Internet at 30,000 feet
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In the air
We barely got any sleep last night – Maybe 3 or 4 hours. Left Hamilton at 4:16am. Crossed border about 5am. Got to airport about 5:40am. Finished security by 6:30am, had breakfast. Take-off about 8:16 am.
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Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
Received a very unwelcome phone call from Disney yesterday telling us that the 4:00pm Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue dinner show was cancelled on Sep 9. They wanted us to change to a later show but that would mean missing our only chance to see Fantasmic and cut way too much into our already very short time at Hollywood Studios. Basically ½ of the plan that I had been working on since we decided to go to Disney World last February had to be scrapped.
The new plan is pretty interesting. We actually now have time to go to Animal Kingdom but have no time for a nap on Monday. We are now going to see Hoop-Dee-Doo on Thursday, our Magic Kingdom day. That will make transportation a little quicker although we will probably miss the 3pm parade.
The hardest part was trying to find Dining Reservations this close to our trip. My original choices I had booked since March!
Although Animal Kingdom is our least favourite park it will be nice to go again as I have only been there 2 times before. We will be eating at the Tusker House which seems to be a better plan than going to Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom during the Halloween party.
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Magic Bands are ready
According to Disney My Experience website our customized Magic Bands are waiting for us at Pop Century. Maybe they will ship them to Canada for our next trip.
Signed up for a FastPass+ for Be Our Guest lunch on our Magic Kingdom day. Process was very interesting. Entered our numeric reservation ID from our luggage tags and the system let us in. We were then able to select a 15 minute window to arrive at Be Our Guest and also had the option to pre-select our meal choices. From what I have been reading pre-selecting will save us even more time. Excited to see how this works. I was originally planning to line up for BOG lunch at 10:30am, now I don’t have to waste precious park time waiting in line.
Received a letter from Disney today telling us we will not be getting a fridge in our room. It wasn’t actually a surprise as I read about Disney’s in-room refrigerator problems several months ago but it was nice of Disney to send us a letter letting us know about it before we get down there. We really don’t need a fridge since we will be at the parks all day and will only be in our room to sleep. I guess we could have put bottled water in it or something. There’s always the ice machines.
Logged into Disney’s website today and noticed the site was finally switched over to the Disney My Experience site. Also noticed the “Customize your MagicBand” modal that popped up.
Super excited to be part of the test. I’m a little disappointed that according to Disney’s website they only ship MagicBands to the United States other countries will get their MagicBands when they check in to their resort. It would be fun to play with the MagicBands while at home but it’s not a big deal as we can’t really do anything with them until we get down there anyway.
Also setup FastPass+ for all our days. We were even to get 3 FastPass+ reservations for our evening at Hollywood Studios even though we won’t arrive until 7pm. We will actually get to go on Toy Story Mania that night! I was looking forward to booking Illuminations and Wishes with FastPass+ but it doesn’t look like it is being offered for our test.
So far I am pretty impressed with the system although the learning curve is pretty high. I’ve had to make all sorts of adjustments and tweaks to work around the bugs and inconsistencies with the new system. Still it’s cool technology and I love it.
Day 1: Travel/Hoop Dee Doo/DHS
- 4am Leave for Airport from Hamilton, ON
- 5am Cross US border into Buffalo, NY
- 6:00am Arrive at Buffalo airport
- 8:00am Flying
- 10:40am Land in Orlando
- 11:00am Magical Express
- 12:00pm Check in to Pop Century
- 12:30pm Lunch at Pop Century (QS -2)
- 2:00pm Bus to Magic Kingdom
- 2:45pm Boat to Fort Wilderness
- 4:00pm Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue
- 6:00pm Bus to Outpost depot
- 6:20pm Bus to Hollywood Studios
- 7:00pm American Idol Experience
- 8:30pm Fantasmic
- 10:30pm Bus to Pop Century
Day 2: DHS/Halloween Party
- 7:30am Breakfast
- 8:30am Bus to Hollywood Studios
- 11:30am Indianna Jones
- 12:00pm Backlot Express Restaurant (QS -2)
- 1:20pm Lights, Motor, Action!
- 4:45pm Dinner: Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre (TS -2)
- 6:00pm Bus to Magic Kingdom
- 7:00pm Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
- 12:00am Bus to Pop Century
- 1am Sleep
Day 3: Epcot
- 7:30am Breakfast
- 8:30am Bus to Epcot
- 11:30am Restaurant Marrakesh (TS -2)
- 5:30pm Chefs de France (TS -2)
- 9:00pm Illuminations
- 11:30pm Bus to Pop Century
- 12:30am Sleep
Day 4: Magic Kingdom
- 7:00am Breakfast
- 7:30am Bus to Magic Kingdom
- 10:30am Be Our Guest Restaurant (QS -2)
- 3pm Parade
- 5:10pm Liberty Tree Tavern (TS -2)
- 9pm Electrical Parade
- 10pm Wishes
- 11pm Bus to Pop Century
- 12am Sleep
Day 5: Travel
- 7:15am Airport Check in
- 7:30am Breakfast
- 8:35am Magical Express
- 11:35am Flight to Buffalo
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Magical Express Luggage Tags
Received Magical Express luggage tags today.
So we’re going back to Disney World again this year. We were just there in May 2012, but my wife and I can’t wait to go back. This time we will be staying on site to take advantage of the September Free Dining promotion. While there are definitely much cheaper places to go for a vacation, no other place has the same appeal to us that Disney World does. Despite the kid-friendliness of the parks, which can become a little tiresome after awhile, there is just so much that appeals to me. This will be my fourth trip to Disney World, my third as an adult (a real adult, not a Disney 10+ one). I actually think I enjoy Disney World so much more as an adult. It might have something to do with my technology background but I love going through the parks trying to figure out how everything works. Disney World also appeals to the Entrepreneur in me. I love trying to estimate their costs and revenue as I wonder through the parks. I pretend to see all the people the way Disney World sees them, with big dollar signs on their heads.
So we’re going back to Disney World again this year. We were just there in May 2012, but my wife and I can’t wait to go back. This time we will be staying on site to take advantage of the September Free Dining promotion. While there are definitely much cheaper places to go for a vacation, no other place has the same appeal to us that Disney World does. Despite the kid-friendliness of the parks, which can become a little tiresome after awhile, there is just so much that appeals to me. This will be my fourth trip to Disney World, my third as an adult (a real adult, not a Disney 10+ one). I actually think I enjoy Disney World so much more as an adult. It might have something to do with my technology background but I love going through the parks trying to figure out how everything works. Disney World also appeals to the Entrepreneur in me. I love trying to estimate their costs and revenue as I wonder through the parks. I pretend to see all the people the way Disney World sees them, with big dollar signs on their heads.