By Soarin’ Diva
There is a lot of good and helpful information out there when it comes to planning your Walt Disney World vacation. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of incorrect information that can be found out there as well. When researching specific things for any of my vacations, I have certainly come across some bad advice and misconceptions. I realize people are just trying to be helpful, but it really isn’t very helpful when you are tossing out bad advice or incorrect information. I haven’t been exposed to all of the misconceptions, but I have come across a few items that I would love to clear up for you.
Let’s begin with one that should be extremely obvious, yet I continue to see questions about it. You can not take one of Disney’s transportation buses to Universal Studios. Universal Studios is not a Disney park, therefore, Disney is not going to bus you from their resort to another park that is not owned by them. You will have to either drive yourself, or take an Uber or Lyft. On that same note, Universal Studios is not the same as Hollywood Studios. Stop calling Hollywood Studios by the name of Universal Studios, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people do this. Everything about them is different, including the fact that Hollywood Studios IS owned by Disney.
Soarin’ Diva’s family opening Hollywood Studios
I don’t need to watch my kids as closely at Walt Disney World because nothing bad every happens here. As ridiculous as that sounds, the last few years we have witnessed at least one (usually more) instances of parents leaving their toddlers and very young kids seated at a restaurant BY THEMSELVES while the parents go get condiments or whatever and no adult is watching them. That is an extremely dangerous habit to get into. Yes, I know there are umpteen gazillion security cameras in the parks, but it only takes an instant for someone to grab a child & disappear. Please do NOT leave your child unattended EVER!!!
Disney buses
Here’s a bit of misinformation that we received from several sources when we were planning to stay at All-Star Sports Resort. We were told that the All-Star resorts did not share buses, that each of the All-Star resorts had their own dedicated buses. While this may have happened for a few guests out there, we were not that lucky. When we stayed at All-Star Sports there was not one single time that we had a dedicated bus for our specific resort. We shared with the other All-Star resorts both going to and coming from the parks every single time. As I write this, I know for a fact that last week my in-laws stayed at one of the All-Star resorts and they also had to share buses. Now, maybe there are a few days that the resorts don’t share buses, but it’s not a permanent, every-day occurrence. For the most part, those resorts will share buses.
Flat Jacob Goes To Walt Disney World
“Cast Members aren’t allowed to tell the guests no.” Come on now, this is totally unrealistic. They would love to be able to say yes to all of your requests, but of course there will be times when they will have to say no, we can’t do that for you. You can’t just tell a Cast Member that you want a free upgrade at your resort and expect to get it. You can’t just tell a Cast Member that, even though you don’t have a FastPass, you want to go through the FastPass line. Let’s use logic and reasoning, Cast Members can and will tell you no, they can’t do that thing for you no matter how ugly you act or how nice you are. Sometimes, it’s simply not a feasible or realistic request you are making.
Slinky Dog Dash – Make sure you get a FastPass for this attraction
Now let’s talk about Fastpasses, this is where I’ll spend most of my time. I have heard many misconceptions regarding FastPasses, so hopefully this will clear some of those misconceptions up. First and foremost, people continue to be under the impression that they are only allowed three FastPasses a day and that’s it. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You can only make three INITIAL FastPasses at the 30 or 60 day mark, this is true. However, once you have used your 3rd FastPass, you are free to log onto My Disney Experience and begin the search for another FastPass. Not only that, you can continue to get a new FastPass each time you have used the last time, the amount you can use in one day are virtually limitless. My personal record is 22 FastPasses in one day at Magic Kingdom.
The Haunted Mansion – FastPass lines can appear long for this attraction
Being in the FastPass line does NOT mean you will never wait in a line. It never fails, we hop into the FastPass line at Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and someone always gets into line behind us saying, “THIS is the FastPass line?” as if there shouldn’t be a line at all. Yes, it may look backed up and just as long as the stand-by line, but trust me, it is much shorter than the stand-by line. Stand-by will have to walk through a much longer holding line than FastPass will, you will still be able to get on the ride much quicker than if you were in stand-by. Also, on this same note, having a FastPass does NOT mean you are automatically first in line. There are others who also have FastPasses, not just you.
Expedition Everest – A great FastPass option
I couldn’t believe it when I heard about this one. My husband and I were rope-dropping at Magic Kingdom, waiting at the rope for one of the lands to open, when we struck up a conversation with a young lady waiting with her daughter. We were talking about some of the bad information people receive when she told us about her having a conversation with another family about FastPasses. The family was under the impression that they could literally only ride three rides the entire day at the park because they were only given three initial FastPasses. Can you imagine? Paying all that money for park tickets and thinking you can only ride three rides one time the whole day and then couldn’t ride anything else? This is terrible information that was passed on to them and could have made for some really bad vacation days if they hadn’t been corrected by this woman. You can most definitely ride as many rides as you can fit in during your park days!
These are the top misconceptions that I have personally come across regarding Walt Disney World, but I’m sure there are plenty more floating around out there. I hope I have cleared some of this up for those who were confused. Are there any misconceptions or instances of bad advice you have heard about or experienced? We would love to hear about it if you have, feel free to comment and let us know, you could be helping someone else out!
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The one that gets me is Fast Passes cost extra. I have heard that SO many times.
Yes! I should have added this one in too, I’ve heard it a lot as well.