Episode 86 of The Disney Exchange - Worth the Wait

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The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave, and me, Nick.

This week we talk about what rides we feel are worth waiting for in the standby line at each of the parks at Walt Disney World and how much time we are willing to wait versus the actual ride length.

For instance, the wait times for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, a 2 and a half minute ride, can be over an hour on even a day with relatively low crowds.

For the ride length information, I used this list, but there are others readily available. There are even crowd level to wait time guides to be found on the internet, for instance: https://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/crowd-levels#

The Wheel of Distiny topic: If you had only one day at Epcot, which Tier 1 FastPass attraction would you choose, Soarin' or Frozen Ever After?

If you have a show suggestion or Wheel of Distiny topic, please let us know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  or email us at: info@thedisneyexchange  

And don't forget, we are having a giveaway on Episode 100, all you need to be entered is to ask for a listener number if you don't already have one!

Thanks for listening to The Disney Exchange Podcast!

The Disability Access Service Card at Walt Disney World

By: Jen Casteneda 

This May we took our annual trip to Walt Disney World.  

Like many families, we planned for months, made our reservations, changed our reservations, and sometimes even switched them back to the original reservation. 

After traveling to Disney for 13 years with 2 children with Autism, this was the one trip I was worried about most. 

Every trip we have been fortunate enough to be able to use the Guest Assistance Card, now known as the Disability Access Service card (DAS).  This card allowed our family to use the FastPass entrance without wait.  We have always taken our children’s medical documentation with us, even though Disney does not need or use it.  We last used this pass in September of 2013 knowing the “new” change was coming soon, due to a few bad apples.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom early in the morning and we wheeled our children up the ramp at City Hall.  Paperwork in hand, I waited patiently for my turn.  When my turn came, I explained our situation and the nice young lady asked if Max and Sadie were present.  By this time, everyone in the building knew Max and Sadie were present with their chortling and verbal squeals.

The Cast Member (CM) explained the new process and asked if I had any questions.  I had done my homework so I was feeling very prepared.  She then asked if they were ready to have their photos taken, and Sadie was first in line.

The new passes have the disabled guest’s photo on the front of the pass.
I was very happy to see this.  Each CM must view the disabled person by matching the photo to the person at the attraction the family is planning to ride.

As we made our way around the park, we didn't experience any wait times for the first 4 rides.  We were allowed to enter the FastPass line immediately.  When we arrived at Big Thunder Mountain we were given a wait time of 15 minutes.  I began to get a little nervous that Max and Sadie would not understand that we would have to leave and return in just a few short minutes.  We made our way to use the restrooms near Splash Mountain and slowly strolled back, just in time to enter the ride.  YEAH, no melt downs!

I was savvy enough to work our FastPass times around the time I knew we would be able to use our DAS card.  This enabled us to only have to visit this part of the park one time.  Max and Sadie do not enjoy the same rides all the time, so we were able to split up in groups. Downloading My Disney Experience was a true time saver for us.

We then made our way to Fantasyland. The longest wait time we were given was 40 minutes for Peter Pan, so we chose to skip this ride.  When we arrived at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, the CM asked if we wanted to keep out Peter Pan ride time as you are only allowed one open wait time on a card at a time.  We explained that the kids would not understand returning to that part of the park at a much later time, and that we would to like to ride this attraction instead. The CM crossed off Peter Pan and inserted the Mine Train with only a 20 minute wait.  The kids enjoyed a few snacks and watched others as they rode the new ride.

All in all, I was very pleased with the way our family adjusted to the new program. I recently heard that some of the return times are up to an hour now with the Summer crowds.

When is the Best Time to Ride Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom?

By: Nick

Okay, you're up early, and you are going to Disney's Animal Kingdom. What is the first thing you ride?

Many will head over to Asia and Expedition Everest. Many will head to Africa and get a Fastpass for Kilimanjaro Safaris, then race over to Everest. However here's a tip for you...those folks may be missing the best time of day to catch the animals at their most active. From what I've experienced early morning at Animal Kingdom is probably the best time to ride the Safari. There is an exception to this rule, however, and that is when it is very cold out, as it was last week. One morning we rode at rope drop, which was Extra Magic Hour, and at 8am. There were barely any animals out. We rode again about an hour and a half later, and it was much more active.

So what will you see on the safari?

You may see a giraffe eating breakfast.


An elephant drinking.


A cheetah stalking.

A warthogs wishing you good morning. (At least that's what I assumed it was doing.)



A Rhino, coming right at your vehicle! (It stopped, but it was a thrill!)


And you may even get to see the male lion actually standing, which is a rarity, since they sleep almost all day!



It's best to catch them at play just before the heat of the day makes most of the animals seek shade.

Another good time is just after a rain, when everything is cooled off for a little while. So if you're at Animal Kingdom when a pop-up Orlando shower hits, don't head back to the resort! Grab a snack and head towards Africa.

Portions of this article were originally posted on the Tips From the Disney Divas and Devos Blog, where Nick is a contributing writer.

Expedition Everest – Experience of a Life Time!

By: Shendl

On my last trip in 2004, a mountain was rising out of Asia in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I made a vow then and there, that I would ride Everest on my next trip!

Fast Forward to Sept 2013…

Our first day in Walt Disney World was in Animal Kingdom. I had preselected my FastPass Plus’s(we had Magic Bands), our chosen ones were Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur and Expedition Everest!

We started out with Breakfast at Tusker House, followed by a wet ride on Kali River Rapids and then we made our way towards Everest.

The walk up to the ride is very well themed (it is Disney, after all) and there is a lot to look at on the walk to the Entry to Everest. We touched our Magic Bands to gain entry at our chosen FastPass + Window.  Being September, the crowds were very low so there were not a lot of people in the queues and the standby lines were moving very quickly. With the FastPass we basically walked right on. We were loaded into our vehicles, stowed away our belongings and off we went.

The beginning of the ride is quite slow and you get to see lots of Animal Kingdom on the way up to Everest itself.

When you enter Everest is where the FUN begins.

I won’t reveal too much in case some of the readers haven’t ridden this yet.

I can tell you that there is a part in the dark where you are going backwards and you also go forwards down a curved track very fast!!

I enjoyed this ride but I must admit when I got off it, my heart was beating so fast!!

It is worth riding Expedition Everest, even if you only ever do it once. You can at least tick it off your Disney Bucket List!

Some TIPs for riding Everest:

    •    If you are a Pin Trader and are wearing your Lanyard, either take in off before the ride or tuck it into your clothes. The speed’s you are going can cause pins to come loose and you could possibly loose some.
    •    The hold compartments in the ride are not very large, only big enough for small items such as Caps, Sunglasses etc. Make sure you have your backpacks and handbags securely between your feet.
    •    The PhotoPass (now Memory Maker) Screens are right at the exit of the ride before you walk into the shop. Make sure to write down the number of photo before you head to the counter to have it added to your package or to purchase the print.
    •    You may experience Motion Sickness on this ride so make sure to take some motion sickness medicine before you ride.

AWESOME Ride – WORTH every second!!

My Magic Band Experience

Guest Writer Wednesday

My Magic Band Experience 
By: Jennifer Parra

My husband Diego and I have been Annual Passholders for over 6 years and visit Walt Disney World (WDW) almost monthly. Recently we decided to leave the children at home and experience WDW from the adult perspective.

We had originally booked at the All-Star Sports resort, but changed our reservations to POP Century resort about 3 weeks prior to our trip. Pop is currently one of the few resorts selected to test the new Magic Band which is part of the new My Magic Plus system that includes Fastpass plus (FP+). Magic Bands currently replace the traditional Keys to the World card which was the room key/ticket. The Magic Bands can be customized and personalized (they’ll even engrave your name in it). They also now have covers for sale for the band and even little pins you can place on them for decoration.

If your resort is selected you can go online and customize your bands via mydisneyexperience.com to customize for free. Many people were notified via email that they were participating in the test, but I found out one morning by checking my Disney experience account. I was surprised how many people didn’t know about My Disney Experience or about Magic Bands in general. If you did not customize your bands, you and your party will be issued grey bands at check-in.

The Magic Bands allow you to make FP+ selections prior to leaving for your trip. The selections can be made as early as two weeks before your trip or even the day of. You are allowed to make three FP+ selections in one park per day. Three FP+ per day doesn’t seem like a lot to an avid WDW traveler like myself; I can rack up 7-8 paper fastpasses per day with proper planning. During testing phase, you will be issued a RFID card as a back up and that can be placed in the traditional fastpass machine for more fastpasses. A little way to add a little more Disney magic! I am unsure how this will change, as Disney does plan on phasing out the old system at some point. I sure do hope that they allow you to make more than 3 selections or have an option to have a park hopping option. My favorite part  of being able to preselect my FP+ was I was able to sleep in a little later and not need to be at a park for rope drop (when the park opens to public) to get fastpass for rides like Toy Story Mania or Soarin.

In order to make FP+ selections, you must have a valid theme park ticket linked to your account. I ran into my first glitch then, trying to link my renewed annual pass (which hadn’t been activated yet) to my account. It took over 3 hours on hold with Disney IT on 3 separate occasions to have them try and sort it out. Finally, I learned I needed to go to Guest Relations at any theme park to resolve the issue. I was very bummed about that response because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to get the selections to the attractions I wanted. I was assured by multiple cast members not to worry that I shouldn’t have that problem even if I decide to wait till the day of to make my selections. So I left it to a little bit of faith, trust, and pixie dust.

We checked in late on a Friday night. I had customized our bands and they were mailed to my house ahead of time. I brought them in with me to check-in at the front desk. If you hadn’t customized them, don’t fret, they’ll provide you with the simple grey ones at check-in and provide you with full instructions on how to use them. With a quick magical swipe, our bands were activated and we were off to our room. We never had an issue with the band not working to open the door or get “demagnetized” as I have heard was an issue for others. We made plans to head to Hollywood Studios (HS) the next morning and went to sleep. We arrived at HS the next morning at about 9:00am to activate my annual pass. We learned that by linking my annual pass to my account, we would be able to use our magic bands to enter the park.

We entered the park with our RFID card and iPad in hand ready to link it all together. Linking our tickets was quick and easy and now I was ready to make my FP+ selections.

Sitting on the park bench in HS, we decided we would make our FP+ selections for Epcot that night since we had dining reservations there. Nervously, I picked 3 attractions available at Epcot, unfortunately one of the attractions I wanted I was unable to select, which was Test Track. When you make your original selections it gives you 4 options of varying times for your FP+ from morning, afternoon, and evening. If you don’t like what is offered to you, don’t worry; we learned you can easily modify them. We reserved FP+ for Soarin, Mission Space, and Character Spot. After an hour we went to modify the times and to my surprise Test Track was now available so we swapped it out with Character Spot.

We also decided to go ahead book our following evening at Magic Kingdom (MK) and we were surprised we received a bonus FP+ for Under the Sea with Ariel.

 

Our original FP+ selection at MK included Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion. Before heading out to MK, we made modifications for the night and swapped out Haunted Mansion for Enchanted Tales with Belle, which normally has a 40-50 minute standby wait time.

The modifications are easy to do and can be done online through the mobile app, and WDW also has kiosks and iPad stations to assist those who want to modify. WDW resorts and parks offer free Wifi which makes using the application on mobile devices easier.

I only have two things I could complain about of the Magic Band trial. My first complaint is over a glitch when a ride you have selected goes down. The first night we tested, Test Track became temporarily unavailable due to lightening in the area. The app removed the FP+ from my account. After talking to the cast member who attended to the My Magic Plus service center, we were notified via email. Who checks their email on vacation? I don’t. The app should have some sort of push notification to advise you that you can either use your FP+ at any location it is available or wait and use it later if the attraction goes back up. Luckily for us, Test track was up and running 15 minutes later and we used our original FP+, crisis adverted!!

My second complaint is more personal, but I couldn’t stand how the band felt on me! My husband wore his the whole time (slept with it and even went with it into the pool) and had no complaints. Day one I used it both lose and tight on my right hand and it thought it was sweaty and sticky. I did better on the second day when I wore it next to my watch on my left hand snug.

Keep in mind Magic Bands are still in testing mode. There are glitches in the system and need to be ironed out prior to My Magic Plus going live. As the program does go live, changes will occur to the program and also the existing paper fastpass machines. This is just my experience with it and the information I provided can change at a moment’s notice.