Disney - What to Know Before You Go, Part 1

I'm headed to Disney World in 30 days.  What do I need to do?  What should I be doing.  I'm going to outline what I'm doing right now to prepare.  This is part 1.  Not sure how many "parts" there will be, but I hope for more than 1.

First thing you should know is that at 30 days you can start booking your Fastpass+ selections.  What does that mean?  You need to create a My Disney Experience log in on the disney.com website.  You need to have purchased your tickets.  If you have purchased them, then you can sync your account with your ticket information.  When you get to the park, you will get finger scanned to officially sync the tickets to your Fastpass selections.

This is what you'll see from the My Disney Experience once you have logged in.  For the first time selection, choose the icon on the left, the FP+ icon.  From the next screen, choose "select all" to get everyone from your part together.

Then, after clicking "Next" you will get a screen with a calendar and a list of the theme parks.  Select a theme park by clicking on it, and then click on the date on the calendar.  If you are 30 days out, the date on the calendar will be the last highlighted date.  After that date, after 30 days, you will not be able to select the day.

Ok, so now it gets interesting or exciting, depending on how you feel.  I love this part!  It is where you get some control!!!!  You get to choose the attractions you want from Tier 1 and Tier 2.  Tier 1 attractions are usually the "big" rides, the most popular ones in the park.  For example, in Holywood Studios the Tier 1 attractions include Toy Story Mania, Rockin' Rollercoaster, and Beauty and Beast on stage.  You can select one of those, then two Tier 2 attractions.  Those are most of the other attractions in the park.

As an example, in Epcot I might choose Soarin' or Test Track (both Tier 1, and I usually choose Soarin'....ask me and I'll explain why, or maybe use an additional blog!), and then Meet and Greet with Mickey and Friends and Spaceship Earth. The Disney site then tries to fit these selections into a schedule for you.

Now, these times are not the most appealing for me, so I go to the next screen and select "modify".  At that point you can select a "new time" for each of your selections as long as there are still Fastpasses available for that attraction.  I just found this out!  It made me feel like I'd won the lottery.  I don't have to use the times Disney found for me, I can set my own schedule.  As long as those time slots are not full with other excited visitors, then I can book the attractions according to my plan!!!

This concludes part 1 of what to know before you go.