>“What’s Your Problem?” *

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One of the Reasons I started this blog, was because I get excited about the little details in Walt Disney World, The Unknown Magics that you find when you aren’t looking, but just taking your time and relaxing at the Happiest Place on Earth. They can be at the Resorts, at the Parks, or when traveling around Walt Disney World. Some of our families most Magical Experiences are things we happened upon. As I have stated over and over, we are not Disney Commandos. We take our time, we stroll, we relax, and we take breaks. That isn’t to say we don’t do the extra morning hours, or haven’t been at a rope drop, we do, those things. And actually that is how we found today’s Unknown Magic.

We did an Extra Morning Hour at Disney Hollywood Studios, when we were there last summer. It was nice as usual to get into the park before the crowds, and we made our way to Toy Story Mania. We got a FastPass (because the day before FastPass was empty for the attraction by 10:15 am), we figured we’d go on it when we were there and then go back later. So, we took our ride then had 2 hours to do something with before our FastPass time. We decided to stroll through the shops on

Hollywood Boulevard. After shopping for a while, we decided to head to over to Epcot. For those of you that don’t know, From Disney Hollywood Studios, you can get to Epcot by getting on one of the boats called Friendship Launches that are stationed on Crescent Lake.

When we got to Epcot, Future World was open, so we went there. We decided to go into Innovations West, which we don’t always do and probably haven’t done in about three years. We walked through looking at different presentations and games and then

happened upon, Slap Stick Studios, presented by the Velcro Company. The show they present here is called “What’s Your Problem?” it’s billed as an Interactive Game Show. This peaked our interest, so in we went, (mainly because they were letting people into the show as we walked up). I am so, glad we went in. This Show gave us a Magical Experience that we still are talking about. So today, I present to you The Unknown Magic of “What’s Your Problem?”

When you first enter the “studio” there is a small stage to your left and bench seating to the right. When we went there may have been 20 people watching this show, but that would be a kind estimate. There are two hosts for the show, the one let’s you into the studio and then the other joins him on stage. They started the show by talking to the audience (since we are the kind of people to talk back, they liked us, right from the beginning). They start off by giving you a history of hook and loop fasteners, what we commonly refer to as Velcro. They do let you know repeatedly throughout the show that what you call Velcro is actually hook and loop fasteners, not Velcro, as Velcro is the name of the Company. They also tell you that the name Velcro comes from the French Words, “velour” and “crochet”, put together to become Velcro.

Then they start the Game show. At our show, they called three kids up first to play. Then they had the kids get their parents up to help them. The game they played was about traveling by plane to Florida and not taking a second bag, because they charge for them. It was funny to see the kids pack all their things, with the help of hook and loop fasteners, on their parents.

The next game that was played, I was called up onto stage. They had me and another gentleman come up and put on aprons that had the loop part of hook and loop on it. Then they rolled out a cart of baby dolls. Our job was to diaper the baby dolls using diapers with the hook side of the hook and loop and then stick the babies to our aprons. We were given 60 second I think, it was hysterical. The diapering part wasn’t bad, but the babies wouldn’t stick to my apron. I think I lost 4 to the floor. My wife and son laughed the entire time as they enjoyed our Magical Experience.

The show ended soon after and the as the crowd dispersed we talked a little to the hosts. They made the show fun, and even if I wasn’t on stage I know we would have enjoyed it.

So, now you know, take the time to stop in Innovations West and find the Unknown Magic of “What’s Your Problem?”

To see more about this neat show you can go to: http://www.slapstickstudios.com/

* I loved this attraction and was discussing it over the weekend with someone. I decided to repost this article since few people know about this Unknown Magical Attraction. This article originally appeared as I was Loopy.

>The Bigger the Better

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Most of the nine of us

 Our first trip to Walt Disney World as a Family was in 2005. I wrote about it in an article I wrote for Growing Up Disney called The Best Thing I’ve Ever Seen at a Disney Park. Since then we have been down many times. One of our trips in 2007 was with my family, a group of nine; three kids and six adults. This past summer we went with friends and it was a group of seven; two teenagers, four adults and a baby. It is different travelling with others, but it is also different when you travel with larger groups. When you travel anywhere with a larger group there is always a worry about where to go, what to do and how to get there. When you are in Walt Disney World, it seems that these worries are lessened. Disney makes it easy to travel with a larger group. So, I offer for you today, The Unknown Magic of taking a large group to Disney.

Usually the first thing you have to worry about if you are travelling with a group of 4 or more is accommodations. Disney makes it easier on families of more than four. They have the Deluxe Villas, which are the Disney Vacation Club Villas, which come in different sizes, but with a two bedroom suite, you can comfortably have 5 adults staying in a room, without a roll-away bed, which you may get in some places. They also offer at the ALL-Star Music Resort a “family suite” that six can stay in. This is a wonderful thing, because the ALL-Star resort is one of their ‘value” resorts and the price is a little lower.

Next thing you may worry about when you are travelling with a larger group is where to eat. Going out with a family of three or four is nice, when you are on vacation, because this is the normal group size that most restaurants are expecting. Even a party of six isn’t usually a problem. When you get towards eight, it starts getting into pushing table together territory. This is always awkward. Where is everyone going to sit, who gets to sit next to the baby, why do we have to sit so far away from each other, it’s a pain. In Walt Disney World, it doesn’t seem to be a problem. And they never seem to have just pushed a table together for you. They always seem ready for a larger group and are happy to accommodate. Some of the best places for a large party are their

dinner shows. The Hoop-De Doo Revue and the Spirit of Aloha Luau are really set up for parties larger than four. They serve the food Family Style and the tables are larger tables (mainly to hold all the food!) The dinner shows are actually more fun and can be more of a Magical Experience when you have more people with you.

With a larger travelling party, getting around wherever you are is sometimes a challenge. I still recommend driving in Disney, but when we were down this past summer we made the busses and boats work. Even with seven of us, a stroller and the baby, we really didn’t have any problems on the Buses or the monorail. We kept the group together and were able to talk to one another. Once again it is because Disney makes group travel easy. With a larger group, if you do have a van or even two cars, getting around in Walt Disney World is even easier. Not having to wait for busses with a kid is always a plus, but if there are three of them, as we had a few years ago, then it is even better when you don’t have to wait. Disney also makes it easy for you to travel by car if you want to keep your group moving and together, by allowing you to park for free at the parks and resorts if you are staying on Disney Property.

The only problem you may have when travelling with a larger group is who gets to sit next to whom on the attractions. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Toy Story Midway Mania are two of the attractions where this could be a problem. The reason is that these are competitive, interactive rides. When we were down this past year, we actually had a great time on the Space Ranger Spin, because we used the extra Magic Hour and we were able to go through the ride six times, changing partners each time, so that everyone got a chance to play against each other. It was a very fun time. And once again, it was because of something that Disney does to make this able to happen. The extra Magic Hour helps groups to enjoy the parks, as you can move through the parks easier when there are less people in the Parks. Another way they make it easy to re-do an attraction is with FASTPASS (which I have talked about in “No Need to go Commando”) When you are able to re-do an attraction, this makes it easy to ride with someone else in your party also.

So, now you know, travelling with a large party in Disney is easy. The accommodations they offer for bigger families are great and eating with a group isn’t a problem either. Other worries you might have about taking a large group to Walt Disney World should be pushed aside also, as Disney takes care of everything from getting you where you want to go to making it easy for you to enjoy yourself with your family. So get the whole family together and go enjoy a Magical Experience in the Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney World.

>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.