Be our Guest!

Our first family trip to Magic Kingdom was in May 2013. Several new attractions had just been added to the Fantasyland area including a new restaurant that looks like the Beast's castle. I had planned for us to eat lunch there, but when we arrived at 11:00 the line was already two HOURS long and every time we passed it was at least that long. We weren't interested in waiting that long to eat lunch! Last year I didn't have my hopes up of eating there, and the line still looked too long (we didn't ask how long the wait time would be last year). Part of the problem was that I didn't know I could make dining reservations. I thought only people staying at a Disney resort were able to book dining reservations. OOPS! Had I known this I would have started trying five months ago to get a reservation there (you can make them 180 days in advance), but I only started checking several days ago. It kept showing that there wasn't anything available for that restaurant on May 15 (the day we plan to be at Magic Kingdom), but I kept checking *just in case* something opened up.

This morning was my first chance to book our Fast Pass+ reservations for that park (can be done 30 days in advance if you're not staying at a Disney resort or 60 days in advance if you are). I considered getting up at midnight to work on it, but I didn't end up getting up until 3:30am. If this doesn't prove I love my kids.... Ha ha! After working on those 18 reservations (3 per ticket but Oliver doesn't have a ticket), I decided to check the restaurant one more time, and at 4:30 this morning I found a table for 4 available at 8:15 for breakfast. I was so happy! I entered my credit card information and everything else and hit submit and then got a message that their system was down. Sigh. When I got up a couple of hours later, I checked and their system for dining reservations was still unavailable. I kept checking and when it was up and running again, there wasn't anything available all day. However periodically throughout the day I kept checking and finally at 7:15 pm I got a table for 4 for lunch at 10:30. I have read several places that it's okay if your party is bigger than your reservation. Worst comes to worst, we can offer to have the three kids sit on our laps and then we'll only need four seats. Oliver actually prefers to eat sitting on my lap (even at home) so really six seats would be plenty. No meal at Disney is cheap, but lunch at Be our Guest is not any more expensive than other carryout places on the premise, and the ambiance looks to be WAY more special. I had to make some adjustments to our ride reservations after booking a 10:30 meal, but it wasn't too complicated. This will be a bit of a splurge for us because in the past I've brought in food for lunch for myself and the kids. The kids and I have only bought dinner in the park the last two years. We eat breakfast in our resort suite before we leave, but lunch at the Beast's castle is not anywhere near as expensive as a character dining experience (which we have never done as a family but I have fond memories of doing when I was a child).

I did our FP+ reservations for Hollywood Studios on Monday. Those are pretty easy. I picked Star Tours, Toy Story Mania, and the Frozen Sing-a-long show. Once the last one is used (for us it will be about 3pm) we can request additional ones. Last year we got a second set for Star Tours and then for the Fantasmic show at the end of the day. Getting the tickets today was more complicated because some of the rides Oliver is not tall enough to ride. I think he is tall enough for Barnstormer this year! Nadia is tall enough for Space Mountain, which is very exciting. She's never been on that ride before. I got 4 passes (Paul and I plus Nadia and Ian) for Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain and 3 passes for Space Mountain (Paul and I plus Nadia).

I was REALLY hoping to get 2 for meeting Anna and Elsa for Nadia's sake. We had two in July 2014, but there weren't ANY available for May 15 as of 3:30 this morning. I felt so badly for Nadia, but at least she did get to meet them last year. Maybe the stand by line will be reasonable at some point that day. We shall see. I did get 2 passes for meeting Ariel again. Over the past several months she's lost interest in some of the princesses (such as Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle), but she still loves some princesses (Jasmine, Mulan, Ariel, Elsa, Merida, and Tiana). I will keep checking periodically over the next 4 weeks to see if any passes become available for Anna and Elsa, but I'm not expecting it.

The hardest decision I'm having right now is whether to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first thing or go to Enchanted Tales with Belle in the first hour. Last year I had FP+ for Belle and we didn't need them as the standby line was almost nonexistent so in the park I changed those reservations to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Last year even at 9:00 the line was already very long for the Mine Train. If any of you have input as to which of those two attractions it will be easier to get a FP for later in the day (after we've used our three reservations), I would greatly appreciate that feedback! Although the kids liked the Mine Train last year, I think if they had to pick between the two they'd pick Enchanted Tales with Belle. Nadia really wants to be the Beast again (she was picked the last two years for that role and it means you get to dance with Belle for a minute). I have tried to include a few experiences and rides in our plan that the kids have not done before. This year we are planning on signing them up for the Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood Studios, for example. I haven't typed up our agenda for Sea World yet, but that is a much simpler task than Magic Kingdom. I am not complaining though. I LOVE the Fast Pass + system. I remember standing in LONG lines as a child at many amusement parks, and we rarely wait more than 5-10 minutes for any ride at Disney World with this system. I just hope and pray none of us have the stomach flu when we're at Disney this year like we did when we were at Magic Kingdom last summer. It certainly takes some of the "magic" out of the day!