Day 1309: Use and Abuse

I've been waiting for the day you can make additional fastpass reservations from your phone since the initial introduction of Fastpass+. It's one of the things I loved about the old system - the ability to have a fastpass for more than a few attractions if you planned your day right. Of course, the new system has greater benefits: the ability to schedule your day prior to entering the park, securing a morning fastpass instead of getting to the park at 9 only to have a fastpass for 8 that night, and my personal favorite, the ability to change your fastpass time at any point in the day, actually making everything more flexible than I thought it might be. 

But what was missing was the ability to make additional fastpasses, which we now can, finally, do. I tend to have a rough idea of how my day is going to go, but I also love to plan on the spot, and from the second I realized I could have additional fastpasses, I went to town...or rather, all across Magic Kingdom...using and abusing the new system. 

Since the park was open until midnight the night I was there, I spent most of the afternoon hours at The Grand Floridian for Afternoon Tea, which allowed me to get out of the heat and take a much needed break. But by the time I got back to Magic Kingdom, I was ready to go. Now, the way the system works is that if you use all three of your fastpasses earlier in the day, you can make additional fastpass selections at any point for any attraction in any park. Often times, you can snatch up a fastpass for only minutes out from the current time, which means you could be outside Pirates of the Caribbean and could probably get a fastpass to skip that half hour or 40 minute line right then and there, and the second you scan your magic band at the fastpass line entrance, you can make another fastpass selection from the app. 

And you can keep doing this for as long as there are fastpasses available. 

Once I figured all of this out, I just started making new fastpass selections while in line for the attraction I had the previous fastpass for. So I began at Pirates, and while in line I made a fastpass for another attraction, which I believe was for Big Thunder. While waiting for the fastpass, which started soon after, I took the train to Fantasyland and walked the rest of the way to Tomorrowland, where I got a phone case for a friend and headed on the PeopleMover. Then it was all the way back to Big Thunder, where I made a fastpass for the Barnstormer. While waiting for the Barnstormer I made a fastpass for Dumbo, and while waiting there I made one for Winnie the Pooh. As I waited for Winnie the Pooh I made a fastpass for the Tomorrowland Speedway, and from there I secured one for Buzz Lightyear, and then Peter Pan, and finally Splash Mountain. It brought me to a total of 12 fastpasses in one day, which I didn't think was humanly possible...but apparently is. I also had a chance to head on the Teacups, the Carrousel, Astro Orbiter and then Pirates one more time at the end, so I guess you could say that it was a wild five hours after my Afternoon Tea. 

As for how many fastpasses you could get in one day, I'm sure 12 isn't the highest you could get, and I look forward to attempting to visit all the Magic Kingdom attractions in one day in the future, even if I have to really abuse the system to get there...but for now we'll say I'm utilizing the system, because really, that's what I'm doing! I'm just utilizing it to it's fullest potential...which may be a bit more than what Disney intended. 

Next time, I estimate 16 or 17 fastpasses...but who knows how many are possible! 

Have a magical day!

Day 608: On the iPhone

I was coming up with topics to fill the empty blog post spots and it occurred to me that I've never even blogged about this one, which is actually quite weird considering it's probably the most Disney thing in my everyday life. My iPhone itself is a constant reminder of Disney, in more ways than one really.

For starters, you have the case itself, which changes from time to time. My personal favorite so far has been my Donald Duck phone case, which is getting a bit worse for wear at the moment due to my constant dropping of my phone, but I love it all the same. It's the one phone case I knew I wanted before I even had an iPhone, and it was the first Disney case I got once I had one. In fact, I love this case so much I've bought it three times over, just because they wear out or break (after all that constant dropping) or you get a different model and the case no longer works. It's a struggle.

And then I have my lock screen, which has been the same since not long after my March trip. Of all the pictures from that trip, this has to be my favorite, and that probably goes for pictures of my brother and I too. It was one of those random pictures that we didn't really intend to take at all. I remember meeting back up with my brother that night in Magic Kingdom and walking super slowly thorough all the stores simply because we didn't want to leave (and we really wanted to see the Kiss Goodnight because that's how we roll). So as we walked down main street and saw a photopass photographer, I suggested that we get our picture taken, not really thinking much else of it. So we did, and now it's one of my all time favorite pictures. I have it framed on my desk too and just can't get myself to change it on my lock screen. It works perfectly. Actually, I said that when we go in January I'm going to change it, only this time there will be four of us instead of two.

Finally, there's the home screen. I think we all change this often enough, as I recently did to this picture I shared on Instagram not too long ago. It's kind of hard to see, but you can probably tell that it's Cinderella Castle. It was just a really colorful picture and I tested it and liked how it looked, so it stayed. While the home screen picture changes every so often, it's pretty much always Disney, except for that rare time when it's my cat...

And that's probably the #1 way Disney works it's way into my life. Anyone who finds my phone will obviously know that I love Disney, especially since you don't even have to turn it on to figure that out, but I get a lot of compliments on that case and I love it. Then again, if you really know me at all or follow me on any social media it shouldn't be a question of whether or not I love Disney because I obviously do.

I mean...I'm writing this for goodness sake.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 30).

Day 453: Fastpass+ For Everyone

I guess I never really gave my thoughts on Fastpass+ from my recent trip. I mean, I talked about them a little bit, but never in great detail, and since I spent a good portion of yesterday talking about fastpass+ and the new system, I figured I would actually write a whole blog post on it. Plus, as of March 31, the advanced fastpass reservation system is ready for everyone to use, even just day guests. That's right, no matter if you're an annual passholder or staying on property, you can now use My Magic Plus and make your fastpass reservations 30 days in advance of your trip (those staying on property get 60 days).

Now, I think the new system is absolutely brilliant. Everything works very efficiently, especially when you do get to make those fastpass reservations well before you step foot on property. But coming from a person heading down to Disney World with Disney Performing Arts, I'm a bit concerned. There's a good chance that we won't get our tickets until we actually get to Florida, and that's really going to limit what we can and can't get for our fastpasses. And since it's really set up for families, in order to get the same times as one another, we'll have to have people in groups ahead of time, meaning that people will need to have some sort of an idea of who they want to spend their time with before we actually leave on the trip. That makes things kind of difficult. But I know we'll get through it. I have no doubt we will.

I think the hardest part about Fastpass Plus is that it's going to be a bit confusing for a while. There are a lot of rumors and tons of false information about the system out there, which doesn't help either. Personally, I feel like those who have used the fastpass system previous to this, so with the paper tickets, could be even more confused than those who haven't been to Disney with it at all. It's easy enough to grasp the idea of skipping the line, but this new system is completely different from the old one, and the prospect of planning out every minute of your day well in advance is kind of daunting.

I guess the only thing I really don't like about it is that fact: you have to have a pretty good plan of what you're going to be doing on each day before you go. I'm certainly more of a spontaneous person when it comes to Disney. So maybe someday when I go by myself or something I really will have dining reservations for one place, but I'll wake up that morning and randomly decide to go to Epcot. If my reservation for that night was for Magic Kingdom, I will ultimately end up there, but other than that, I'm just not really the type of person to plan ahead. Unless it comes to when I'll be going to Disney in the future. I know that stuff WAY in advance.

But then again, don't all of us crazy Disney fans?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on April 2 due to a super crazy week!)

Day 376: The Science Fair

Since my parents are still gone to Florida, I ended up having to take my brother to a local science fair. I dragged a friend along too, so I suppose the six hours spent sitting there weren't all THAT bad, but they certainly weren't good either. So we had to amuse ourselves somehow. In the end we spent at least an hour on Pinterest, but there was one thing that I felt should really be commented on here, just because it actually made me think (and feel a little bit like a failure haha).

Now, if you're a huge Disney fan like I am, feel free to try and do this, and let me know how it works out for you. I easily got the first one, Walt Disney World, but the second one really tripped me up. It stands for Shades of Green, which I guess makes sense, but I feel isn't really fair because I have never stayed there and probably never will because it's not open to everyone. I mean, really, why couldn't they put BLT or something? That I would have known! (Bay Lake Tower, just FYI). Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party I figured out right away, POTC was easy, Pirates of the Caribbean, as was FP (Fastpass). HDDR got me too though, as I have only seen the Hoop De Doo Review once, so it wasn't in the forefront of my mind. So I got them over half right, that counts, right? I mean, I know what TTAP and TTC and SSE and MK and stuff stands for, so I'm not totally out of the loop! 

My other thought from the science fair is how it was in this expo hall and all I could think about half the time walking through it was that it reminded me of D23 from a couple years back...just with a lot less Blue and a TON less Disney. It was also probably a third of the size...but it still reminded me of it! Gosh I can't wait to go back to the D23 Expo and Disneyland in 2015. I want to like start counting down the days right now. 

In case you were wondering, my brother and his friend made this for their exhibit: Wind Chill. It means that they were in my kitchen heating up strange things for like a week, including some awful smelling apple cider vinegar. Don't heat that up in an open pan and then blow a fan on it people...just don't. They did get a gold medal though! 

Have a magical day!

Day 370: Magic Bands - Step 1

Honestly I'm not really sure how this whole Magic Band thing works yet...hence the fact that I'm going to Disney in March to prepare for when I go in June and have a band after me to help with all of this stuff. That's ok though, I'm excited to work with the stuff and learn how Fastpass+ and the new system works.

And today (or really a few days ago when I'm writing this I guess), we got one of the first things that go along with this new experience. Actually, my mom got it, but I was like "DISNEY MAIL!" and proceeded to be like "CAN I OPEN IT!?! CAN I!?! PLEASE!?!" and then I did. I had no idea what it was, but I opened it anyways, and this is what I found:

Yes, looks like the first part of our Magic Band experience has arrived. And that means that we're actually getting close to our trip! But what I didn't know about all this stuff is just how personalized everything is. You can see at the top of the brochure that it says, specifically, "The Tesch Family's Incredible Vacation." That's our name! How awesome is that!?! 

And then it has a page devoted specifically to where we're staying: Old Key West. I suppose it changes for everyone, but that must take a lot of planning to accomplish with how many people visit Walt Disney World each year. I just find it really amazing that they can do that, as it's personalization on a whole new level that I'm excited to see in the Disney Parks. 

Finally, at the end of the book, they had this little Magnet with all the important dates coming up on it that you might need to know for stuff such as Fastpass+. Ours is still in our book, mostly because we don't really need it since we already have those dates on our calendars long beforehand, but I still think it's a great idea. It makes it really easy for people to get everything they need to do finished before they set out on their own Disney Adventure. 

Don't worry, I'll have a whole post on the magic bands when they come soon. I can't wait to get that in the mail though. SUPER excited about it. =)

Have a magical day!