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Braksgirl posted:There's no optimal time to book for July. There may or may not be a discount for that time. You won't know until closer until your travel date. Thanks for the offer. If I need any help I'll let you know. I'm super jazzed about being able to pick the perfect rooms for everyone (IE grandma by the lobby etc) so thanks for that link.
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Oct 5, 2013 00:32
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I've been browsing wdwmagic to sort of pass some of the time before my next trip, and their reactions to MyMagic+ is hilariously overblown. I know I've mentioned how funny I find their freakouts before, but this one is just something else. One guy keeps changing the name of MyMagic+ and FastPass+ to various negative things (I've seen My(Bad)DisneyExperience, MyMagicNegative) Its like a Rebuplican who might call Obama something like Obummer or Obungle. It borders on insane.
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Oct 5, 2013 22:00
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TheBigBudgetSequel posted:I've been browsing wdwmagic to sort of pass some of the time before my next trip, and their reactions to MyMagic+ is hilariously overblown. I know I've mentioned how funny I find their freakouts before, but this one is just something else. Go into WDW1974's thread if you want some prime insanity. I mean, I'm not that happy about MyMagic+ myself, but Jesus... That place is like concentrated awful at times.
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Oct 6, 2013 00:33
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Circutron posted:Go into WDW1974's thread if you want some prime insanity. I mean, I'm not that happy about MyMagic+ myself, but Jesus... That place is like concentrated awful at times. I read about three pages of that thread before I decided my blood pressure didn't need to get that worked up over a loving theme park forum.
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Oct 6, 2013 04:14
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I won't even read those forums. The crazy is overwhelming.
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Oct 6, 2013 14:01
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Few WDW questions: -Does the new fastpass+ system (which I'll be getting in November) mean that while I get three fastpasses in advance there will be other non-fp+ people who can use endless fastpasses all day long? I've only used fastpass at Disneyland so I'm not sure if it's different in WDW. -How crucial are reservations for restaurants? I have a res in for Boma but when I've tried to find reservations anywhere else (via the Disney website so for all I know it's broken) there aren't any available. Do the restaurants keep tables open for walk-ins or am I basically screwed if I want Crystal Palace breakfast buffet? -Do those touring plans on easywdw and touringplans work? Granted, we're going in November during one of the more quiet times so I'm not expecting crazy lines, but does following a plan really make things that much better due to the presumed efficiency?
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Oct 6, 2013 21:20
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Zachack posted:-How crucial are reservations for restaurants? I have a res in for Boma but when I've tried to find reservations anywhere else (via the Disney website so for all I know it's broken) there aren't any available. Do the restaurants keep tables open for walk-ins or am I basically screwed if I want Crystal Palace breakfast buffet? Reservations are pretty much a must, especially at a place like Crystal Palace. At the table service restaurants it's almost impossible to walk up any more. This close to November, you'll have a bit of a hard time getting your first choices, but people do cancel, so if it's something you have your heart set on, check every day to see if something opened up. Zachack posted:-Do those touring plans on easywdw and touringplans work? Granted, we're going in November during one of the more quiet times so I'm not expecting crazy lines, but does following a plan really make things that much better due to the presumed efficiency? I use easywdw to decide before I go which parks to visit on which days. I've found it to be helpful, especially when making dinner reservations you need to know what park you'll be at that day obviously. The touring plans are a little much. I feel like it's too much effort to plan each attraction in the order you're going to go on them, but some people swear by them. I usually just go left at the end of Main Street, since most people by nature will go right. Unrelated to the above, the following guide for guests with cognitive disabilities was just released by Disney: https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/media/wdpro-assets/help/guest-services/cognitive-disabilities-services/wdw_cognitive_guide.pdf There's a lot of really good information in here.
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Oct 6, 2013 21:59
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Zachack posted:Few WDW questions: The FP+ system gives you three slots a day at one park. You can't park hop and use a FP at another park, so you have to kind of think ahead in that regard. At the moment, the old FastPass system is still in effect as well, and guests are welcome to use both. The old FP system doesn't have a limit to how many you can have in a day, but there is a limit to how many you can have at a time, mainly one until the time on your current pass arrives. However, Some rides are on a separate system in Magic Kingdom, which is weird. Basically you can get a FastPass for Space Mountain which is part of the main system, a FastPass for Little Mermaid, For Dumbo and something else, because Dumbo and Little Mermaid run on their own system not connected to most of the park. It's strange, but hey. With that and the addition of FP+ you could have like six fastpasses for a day in Magic Kingdom. Of course, once FP+ goes live to everyone (end of the year/start of next as I hear it) the old system will be removed and only FP+ can be used.
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Oct 6, 2013 22:55
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Talk to someone concerning dining reservations. I wouldn't trust the website. At least a couple hundred people are trained and staffed to deal with that kind of thing and customers, so ring them up. Their information has a much higher fidelity than the web's, and you don't have to worry about a laggy electronic middleman when you place your reservations.
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Oct 7, 2013 01:57
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The website is pretty horrible, but to its credit it's never screwed up my reservations. Neither have the phone CMs either so take that as you will.
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Oct 8, 2013 02:35
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The discount for Jan - March dropped today. Looks like it's definitely discounted dining plus some discount on tickets and rooms. Greatest savings is on Mods and Deluxes, naturally.
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Oct 8, 2013 15:45
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In other Disney news we were driving home a short while ago from an evening at Food & Wine festival and on the road leading into my neighborhood a car drives by flashing its lights. The wife and I are like woo hoo party on.. not two seconds later I am off the side of the road nearly into a ditch. The driver was trying to alert me.. there were two freaking coyotes in the road and I did not see them as they ran right up into us. I have never seen a coyote until now. We know they have somehow managed to migrate into this area and were becoming a nuisance but good lord these animals. I live about five miles from Disney and there is a wooded area of about 900 acres between our subdevelopment and the Disney property, there is a lot of wooded areas out there as well. It's bad enough we had to watch our for raccoon, armadillo the occasional deer in the road but now coyotes too.
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Oct 14, 2013 02:40
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So my wife and are going to be staying at Saratoga Springs the first week of November, we have been to Disney several times, but this time we are going without children. What kind of adult couple entertainment still exist at Downtown Disney, is the island of bars still open?
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Oct 15, 2013 13:28
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Mykkel posted:So my wife and are going to be staying at Saratoga Springs the first week of November, we have been to Disney several times, but this time we are going without children. What kind of adult couple entertainment still exist at Downtown Disney, is the island of bars still open? They still have places like Raglan Road but for the most part the island is a shell of its former self. You can still go to the west side restaurants, House of Blues, Bongos and now you also have the new Splitsville bowling alley which is really cool. What dates will you be in town? The Food & Wine Festival may still be going on, that is a good bet too. Also, if you have Twitter search La Cava del Tequila and you get free stuff. Usually chips & salsa or sometimes a shot of tequila. They know me now and I get the latter although sometimes we prefer the chips route. demonR6 fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Oct 15, 2013 |
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Oct 15, 2013 13:32
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demonR6 posted:They still have places like Raglan Road but for the most part the island is a shell of its former self. You can still go to the west side restaurants, House of Blues, Bongos and now you also have the new Splitsville bowling alley which is really cool. We are planning to go to the Food & Wine Festival. We are headed there I think the 4 thru the 8th. The bowling alley sounds like it could be fun. Thanks!
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Oct 15, 2013 15:52
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Slightly off topic but hoping you all can help. I'm driving down tomorrow with my mother, 11 year old son, and wife to Orlando for a karate tournament at the Disney Sports Complex (amazingly beautiful place if you've never been). I'm at a loss as to what to do that the whole family might enjoy. Here's the catch, I really do NOT want to do any of the Disney parks as my frugal nature makes it tough to justify the cost of tickets since we will be out of commission Friday afternoon/night and most of Saturday morning/early afternoon to compete and driving home Sunday. My mother does not do scary things else I'd have done Universal (my son loves that stuff), and last year we went to one of the Fun Spot places and my son and I did the world's highest Skycoaster. Does anyone have any suggestions, everything I've looked at on TripAdvisor just seems a bust. Oh, we will spend some time at Downtown Disney, between the overpriced Dinosaur restaurant and the fake hot air balloon and the toy shopping, it's a good way to spend a few hours that everyone will enjoy.
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Oct 15, 2013 16:04
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Bob Loblaw posted:Slightly off topic but hoping you all can help. Try the Disney mini-golf courses out by the Swan & Dolphin hotels across from Hollywood Studios. As I mentioned in the post above there is a Splitsville bowling alley now at Downtown Disney which is a fun time as well. International Drive has a Dave and Busters now but I would not take kids there at night, ever. Out here the theme parks rule for the most part and doing things after hours that are not involving booze in some fashion is slim.
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Oct 15, 2013 18:57
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Paid off my trip in December AND I got added to MyMagic+, so this has been a pretty sweet in the countdown to Disney fun. gently caress the haters, this FastPass+ thing is fun.
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Oct 17, 2013 17:33
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I've heard that if you don't plan reservations to some of these restaurants like 6 months out, it's impossible to be seated there (November 19~ timeframe) -- is there any truth to that? e: vv Darn - thanks 
Shmoogy fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 14:15
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Truth. Most of the popular restaurants are booked solid some a year in advance. My nephew is coming in town next week and we wanted to have dinner with him and his wife. He had a reservation for 4 already booked at the Yachtsman. He called to add us. Nope, sorry. He had another reservation for dinner at Be Our Guest later in the week. Nope, sorry. This was a month out he called to make the change. Le Cellier at Epcot for example is booking a year out and I know for a fact others are as well. You can get lucky and walk up sometimes but it is difficult depending on the restaurant, time of year and even day of week. Also walk up means you may have to juggle around your schedule hoping to get into a restaurant. Not all restaurants are that bad, but the good locations are almost an impossibility. The better the restaurant and more popular the location, the more bats chance in hell it is to walk up.
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Oct 20, 2013 14:33
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I'm pretty sure the maximum you can make reservations is 6 months.
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Oct 20, 2013 15:19
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Yes, the reservation date is 180 days out from your trip plus seven days, meaning that at 180 days out you can book reservations for seven days worth of vacation, even if some of them don't fall under 180 days quite yet. This is partially why booking, even 180 days out, can be a huge pain in the butt. I wanted Be Our Guest for my trip and on 180 days, they had one spot, which was the night before I leave at like 9pm. I took it just in case, but then I got added to my aunt (who is there around the same time) reservation earlier in the week at a much more reasonable dinner time. Still, sometimes you get lucky. I was browsing options for one night's dinner, and the Yachtsman, which hadn't been available at all suddenly had a slot open, which I grabbed quickly.
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Oct 20, 2013 19:02
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So if my family decides to go in January 2014 (we've been just tossing around the idea), are we screwed on reservations for nicer restaurants? We'd have two people with birthdays in January (both on the same day  ) if that would help things any.
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Oct 20, 2013 19:13
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Tomato Soup posted:So if my family decides to go in January 2014 (we've been just tossing around the idea), are we screwed on reservations for nicer restaurants? We'd have two people with birthdays in January (both on the same day The nicer venues will be out for sure as well as Be Our Guest, except for lunch, which is counter service and doesn't require a reservation (but will have a loooooong line) However, you can get lucky. I just did a random search for January 13th as a test (also, it's my Birthday, so why not) And it seems like right now a lot of good options are open. California Grill, Jiko, Boma, even Le Celier. A tip would be to think about Epcot, things like Le Celier get booked fast, but goddamn, almost every other restaraunt there has lots of space open and some are really god.
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Oct 20, 2013 19:23
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Keep trying and check every day if you want. My trip is coming is in december and I managed to get a table at Le Cellier, Akershus, 1900 Park Fare, and Crystal Palace. Cancellations for whatever reason happen. I've even seen a slot open for Cinderella's Royal Table but couldn't afford it at the time. Chef Mickey's and Cape May Cafe breakfast slots have shown up too.
Selenite fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 20:08
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A few things on ADR's. Yes, some things like Cinderellas royal palace and chef mickeys will book 180 days out, but a lot of places (the resort, out of park places are more likely to have spots later on). A few caveats: - Calling can get you some better times, sometimes the online system will only let you choose wonky times - Although Sept - Early December are lighter in the park, free dining means the table service places will be busier than sometimes even peak season, so getting a table in the relatively slow middle of November may be more difficult on short notice than the middle of July - If you are flexible in where you eat you will find somewhere ever night, but the places in the park always fill up faster - Payment for the onsite guests is due 45 days out. You get a lot of cancellations at this time from people that end up not being able to pay for their vacation, so even hard to get reservations become available right around then. - Disney is now requiring a credit card guarantee for reservations at ALL restaurants (previously it was a just a few), meaning that if you don't cancel at least 24 hours out and you don't show, you get charged $10/person. This reduces people grabbing several reservations and just going to the one they feel like that night. It also means if (again) you are flexible and don't feel like planning way in advance, there is a CHANCE you can get a reservation the morning of/night before, but don't rely to heavily on this. - The website sucks, calling sucks. Try again for a few days in a row and you may get what you want.
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Oct 20, 2013 20:13
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TheBigBudgetSequel posted:The nicer venues will be out for sure as well as Be Our Guest, except for lunch, which is counter service and doesn't require a reservation (but will have a loooooong line) I called Friday at 2pm for Boma for the same day at 4:30pm (when they opened) and they had no problem seating us. I guess the resort restaurants are not so busy when people are still in the parks. There were a few parties there besides us, but even those without reservations were seated quickly.
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Oct 20, 2013 22:49
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Just got done with my first day of magic band testing and it was about 80% successful. I haven't had a chance to use it to enter the park, or do fastpass+ yet (only went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween tonight), but opening hotel doors, and charging to my room went excellently. The only problem was trying to use the magic band to use dining credits at Boma. Their machines weren't working and wouldn't register the bands for me or other people. Just gave them Key to the world card and everything was fine. Tomorrow we see how park entry and FP+ go.
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Oct 21, 2013 03:44
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Does disney sell like, after 4pm passes? I was at a conference in orlando back in march and they gave us after 4pm passes for EPCOT. But I cant seem to find a way to buy them myself. Im going to Orlando in 2 weeks and Id love to go to one of the parks, but I wont ever have a full day free. i was thinking of doing the scuba diving thing at EPCOT, which lets you into the park after the dive, which would be ideal, but I dont want to pay full price for my non-diving boyfriend. I am, finally, going to make it to Harry Potter land as part of the convention we are going to. Im super excited, but I also feel like IoA doesnt have much more to it.
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Oct 21, 2013 16:38
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So, my awesome wife surprised me with a DisneyWorld vacation. Planned it out for months before springing it. Doing 2 days at Epcot, 1 at Hollywood, 1 at MK. Had a couple questions. 1) What are the must-do rides? I'll ride whatever, my wife won't ride much of anything, but she's willing to wait in line with me. 2) Anyone done the Party for the Senses? She got us the reserved private area tickets for it, and it looks like the kind of thing we're going to need to be drunkenly wheelbarrowed out of. 3) We'll be going to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I've heard that we should get buttons from somewhere or another and also drop the fact that it's our anniversary whenever we can work it into conversation. I'm guessing special treatment is more of a YMMV kind of thing depending on the CM you run in to?
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Oct 22, 2013 00:25
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ExplodingChef posted:1) What are the must-do rides? I'll ride whatever, my wife won't ride much of anything, but she's willing to wait in line with me. 1) Check the third section of the OP ("WHAT TO DO") for a good rundown. Your wife should be fine riding anything at Magic Kingdom...it's all "family friendly" (tame). 2) dunno. 3) Yeah, definitely get buttons. But you're right, it's a YMMV thing. It seem these days almost everyone in the park gets a button for something or another, so it's not quite as useful for trolling for special treatment. Buy the bride-and-groom mickey ears...that'll get you a lot farther.
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Oct 22, 2013 00:54
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ExplodingChef posted:So, my awesome wife surprised me with a DisneyWorld vacation. Planned it out for months before springing it. Doing 2 days at Epcot, 1 at Hollywood, 1 at MK. Had a couple questions. 1. At Epcot, Soarin and Test Track are my must rides. Mission Space is also apparently pretty great, but its the one ride with a blood pressure warning that I actually pay attention to. as for Hollywood Studios, most of the big rides are all fun. Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Star Tours, are all great times (Toy Story takes a bit of planning though, since the lines are always insane. The ride has the worst capacity for any Disney ride on property) I also hear Rock N Roller Coaster is pretty great, but that's one I've not had to ride (The best coaster on property is at Animal Kingdom, so kind of a bummer you aren't doing at least half a day there) Magic Kingdom has so many fun attractions it's hard to pick, but the Mountains are great (Splash, Big Thunder, and Space) and old dark rides like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are excellent as well. 3. Just visit Guest Services at your first park and ask them or a "Celenbration" button. I believe Anniversary is one of the standard ones they have, but if not, they can write that on a blank one with a sharpie.
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Oct 22, 2013 00:57
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Magic Band update - day 2 The magic band usage went 100% smooth today! Park entry is really easy if you know what to do. You put the Mickey on the band on the Mickey on the pillar, touch your finger to the scanner, bam, you're in. FP+ is equally easy. Touch to the pillar. If it turns green, you're good to go. Only got to use 2 of the 3 FP+ I had today as my daughter had a meltdown waiting for the Barnstormer. Apparently that ride scares the crap out of her. Her favourite ride today, Tower of Terror. She walked off screaming how she didn't like it. Couple hours later, favourite ride. Same with Dinosaur. Rode the whole ride with her eyes covered. 20 min. later, wants to do it again. And if you're keeping track, yes we visited 3 parks in 1 day. My daughter grew tired of animal kingdom early due to lack of rides. Her obsession with Tower of Terror because she is now big enough to ride it took us to HS solely for that. Then off to Magic Kingdom to use some FP+ in New Fantasyland. Enchanted Tales with Belle is amazing. My daughter got to be The Beast which was super cute. I got to be a suit of armor. Waiting in line for it is bullshit though. FP+ or nothing. Screw consistent 60 minute waits. Little Mermaid ride was cute too. One of the Ariel animatronics had a gimp eye though, so that was kind of creepy. Didn't get to use my 3rd FP+ (Dumbo) due to previously mentioned meltdown. We'll see how riding standby tomorrow goes. Tomorrow we check out the new fairy tale hall.
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Oct 22, 2013 02:26
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ExplodingChef posted:2) Anyone done the Party for the Senses? She got us the reserved private area tickets for it, and it looks like the kind of thing we're going to need to be drunkenly wheelbarrowed out of. Ooh-hoo-hoo! You're gonna have so much FUUUUUUN. That is my favorite thing to do on Disney property. I wouldn't worry about a wheelbarrow though, everything is served in tiny little tasting menu portions so you can sample pretty much as much as you want without getting stuffed/drunk. Just bring some self-control and you'll be fine.
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Oct 22, 2013 02:46
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Happitoo posted:Magic Band update - day 2 Just rode the Ariel ride last night and I agree, the animatronics are very well done. We only made it to Tomorrowland and a bit of Adventureland, even after staying until 1 am. Fast pass wristbands are neat, but the Android app was a bit buggy. Will try with some Animal Kingdom rides today.
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Oct 22, 2013 14:58
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We're having fantastic luck with the bands working correctly. The problem we're having is that it is loving crowded. Fast Passes are gone before the parks are even open. It's insane.
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Oct 23, 2013 20:00
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Braksgirl posted:We're having fantastic luck with the bands working correctly. The problem we're having is that it is loving crowded. Fast Passes are gone before the parks are even open. It's insane. Can't you reserve fast passes online now? I haven't been to WDW in like 8 months so I'm honestly not sure.
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Oct 23, 2013 20:32
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Ryen Deckard posted:Can't you reserve fast passes online now? I haven't been to WDW in like 8 months so I'm honestly not sure. if you are part of the MyMagic+ roll out, then yes. That is currently most of the people staying at most Disney owned resorts on property. However, they are allotting Paper FastPasses (which work as they always have) for the regular guests, and it's just not enough for how busy it is. Part of it is the new system, but it's also just so goddamn busy (which is weird for October, I think) TheBigBudgetSequel fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Oct 23, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 21:02
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My first issue with FP+ so far this week is the ability to change things. It isn't easy. For example: My daughter was obsessed with riding Tower of Terror prior to coming down. So I set up a ToT FP for our Hollywood Studios day, which will be Friday. Well she wouldn't shut the hell up about riding it so we took a detour Monday to ride it. Now she's not 100% on ever doing it again. But to change it to something else there needs to be a fast pass available for the time I have currently for ToT. If there isn't, nothing shows. So if I'm thinking about changing to a Fantasmic FP for example, I have to change the time to when Fantasmic is, then go through the whole process again to change to Fantasmic, and that's assuming there is one available. If there isn't, now I need to change the time again and check out something else. It would be much easier if by attempting to change the experience it showed you all available, and then once you selected one, showed available times. The other issue is lack of overlapping fast passes. Ya... I'm pretty sure I can ride Dumbo, and Barnstormer together in the span of an hour. They're right next to each other and like 2-5 min. each. Let me set it up that way. I don't need Dumbo from 2-3 and Barnstormer from 3-4. If people gently caress up their overlapping passes, that's on them. That goes hand in hand with changing times. Want to switch times on 2 things? Can't just do that. You need to move the first FP to a random 3rd time, move the second FP into the first's original space, then move the first from its random time into the second FP original time. An extra step that is unneeded if overlapping FP were allowed. Overall a great system, and I'm super happy with it but changes are a pain in the butt. Also Magic Bands are dangerous. $640 charged to the room thus far. Although 1/3 of that was stroller rental. So not a big deal.
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Oct 24, 2013 03:20
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You also can't book the same ride twice in the same day. Kind of a bummer.
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Oct 24, 2013 05:52
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