by Wishes Diva
This year has been a year of changes when it comes to Disney trips for my family. We have been used to doing adults only trips up until this point, but when Mini-Wishes Devo was born last year we knew that our Disney mindset would have to change.
We are in the midst of planning for our little man’s first Disney trip this summer! We are extremely excited to get to see the parks for the first time through his eyes. There have been several aspects of our trip that we have had to put extra time and thought in to and Fast Passes was one of the big ones.
Mini Wishes Devo poses at the Mickey statue outside the Contemporary Resort with Mom & Dad
On this trip we have allotted two days for Magic Kingdom. We decided to do this because there is the most attractions and overall experiences for our little man.
Tip #1- Check the list of attractions at the park for height restrictions, and make a list of which ones you know your little one will want to do. This was the first step we took. Our little guy is around 35″ right now, with our trip being in about two months. So that made it easier to decipher what attractions he would be able to do and not do.
Photo courtesy of Dopey Diva
Our little guy has not had much experience with any sort of rides short of swinging at the park. So that part did pose a challenge for us. On the list of attractions at Magic Kingdom that he was able to ride that we weren’t sure about was Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribbean. We were concerned about the “pre-show” room in Haunted Mansion and decided to as the Cast Member at the entrance to see if we are able to skip it (fingers crossed!) and we were concerned about the initial drop (in the dark) on Pirates. We decided to go ahead with Haunted Mansion and skip Pirates for the little guy on this trip.
Tip # 2- Make a list of “secondary” Fast Pass options in order to full utilize the system. After we made our first list, we made a list of secondary Fast Pass options to select after we used our initial three. One of the great things about the Fast Pass system at WDW is that after you use your first three you are free to use additional Fast Passes one at a time. This leaves you with several options for shortening your wait times with your little ones.
Our little man loved Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel
Tips #3- Book your 4th, 5th, 6th Fast Passes as soon as you scan your previous one. This tip definitely goes along the previous one. As soon as you scan your Magic Band, or ticket for your 3rd Fast Pass you are able to book your fourth. I will often pull up my phone even while we are waiting in line for Fast Pass #3 to book #4 to save time. This will help you save time and hopefully you can put your additional Fast Passes as close together as possible to get the most of the system!
Tip #4- Fast Pass attractions that you don’t necessarily “need” to. We decided before our trip that we were going to Fast Pass everything and anything that we could to cut down on the wait time. Even if an attraction had a 30 minute wait (which during peak season in the summer is not bad at all) we would go ahead and Fast Pass it to hopefully cut down on wait time. Our little guy was way too heavy to carry in the queue line for 30 minutes, and hasn’t quite grasped the concept of staying with Mommy and Daddy in public places yet. So this made us feel like we would be more successful waiting in line.
Wishes Diva’s family on Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Tip #5- Be flexible. Regardless of what your Fast Pass schedule says, you have got to be flexible! If your little one needs a break, take it! You can always rearrange your Fast Passes! It is not worth the inevitable melt down you will get by forcing your kids to stick to a strict schedule!
Overall the most important part of planning with small children is to take your cues from them. You know your kiddo and you know how to read them and you know their limits! Keep that in mind and your trip will be magical!
Need helping planning your trip to Walt Disney World or your FastPass+ Contact Patricia at All 4 Dreams Travel today by clicking here!
