless to schedule fastpasses before 10am. That is unless you are trying to ride the Mine Train or Meet Anna and Elsa. Those two attractions are always busy. I recommend using your fastpasses between 11-3. If the first one is scheduled for 1030-1130 that is fine, but I would visit closer to 1130. You want to use your fastpass+ selections when the park is the busiest.

Tip #4: Use Your Extra Fastpasses Wisely
Some people obsess over the extra Fastpass+ selections. This can be a difficult process and I recommend you don't stress to hard over them. Often the lines in the park to get a Fastpass+ is longer than lines to some rides. You can feel like you need a Fastpass+ to get through the Fastpass+ line. If this is the case, don't worry about these Fastpass+ selections. However, once you use your original 3 Fastpass selections, you can get a new one every time you run out of selections. If there is a short line for Fastpass+ or the line is shorter than ride lines, then go for it. Just don't be disappointed when the good rides are gone, because there are a limited number of Fastpasses available. They have to keep them fast after all.

Tip #5: Use Them on the Best Attractions Possible
I will break this down to my favorite rides and what I would use the Fastpass+ selections for.

Magic Kingdom

(Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain) easily sub Mine Train if that is your preference, but I like the other rides better.

Magic Kingdom w/toddler

(Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan) Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, or Pirates can be subbed

Animal Kingdom

(Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Expedition Everest)

Animal Kingdom w/ toddler

(Kilimanjaro Safaris, Meet Mickey, the other one will be wasted unless you do rider exchange)

Hollywood Studios

(Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, Disney Jr. live on Stage)
Side Note: Hollywood Studios does a tiered system where the more popular rides are on a higher tier. You can only pick one of Toy Story, Aerosmith coaster, or Fantasmic! The one positive to this is that Tower of Terror is on the lower tier. I recommend Toy Story, but you can sub it for the coaster. If you don't have little kids there are other selections besides Disney Jr. on stage as well.

Epcot

(Test Track, The Seas w/ Nemo, Living With the Land)
Side Note: Epcot also uses a tiered system. You must choose Test Track or Soarin'. I believe the character spot was on that upper tier as well. The best ride at Epcot doesn't need a fastpass+. The ride in Mexico is always less than a 20 minute wait and it is awesome! For a family with a toddler you would sub Test Track for that meet and greet.

Bonus Tip: Don't Wait Until You Get in The Park
As I said before the lines for Fastpass+ can get excruciatingly long. Do them on your phone before you get to the park. Waiting until you get to the park is a waste of your precious Disney time. This is one line at Disney you can easily avoid.

Stay tuned next week for more life tips!

-Noland

8 Tips to save Time & Waiting when visiting Disney's Magic Kingdom

If you are reading this post than you probably already know that having a successful day at Disney World is all about advanced planning. It’s really not as complicated as you may think but I get that it is completely overwhelming when you walk through the front gate into the magic adventure that is Disney's Magic Kingdom!

Recently, my family came down to Orlando for a 4-day vacation. We spent one day at Magic Kingdom. We got there at park opening (8am) and left at noon. In that small time frame, we were able to ride 10 rides. And it was Disney’s famed busiest day of the year, 4^th of July! How did we do it? Well, Noland and I have a couple tips that we use every time we go to a park for the day. We’ve been a quite a few times this summer and honestly, I can say I have not waited in a line for more than 15 minutes.

These tips can come in extra handy during the busy times, so check them out. Pin them on Pinterest, share them on Facebook... Do what you have to do to keep them somewhere so that you can refer to them next time you visit Disney's Magic Kingdom!

1. Pre-purchase your tickets to the park. They will mail them to your house.

This may seem like a waste because there may be a shipping cost but pre-purchasing your tickets WILL save you so much time. If you purchase them in advance, they show up at your house and you get to bypass waiting in the long lines with excited kids at the ticket center.

Another positive to purchasing your tickets in advance is that you can schedule your Fastpass+ 30 days before you actually visit the park. Disney’s Fastpass+ lets you pick 3 rides where you basically skip the rest of the line and have, at most, a 5-10 minute wait. Since anyone who has purchased tickets in advance can schedule Fastpass+, it works in your advantage to purchase your tickets at least 30 days in advance so that you can pre-schedule your Fastpass+ for the rides that you really want. Fastpasses DO run out for the really popular rides. Usually, the Fastpasses don’t run out until the day that you visit but sometimes you could miss out on your favorite ride or character meet and greet because others pre-ordered and have booked theirs in advance.

2. Pre-schedule your Fastpass+

As stated earlier, once you purchase your tickets online, you CAN pre-schedule your Fastpass+ up to 30 days in advance! It is pretty awesome! My husband schedules us fastpasses all the time, he loves it. Fastpass+ assures that you will get to enjoy at least 3 attractions the day of your visit. If you manage to complete all 3 of your fastpasses, you CAN add another fast pass by visiting a Fastpass+ kiosk. But, let's focus on pre-booking the fastpasses... it is SO important to pick the attractions that you or your kids really want to do and pre-schedule them as your fastpasses. Fastpass+ allows you to guarantee those 3 attractions.

If you have small children, I would book at least one Fastpass+ for a character meet and greet. Magic Kingdom has a ton of awesome characters and their lines are usually pretty long. If your child wants to meet a lot of characters, I would recommend checking out the other parks. I wrote a post about a secret character meet and greet that can be found at Hollywood Studios with a ton of different characters! Epcot is known to have a ton of characters too. Almost every country at Epcot has a Disney princess!

None the less, you can schedule Fastpass+ for 1 or multiple character meet and greets at Magic Kingdom. My personal opinion is that if your child loves Mickey, then he is the coolest character to meet at Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is the only place where Mickey can talk to you when you meet him...Technology is so crazy. If you have a little girl and she likes Belle from Beauty and the Beast, I would definitely encourage you to book a Fastpass+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle. When you get there and the Disney cast member ask who wants to be the Beast, have your daughter raise her hand! She will get to dance will Belle and it is so sweet. I cried a happy cry when we went to Enchanted Tales with Belle... haha. The little girl who played the Beast was completely starstruck!

Remember that you only get 3 Fastpass+ to start off with. You know your kiddo's interests but here are some other great rides for the younger kids that you can book a Fastpass+ for (because the lines can get long between noon-4pm):

• Buzz Light Year space ranger spin


• Peter Pan's Flight


• Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid


• Pirates of the Caribbean


• Haunted Mansion


• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh


• Barnstormer

If you have older kids (7+), I would recommend booking your Fastpass+ for 3 of the roller coasters/log flume. They always have long lines. You don't have time for long lines! :

• Splash Mountain


• Big Thunder Mountain


• Seven Dwarves Mine Train


• Space Mountain

3. Make sure to schedule your Fastpass+ for the busiest times (between noon-4pm).

The morning time is not really busy. The wait times are down so I'd recommend saving your Fastpass+ for the busier times. From park opening on, more and more people are coming into the park and by noon, it is pretty crowded. We always save our fastpasses for after lunch. We try to get some big rides done first thing in the morning, check out some shows, etc., eat lunch around noon and then take advantage of our 3 fastpasses during the busy times!

Once your fastpasses are gone, remember that you can go to a kiosk to book one more. When that one is gone, you can stop by the kiosk and book another, and so on. This comes in handy if you will be around for night time or decide to leave and come back for a night time parade or show, you can have an extra Fastpass+ booked before you head to the hotel to take a nap.

4. Pack a lunch.

When we visit Disney, we pack a meal and plan to eat one meal there. As you know, meals can be expensive at Disney. Another fun fact is that they let you bring in your own food. We try to pack our lunch and then we can eat dinner at one of the park restaurants, or vice versa. It keeps us from putting a large dent in our wallet and saves a little bit of money to put towards a Mickey bar or Disney souvenir.

I would also recommend packing the meal the night before. That way, you won't feel stressed out if you happen to wake up late or have to get the rest of the family moving in the morning.

5. Download the Disney app and use it throughout the day. 

The Disney app has all sort of helpful tips. Once you pre-purchase your tickets, if it is 30 days or less in advance, you can actually pre-schedule your Fastpass+ online or on the Disney app before you even have your tickets in-hand. While at the park, the Disney app allows you to check wait times and gives important info like parade times, character meet and greet times, etc. It is useful and can be extremely helpful when you are leaving Splash Mountain (which is on the far west side of the park) and need to decide which ride to head towards next.

6. Go the bathroom before you leave your resort.

This one is easy. Try your best and encourage your kids and other family members to hit the bathroom before you head to the park in the morning!

After you park at Magic Kingdom and walk or take the tram to the Ticket Center, there are bathrooms on the East end of the ticket center. From the Ticket Center, you have to take the ferry boat or monorail to the park. Once you enter Magic Kingdom, there are bathrooms past the train station and to the left (West end) before you head down Main Street. But, if you manage to go to the bathroom before leaving, it could save you a little bit of time!

Make sure to check out my favorite bathrooms in Fantasyland to the left of the It's a Small World ride. They are Tangled themed and for a split second, you feel like you stepped into the movie!

7. Arrive at park opening.

This one is the MOST IMPORTANT on this list! Do it. Wake up early on your vacation because it is absolutely worth it! Check park opening of the day you plan to go. Sometimes it varies, and Disney resort go-ers are sometimes allowed in earlier than everyone else for Extra Magic Hours!

If the park opens at 8, leave your resort at 7:15am. Once you park at Magic Kingdom, you will walk or take a tram to the ticket center. If you already have your tickets in-hand, which you should because you pre-purchased them... you will then take the monorail or ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom park. Sometimes the ferry/monorail can get backed up so that's part of the reason it is important to get there early! Once you get off the monorail or ferry boat, you will have to go through a bag check line. After this is done, you will then scan your park tickets and your fingerprint to get into the park.

If you make it by 7:50am (if the park opens at 8am/8:50am if the park opens at 9am) then you will get to see the Welcome Show in front of the Train Station. It always features some fun Main Street characters and Disney characters. It's cute and I'll be so proud that you made it early.

After the Welcome Show, you can stroll down Main Street and head towards Tomorrowland on the East end of the park. It is always super slow in the morning with 5 minute wait times on Space Mountain and the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin! If you get to ride them first thing, then there is no reason to waste a Fastpass+ on them... or you can ride them multiple times if you have already scheduled your Fastpass+ for one of them later in the day! When we went on 4th of July, we rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin first thing in the morning. We definitely could have gone on them multiple times in a row but decided to get in as many other rides as possible since the wait times were so low.

I promise you that getting there early will keep you from waiting. Wait times are almost non-existent first thing in the morning. I would recommend not running toward the Seven Dwarves Mine Train or Meet and Greet with Anna & Elsa from Frozen. Those are the two attractions that always have a 90+ minute wait within the first 5 minutes of park opening. I've even asked Disney workers and they agree that it is crazy how many people run back to get in line for those 2 attractions. If those are 2 attractions that you really want to see while at Disney's Magic Kingdom, I'd recommend booking a Fastpass+ for them or you will be wasting your precious time waiting, waiting, waiting in line.

8. Save the rides that never really have a wait for the busy times.

When the park starts to get busy, you can use your fastpasses but there will only be 3 so you will eventually have to find something else to do. Here are the rides and shows that you do NOT need a Fastpass+ for... they almost always have short wait times and if you see one of them with a long wait line, then give it about 30 minutes and it will probably go down:

• Shows: Mickey's Philhar Magic, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor


• People Mover


• Carousel of Progress


• Mad Tea Party


• It's a Small World


• Aladdin's Magic Carpets


• Prince Charming's Regal Carousel


• Dumbo: The Flying Elephant (I wouldn't book a Fastpass+ for this one because there is a play area while you wait in line. It is great for the little ones to get out some much needed energy)

Also, you can always check the Disney app for approximate wait times, which will help you know which ride to head toward next. Finally, there are a few things to do around Disney's Magic Kingdom that you could not book a Fastpass+ for anyways. These are good to check out when all the wait times are over 30 minutes:

• Tiki Tiki Room


• Swiss Family Robinson Tree house


• Country Bears Jamboree


• Take a boat ride and explore Tom Sawyer Island


• Take a ride on Liberty Square Riverboat


• Get a yummy Disney snack like dole whip at the Pineapple Promenade in Adventure land.


• Stroll up and down Main Street to check out all the Disney shops and goodies!


• Walk through Cinderella's castle!


• Catch a parade or Dream along with Mickey show in front of the castle!


• Go play Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom (found at the front of the park).

Here are some pictures from our last visit at Magic Kingdom: 

[caption id="attachment_1438" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Noland Jr. loving the Mad Tea Party[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1429" align="aligncenter" width="798"] Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street parade is always fun to watch![/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1432" align="aligncenter" width="796"] Donald Duck is one of Noland Jr's favorite characters![/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1427" align="aligncenter" width="600"] This is my favorite picture of Cinderella's beautiful castle! Make sure to check up close for all the details![/caption]

With these 8 tips listed above, you should not wait in line for very long, and you will save a lot of time! If a line has a 30 minute or more wait, please don't get in it! Check your Disney app and move on to another ride. Remember that the wait times are always changing and there is always a chance the line will be shorter later on. If you have any questions about planning your Walt Disney World trip, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll try my best to answer and help any way that I can. I'm trying to start posting some Disney tips on here from time to time. Let me know what you think! If you like this post, please share with your friends, family, and anyone you know planning a trip to Walt Disney World!

-Jen