Before we look forward into this new year, let’s look back at the most read Disney posts of 2014-just in case you missed any of them. Please feel free to share any of these posts on your social media channels so that others can enjoy them too.

#5 You can Have a Frozen Summer at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Photo courtesy of Disney-David Roark, photographer

#4 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2014

Photo courtesy of Disney

#3 A Visit to Frozen Summer Fun Part 1

This post was also my “most shared on social media” Disney post of 2014!

#2 Using the Aurasma App at Disney’s Frozen Summer Fun

#1 The Current Major Complaint about Fastpass+ at Walt Disney World

The post Top 5 Disney Posts of 2014 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

**This tutorial assumes you are booking a Walt Disney World Vacation package and that you are staying in a Walt Disney World Hotel**

When you book your Walt Disney World vacation you get to choose which of  seven colors to choose from: pink, blue, green, red, gray, orange or yellow. MagicBands can be personalized with the family member’s name etched inside. The MagicBands arrive at your home in advance of your magical vacation! The MagicBand serves as park admission, access to FastPass+ experiences and Disney PhotoPass photo association, all rolled into one, it also serves as a room key and optional payment method.

If you have a smartphone, download the MyDisneyExperience app from your phone’s app store, it’s free! You will use this app during your vacation to keep track of your Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs), FastPasses, view menus, read ride info and much more.

Six weeks prior to your vacation, you can make your initial FastPass+ reservations for each day of your trip. To do this you need to know what park you plan to be in each day and which attractions are important for your family. You can use either the MyDisneyExperience website or app to make your selections.

• Choose which park and which date you want to schedule FastPass+ for.
• You can choose 3 attractions per day, in the same park in advance of your trip.
• Once you have clicked on the three attractions you want you are offered 3-4 different schedules to choose from. When choosing, make sure you are not overlapping with any ADRs or parade times (if you plan on watching a parade that day). Choose the schedule that works best for you.
• Your FastPasses now appear in your “plans” on the app.
• Repeat this process for each day of your vacation and you are ready to go!

Tips to Remember

• You can change or cancel FastPasses on your app at any time-please cancel any FastPasses that you aren’t going to use so that a slot will open for another guest
• If you are walking by an attraction that you have a FastPass for and the stand-by wait time is short, ride the ride and then go to a FP+ kiosk and get a different FastPass!
• Once you use your initial 3 FastPasses you can go to a FP+ kiosk in that park, or a different park and get another FastPass

Maybe you aren’t the plan ahead type of person and you are thinking you’ll just wing it and get Fastpasses at the kiosks…don’t. The lines are long and some attractions won’t have any FastPasses available.

FastPass+ Kiosk line in Tomorrowland

If you really don’t want to deal with all of this then just let me do it for you! I am a Disney Travel Planner and my services are FREE to you. Just fill out my travel quote form and we will get started.

The post How To Use FastPass+ at Walt Disney World appeared first on The Mom Maven.

In case you haven’t read my initial post my main concerns were…

• Guests not staying on property couldn’t get MagicBands
• Difficult to coordinate FastPass+ times with other guests
• FastPass+ times not showing up on the My Disney Experience App if you don’t have a MagicBand
• Only 3 FastPasses a day
• No park hopping with FastPasses

FastPass+ Changes since I wrote my January Post

MagicBands for Everyone…for a price

1. Annual and Seasonal Passholders were finally able to order their MagicBands in March-if they hadn’t already received them by staying on property. We received ours in time for our trip to Walt Disney World for Type-A WDW and hopefully, my thoughts on using them for a weekend will be next week’s post.
2. At the end of March Disney started selling Magic Bands in several of their stores in each of the parks for guests not staying on property. The cost is $12.95. Once you purchase your MagicBand the Cast Member will link your theme park ticket to your band. If you had registered your ticket on the My Disney Experience app they will also transfer to your MagicBand. Off-site guests do not get the Touch-to-Pay feature of the MagicBands that on-site guests receive.

Coordinating FastPass+ is a Bit Easier

1. Now that we have our MagicBands and the My Disney Experience app is working for us full-force, we can coordinate our FastPass+ better. In the app you can link your family’s and your friend’s accounts together, allowing 1 person to make FastPass+ reservations for everyone. For example, on Wednesday I will be spending the day in Epcot with my adult son Aaron and our friend David from Pennsylvania who will be down on a week long vacation. We attached Aaron and David’s account to mine via email and I was able to make the FastPass+ reservations for all of us!

FastPass+ Changes Beginning April 28, 2014

On 4/24/14, Tom Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, announced on the Disney Parks Blog:

So starting Monday, after guests have used their first three FastPass+ selections, they will be able to select another one at one of the kiosks located in each of our WDW parks. When they’ve used that one, they’ll be able to select another, and so on, ultimately providing guests with even more ways to customize their Walt Disney World Vacation. Guests will also be able to select and use their additional FastPass+ entitlements when they hop from park to park.

These new changes will allow some park hopping and it will allow you to get additional FastPass+ once you have used your original three for the day.

I am excited to see how Disney will continue to grow with the MagicBands and the FastPass+ system. I appreciate the fact that they have rolled out this industry changing system in steps so that they could review and tweak the system as they go along.

Have you used the FastPass+ system yet? What are your thoughts about it?

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