Disney World with a Toddler --- Planning ahead with the new MagicBands and FastPass+

Every now and then, I like to deviate from the "Fit Mom" aspect and just focus on the "Mom" part of who I am and what I like. :) I know there are probably hundreds of thousands of posts on the web about tips on travelling to Walt Disney World with a toddler. I just returned from a fabulous (but short) trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando with my family --- it was my husband and I with our 21 month old daughter, my parents, my mother-in-law, and my sister.

Planning a trip to Disney can be stressful if you don't know all the ins and outs. As a former Cast Member (I completed the Disney College Program there 10 years ago this May) and a frequent Disney traveler, I consider myself somewhat of a Disney expert. This trip was a double whammy for me though: it was my first time travelling with my daughter (though I had travelled there with my nephew several times, he's now 17 and I think I was too young at the time to realize everything that travelling with a small child entailed), plus I was planning the trip for my family travelling with us, AND learning all about the new MagicBands and Fastpass+. That being said, I wanted to share my thoughts and tips for those who may be looking for some insight on the new systems in place, as well as if you're travelling to the resort with a little one for the first time.

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Planning Ahead is KEY! If you're not aware, you can make your dining reservations 180 days out, and reserve your Fastpass+ experiences 60 days out. Take advantage of this! If you have a Smartphone and/or tablet, download the My Disney Experience apps on both. To be honest, I thought the My Disney Experience website itself was a little slow (particularly for dining reservations) but the apps seemed to move a lot quicker for me. You can always change things along the way, but if you suspect you might want to eat somewhere in particular or there's a must-see attraction (or must-see characters), book it ASAP to ensure you can get to it on your vacation.



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I initially wasn't a huge fan of the Fastpass+ system when I learned about the changes. Having now completed a trip, I think it's a wonderful concept. I was able to plan our rides each day strategically (the older folks travelling with us weren't all as physically capable of doing a lot of running around, so knowing where our next ride was going to be and at what time made things so much easier). A down side to this system: you cannot make any Fastpass changes on your app for the current day (which would make everyone's lives so much easier). You need to visit one of the kiosks in the parks where they will have a Cast Member assist you with changing times. After you've used your 3 Fastpasses, they will allow you to add another (only one at a time though), but you do need to wait at the Fastpass+ Kiosk to do so. And just like the old system, the most popular attractions may not be available as it gets later in the day. So plan your Fastpasses strategically! It sounds like such a small amount of Fastpasses (to only start with 3) but when I think back to how many Fastpasses I really ever used in one day in the past, I can't imagine that it was ever more than 3 since you could only get them one day at a time, so the fact that you can get 3 to start with, pick the times you would like and potentially get more after you've used the first three really is wonderful --- so try to think of it that way. Hopefully Disney will figure out a way to allow you to reserve Fastpasses in more than one park each day since you can currently only reserve the first 3 Fastpasses daily in one park. We started one day at Disney's Hollywood Studios and then went to Epcot in the evening. We arrived around at Epcot at 4pm but the Fastpasses for Soarin' and Test Track were already gone (I even tried to split the group up into pairs and that still didn't help).

My biggest tip to making the most of your time in the parks while utilizing the Fastpass+ system: Get to the park EARLY, but don't plan your Fastpasses for first thing in the morning. One of our days in the Magic Kingdom, the park opened at 9am, and I would say it was about 9:30am when we made it into the park. We ventured to Tomorrowland, walked right onto Buzz Lightyear and the Peoplemover, we had a 10 minute wait for Space Mountain, a 5 minute wait for the Tomorrowland Speedway, and still made it to Adventureland to ride the Magic Carpets (which was our first Fastpass of the day --- it was scheduled for 10:45am-11:45am, and we made it there around 11:30am, then headed over to Pirates for our 11:50am-12:50pm Fastpass). I wish I had thought to do this on the previous days we had been in the parks because it really helped us get on more rides in less time while utilizing our Fastpasses, which helped to make sure my daughter got her midday nap so we all were happy!

Speaking of making the most of your time... do not forget to utilize the My Disney Experience app to also see the current wait times!! It will tell you what the shortest wait times are, which rides are nearest to your current location, as well as if any rides are currently closed (whether it's for refurbishment or if it's temporarily down). You can see park maps, find whatever you're looking for, check out different restaurants (and their menus)... it's a great app for before AND during your visit! If you are travelling with children who have characters that they absolutely MUST see, I cannot stress this enough: you might want to consider using a Fastpass for this. I was astonished to see the wait time for the Frozen characters in Fantasyland were 150 minutes one day I was in the Magic Kingdom, and 180 minutes another day! If you don't want to use a Fastpass for this, I advise getting there as soon as the park opens to minimize your wait time.

Another way you can make the most of your time (if you don't mind spending a little more money): Character Dining. My daughter loves Disney Junior, so breakfast at Hollywood & Vine at Disney's Hollywood Studios followed by the Disney Junior Live on Stage show were absolute must-dos for us. The lines for the characters outside of the show looked a little on the long side (at least they looked long for a toddler that you knew wouldn't be patient waiting in line). I was a little nervous about this breakfast since I had read some not so spectacular reviews about the food, but I must say, it was awesome! If you plan to attend this breakfast (or any for that matter), try to book the 8am time slot so you're in the restaurant before it fills up. We were the first family of the day (so cool!) so we had some extra time with the characters, which truly made for a magical experience for my daughter. She got to meet Sofia, Jake, Doc and Manny right when we walked in and then they came right over to our table before we even hit the buffet. Our server told us that the best times to book character dining is right when they open (so for this restaurant, it was 8am), or the very last time slot they serve that meal at --- since the restaurant will be emptying out, it allows for more quality time with the characters. I am going to be honest: If you're looking for a really fancy breakfast, this isn't the place for you... the foods here are fairly basic, but there's lots of options and it's all delicious --- remember, they're catering to families with small children since it's a Disney Junior breakfast! I will say, the French toast was amazing (not your normal French toast, it was almost like a beignet with cinnamon and sugar on top), and they do have an omelet station as well as some desserts (if I recall, there was an apple crumb as well as bread pudding... plus ice cream). If you want something fancier, breakfast at a deluxe resort may be the way to go for you.

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Another character breakfast I've got to recommend if you're pressed for time and want to meet some popular characters: Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort. This is a great way to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all in one place. The food was great and the characters are awesome as always (though it did feel a little more rushed than Hollywood & Vine, however, I think the only reason it felt less rushed there was because we were in there before the dining room filled up). Chef Mickey's is tough to book if you miss the 180 day advance booking opportunity. I did book it 180 days out but wanted an earlier time (not easy with a party of 7!) I tried to reserve an earlier time EVERY day, and finally got an earlier time the day before our reservation when people started to cancel. So don't give up --- and I cannot stress enough, make sure you have that app on your phone!!

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Take advantage of the online check-in on the My Disney Experience website. You are able to "check-in" online 60 days prior to your arrival date --- if I remember correctly, they ask for your estimated arrival time, they ask for your credit card info... and I think that's basically it! When I arrived to check-in, they literally handed me a packet of info that was already prepared for us, showed me where our room was on the map, and explained that the way to activate the MagicBands was for each person to use it to unlock their room. So easy - I think I was at the check-in counter for all of 60 seconds! The MagicBands really did make everything so much easier. I didn't need to worry about walking out of the room without a key, grabbing the key (or cash) to buy anything, fumbling with tickets at the gate of the parks. It was a wonderful overall experience.

A side note... we stayed at the Art of Animation Resort in a Lion King Suite. The resort was amazing --- the grounds of the resort are similar to the other value resorts, if you're familiar with the All-Stars and Pop Century). Since my husband, daughter and I had my mother-in-law with us, the suite setup was perfect for us. There were two full bathrooms and plenty of space. The fridge in the room made it easy to have some snacks readily available for my daughter (there was also a microwave though we didn't use it). I would absolutely recommend staying at this resort!! There's room to sleep 6 (or 7 if you have an infant/toddler in a pack and play). The suites are all interior halls unlike the other value resorts where the rooms opens up to the outside. I think this helped minimize outside noise. As usual, Disney paid attention to all the fine details of the resort, and I loved that there was a bridge across the lake to Pop Century so we could walk around and utilize both food courts. The food court had delicious food (we had breakfast and lunch there a couple days). We even experienced a surprise visit from some characters in the main building one day --- something I'd never seen before that they apparently do at the spur of the moment from time to time. I think it's wonderful that Disney started to do this and hope it becomes something they can schedule in advance to make it easier to see some of the characters (it was Mickey, Goofy, Chip & Dale). A feature I loved about this resort is that the buses are exclusive for this resort --- they don't stop at any other resort. I'm not sure if the All-Stars still stop at all three resorts since it's been awhile since I've stayed there but last time I was there, there were multiple stops).

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One last thought: Disney's Memory Maker. Remember the PhotoPass cards they gave you when you had pictures taken in the parks by the pros? They now allow you the opportunity to purchase the rights to ALL of your pictures in advance. If you purchase your Memory Maker at least 3 days prior to its first use (it was $149 for advance purchase - regularly $199), you can link it to your MagicBands and you will be at ease knowing that any pictures taken of you in the parks (including most rides and character experiences!) will all be saved and YOURS to share or print however you so choose. We only spent two and a half days in the parks but managed to get nearly 50 pictures taken and I love that I can post them online and get them printed at home. I can add them to a photo book I make online. I can create any photo project I want (I love Shutterfly) with these pictures. It's a little on the pricey side, but if you were to consider how much you spend on only one print, it seemed worth it to me to splurge on this, and I'm so glad we did.

I hope you've found this to be helpful --- if I can answer any questions, I'm happy to do so, just leave a comment below! :)