Should I Get The Meal Plan?

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Disney World, Florida

Should I get the meal plan? It’s probably one of the top three questions I’m asked by people interested in planning a Walt Disney World (WDW) vacation. So should you? Let’s find out!

WDW has three levels of meal plans offered to guests staying onsite at a WDW Resort. The quick service plan, the dining plan and the deluxe plan. Each plan has a level of credits issued for quick serve and table serve dining based on how many people are in your party and how many nights you stay at a WDW Resort. Let’s break down the meal plans.

Quick Service-

Quick service includes 2 quick service meal credits and 2 snacks per night per guest.

Disney Dining-

Disney dining includes 1 quick serve meal credit, 1 table service meal credit and 2 snacks per night per guest.

Disney Deluxe Dining-

Disney deluxe dining includes 2 table service meal credits and 2 snack per night per guest.

Each plan comes with a refillable resort mug per person which you can refill at any resort on property for the length of your stay. Meal plans also include an alcoholic beverage per meal for guests over 21 and/or a specialty drink at each meal. Dining plans are issued as credits and are loaded automatically onto your reservation and My Disney Experience (MDE) app for use at the resorts, parks and Disney Springs areas. You can use your meal plan by telling the server at the beginning of the meal or while ordering from quick serve that you would like to use your meal plan and they will deduct the credit from your account through your MDE or magic band. You can also keep track of the credits your party has remaining at the bottom of your receipt after ordering a meal or snack.

 

So should I get a meal plan? The truth is the meal plan works differently for each family. The easiest way to find out if the meal plan is a great option for you family is to think about the restaurants you’d like to visit while on your trip. Do you want to enjoy more than 2 sit down meals, especially character meals? If the answer is yes than most likely a meal plan would save your family money while traveling. Do you like to order the most expensive thing on the menu and a dessert? If the answer is yes then a meal plan is most likely a best option for you. Do you like to share meals and spend as much time as you can riding rides? Then a meal plan might not be best for you.

 

You can easily decide if the meal plans are a great financial option for your family by thinking about the places you’d enjoy eating at on your trip. You can then go into the My Disney Experience website, look under things to do, click on dining, click on a restaurant, and click menu. You can clearly see the prices for items. I love this option because I can calculate just what I’d like to order and see the price. I can then get a general idea based upon the cost to add a meal plan if this option is best for me. This is a great question to ask your Disney travel planner. They can easily price out your trip with and without the various dining plan options and you can see exactly the cost and what fits your family best. The dining plan is not a best option for all families but it is for many. A little leg work can save you a bunch of money and allow you to enjoy your Disney vacation to the fullest!

Need help planning your Disney vacation or for that fact any vacation? You can find me on Facebook at Callie at Wanderkeep Travel or email me at callie@wanderkeep.com.  I would love to help you out and as usual my services are free!

Guide to Disney Land Fast Pass

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So you want to go to Disney Land? You should! Visiting Disney Land is definitely a bucket list item. You can see where the dream was started and ride some rides and see some shows! You can make the most of your trip to Disney Land by utilizing the Fast Pass system-here’s how!

Fast Pass is a system Disney has in place that allows guests to bypass the standby line/que and instead go directly to the ride quicker-usually a 10-15 minute wait. Disney World and Disney Land utilize fast passes in a different way. You can find out how Disney World fast passes work here.  Disney Land allows guest to obtain a paper fast pass at kiosks throughout the park. The kiosks are located just outside all eligible fast pass rides. You obtain a fast pass by inserting or scanning your daily ticket. A paper fast pass then is dispensed by the ride kiosk machine giving guests a return time. The return time is able to be used for a full hour. For example, your fast pass to Haunted Mansion would say come back from 10:00-11:00 and you may redeem this ticket anytime during that hour time period. Make sure you hold onto this paper since you will need to turn it into the Cast Member (CM) upon entering the fast pass line. Some rides will also store digitally but some rides or shows will not so it’s a safe bet to hold onto those paper fast passes no matter what.

 

 

 

You will be eligible to obtain another fast pass 2 hours after your first fast pass was obtained and this time will be stamped onto your current fast pass for reference. This means you can get another fast pass even if you have not used your fast pass as long as it is in the eligible time period. MaxPass is also available for an additional fee which you can read about here. If the fast pass you currently hold is for a ride that becomes broken or shut down, hold onto your fast pass until the end of your ride period. You may then present this fast pass at an eligible fast pass ride location that is working and you will be able to enter that ride instead.

 

Disney Land Fast Pass Eligible Rides/Shows

*Big Thunder Mountain

*Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

*Fantasmic! ( distributed near Frontier Landing in Frontierland)

*Haunted Mansion

*It’s a Small World (distributed by the Matterhorn)

*Indiana Jones Adventure

*Matterhorn Bobsleds

*Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin

*Space Mountain

*Splash Mountain

*Star Tours

 

California Adventure Fast Pass Rides/Shows

*Goofy’s Sky School

*Grizzly River Run

*Guardians of the Galaxy

*Incredicoaster

*Radiator Springs Racers

*Soarin Around the World

*Toy Story Midway Mania

*World of Color (distributed near Little Mermaid)

 

I would love to help you plan your Disney Land vacation! My services are free of charge! You can find me at Callie at Fairy Godmother Travel on Facebook. Let me help you make all your magical vacation wishes come true! You can also email me at Callie@FairyGodmothertravel.com

 

What Rides Should I Fast Pass?

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Disney World,Fl

Fast pass is system in place at Walt Disney World (WDW) Resort that allows guests to make reservations for popular rides, shows and character greetings.  One of the most common questions I get asked as a travel agent is what rides should I fast pass? This is a great question because not all rides require or need a fast pass. Since fast pass is a way to utilize your time in the park knowing which rides to fast pass can help you save time and frustration. Want to know and understand fast pass better? Click here to see a more detailed post.

(that’s us on the Riverboat-clearly every one is super thrilled…)

It’s important to know what rides are fast pass eligible. It’s also important to understand the layout of the park while planning. You can do this through your My Disney Experience App-available for free download on both apple and samsung gadgets. Understanding the park layout will allow you to sign up for fast pass selections in close proximity so you’re not trekking from one end of the park to another to get to your next fast pass selection. You want to fast pass rides that have an hour or more stand by wait line as well as shows to get reserved seating. If you have a Fairy Godmother like me you simply ask and poof these plans show up in your My Disney Experience with a little magic from yours truly.

(The year we rode Small World 7 times…They should have just let us stay on the boat. Yes she’s wearing a Small World short #superfan)

My top picks for what to fast pass at each park-

Magic Kingdom-

Seven Dwarves Mine Train

Splash Mountain

Big Thunder Mountain

Space Mountain

Peter Pan’s Flight

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

Epcot-

Frozen Ever After (Tier 1)

Soarin’ (Tier 1)

Test Track (Tier 1)

Animal Kingdom-

Flight of Passage (Tier 1)

Na’Vi River Journey (Tier 1)

Expedition Everest

Kilimanjaro Safari

Hollywood Studios-

Slinky Dog Dash (Tier 1 )

Toy Story Mania

Rock n Roller Coaster

Tower of Terror

Millennium Falcon (Tier 1)

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (Tier 1 )

Tier 1 rides are listed as the most popular rides at WDW and as a result you can only book one Tier 1 level ride in your first three fast pass selections for the day. Once you have used up those three fast pass selections for the day you are able to book another Tier 1 level ride although the likelihood of availability will be low. I hope this helps! Need help? Simply message me on one of my social media platforms. You can easily find me here at Callie at Wanderkeep Travel on Facebook or email me at callie@wanderkeep.com and as always my services are complimentary!