Tip Tuesday: Touring the parks without FastPass

With all the recent changes (and glitches) coming to Walt Disney World concerning FastPass+, Magic Bands and all, there are plenty of guests (myself included) who are less then enamored with the implementation of FastPass+.

So it begs the question:  is FastPass+ worth it?  Does it cause more problems that it solves?

While I have yet to experience FastPass+ first hand, I have heard plenty of horror stories about this new service, so I thought I'd share some thoughts about the best ways to enjoy the parks without having to get one FastPass.

Yes, Virginia, it can be done, but it does require some planning.

First, of course, you have to arrive at a park well before park opening -- at least 30 minutes, though 45 might be better for the Magic Kingdom.  While you're waiting for the park to open, you need to set a few priorities when it comes to attractions and/or characters -- which ones are most important to you?  Head to those first.  If you don't have any priorities, consider hitting the headline attractions such as Space Mountain, Soarin', Toy Story Mania or the Kilimanjaro Safaris.  You will have a good hour or two where the crowds will be considerably lower than later in the morning/afternoon.  You need to make good use of this time.

Once the park opens, walk briskly (do not run) to your highest priority attraction and get in the standby line.  The standby sign may indicate a 20 or 30 minute wait.  Go in anyway -- there's a good chance that standby time is not current.  Depending on the standby line, you may be able to get in two runs in short order before moving to the rest of your priority list.

Once the crowds start to build in late morning to early afternoon, it's time to move to the less popular attractions and shows as well as high-volume attractions such as the Haunted Mansion, its a small world, Living with the Land, Seas with Nemo, Star Tours, Muppets 3D, or the Animal Kingdom walking trails.  These attractions can handle a fairly large number of people at one time, so odds are the standby lines will be shorter.

The afternoon into the evening also is a good time to take in some scenery and do a bit of shopping.  Take some time to appreciate all those little Disney details and maybe take in a show or movie or two. 

As the evening fades into night, you'll start to see the crowds begin to thin in some areas, especially as families with young children head home with weary tykes in tow.  At the Magic Kingdom, crowds will start to gather along the parade route for the Main St. Electrical Parade.  Main Street and the Hub area will be especially crowded as people get spots for Wishes.  Avoid these areas if you're not all that interested in the evening entertainment and go hit more attractions.  You'll encounter some waits, but they'll have decreased since the peak of a few hours earlier.  In Epcot, the World Showcase promenade will start to fill with folks waiting for Reflections of Earth.  Same deal -- head to Future World and try to get in a few attractions there.

At Hollywood Studios, it's all about Fantasmic - there will likely be considerable lines at the end of Sunset Boulevard, so just avoid that part of the park.  Yes, the Rockin' Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror might be a bit busy, but the rest of the attractions will start to clear out to some degree -- even Toy Story Mania. 

With a bit of planning, some luck and flexibility, you can have a great day in the parks and not worry one second about getting a FastPass, dealing with return times or having to mess with the My Disney Experience app. 

Just go out and have fun!

Tip Tuesday: Pooh & Dumbo Fastpasses

It's time for another Tip Tuesday.

This week, I wanted to share a brief tip about Fastpasses for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and, more importantly, for the newly opened double Dumbo in Storybook Circus.  Both Fastpass dispensing machines are located not by the entrances to the respective attractions, but rather outside the entrance to Mickey's Philharmagic in Fantasyland in an easily overlooked location.  Some guests may even mistake the Pooh/Dumbo Fastpass for that of Philharmagic.

While this may not seem at first to be all that important, it can be helpful to keep this tidbit in mind, especially during park opening when most people rush straight to Dumbo to get in line, thinking they will get a Fastpass at the attraction itself, only to discover that the Fastpass distribution is located on the other side of Fantasyland.  Later in the day when standby lines build to 30, 45 or even 60 minutes, it may be even more helpful to know exactly where to find the Fastpass distribution.

Hopefully this little tip will help you soar into the sky on the quintessential Disney attraction!

Tip Tuesday: Fastpass revisited

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

I've made several posts in the past about the Fastpass system at Walt Disney World.  Until recently, I often encouraged guests to disregard the later time posted on the Fastpass ticket as cast members were only concerned with the initial time.

Well things have changed as they often do at Walt Disney World and now cast members are enforcing the later return time.  What this means for you the guest is that now you have to more carefully consider when and for what you get a Fastpass.  No longer can you go grab a pass for your favorite attraction and hold on to it for use later in the day when the crowds are highest.  Now you have to use that Fastpass during the stated window or not use it at all.

So how does change impact the way you tour the parks?   Let's examine a few different scenarios.

Rope Drop
To standby or Fastpass.  That is the question.  Personally, I still say go standby if the posted standby wait is 30-40 minutes or less during the first hour of the day.  Keep in mind that you can always get a Fastpass after you come off the attraction, which likely will be for much later in the day - which allows you to enjoy other attractions before using that Fastpass. 

Mid-Day
Here's where the changes to FastPass may have the greatest impact.  I suspect (and time will tell if I'm right) that the more strict enforcement of Fastpass windows may mean that more Fastpasses will be available later in the day as fewer people opt to get a Fastpass early in the day since they can't hoard them anymore.  This longer availability of Fastpass may have an impact on standby lines.  Some argue that Fastpass actually increases standby line time and less Fastpasses used during the day will help shorten wait times.  I'm not so sure.  I can see the argument, but I also know that there are only a limited number of Fastpasses allotted per hour, so the total impact on wait times is pretty minimal.  The same number of people who were in Fastpass would be in the standby line anyway, so it's a wash.

In any case, you need to be much more cognizant of when your Fastpass windows are open.

Evening/Night
By this time, most Fastpasses are usually gone.  As mentioned before, there's the possibility that more Fastpasses will be available later in the day, but I think by evening, they should be all gone.  So the overall impact by this time should be minimal at most.

Now even though Disney's more strictly enforcing Fastpass return times does this mean you can no longer have more than one Fastpass at a time?  NO.  You can still hold more than one, depending on when your first Fastpass window opens.  See this post from January 2009 for more.

Hopefully the changes to Fastpass won't impact your time and your enjoyment of the parks.  Just remember, it's not all about racing from attraction to attraction.  Take your time and enjoy the (Walt Disney) World around you!

Tip Tuesday: Star Tours 2 - Skip the FastPass

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

A few weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure to travel to a galaxy far, far away thanks to Star Tours! Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has been open at Disney Hollywood Studios for more than a month now and the crowds are still lining up for this incredible experience.

Now, with the old Star Tours, I often told people not to worry with FastPass. The reason was fairly obvious - except for the busiest of times during the year, Star Tours usually was a walk on, so there was no need to waste a FastPass on it.

Now, however, it's common to see 30, 40 even 50 minute wait times, making FastPass an option worth considering. Even with these greatly increased wait times, making FastPass much more attractive, I still say skip the FastPass. There's a very good reason for this tip.

Part of the charm of Star Tours is not the attraction itself. It's the queue. The major problem with using FastPass is that you go through the queue so fast, you don't have time to take in all the great details and pure entertainment the queue has to offer.

Some of the best parts of the Star Tours 2 experience can be found in three different scenes in the queue area. The first is the repair bay as you initially walk into the attraction building. Here you will find two very familiar characters, C-3PO and R2-D2. The banter that happens between these two droids is something not to be missed. In addition, a very large monitor over your head presents promos for various Star Tours destinations and different announcements.

As you pass by C-3PO, you enter the baggage claim area. As you enter this area, look to your left to see if you recognize an old friend from the original version of Star Tours. Take a moment and listen to catch a few familiar phrases. On your right, you will meet a very unusual and interesting G2-4T droid who is scanning pieces of luggage - think of him as the droid version of TSA.

Anyway, you'll want to take several minutes to watch what happens as this droid scans different items and reacts what he finds. There are several tributes to other attractions and characters and at least one hidden Mickey.

Turning the corner, on your left you will meet another G2-4T droid. This less-than-cheerful droid is scanning you! If you watch the panel directly in front of the droid, you will notice a thermal image of the guests waiting in the queue. Like the baggage droid, pay attention to the droid's spiel, which reminds me, for some reason, of Patrick Warburton (the flight attendant in the Soarin' safety video for you Disney geeks out there).

Once you line up to board your Starspeeder 1000, pay close attention to the safety video. There are a bunch of hidden details and gags that are very funny.

So there you go -- that's why I say for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, skip the FastPass and enjoy the wait.

Until next time, May the Force be With You!

Tip Tuesday: Rope drop at the Magic Kingdom

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday! This week, I'll round out my series on what to do at rope drop at the parks. This week, we're heading to the Magic Kingdom!! First and foremost, you'll need to arrive at the Magic Kingdom turnstiles no later than 30 minutes before park opening. Every morning, Disney puts on a brief welcome show (see photo above) where a family of the day is chosen to help open the park. In order to get a good view of the welcome show, you'll want to be toward the middle of the main entrance plaza. However, if you're more interested in getting into the park, then make your way to either the left or right entrances and be ready to move (please don't run) when the ropes drop. Once you help Mickey count down from ten, the park will officially open and it's time for the big crush through the two tunnel entrances and down Main Street. So where do you go now? Well this depends on what you're interested in and who you're with. I'll try to boil your options down to three basic scenarios. Scenario 1: Time to Fly!!

The quintecential attraction for young children, riding Dumbo is a rite-of-passage. This also means that Dumbo is widly popular. The short flying elephant attraction can quickly generate queues of well over and hour by late morning. If you have young children who are dying to take their turn soaring into the skies on an elephant, you'll want to make your way straight to Dumbo once the park opens.

After your little one has soared through the sky on Dumbo, you'll want to head straight to another popular flying attraction -- Peter Pan's Flight. This is another attraction that is wildly popular and also quickly can generate a huge queue. Unless there is a short standby line, you should grab a FastPass and move on to other attractions, such as the carousel or it's a small world. When your FastPass window opens, you can return and enjoy a nighttime flight over London (I still love that scene!).

Scenario 2: The Thrill Seeker

There's something about racing along a roller coaster track feeling the wind race past. The Magic Kingdom has plenty of options for thrill seekers, most notably the Mountains of the Magic Kingdom (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain). For the thrill seeker, the first destination after rope drop is Space Mountain. If you can do so quickly, grab a FastPass and then head straight into the standby line for your first launch from StarPort 77. After you return to Earth, make your way to Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland.

While you're walking, take note of when you can get another FastPass. It will say so at the bottom of the FastPass ticket (see this previous post for more).

As you approach Big Thunder, glance to the left and see what the FastPass and standby lines are for Splash Mountain. Then glance ahead at the FastPass and standby lines for Big Thunder. Odds are, the standby lines will likely be fairly short (3o minutes or less). Here's where you have to do some thinking. Depending on when you can get another FastPass, enter the standby line that will take up the remaining amount of time until you can get another FastPass. For instance, if the current time is 8:30 a.m. and you can get another FastPass ticket at 9 a.m., you need to burn 30 minutes. See which line best matches how much time you have left to kill and go. Once you come off Splash Mountain or Big Thunder, grab a FastPass for the attraction that has the soonest FastPass time, even if it's for the attraction you just came off of.

Now head into the standby line for the other attraction (Splash or Big Thunder). Again, you shouldn't see a standby line longer than about 30 minutes or so. While you're waiting in the second standby line, again take a look at when you can pick up your third FastPass. When that window opens, grab a pass for whichever mountain you don't have one for yet. Now you'll have three FastPasses to use later in the day when the crowds are much higher.

Scenario 3: the no-FastPass Route

While many attractions at the Magic Kingdom have a FastPass option, just as many, if not more, do not. So while you may have the opportunity to bypass a long standby line with FastPasses for some attractions, there is no such option at many beloved attractions at the Magic Kingdom.

So the best way to get an early jump on those non-FastPass attractions is to head to them first. Chief among them, in my opinion, is the Haunted Mansion, especially since the new queue area opened a few weeks ago, making the Mansion particularly popular.

After rope drop, head straight down Main Street and veer to the left to enter Liberty Square. Make your way straight into the interactive queue for the Haunted Mansion, taking time to enjoy the different activities. After your return to the world of the living, head straight through Frontierland to the far entrance to Adventureland. It's time to greet some salty 'ol pirates at Pirates of the Caribbean, taking the right queue line (I think it's better).

Assuming you survive your journey and don't meet a pirate's end, you may want to cross over into Tomorrowland to pick up a FastPass for Space Mountain and then check out the queue for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, the Tomorrowland Speedway or the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and enjoy the rest of your day!

Hopefully these tips will help you make the most of those precious few hours at park opening when the crowd levels are at their lowest.

Tip Tuesday: Skip the Fastpass line for Toy Story Mania? Sometimes

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

What's the most popular attraction at Walt Disney World?

If you make that decision based on the longest average wait time, then the choice is very clear: Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Most times of the year, wait times at Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM) will top out at 100+ minutes, and sometimes much, much longer.

The best way to avoid the long lines is to get to the park at rope drop. I've talked about this several times before. However with TSMMl, there's an additional bit that I think will help make your experience with TSMM much more enjoyable.

You see once the rope drops and the crowds begin to move, there is a massive cattle rush toward TSMM. Everyone's headed for the FastPass machines. Within minutes, the line to get FastPasses can be backed up all the way to One Man's Dream. This means a wait of at least 30 minutes just to get a FastPass.

I've been in this situation several times. Instead of standing in that tremendous line, I skip it and go straight for the standby line. Most times, I will end up with a wait of less than that of the FastPass line -- and with much less hassle.

Best of all, by the time I get out from my first ride on TSMM, the FastPass line has gone way down (to less than 5 minutes) and I hop in and get another FastPass for that afternoon.

So there you go -- the best of both worlds!! Try this next time you're at rope drop at Hollywood Studios, you'll be glad you did!

Until next time: To Infinity and Beyond!!!

Tip Tuesday: Get there early

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday.

My apologies for the delay in this post. I just returned from a big trip to Walt Disney World last weekend. In fact, it was a trip fit for the Biggest Disney Fan! That's right! Last weekend was the big trip filled with lots of amazing experiences. The local newspaper even did a story on me.

Best of all, YOU get to share in what happened as I will be bringing reviews and articles about some of the more exclusive experiences at Walt Disney World, including the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, concierge service, fireworks aboard the Grand One and premier VIP park touring.

It was the best five days my family has ever spent at Walt Disney World.

So be looking for more on these topics coming to this blog very soon.

Now, on to today's feature presentation!

I've talked about this tip a few times in passing, but it's so important that I wanted to highlight it again -- get to the parks EARLY, especially if you're planning to catch major attractions.

Case in point: We arrived at rope drop in the Magic Kingdom on Monday morning. As soon as we entered the MK, we took the train to Frontierland (another quick reminder: the WDW Railroad doesn't stop a ToonTown until after 10am). My son and I then proceeded to walk on Big Thunder Mountain twice in a row while my wife and other two children walked onto Pirates and had an entire boat to themselves. They then walked onto Alladin's Magic Carpets.

We met up after this and just about walked onto the Jungle Cruise, and then walked again onto Pirates. After Pirates, we made our way to the Haunted Mansion where we had to wait only two minutes for the mansion doors to open and admit the next group.

Boom! Before 10am, we had hit several major attractions - some twice!

Now you might be thinking that the park wasn't all that crowded that day. Think again. At one point, Buzz Lightyear had a 70 minute wait -- the longest wait time I've ever seen for Buzz. Space Mountain was at 60 minutes and Big Thunder quickly rose to 60 minutes by lunchtime. By the afternoon, there was a line for even the smaller attractions like the TTA.

The reason getting to the parks early is so important is that most days, especially during busy times of the year such as spring break and holidays, the parks start to get very crowded around 11 a.m. Apparently most guests just don't want to get up early for a 9 a.m. rope drop. This is to your benefit.

After 11 a.m., be prepared for long lines and to make heavy use of FastPass (in fact, it's a good idea to go ahead and get some FastPasses early and not use them until the afternoon). Remember you can possibly hold more than one FastPass at a time (see this previous Tip Tuesday post for more about this).

The other benefit to arriving early and getting major attractions out of the way is that frees up time for you to enjoy some of those hidden details in shops, shows, restaurants or just out and about while other guests are standing in those massive standby queues.

So, as they saying goes: the early mouse gets the cheese, er, ride.

Disney tip boards go mobile

About a year ago, Disney announced they were working on a new application with Verizon where guests could get in-park information such as wait times, FastPass info and park hours through their cell phone.

About a month ago, Disney announced the new application finally was ready, and so http://m.disneyworld.com/ was born. There are two version of this new Web site, one is free and the other requires users to pay a subscription fee. To be more accurate, the Web site is free, while the smart phone application (called Mobile Magic) requires a fee, though some information in the Web site also is in the app.

It is important also to note that this is an app available ONLY to Verizon customers, meaning all those iPhones using AT&T service are shut out.

I've used the free Web-based version and while it's somewhat useful, it's pretty clear that Disney wants users to download the fee-based app. At first, m.disneyworld.com provided some limited wait time information, such as "see now," or "moderate." About a week or two after it launched, even this limited wait time information was removed. What's unclear about this "light" page is what constitutes a "see now" wait time versus a "moderate" or whatever. The Disney site doesn't specify.

UPDATE: Apparently just this week, the limited wait time and FastPass information returned to the free site.

The downloadable app offers updated attraction wait times and FastPass times for the park the user currently is located in. It also displays GPS-enabled park maps, showing the locations of attractions and restaurants. Also included are tips about different happenings in each park and trivia games to compete against other guests in the parks. That's about the most unique element of the downloadable app. Aside from the wait and FastPass times, a standard paper park map provides much of the same information.

I have not tried the Verizon app, mostly because of the price. What I've seen in demos, however, doesn't make me think that the $9.99 fee per six-months makes this app worth it. You read right, ten-bucks for six months access. That's 20-bucks a year! Further, I'm not much of a fan of restricting information based on location. From what I understand, if you're in the Magic Kingdom, you will not get as much information about wait times in any other park. I'm not sure what info is available when you're not at WDW at all. One things for sure - you're paying for 180 days of access whether you're in the parks or not.

Disney isn't the only group offering mobile-based wait and FastPass times. The folks at TouringPlans.com have recently launched "Lines," which provides wait-times and FastPass return times for all parks, regardless of location (in or out of the parks). Lines also provides park hours, crowd calendars and predicted wait times. The one thing Lines doesn't appear to provide (I couldn't find it) is event information, such as when Spectromagic or Fantasmic is showing.

The major differences between Lines and Mobile Magic are accessibility and price. Lines is completely web-based and so it's available to most popular devices (as of this writing, Lines is available for the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre/Pixl). Support for additional devices apparently is coming. Further, Lines (as of this writing) is FREE while in beta testing. Eventually it will require a subscription to TouringPlans.com. Those that own a current edition of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (ding!) can get free access for a limited time. Non-book owners can subscribe for a yearly fee of $8.95. This includes access to Lines and to TouringPlans.com.

I have Lines on my Blackberry and it's a great service. I most especially like being able to see what wait times are like while being more than 700 miles away from the parks. For instance (as I pull up Lines on the BB), Space Mountain only has a 25 minute wait right now, and the crowd level is at a 4, which means most attractions are a walk-on!!

Knowing Disney, I'm sure they're planning to plus Mobile Magic pretty soon. At $20 a year, they need to put more value into such an expensive app. Disney also has to find a way to make this app available to iPhone users. While I don't have an iPhone (don't get me started), there are a gazillion Disney fans with iPhones who are excluded from even having the option to purchase this app.

At this point, if I had to recommend one -- sorry Disney, but I'm going with Lines - for the price (free right now) and the more-specific information, even outside the parks. The Disney free site is nice, but the information, even if it's free, is limited.

What are your thoughts? Do you have Mobile Magic and/or Lines? If so, post a comment -- do you like it?

Tip Tuesday: Getting the most of out FastPass

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

I thought I'd continue on the topic of FastPasses with another tip about how to get the most out of a FastPass.

As you know, a FastPass ticket gives you a time window in which to return and ride a particular attraction. The FastPass system has a pre-set number of tickets to give in each five-minute increment. When the allotment for the day runs out, FastPasses are no longer offered.

So here's a question for you: If you arrive at your attraction BEFORE your time window opens up, will you be allowed to enter the attraction? The answer is NO. The cast member will kindly ask you to wait until the beginning time (circled in green in the example) comes up.

OK, here's another question for you: If you arrive at your attraction AFTER your time window has passed, will you be allowed to enter the attraction? The answer is YES! Most cast members will allow guests with FastPasses that were for an earlier time in the day to enter the attraction.

A final question for you: If you arrive at an attraction with a FastPass from a previous DAY, will the cast member let you in? The answer is NO. In the past, the answer might have been yes, depending on the cast member, but Disney has recently cracked down on the use of old FastPasses, so you're not going to be able to get away with using a FastPass from a previous day anymore.

So this week's tip is pretty simple. Don't feel like you have to rush to make a FastPass window before it "closes," because the window doesn't really close. Just forget about the later time listed. You have until the end of the day to use that FastPass. Just keep in mind that after the park closes, that FastPass becomes a souvenir (which isn't a bad idea if you want to keep a FastPass from your favorite attraction - it can make for a neat keepsake!).

Tip Tuesday: Faster FastPass

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

By now, you all are quite familiar with how Disney's FastPass system works. You insert your park ticket and out pops a small pass with a return time. You come back at the return time and get to take a special entrance where you have little or no wait. The intent is that guests will spend less time standing in line. That may work in theory, but in practice, things are a bit different.

Don't get me wrong, I love FastPass. It's probably one of Disney's best ideas. However, there is such a thing as becoming a victim of your success and FastPass, at times, becomes a victim to it's popularity.

How many times have you tried to get a FastPass only to arrive at the FastPass machines to find a huge line that appears to be every bit as long as the standby line? It happens, especially at some of the biggest attractions such as Toy Story Mania and Soarin'. Having spent quite a while in huge, sometimes unorganized FastPass queues, I think I've discovered a major bottleneck - the machines themselves.

I can't tell you how many times I've been standing in line behind a guest who inserts their ticket, Key to the World card, annual pass, whatever, only to have it come right back out and not give a FastPass. The guest tries again and again until a castmember notices the problem and lends some assistance. All this time, people are queuing up behind and the line gets longer and longer.

Here's where the tip comes in: most guests insert their ticket with the magnetic stripe down. I've found that most problems happen when the machine tries to read the cards with the stripe down.

Instead, turn the ticket over and insert it with the magnetic stripe UP into the FastPass machine. Bingo! Out will come a FastPass. I've tried this several times and every time I turn my AP over, I never have a problem getting FastPasses. The end result is my passes come out faster and I can get out of the way so the next person can get their FastPasses.

Try this the next time you're getting a FastPass -- it really works!

Come one, come all, get your FastPasses here!!!

DeWayne Bevil at the Orlando Sentinel has a story posted yesterday about a new experiment Disney is conducting at Animal Kingdom with the FastPass system -- centralized FastPass distribution. Guests can go to one location and get a FastPass for any attraction that offers FastPass in the park.

I'm not so sure about this one. I'm a huge fan of FastPass, but part of the magic of FastPass is actually going to the attraction to get your pass. Guests play the game of FastPass time vs. standby line time By making FastPasses available at a central location, FastPass becomes the ONLY option, thus making the odds of FastPasses running out much sooner is pretty high.

I also assume that the one-FastPass-per-person rule (with some exceptions, see this post for more) will remain in effect.

Let's carry this idea forward and put it at the Studios, a park where FastPasses for the major attractions runs out very quickly (think Tower of Terror, Rockin' Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania). The rop-drop happens and instead of people hurrying to one attraction, they instead rush to the central FastPass location to get passes for one of the E-ticket attractions. That place will become so crowded it will be insane. You'll practically need a FastPass to get a FastPass.

Even with a centralized FastPass distribution, Disney has to keep the FastPass machines at the individual attractions. If Disney ONLY has FastPass distribution at a central place, it will be bedlum and the entire FastPass system will be worthless, so I very much hope Disney doesn't decide to pull out the individual machines.

I'll try to look at this on the plus side. Having a centralized location does offer convenience. If, for example, you want to get a set of FastPasses for Soarin' and then catch the standby line at TestTrack, you wouldn't have to go all the way to Soarin' to get the passes and then hustle all the way over to TT, hopefully to get a short standby line. A central location would be beneficial in this instance.

I guess I'll have to see just how this pans out before I decide if this is a good idea or not.

What are your thoughts? Keep it or ditch it? Post a comment!

Tip Tuesday: Extending the Year of a Million Dreams - sort of

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

In last week's post, I talked about Disney park etiquette. This week, I'd like to carry this thought forward a bit further. As you all know the Year of a Million Dreams (that really was two years) ended in 2008. Just because the YOMD is officially over, doesn't mean it has to end completely - with a little bit of magic.

Here is where you can help make a guest's dreams come true. Go get FastPasses for some popular attraction (Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Toy Story Mania, etc.) and then search for a family who appears like they could use a little boost. Approach and ask if they like the attraction you have FP's for and then give those passes to the family. I did this for a few of our trips and it was amazing the magic I created. All of the sudden a family that was having a bit of a rough time is smiling and enjoying the magic once again.

This is especially magical when the parks are crowded and those FastPasses run out by mid-day (if not sooner). Remember, you can have two FastPasses at once, depending on certain circumstances (see my previous Tip Tuesday post about this).

What other ways can you help pay it forward by being kind to other guests? Post a comment with your ideas!

Tip Tuesday: Can you only have one FastPass at a time? Not necessarily!

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday! For those of you new to the DisneyDaddy blog, each Tuesday, I offer a tip I've either developed or heard of. You can always go back and read past Tip Tuesday posts by clicking on the "Tip Tuesday" link on the right side of this page.

Now to business.

FastPass is no big secret to anyone who even knows a slight bit about Disney. You slip your park ticket into a FastPass machine and get a FastPass listing a time window for you to return to the attraction and go into a special entrance where you have little or no wait to ride that attraction. You only can have one FastPass at at time - usually.

So here's the scene: You're dying to ride Toy Story Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios (and who isn't). You get to the park just after rope drop and rush over to the FastPass machines for TSM. Of course, the line to get a FastPass seems nearly as long as the standby line itself (this frequently happens). By the time you get your FastPass, the return time window is for late that afternoon, say 4-5 p.m. Are you then stuck with no more FastPasses until 4pm? Nope.

The limitation of one FastPass at a time only works for about as much as a two hour window beginning when you get your pass, meaning that if you got that TSM FastPass at, say, 9:30 a.m., you can get another FastPass probably sometime around 11 a.m. while still holding your original FastPasses for 4 p.m. Be sure to check the bottom of your FastPass ticket to see when you can next get a FastPass (see the red box in the example to the right).

So be sure to check those FastPasses - you may just have a chance to get more than one at a time. Oh, and be sure to check out last week's tip for a great way to carry your FastPass (as well as tickets, etc.). Thanks to WDWinfo.com for the base image I modified.