I requested B1 on Soarin’ in May and one cast member told me they can’t take requests right now. Then another cast member overheard and asked me where I wanted to be and was able to accommodate! So nice of her!
This wasn’t a seat request, but after previously having terrible seats on Soarin’, my family wound up right on the cusp of getting in row B1. The CM opened the chain and started with the family right behind us. I told my kids, “Awww…we were SO CLOSE!” The CM overheard and turned to us to let us in. We ended up in the middle of B1 thanks to a kind CM.
So grateful for the cast members on our December 2020 trip who let us always ride a yellow Skyliner gondola, even when it was so busy, to help prevent my 5 year old from melting down.
Disney has sold Fast Passes before Covid. When staying Club Level at Disney deluxe resorts you had the option to purchase 3 extra Fast Passes per day at the cost of $50 for the three passes. I don't know how popular they were but I do remember having them offered to us and hearing some talk about it on the boards.
We came from New Zealand and purchased those extra fast passes for each of the 9 days which meant we didn't miss out on anything that we would never have been able to return to do. It was worth every cent to us older people and I'll be forever grateful.
The having to micro manage everything is getting exhausting. And I love Planing. But not down to the 'hot dog cart level'. I mean can I use the bathroom without a fast pass? (I know don't give them any ideas)
@@bobconnor6164 Depends on what you want to do. My husband and I went for seven nights in February 2020. No advance FPs, no advance dinner reservations. We made a couple of FPs when we were in the park and made dinner reservations the the night before or the same night we were going. I had a rough outline of what we wanted to see and do. The only thing that didn't get done was Rise of the Resistance.
I can do FP or ADR, but both in the same day are tricky to handle. I always felt like we had to RUN somewhere everyday. And I planned pretty smart. We would limit to 1 park per day.
Most CM's are just awesome that way. I will say that you can tell if a CM has been having a rough day tho, and I try not to bug them, since it messes up their flow ... but yeah, never hurts to ask. We've also never really had a problem with it, not even on the RR Coaster or the Tower at HS.
@@Dipp182 B1 is actually a whole row in the middle section (B). Row 1 puts you on the top. So the buildings don’t look like they are curved and you don’t see feet hanging from the row above.
Disney was phenomenal at accommodating my husband’s food allergy at every restaurant we visited and the alternative options were just as satisfying as the original options. I was sad to go back to the real world of dining out.
@@Mmeme2023 the $475/hour is for the VIP tour where you actually DO get to skip to the front, I believe your tour guide brings you in a side entrance. If you have a fastpass you don't technically get to skip the line though, you just get to get in the much shorter line
@@kaitlynphilbrick4719 I've watched reviews of people who did the VIP Tour and you don't skip to the front of the fastpass line. World of dreams is the only Tour that gives that option and it $10k a day
Yes, I kept wondering why that wording was being used. If someone who was truly new to WDW or US heard that they'd be in for a sad surprise when they saw what an EP/ FP line can really be like!
The luggage service of Magical Express will be so missed. With kids, I can't tell you how much having someone else get your bags to your room was a huge help.
Agreed. Even as 2 adults visiting it takes away the magic. Having to grab your luggage and walk around with it and then bring it to your hotel room and do all that before getting to the parks can be pretty frustrating. We used to pack our park bags and then just go to the parks right off the magical express. Now it’s going to be an added hour. Same with the early airline check in… really disappointed and hoping they bring back a similar service when they re design the magical express to whatever other company
Yeah, how can you go “back to normal” when for well over a year we have been told that this was “the new normal.” By definition, we are already at “normal,” and thus, cannot go back.
@@UmmYeahOk Yup, we must suffer from now on. International travel, for example, is gone forever (this is why example the representatives from all over the world will never come back to WDW)--all part of the plan to destroy things using the pandemic as an excuse, as well as rescind rights whenever the government feels we're too uppity. Not like those rights are coming back--look at lots of countries in permanent lockdown forever. All part of the plan. Like the UK planning on closing all airports and banning shipping by 2040. :-)
Single rider lines at Universal saved me so much time!! Stand by lines at Disney weren't much longer than an hour for most rides (Jungle Cruise is probably the only attraction not worth the wait right now with all the revamping)
We just got back from Disney and asked if we could wait until the next ride on Soarin' so that we could be in B, and they let us! They were really funny and nice about it. :)
I just went to Disney World two weeks ago, I nearly every ride me and my friend asked for seats. We were granted them every time. This could be due in part to the fact there are only two of us, which seems like a theme. As we noticed other larger groups were being denied the privilege.
Congratulations! It never hurts to have things handled before you go so you can spend more time enjoying your stay when you're there! You have more time to plan and save up 👍
Hey AJ, there’s a tiktok from a ex cast member saying that people have thought that Disney would pick up their luggage from their home (actual house) and would drop it off at their hotel. 😳😳 maybe mention home airport 😝
If you are talking about luggage delivery Disney Worlds site says that it is discontinued. Luggage delivery looks to only have been from airports as well.
@@_Quxyz no. Someone that used the magical express legitimately thought they could leave their luggage on their front porch, fly to Orlando, get on the magical express, and their luggage would be picked up from their house and “magically” be delivered to their hotel at Disney.
Theres no chance if im sitting in a line for an hour im not gonna atleast ask for the seat i want lol. If they say no then so be it but its really not gonna be that stressful for them to just ask.
I'm giving you a gold star, in fact two gold stars. For letting us get Jen's Lefforge's video through Disney food blog! 🌟🌟, Scratch one off my bucket list.
Just got home from Orlando today. My family and I never wait over 40 minutes (except for flight of passage) and got to go on every ride in every park. We only made two seat request this trip but both were honored and we got the seats. Even every time we wanted food, mobile orders were always available near us! I don't know if our family got extremely lucky but it was our best Disney trip yet
Tips and Tricks I just found while planning. Reservations for Acitivities (ie Savi's Lightsaber Workshop, Capture your moment etc.) open 60 days out at midnight, whereas sit down dining reservations open at 5:45am-6am 60 days out.
The seat requesting part is weird bc we went on our senior trip to Disney world 2 weeks ago and every time we requested seating they allowed it!😂 requested the last train car at Everest and section B1 twice!
@@maeahern6516 I’m so sorry I didn’t see this til now😭 but basically when you’re in the front, you have to wait for all the other cars behind you to get over the hill before you speed up to go down a hill but if you’re in the back, it’s instant
For me, holiday means getting away from the hard work, heavy traffic, and competition of everyday life. With so many people wanting to go to Disney these days, it appears that i would have to work just as hard and struggle just to try to enjoy my day in the park as much as daily life out of it. Is the fun of going as gone as it looks?
My wife has a bad knee, got a doctor’s note about it. We brought the note to the first park and were given a fast pass for our entire four day stay. I know this could get abused but I gotta tell you with two toddlers, we would never have been able to accomplish the things we did if we didn’t have that pass!!!
That is one thing I love about WDW - they are amazing at accommodating guests. I will add that the other parks, Universal and Busch Gardens have a similar program, but Disney's is better (imo). I know that there are ppl who abuse the program, but I'm glad it's still easy for those who need it.
When I went to Disney world in April, my family requested the front on Expedition Everest and that request was granted. The people behind us requested the back and was not able to get that seat. It’s a weird in Disney World right now.
Growing up I was lucky we went to Disney world every year cuz my grandmother lived in Ocala haven’t been in 20 years this just seems way more complicated then it ever used to be and I wish they’d make another Disney world in Texas
We usually go with the flow on seats for rides with the exception of Soarin'. We always request the highest row, center. We usually end up waiting an additional ride cycle, but they always accommodate without an issue!
We were at universal during the end of April and the express passes we almost $300 per person (that was buying the express pass for the next day). Buy early if you want those!
We chose to stay one night at one of the expensive Universal hotels, the Paradise one. It included the Unlimited Express passes for my family of 4, and because it was for one night, we got TWO DAYS included!!! The room was about $300/night, but those passes would have been $800 for two days! And we got a boat shuttle to the entrance!
We did request the back of the coaster on both Slinky Dog and Everest and got it. Both times we were one of the first families being loaded onto the coaster, so it was easier to accommodate and did not require us waiting extra.
Y'all should make a video that focuses on disabilities! Like, DAS, service dogs, wheelchairs, best places to stay that are disability friendly (more than usual)
We were at Disney a couple of weeks ago and requested specific seating on Slinky Dog, Runaway Railway, twice on Mine Train, and I can’t remember where else. Every time I just asked politely if we could wait for the next train to have a specific seat/row and they accommodated every time with no questions. We would have happily ridden anywhere had they not been able to accommodate though.
We have shipped our purchases home for years, it is a amazing thing to get home and then get more magic in the mail, or ups:) It also helps if you are flying and don't want to get another bag just for your souvenirs!
Note for when they do come back, you book them in advance, so even if they were running you wouldn't have got one leaving it this late, they are 60/90 days in advance and they fill up quickly. Doing it the week before would have left you with no available fastpasses for any of the rides you would have needed them for.
For future trips, make sure you're checking the Disney World site frequently so you don't find yourself surprised by things like this! Rules and policies change all the time and it's important to keep brushed up on them to keep your trip as smooth as possible. Fastpasses have not been available since March of 2020, and you might need to know some of the other things going on in the parks before you go right now.
Tip: Be sure to book your restaurant reservations NOW if you want to eat at any table service restaurant. Many will be full already. If you re planning to eat at QS, be sure to book your lunch when you enter the park in the morning. Kirsty is right, though. If you have a trip after Fast PAsses return (I think they will, given several glitches I've seen in the MDE app), book your FP for rides 60 or 90 days ahead (whichever is allowed).
I have a feeling that "Due to COVID..." is going to keep being the excuse for things that never had anything to do with it in the first place, for years to come.
Hotel guests might not be let in early by way of extra magic hours, but when I was there a few weeks ago they were running busses and skyliner about an hour before they let vehicle traffic in, and we got into Hollywood studios before the first cars had even parked (9am posted opening, 8:07 through security and into the park)
We had paid fastpasses at Disneyland Paris. One Day we had a wristband that we showed and we got to go in the fast pass lane and the other day it was a little paper card with the fast pass rides listed on it that the cast members at the entrance crossed off the ride you had tried (so you could only use it once). So Disney has offered paid fast passes before .
We are leaving for our trip to Disney world this week. I’m very happy and excited, but I wish fast passes were reinstated. I’ve only used package pickup once. I usually wait until I’m exiting the park before I buy anything.
AJ - I know you hate the buffets (we hear your mumbles, LOL), but I have to say that I loved the buffet in Epcot's Germany... We could sample all the German food with none of the commitment of the Family Style meals. I know what you mean about buffets being gone would be okay, but I hope they do bring that one back, at the very least.
I agree. I feel the family style meals result in a lot of wasted food for my family and because I feel badly about that, we never eat at the restaurants that have that style meal anymore. Other places are bringing back buffets, but with employees doing the serving from them. Maybe WDW might consider that as a possibility in the future.
Dec 2016, wasted a FP for Thunder Mountain very early in the day (just opening for the day & the crowds were beginning to arrive)/ There were not enough people to completely fill up a car & a Cast Member says "SIT ANYWHERE" & I had a clear path to the BACK ROW & went for it. Been very lucky - by luck of the draw - to be seated in the last row several times.
When we visited WDW back in May,. We were able to request seats in section 1 C on Soarin. On our second time riding it. Other wise we lucked out and got first and second row on most of the other ride we went on.
WDW uses wait times to manage (discourage) lines even in the before times. I LOVE Touring Plans’ Lines app but wasn’t as accurate on our May ‘21 trip as all previous years.
We go a couple times a month and have been able to request certain seats each time. We have never been told no. But we always ask nicely, I don’t know if that helps but we do. Sometimes the lines are long and sometimes not but we haven’t been told no. There is 3 of us in my party FYI.
Asking nicely absolutely helps. Cast members encounter so many rude and pushy people in each day that anyone that is remotely friendly to them is a refreshing change of pace. They still may not be able to accommodate but being kind goes a long way for them, and it at least takes the worry of being yelled at for having to say no off them!
The rumor about Disney and Fast Passes is that Fast Passes are NOT coming back. Instead they are going to be replaced with something called “Lightning Pass”. It is the same concept they have at Universal with their Express Pass. The “Lightning Pass” will be a ticket add on and might cost somewhere between $200-$300 dollars or more. Again, it’s a rumor so take the information with a grain of salt ✅
Since we usually stay on a resort property the express pass at universal was AMAZING. I feel like Disney is just so much larger it'll be trickier to implement in that way but I'm also curious to see what happens!
Love you all and your vids! I have been watching for a year or so... and one day I plan to go back to DW. I am in California now though and I was wondering if there could be more DL vids? Vegan here appreciating so much of the dining break down.
the thought of Early Park Entry confuses me because i’ve heard of people getting in up to an hour early lately at MK & studios. so i wonder how that will work for hotel guests.
I’ve seen videos of this! I’m wondering how it will impact the whole thing. Will they stop letting others in early and just hotel guests? Will hotel guests be able to get in even earlier!?!?! Exciting news!
@@grmnkiiier In my experience at Disneyland, non hotel guests do line up very early despite watching the hotel guests go in so it doesn't change them lining up an hour early so they can be in the first of non hotel in the park with "lower lines" than later in morning.
I would update the express pass price at universal - it’s closer to $330 per day during the summer !! On their website it STARTS at $99 but when you click to purchase, it jumps up dramatically. I also tried to purchase in the park and when they told me it was $320 that day I said “no thank you!”
Also - it’s important to note that I chose to stay off property thinking it was cheaper to stay at a cheap hotel ($99) and I would just buy the express pass for $99, instead of spending $500-$600 per night at a universal hotel. But had my husband and I stayed at universal it would have been cheaper in the long run if our goal was to get express passes. We would have changed our hotel plans if we knew that beforehand.
Disneyland used to have breakfast with the chatacters where you got into the park early, but my sister-in-law said you didn't get to ride the rides sooner so it was kind of a waste.
Im getting really excited for my disney world vacation it was supposed to be last year but im a brit we couldnt leave pur house and at this rate were not even sure about being able to go next year
We didn’t ask for a special seat, but the cast member offered one. I mean it was just the front row on Living with The Land, but still, it enhanced our experience.
I haven't been to Disney during the pandemic, but even before, when things were "normal" I never had a request for a certain kind of table granted, nor a room request for a resort. Ever. I've requested fireworks view tables at Ohana, window tables at Sanaa, but have never gotten what I requested. I requested adjoining rooms for my brother's family and mine, ground floor because I have chronic bursitis in my hip and stairs are hard. They gave my brother a ground floor room and put me on an upper floor, and since I was checking in hours after my brother's family had checked in, there was no way to switch and put him in the upper floor room and obviously, on separate floors, they were not adjoining rooms. So I'd say you can absolutely ask, but in my experience, requests are very rarely accommodated.
Smuggler's Run was by far the biggest disappointment EVER! We rode it at Disneyland when Star Wars Land first opened prior to COVID and it totally was not worth it. We actually thought the entire land was simply over rated.
We were there in April and my daughter asked a nice cast member if she could go in the first cart at the Frozen Ever After ride, they granted her request. It pays to be nice and polite!
We normally request to sit in the front on Rockin’ Roller Coaster and Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train. We’ve been twice in 2021 and have had our request granted almost every time. Usually no one else waiting for the front row.
Well, express does cost, but it does come with the Annual Pass to Universal I believe. Also, I should start a UFB Guide. Lol. Nah. It doesn't have enough to talk about.
If I ever get the diving bell and see someone creeping I will shout "Hello AJ" assuming it is either you or someone who gets the reference as they will be using your life hack. 😂
Express, depending on the type and date, can cost over $300pp. And it’s way better than FP+ ever was. FP+ was broken. Hopefully, if it ever returns, they’ll fix it. Even if it’s a paid thing…like they were testing before Covid.
Just got back from a week long stay at WDW, was it just me or were a lot of rides experiencing technical issues and were the parks a little more “messy” than usual? Our Rise of the Resistance ride completely crashed and froze up in the initial transport phase, only to be inserted back into a ride that had several additional glitches and failures. I requested a fast-pass “free” ride to accommodate the failed experience but was DECLINED since the majority of the ride still operated. Not the Disney I used to know…
There's another seat you can request on rides: If you're slated to be in the front seat of a roller coaster and someone in your party is too scared, you can ask to be moved to another spot. This happened with my family in Disney just this past march.
I would like to know where you can get a hot dog at a cart in any of the 4 parks. I haven’t seen them anywhere. Popcorn, pretzels, and popsicles are the only things I’ve seen. A hot dog would be great!
The price of parking is crazy for a two week vacation at Disney World… I feel like they should have a max to what they can charge for parking if your staying at a Disney resort for two weeks straight…
I can’t imagine going on a vacation where so much strategy and tips are needed. Not being able to walk in a restaurant and just sit down, waiting hours and hours to possibly miss out on your ride, bus lines and the need for precise time management. I’m not I’m ready for Disney, I’m way to laid back and not a planner. Place looks fun though!
I'm not either. My family just got back from the parks, and the most planning I did was, of course reserving tickets and park passes, resort stay, and reservations for table service restaurants (we only did a couple.) Quick service doesn't require you to order after breakfast. Every quick service we went to that required mobile order, we waited at most 15 minutes for our order to be ready. All of the little carts where you can buy drinks and frozen treats, we just walked up to and ordered.
