We did one day at Magic Kingdom and one day at Hollywood Studios. HS has all the Pixar characters, Disney channel, Disney JR., etc. It was by far the better of the two days for us.

Chef Mickey's is a TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY!!! Terrible food for the cost.

One benefit of being able to pre-book is that you are less likely to run out of FP+ options. If you wait until day-of to book your FP+, some attractions will be stand-by only.

The new Fast Pass system, FP+, is available to all guests (and the old version is completely gone), but only Disney resort guests can pre-book their FP+. Off-site guests - as of right now, this could change - can only book FP+ once they are in the park that day. Right now there is no difference in how many (3) FP+ off-site and Disney resort guests get, but those who can prebook probably have better chances of getting exactly what they want at the times they want.

Keep looking for character meals if you want one. Not *everything* is booked at the 180-day mark. There will be cancellations as you get closer to the dates.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thank you for the advice. It sounds like MK both days is the top choice, but keep a backup park in mind if we feel like we did enough MK the first day.

Are fast passes only available if you stay at a WDW hotel? We missed the 180 day cutoff for the best character meals at MK. Is it still okay if we don't have reservations somewhere?

Fastpasses are available to anyone with a ticket.

If you want a character meal, go to Cape May Cafe or Chef Mickey's. Both are outside the park, but are pretty mellow and laid back. I prefer Cape May, but Mickey isn't there. Or go to Epcot on the second day and get a reservation for a character meal at Garden Grill.

I would go to a park other than MK on the second day. MK is my kids' least favorite park. It's all very close together and frantic. They get a little overwhelmed.

OP again, also we have our hotel/pool days scheduled for our travel days so have two full days free for the parks.

OP here - thank you for the advice. It sounds like MK both days is the top choice, but keep a backup park in mind if we feel like we did enough MK the first day.

Are fast passes only available if you stay at a WDW hotel? We missed the 180 day cutoff for the best character meals at MK. Is it still okay if we don't have reservations somewhere?

Thanks. I think I might cancel Expedia and just go with Disney directly. and maybe I'll step up to a better resort.

If Expedia is anything like Orbitz, they won't send you any info, you'll need to do the legwork yourself. You need to find your Disney confirmation number (not the Expedia one - I know Orbitz makes the "hotel confirmation number" obvious, but with some third-party sites you have to call to get the number) and then log in to Disney's "My Disney Experience" site and link the reservation to your account. Then you need to link your park admission - you have to have tickets linked to your account before you can book any of the new-system Fast Pass+.

I love Animal Kingdom but tend to think it is optimal for 8-11 year olds. We usually do a park one day and a second day at the resort by the pool.

16:58 PP. I think it only applies if you stay at WDW Resort.

Anonymous wrote:You can check in and use fast pass on same day. Fast pass (now magic bands) is linked to tickets and hotel reservations. I just booked a trip and fast passed 3 rides late in the afternoon on our arrival day at WDW resort.

ok, how does that work? I booked on Expedia for one of the crappy budget hotels (music or sports) solely because of fast pass. #1, do the crappy hotels get the same benefits? #2, when will Expedia send me the info if true?

You can check in and use fast pass on same day. Fast pass (now magic bands) is linked to tickets and hotel reservations. I just booked a trip and fast passed 3 rides late in the afternoon on our arrival day at WDW resort.

if you check into your hotel at check-in time, how can you take advantage of the fast-pass that same day? I'm guessing you cannot?