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Pre-trip report – part eleven: seeing what Fastpass+ we can get….

Monday 22 December

So today was the big day – the day to book both our seats on our outgoing flight, and to try for some Fastpass+ for the first time ever. So how did it go? Well, remarkably well on both counts.

I logged into the Virgin Atlantic website, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could book our seats straightaway, as last time around, I had terrible problems, and wasn’t quite clear what time bookings opened – whether it was at midnight or exactly 60 days out from our flight time – i.e. late morning. There were no such issues this time, and I snagged the two seats by the window that we like (as opposed to the four in the middle), so that was one thing sorted.

I then went to try and see what Fastpass+ we could get. I was very surprised to see that a meet with Anna and Elsa was possible, so I selected that, along with the Seven Dwarves Mine Train (in truth, that was one I really wanted ) and the Festival of Fantasy parade. So far, so good. When the options came up, there were no meets with Anna and Elsa any earlier than 6:20pm, and that didn’t work with our plans for the day, but you know what? It really didn’t matter – I felt sort of vindicated that I knew I could’ve got those prized Fastpass+ had I really wanted to move our plans around.

I substituted that for Pirates of the Caribbean in the end, as we’re not thrill riders, and it was a toss-up between that, the Haunted Mansion and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Given we’ll be jetlagged and no doubt up sickeningly early that day, I figure we’ll be at the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours that start at 8:00am, and we can hopefully do Winnie the Pooh then, so it was just a toss-up between Pirates and the Haunted Mansion, and I figured there wasn’t much between them in terms of wait, so I just picked one. All very simple!

I did look at whether it was worth getting any further Fastpasses, but to be honest, it wasn’t. The next day we’d be at Universal, then Citrico’s for dinner, and on the Monday, we head out on our cruise. We’ve got a late breakfast booked at ‘Ohana, and I have thought about moving that around a bit and maybe going to the Magic Kingdom, but there were no morning Fastpass+ selections available for Anna and Elsa (the earliest time was again 6:20pm), so I couldn’t see the point. I figure we’ll have a bit of a leisurely morning, and do whatever we fancy before we head off to Port Canaveral…

Now just after I finished writing that, I did wonder why on earth I’d decided to book ‘Ohana for breakfast at 10:00am the day we depart on our cruise on the Dream. I suspect my thinking was that we’d eat breakfast and head straight out, except we’d now gone for a boarding time of 1:15pm – 1:30pm, so we wouldn’t need to leave until nearly midday. That meant our morning was pretty much taken up by breakfast, which wasn’t the most sensible thing. Instead, I decided to see whether there were any other times available for ‘Ohana, and we had a choice of 9:30am, which wouldn’t help much, or 8:05am, so we opted for that.

That meant I could now make some Fastpass selections, and I was able to snag another one for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train so I hope we like it the first time around! Then we’ve got one for the Haunted Mansion, and finally one to meet Mickey. It’s at 11:30am, which might be cutting it a bit fine, so we’ll see how we feel. After all, we will have seen Mickey at ‘Ohana that morning.

Monday 29 December

For some reason, I had it in my head that I could make more Fastpass+ bookings tomorrow morning, but I figured I’d just go online and double check with the PS Calculator, and it spat out today’s date at me. Ok then… We’re in Glasgow tonight, and luckily I’m up to date with the trip report, so I had the time to go through and do everything.

First off, I thought I’d double check to see whether or not you could make Fastpass+ bookings for Extra Magic Hours in the evening. I’d assumed you couldn’t and that assumption was correct, so that was a couple of days out of the reckoning, as we’re off property during the day, but may go into one of the parks for Extra Magic Hours later, depending on how we’re feeling.

The next day that brought me to was Sunday 1 March, when we’d be at Animal Kingdom, and I had no issue getting what I wanted, which was the Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, and Finding Nemo – the Musical, although I was surprised by how close the Disney website would cut it to our dining times, something I’d experience a lot during this booking process. I don’t remember it doing that before.

I got a Fastpass+ for IllumiNations a couple of nights later, as I wanted to give it a go, and this was another day of non-Disney parks. I wasn’t happy that I still had to book two others, but that seems to be how the system works. There does seem to be an option to cancel, so maybe I’ll ask on the boards whether that applies to all three, or whether now you can just cancel two of the ones you’ve made…

For our day at the Studios, I snagged Fastpass+ bookings for Toy Story Midway Mania (the biggie! ) and then Indiana Jones (I really don’t remember the last time I watched this ) and MuppetVision 3D.

The next day, we’re in Epcot, and you’ll see a pattern over these last three days about the amount of time we spend there. This day, I went for Soarin’, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Spaceship Earth. For the next day, I got Test Track, the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and meeting Mickey and friends. On the third day in Epcot, the choices are Test Track, Spaceship Earth and Turtle Talk with Crush.

I have to say the tiered system is a bit of a pain, as there isn’t that much we want to do under the second tier, so you end up repeating things or getting Fastpass+ for the sheer sake of it, which is a shame. I think it’s a great system, don’t get me wrong, but somehow I thought that just about everything would be included by now, and when you look at all the attractions in each park, there are still a lot with no facility for Fastpass+. I appreciate they probably don’t have much of a line at any time, but at least then we’d get ones we’d be more inclined to use, if that makes any sense?

Tuesday 30 December

I saw photos of the new lobby of the Polynesian for the first time today, and I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it. I really thought, when I heard what Disney were planning, I’d absolutely hate the new look, as I loved the huge waterfall, but it looks really clean, crisp and modern to me, without losing the general Polynesian feel. I think Disney have done a great job on it, and I can’t wait to see it for myself in just a matter of weeks!

Wednesday 31 December

Ok, it’s time for the 50 day dance! I know from here on in, the time is going to fly by now, and we’ll be there before we know it!

I was having a quick browse on the boards before we headed out for our Hogmanay dinner with Hazel and her family, and I came across mention of some rumours that Disney may be adding breakfast to the line-up of meals at Be Our Guest. They were talking about a February/March timeframe for them to be introduced. Interesting, and definitely something I’d like to do if that rumour does come true. I’d happily drop one of our breakfasts to make way for that, if we can of course, as we all know what a hot ticket Be Our Guest currently is for dinner!

Thursday 1 January

Well, as of today, I can finally say we’re going back to Florida this year and, even better, I can say we’re going back next month!

I had a quick look at the movies Virgin Atlantic will have on next month, and there are a couple I like the look of, which is always a good starting point. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than getting on a nine and a half hour flight, and there’s nothing you fancy watching. It makes for a very slow flight…

Friday 2 January

I was really excited to find out this morning that Maci (xewhisper on the boards) has a solo trip booked for the first week in March, when we’re there! We sadly weren’t able to meet up with her when her travels brought her over to London in August, and I’ve been really keen to meet up with her, and now we have the perfect opportunity.

We private messaged each other, and by the evening, we had three meals lined up together, breakfast at Olivia’s Café, dinner at the Garden Grill and lunch at Teppan Edo.

Next: we were supposed to book those two days ago?