In this part of my WDW 101 Series, I'm going to walk you through Fastpass+ and touch briefly on My Disney Experience. If you've never been to Disney World, you may be wondering exactly what My Disney Experience and Fastpass+ are. My Disney Experience is the absolutely vital website/app that contains all of your vacation information, including your resort confirmation, dining reservations and Fastpass+ reservations. It's the very first website that I ask my clients to visit so that they can set up their accounts and link their resort reservations. It is also where you will customize your Magic Bands and complete Online Check-In for your stay. I will go into details on all of the available features, why it's important and how to set up an account in a future post, but for now we'll focus on Fastpass+. 

Fastpass+ an electronic pass that is booked through your My Disney Experience account that allows you to skip long lines on the most popular attractions at the four theme parks. Fastpass+ can be booked up to 60 days in advance for Walt Disney World Resort Hotel guests and up to 30 days in advance for guests who are staying off site. You can book up to three selections in advance per day and all of your choices must be in the same park each day. After you have used up your initial three, you can book one at a time throughout your day as you ride the rides from your My Disney Experience app, or at a Fastpass+ Kiosk, which can be found in several locations throughout the parks and are always manned by friendly cast members who are ready to assist you with your choices. 

Attractions that are available for Fastpass+ reservations include: 

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Avatar: Flight of Passage****
Na'avi River Journey****
Expedition Everest 
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Dinosaur
Primeval Whirl
Kali River Rapids
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo- The Musical
It's Tough to Be a Bug 
Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost

****These rides will be operating on a tiered system with the other attractions at Animal Kingdom. You may choose from one of the new Pandora: The World of Avatar attractions and then can choose your other two Fastpasses as you normally would. 

Disney's Hollywood Studios (On a Tiered System, so Only 1 Choice can be made from Tier 1 and 2 Choices from Tier 2)

Tier 1
Slinky Dog Dash
Alien Swirling Saucers
Toy Story Mania

Tier 2
Rockin' Rollercoaster
Star Tours
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Fantasmic
Beauty and the Beast- Live on Stage
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing Along Celebration
Muppet Vision 3D
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Disney Junior- Live on Stage! 


Epcot (Also tiered. Choose 1 from Tier 1 and 2 from Tier 2.)

Tier 1
Soarin'
Test Track
Frozen Ever After
Illuminations: Reflections of Earth

Tier 2
Spaceship Earth
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
Mission Space
Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot
Living with the Land
Journey Into Imagination with Figment


Magic Kingdom

Ariel's Grotto
The Barnstormer
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Disney's Festival of Fantasy Parade
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Enchanted Tales with Belle
The Haunted Mansion
"it's a small world"
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickey's Philharmagic
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
Peter Pan's Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Princess Fairytale Hall (Two Options available- One for Cinderella and a Visiting Princess and the other for Rapunzel and a Visiting Princess)
Seven Dwarfs' Mine Train
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Tomorrowland Speedway
Meet Mickey at Town Square Theatre
Meet Tinkerbell at Town Square Theatre
Under the Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid

*Items in RED are the attractions that I recommend booking in advance and the ones in BLUE are the ones that you absolutely need to book in advance to avoid the longest waits. That being said, if, for some reason, you have to book after your 60 day or 30 day mark and those rides are unavailable, one of the perks of booking your vacation with me is that I can come up with a strategy to help you tour the parks more efficiently and help you get to those rides during the times that crowds are lighter. 

Valid Theme Park admission is required in order to book Fastpass+, so your tickets must be linked to your My Disney Experience account before you can make your selections. If you have booked a room and ticket package or a room, ticket and dining package, your tickets will be automatically linked as soon as you link your reservation, but if you have purchased your tickets separately, you'll have to link the tickets manually. 

To do this from a computer, you would log in to My Disney Experience and in the upper right hand corner, hover your mouse over the logo. A box will drop down with several link options to click on. Select "My Reservations and Tickets" and when the page loads, scroll down to "Tickets and Passes." There will be an option to link your tickets, which you would click, and then follow the instructions. To do this from the My Disney Experience app, you would tap the menu button on the upper left hand corner of your screen, then scroll down to "My Reservations", scroll across to "Tickets and Passes" and tap on "Manage Tickets and Passes." You would then click on "Link Tickets & Passes" and  scan in your tickets via the barcode on the back or put in your ticket confirmation number manually.

After linking your tickets, you can make your Fastpass+ reservations once you hit your 60 or 30 day mark by clicking the "Make Selections" option on your My Disney Experience dashboard. You would select your preferred date and park, and then it would give you a list to choose from. After you are finished with each one, it will give you the option to select another Fastpass for the same day until you've made all three selections or make Fastpass reservations for a different day. 

Need to know more about how Fastpass+ or My Disney Experience works? I'm here to help! Send me a message and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have! 

In this post, I'm going to discuss the Disney Dining Plan in depth so that you, as a consumer, can decide whether or not it's the right choice for your Walt Disney World vacation. 

There are three main plans to choose from, and then there are two packages which are pretty inclusive that have the Dining Plan incorporated into them, which I will delve into in an upcoming post about Disney for the Luxury Seeker. So stay tuned for that if it's something that you are wondering about! 

The first Dining Plan that is available is designed with the budget conscious in mind- the Magic Your Way Package Plus Quick Service Dining. This plan is the least expensive and includes the following for 2018/2019: 

2 Quick Service Meals Per Person/Per Night of Your Stay (Alcoholic and Specialty Beverages are included)
2 Snacks Per Person/Per Night of Your Stay
1 Resort Refillable Mug Per Person that is good for the length of your stay. 

This plan is great for families that prefer to be on the go and don't want to deal with making dining reservations. If you're thinking that Quick Service means just Burgers and Fries, you'd be surprised to learn that Disney offers some really great options in that category. 

For example, a meal at Wolfgang Puck Express in the Disney Springs Marketplace can consist of anything from Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf served with Mashed Potatoes and topped with Onion Straws and a Port Wine Reduction, to Brick Oven Gourmet Pizzas, to Roasted Salmon served with Broccolini. You can certainly get a Burger and Fries using your dining credits if you want to, but with these options, you can see that a Quick Service meal can be so much more than that! 

The next plan that I'm going to highlight is the Magic Your Way Package Plus Dining. With this plan, you get the following:

1 Table Service Meal Per Person/Per Night of Your Stay (Including an alcoholic or specialty beverage)
1 Quick Service Meal Per Person/Per Night of Your Stay (Including an alcoholic or specialty beverage)
2 Snacks Per Person/ Per Night of Your Stay
1 Resort Refillable Mug Per Person that is good for the length of your stay. 

This dining plan is ideal for those who like to take a break from touring the Parks for a sit down meal and enjoy planning out their meals ahead of time. There are so many restaurants to choose from, and all of them are unique. If you'd like to have breakfast with Mickey, Donald and Goofy, you can do that! If you're all about the gourmet experience, you can do that too! There's truly something for everyone! 

If you're a foodie family that enjoys taking your time and experiencing multiple sit down meals each day, then the Magic Your Way Package Plus Deluxe Dining is for you! This plan includes: 

3 Dining Credits (Can be Table Service or Quick Service) Per Person/Per Night of Your Stay (Alcoholic and specialty beverages are included with your quick service and table service credits)
2 Snacks Per Person/Per Night of Your Stay
1 Resort Refillable Mug Per Person that is good for the length of your stay. 

This plan is fantastic for those who enjoy the Signature Restaurants or Dinner Shows, which all require 2 dining credits. It is also the most flexible dining plan, as the credits are interchangeable between table and quick service meals, so it allows you to decide how you want to use them during each day of your stay. You can mix and match your credits as you see fit. For example, if you'd like to enjoy a quick service breakfast at your resort, with a snack at the parks for lunch and an elegant signature dinner, you can make it happen. Your options are only limited by your imagination!

The Disney Dining Plan uses credits, which are good for different meal combinations, depending on the time of day. For example, at breakfast, you get an entree and a beverage or a full buffet and a non-alcoholic beverage. At lunch and dinner, you get an entree, a non-alcoholic beverage and a dessert or a full buffet with a non-alcoholic beverage. The Deluxe dining plan even adds an appetizer to it's lunch and dinner credits! No matter which plan you choose, it's a good amount of food and the options are endless! The Disney Dining Plan is only available to guests who book a Magic Your Way room and ticket package at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel.

One of the main questions that my clients ask me is if the Dining Plans are worth the money. It really is up to the family's specific needs. My family always gets it because for us, it makes the most sense due to the value and convenience that it offers. If you ask yourself how many times you have gone out to eat on vacation and were limited by your budget, then you may want to consider getting it. For example, during past vacations, you really wanted to try the steak, but the chicken was cheaper, so you went with that. The nice thing about the dining plan is that it allows you to get anything that you want on the menu that costs a credit, so the 23.00 chicken and 49.00 steak both equal the same dining credit. You won't have to skip dessert, because it's included with your lunch and dinner. Now, of course, it isn't for everyone. If you are a family who will not be spending much time on Disney Property, or would rather pack a lunch than buy one, then it may be best to skip it. The beauty of the Magic Your Way Package is that it is completely customizable and you can choose to add or skip dining based on your unique needs. 

Here is a video that explains the different Disney Dining Plans that are available: 

I hope that this will help your family decide if the Disney Dining plan is right for you! If you'd like more information, click HERE.