>The Wait is How Long??

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I’ve seen them run out of Fast Pass (for the day) at Toy Story Midway Mania by 10:30 AM. Sometimes the lines for this ride are unbelievable. But waiting in the queue isn’t that bad. Check it out:

>The Unknown Magic of Walt Disney World Pixie Dust.

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I had a rough day yesterday. It was one of those days that I needed to strap in, because one thing went wrong then other things got piled on and by the afternoon, it was just horrible. We’ve all had these kinds of days. But as I headed home, I met my wonderful wife at the store to do some food shopping. I had our list of groceries, and I asked her if she had a pen, she handed me one out of her purse. It was a Walt Disney World Resorts Pen, that was obviously mistakenly taken when we were there. At seeing the pen I thought how I wished we were there. After we got home and ate, I sat down to work on a new article and checked on some correspondences. What happened next was really great. I was sent a little Pixie Dust from across the Atlantic. A friend from England said some really nice things about me and because of that, some more wonderful Disney People are now reading the website. It’s amazing what a few kind words can do. It got me thinking of all the great things that can happen to you when you are in Walt Disney world. So, today I present to you, the Unknown Magic of Walt Disney World Pixie Dust.

Wiktionary.com says that Pixie Dust is “dust purported to be passively produced by pixies. It is represented as being magical in quality and can grant certain abilities to those who can obtain and harness its power.” In Walt Disney World, there are so many people and things that can harness this power and end up granting Magical Experiences. A lot of times you don’t even have to look for the Magic, the Pixie Dust just happens to make things wonderful.

Sometimes it is as easy as looking at the sunset or sunrise, or looking up after a quick Florida rain shower. It can also be brought to you by just looking at the sky.

I took this picture of the sky above Epcot, during one of our trips.



Other times the Pixie Dust is brought to you by the Disney Imagineers, and the way they make the parks or parts of the parts look. For example, Cinderella Castle at night is amazing. And, the landscaping in Epcot is Magical.

Of course the biggest Pixie Dust suppliers are the Disney Cast Members. The great people that help you check in and enjoy your Resort stay, or the people that help you get around to the parks; these wonderful people not only make things great for you when you are in Walt Disney world, but they also help you before you get there, and even if you need help when you get home. On one of our trips many years ago, we actually lost a bag of shirts and other things we bought when we were out shopping in Downtown Disney. I called the front desk that day and told them what we had lost. A week later when we were home we got a package in the mail. It was the shirts and other things we had bought. They found it in the Disney Lost and found and shipped it to us.

Another great source of Pixie Dust is the other Disney World guests. When you are waiting in the queues or on a bus, boat or monorail, one of the best things you can do to pass the time is talk to the other people that are waiting with you. You never know who you are going to get to meet or what great things you are going to learn.

So, now you know, when you are in Walt Disney World, there are so many ways to Magical Experiences, because of the Pixie Dust that is all around. All you need to do to find it is look around the parks, talk to some new people and just enjoy.

>No Need to go Commando

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I don’t want to throw any of my regular readers off with today’s post, so I have to give some advanced warning. I think you can use today’s Unknown Magic with great success and I will be offering some tips to use this Disney service, that may border on being a Disney Commando*. But, I am not promoting nor do I encourage Disney Commandoism, as I believe you miss many of the Unknown Magics that Walt Disney World has to offer when you do rush through the parks and this goes against my whole philosophy of “Doing Disney”.

 For first time Disney visitors today’s Unknown Magic is one that will save you time and frustration, and also make for a Magical Experience for the family. Today’s Unknown Magic is the FASTPASS.

Disney FASTPASS is a service where you can use your park ticket, to basically cut in line. But it is much more civilized than it sounds. What Disney has done is set up a system at their busier attractions, which offers guests a chance to ride the attraction without waiting in the long lines. The way this system works is that you can go to the specific attraction and put your park ticket into a machine that will give you what is called a FASTPASS Ticket (a word of warning, please remember to get your park ticket back out of the machine after you get your FASTPASS Ticket). This FASTPASS Ticket will tell you what time to come back to this attraction. When you come back to the attraction, you don’t need to stand in the line, you go through the FASTPASS entrance and you walk right past all the people waiting in line for the ride. When you get to the front of the line, the Cast Member there will work your group into the front of the line, so that you will be given a seat as soon as possible. For little ones or for parents traveling with little ones (or teenagers), this is a Magical Experience.

As the Walt Disney World, Guest Services FASTPASS Service page states;

Currently, the following attractions offer Disney’s FASTPASS Service:

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park:

• Primeval Whirl

• Kilimanjaro Safaris

• DINOSAUR

• Kali River Rapids

• Expedition Everest

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park:

• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

• Toy Story Mania!

• Star Tours

• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Magic Kingdom Theme Park:

• Space Mountain

• Splash Mountain

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

• Jungle Cruise

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

• Peter Pan’s Flight

Epcot Theme Park:

• Mission: SPACE Pavilion

• Test Track

• Captain EO starring Michael Jackson

• Maelstrom

• Soarin’

At the Attractions where there is FASTPASS, the machine that provides the FASTPASS tickets has a sign above it, telling you what time the FASTPASS tickets will be able to be used. At the entrance to the Attraction there is also a sign telling you when FASTPASS tickets are being accepted. One other thing to know about the FASTPASS System is that you can only get a so many FASTPASSES in a certain amount of time. The next time you can get a FASTPASS is always printed on your FASTPASS ticket.

When we first used FASTPASS a few years ago, I felt bad that we were walking past families that had been standing in line for maybe an hour or two and they looked frazzled because of the wait. But now when we use FASTPASS, I don’t feel that bad, knowing that anyone can use it, and they chose not to. We actually enjoy using it very much. The last time we used FASTPASS, was this past summer when we were in Disney Hollywood Studios. We went to the park for the Extra Magic Morning Hour and upon entering made our way right to Toy Story Midway Mania; my wife says I was almost a Commando that morning, but I don’t recall it that way. Anyway when we

got there, we got FASTPASSES for later in the day and then got in the queue to enjoy the attraction. I highly recommend getting these particular FASTPASSES as early in the day as possible. The one day we were there this past summer, all the FASTPASSES for Toy Story Midway Mania were gone for the entire day by 10:15 in the morning.

Which brings me to three thoughts, one, when the FASTPASSES are gone, they are gone. They do not restock later in the day. Two, is to make sure you can use the FASTPASS before you get it. The signs above them tell you when you will need to come back to use them. Make sure you don’t have a dining reservation at the time you are to be back, or that you will still be in the park when you are to be back. The other thought is that if you decide to leave the park after you get the FASTPASS and cannot use it pass it on to some family that has just as many members as you. It is a nice way to share the Magic.

Years ago we were in Walt Disney World with my sister and her family and they were going to Epcot one morning, we tagged along. As the rope dropped, they sprinted off in the direction of Test Track to get their FASTPASS tickets and then they ran over to Soarin’ so that they could ride Soarin’ then run back and ride Test Track with the least amount of wait time. We met them at Soarin’ then walked back over and got in the Test Track line and still enjoyed both rides, but without that whole running thing in between.

A very good use of the FASTPASS system is in Frontierland, in the Magic Kingdom. Both Big Thunder Rail Road and Splash Mountain offer FASTPASS. I suggest getting FASTPASS for one, soon after the park opens (no I am not saying to run to the attractions- No Disney Commandoing here) and then riding the other. Here it just makes sense to use the FASTPASS System, because the attractions are so close and so popular. This is also the case with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight. They are both wildly popular attractions that get very busy, very early. Using the FASTPASS for one then standing in the queue for the other is a good idea, especially if you have little ones.

So, now you know, there are ways to beat the lines in Disney. To do it, you need to use the FASTPASS System, so you can create Magical Experiences for your family, by riding the attractions you want to ride, without going Commando.

*A Disney Commando is someone that runs from attraction to attraction or in some other way rushes through any of the Disney parks, trying to get as much done as Possible; thus missing the Details and Magical Experiences that can be had by enjoying the slower pace.