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At a frequent flyer get together late last year, I had the pleasure of dining with a woman who is an expert in all things Disney (or, at least, much more expert than me in anything Disney, so that’s good enough for me). She was telling me a number of tricks for getting the most out of Disney World when I suggested that it would make a great blog post. It turns out that she had already written up many of her secrets on a thread in the Saverocity forums. So, she emailed the information to me, with permission to publish. What follows is a combination of her original work and my commentary. Her work is indented as quotations…
This is only good at Disney World Orlando
I don’t think she ever goes on to explain why these tricks won’t work at other Disney locations. Maybe she just hasn’t tested elsewhere? Or, maybe they have different technology at different parks? Moving on, the author describes the basics of Disney’s Fastpass+ system…
Fastpass+ is the Disney system for ride reservations.
You can reserve, in advance or day of, three rides where you will go through the special line and not have to wait 30-240 minutes.
You get three, once all three are used you can then get another one based on what is left.
If it is busy nothing will be left.
Last time I went to Disney I didn’t know that you can reserve Fastpass+ before going to the park. As a result, even though we went in the morning, the only useful passes were for late in the evening. Since we didn’t plan on staying that long, the whole Fastpass+ system was useless to us. The author moves on to cover more of the basics…
So, you are going to WDW. Yay!?!?
You set up my Disney experience for each family member and linked your reservation and tickets.
Or just tickets if staying off site.
Well done. You can pick 3 rides or attractions for each person for each day.
Grab those at 60 days for onsite or 30 if staying in a non Disney bed.
Marvel at how cool this is if you are a first time visitor.
Use a map of the parks to try to keep crisscrossing the park to a minimum.
Hold the phone! You can reserve passes up to 60 days in advance?! No wonder nothing was left when I went! Next up, the author alludes to tricks that we should have known and used before (but in my case, I didn’t):
If you have been before maybe you knew the old Fastpass hacks: disconnected rides, double dips, never ending return times, and so on. Odds are you used 5+ Fastpass a day.
Now she moves on to more tips for making the most of the current system:
Three is not nearly enough, although the ‘fast’ 20 minute line feels really fast if you just waited in a 90 minute line to see a Princess (or was that a fairy?). Or a 240 minute line to see a Snowman (fist fights can be found on YouTube), I kid you not. I never wait more than 30 minutes for any ride unless the ride breaks down and I get trapped. This trick plus the two most important tricks to avoid lines combine to really shorten wait times.
Trick 2: get to the parks about 45 minutes before they open. Lines are shortest from open to 10 AM.
Trick 3: go to the right park. Avoid Extra Magic Hour parks (for the most part) and try to go to the park that had extended hours yesterday. Advanced player mode: know ride capacity per hour to figure out which lines get long first.
Now the “hacking” begins:
Time is money and in the magical land of Disney time is big money.
No CC or status is going to get you out of those lines. But this will: Create a second mydisneyexperiance account.Use a unique email, and do not link it in any way to anything you linked to the first one. No tickets, no reservations, no dining reservations. Book a new reservation that is at least 31 days away, 40 is better. Pick your colors and names for your magic bands. Have fun with the names, it helps you keep the Magic Bands straight if you use different names.
They will ship to you around the 30 day mark. As soon as you get them cancel your fake reservation. You may need to change your arrival date (no charge) in order to be far enough out to get a 100% refund. (Hint, that works with all the big chains for last minute cancellations too).
You can do both the change and cancelation in one call. The agents can not override the fees if you are too close to your arrival date, but the nicer ones will suggest this method, it is how I learned the free cancelation trick. We did this to get Magic Band set 2.
If you are the type of person who has made peace with the fact that you will be going to Disney again in 3-5 years you can buy your park tickets now to lock in the price. Ticket prices go up and up, it is a sure bet. You can add these future use tickets to Magic Band set 2 and put fast passes on them 30 days out. That is because when Disney changed over to the new system they dropped the check that required a ticket had been used to enter the park that day to be able to use it with the Fastpass system. Read that again, it is the key. This might change but I kind of doubt it will, they are a hot mess with server overload already.
UPDATE 6/9/2017: It looks like Disney may be checking for this hack and shutting down accounts that do it. Please see: Disney attacks Disney hacks.
There was a brief magical time when anything with a magnetic strip could pull a Fastpass. I digress.
If you are not wanting to invest $1600 in future use tickets, you can still get 3 extra Fastpass per day with Magic Band set 2 Because they don’t need to have a ticket attached to work. You enter the park with Band1 which has your park tickets and 3 Fastpass+ selections stored on it for prime rides between 1-5pm. You set that up 30 or 60 days ago. You put those in your daypack (you do need a day pack). You pull out Bands2 and find someone with an iPad or a kiosk. You act like you have never heard of this fast+ thing except for the video on the bus. They will help you add three Fastpasses to each band and explain how to use them. Be sure to mention you have plans to go back to your room and swim between 1-5 or whatever hours you already have Fastpasses for.
Next, the author explains why it is worth your time to set this stuff up…
Too much work?
If you have young kids this will save you hours each day.
Do the math.
Four tickets at an average per day cost of $50 is $200.If you are fit and heat tolerant and have kids that are troopers and past nap age, maybe you can do a 12 hour park day. My kids can do 10, plus 10 makes the math easy. But be honest, you can not spend 16 hours riding rides and do it again the next day.
A family of 4 just in park tickets pays $20 an hour to be in the parks. Three extra Fastpasses even for minor attractions (if you have to wait until you enter the park) is going to save you at least 3 hours a day. It also gives you the real option to park hop. So the effort is worth at least $60 a day.
And, she follows up with good advice (for almost any hacks):
Do this now even if you have no trip in the near future. Right now Disney is sending out free Bands to everyone with a reservation. However they have already started selling them at $12.95 each for people not staying at a Disney Resort. They have said all along that they might start charging a fee, even for Resort guests, at some point. Do this now if you think you might, possibly, go to WDW at some point.
…
I predict the Magic Bands will become another Disney fake ‘free’ offer. Free Magic Bands for guests staying between x-Y, book now. Limited time offer. I also predict they will start giving them out at check-in instead of mailing them to you 30 days in advance. So this is like the US Bank Visa Buxx card, you will wish you had set it up once it is gone.
More Disney tips…
Start with dining:
Just in case you don’t know this, the Free Dining offer Disney loves to offer is not Free, it is more expensive than just paying for your food. Room only offers of 25% or more are the best deals. They are often a great value on Club Level rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Those rooms come with the best savannah view for only a little bit more than a regular room with that view. It is a dark resort and kind of far from the Magic Kingdom, but it is really unique.
Consider getting the Disney debit card rather than the credit card:
Chase offers a Disney Debit card checking account that I’ve only ever seen in branch. My son has one. This card will get the in park perks (a special photo and free 5×7, entrance to Chase lounges during special events, maybe in store discounts although I’ve never tested that). To get the Disney CC with $100 offer, book a dummy reservation. Public offer is $50. Order free CD from Disney website (vacation planning CD) to get the $200 offer on the premiere card.
Consider saving money with a Disney Vacation Savings Account (load with gift cards!):
Disney Vacation Savings Account, open and load $1. When you book a trip or buy tickets from Disney, load the account a few days ahead of time (free with any form of payment including Disney Gift Cards) then use account to pay for trip/tix and Disney will give you $20/$1000.
Save money on Disney gift cards (then use them to buy tickets directly or to load a Disney Vacation Savings Account. See above):
Buy Disney Gift Cards online from Target. Set any Red Card as default payment and the free s/h and 5% off will be added to your account even if you use another form of payment. Target gift cards can be used for merchant gift cards, typically they are 3-4% off from resellers, higher around Christmas, they were 8% off this year. I’ve also seen Target GC at grocery stores.
Buying tickets:
Disney ticket broker: Undercovertourist is my go to for tickets. But I always do the math, sometimes the Disney Gift Card with % off is a better discount.
I realize that some of the above may read like gibberish if you’re not familiar with Disney. Please ask questions in the comments below. If you’re lucky, the author of these hacks may find time to answer. Otherwise, I’ll do my best…
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What if I’m not sure who will be going with me? Don’t they sell tickets like normal places? Why all the name stuff?
What if you have a set of bands from a previous trip (2016). Can the new bands received and the old bands be used on the same trip and add fast pass trips to the old bands when we get to the park as well as have the new bands already set from 60 days in advance?
[…] Hacking Walt Disney World […]
[…] my 2015 post “Hacking Walt Disney World,” I passed along a number of Disney tricks that had been shared with me. Among those tricks […]
FYI http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/06/update-disney-automatically-locking-accounts-attempt-cheat-fastpass-system-beginning-today/
Hi- Quick question. We are heading down for Easter week. I purchased 4 magic bands, created a dummy mde acct (with a different email address) and plan to use those bands to get the extra FP.
My question is, can I login to the app on my phone with my dummy mde acct and get/manage those FP on there, or do I need to only manage those via a Kiosk???
Thanks as always 🙂
Update for anyone looking to the extra magic band and dummy mde account. We used this approach during Easter Week April ’17 and it worked no problem. Any questions, let me know.
Great! Thanks Dave!
Dave,
Did you use app for “dummy” MDE & for actual MDE? Did you just log in & out when you needed to switch MDE accounts?
Hi- Next time we go I think I will log into dummy and my wife will log into actual. during our trip though, i only used the kiosks for the dummy bands.
it worked out great.
Correct! Use the App and/or the website. My family and I have been doing this for years. Have a great trip!
I’m going in October/November this year and I’ll definitely be bringing with some extra magic bands for day-of passes. I’m also thinking of modifying our reservation from 6 nights to 10 so that I can make dining reservations a few days earlier and make sure I can get Victoria & Albert’s Chef’s Table at 190 days rather than 186. Then later I’ll change our arrival date back to the real date I want to arrive on. I’ve heard shortening your stay can cause you to lose promotions, but since my vacation was booked at full price, I’m not worried about that. Has anyone tried this? Are there any other risks in doing this?
Oct/Nov is such a great time to go.
I too used that strategy last year, and made my arrival date 10 days prior to the actual. it made the dining (and fp+ too when near the 60 day timing) reservations very easy, though i did have to be sure to login and make reservations for 7 consecutive mornings.
as you had mentioned you were not booked with a promotion or discount, i don’t think you have any problems shortening your reservation when that time comes. the one instance where that could definitely affect things is if you have a villa reservation booked and a shorter stay may not even be available.
any follow up questions, let me know.
So if I bought 4 Magic bands for my family extra and then went to the kiosk in the park would I have to set each one up individually or if I have them linked to my other MDE account I could set up all the fastpasses when I scan mine??
Hi Greg- For this Hack, two quick questions.
1- instead of setting up a 2nd/unrelated mydisneyexperince login, make a reservation to then get the bands and then cxl the reservation, can i just buy 4 new magic bands and bring them with me into the parks and use the kiosks with those? or, is having a mydisnexperience login/identity linked to the bands part of this process it that actually makes it work?
2- would i be able to just bring with me 4 magic bands from one of our previous trips and use those? i assume that this won’t work because those are associated with my actual mydisney login?
thanks so much for this info, it is so helpful!
Your previous MB’s will not work IF you’ve booked your current trip under the same MDE acct.
You can buy MB’s online and then link them them to a NEW (dummy) MDE acct. Then simply access the kiosk within the Park for three same day FP’s. And possibly a 4th after the initial 3 are used and so on.
Booking and then canceling after receiving MBs from Disney would result in possible charges depending on the timing.
Just remember to use a separate email addresses for dummy MDE acct.
Great- thanks so much. One last question. I buy 4 MB for this upcoming trip, link them to dummy MDE acct and use those MB for FPs. Can I then also use those MBs on future trips to do the same thing or would I need to do the process over from scratch for each trip? Thanks again
will I have to set up fast passes for each band individually for a family of 5 or if I have all the bands set up to a new MDE account I can make the fast passes and link the other parties???
I believe if all 5 MB’s are linked to the secondary MDE, then you should be able to select fp’s as a group instead of individually.
I plan on park hopping one day in October with my family of 4 (AK in morning and Epcot in evening). My concern is I won’t be able to add same day fast passes for Soarin after using my 3 fp at AK. If I order 4 additional magic bands and link them to a different MDE account – how and when can I use them to make adiitional fp reservations and do I need to book another set of park tickets and go through hassle of cancelling them later? Thanks.
I would not continue with this hack as Disney as caught on http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/06/update-disney-automatically-locking-accounts-attempt-cheat-fastpass-system-beginning-today/
Dave, I have a few questions maybe you can help?
1. Can I use a friends old magic bands that she used in her account and use them in my new dummy account?
2. I originally booked a hotel outside Disney so bought magic bands online and already linked them to our fast passes. I just changed to a Disney hotel and on my MDE account it says “your magic bands will be waiting for you on arrival”. Do you think they will make us link those when we check in? Or can I just ask to link them later? Will they question me since I already have bands linked? Thanks!
1. You can’t change to whom a MB is assigned to: once linked, they can’t be changed. You cannot use a friend’s MB on a new dummy (or real) person’s account.
2. You can decline new MB (for your upcoming onsite reservation). But you cannot ‘link them later.’ They are only going to give them to you as linked to the people on the resort reservation. (In contrast, when you buy a MB at disney’s store online or in a park, those aren’t linked to anyone.)
**Regardless, if you are asking these questions because you are hoping to book ‘phantom’ (or same day) fastpasses, don’t bother. Disney closed that loophole last year. If caught they will freeze your account (and apparently it isn’t easy to convince them to unfreeze it. The only FP that can be used are ones for which a ticket was used that day to gain entry into that park. HTH
Does anyone know if this magic band hack still works?
As far as I know, yes.
I used it the first week of December.
I wonder if you could use a friend’s MBs from a previous trip that does not currently have any tickets or reservations on it? Or does it have to be a previously unused one?
From what I can tell… Shouldn’t matter.
Worst case, they don’t work so walk into a Disney store in the park and buy new ones at that point.
If purchasing a second set of magic bands in the park the day of my visit to say MK, wouldn’t it have to have tickets linked to the magic band? How would FP+ work if no ticket linked?
The bands don’t require tickets to be linked. You can use “link them later” and simply link them to a fake name you create in your mydisney account… You just use the serial number on the back of the band.
The key is to make sure you do NOT link them to the same name as your tickets.
If staff want to link them for you don’t let them… Just say you’re buying for other friends or that they’re just souvenirs.
Once you link the bands to a fake name in “mydisney”… then use the magic bands at the in park kiosks to setup your fast passes… It’s the only way to setup fast passes on the unlinked-nonticket bands. The tickets can use the mydisney app or kiosks.
Once you have fast passes setup via the kiosks on the bands… THEN you can use mydisney to manipulate the fast passes (ie, changing times)…but you’ll always need to hit a kiosk to add new fast passes if memory serves.
Buy extra MB’s…preferably before you get to park. Order online straight from Disney website.
Create new MDE account. You CAN use same names and physical address, BUT use a different email address.
Once you have new MB’s, go to your newly created MDE account and link your MB’s (using the number on the back of MB).
You are all set. Visit in-park kiosk and snag your 3 add’l FP’s.
Of course I could go into further details of how to take advantage of more FP hacks…but this should answer your question. Enjoy
Just to add to this… Of your make a new MDE account you can certainly use the same names….
But if you’d rather just manage one MDE account, then you’ll need to use different names from my understanding.
On our trip we used one MDE account and simply added a few fake names.
Staff don’t care as long as the fasspass turns green, lol
Last trip, two people passholders but three are resort guest. One does not have a ticket attached and a cast member signed that person in. We were able to go to an in park kiosk and book fast passes for him since we were in the park. It seems that it only checks for a vaild ticket when you are booking fast passes online, it assumes since you are in the park then the magic band is vaild. Another time, 2 guest with regular tickets in park and also had 2 passholder magic bands who were not in park. Booked fast passes on all 4 bands in advance, was able to use all. The magic band did not need to be swiped into the park.
I’ve read about this hack before. I think i’d probably feel more comfortable purchasing new, unlinked, magic bands at the park than booking a second completely fake reservation and then cancelling it. My understanding is the concept will work exactly the same. Two separate sets of bands for your family… two sets of fast passes… one for 60 days out and one for same day usage.
In any event… glad to know the hack is still alive.
Has anyone noticed that you can’t buy Disney gift cards at Target.com anymore? Anyone know if this is temporary or permanent?
I’m sure they are just out for now and will restock soon, it’s happened before.
Is this hack still alive?
I believe so, but I’m not sure. Anyone else know?
“hack”still works as of April, 15 2016. Just used it today.
Used ticket cards to setup early FP+ 30 days ago…
Ordered magic bands a month ago and set them up with different names in my Disney.
Today entered park with ticket cards… Then hit a kiosk to setup magic bands.
Since all 4 people (2 real/tickets, 2 fake/bands) were listed in “My Disney Expierence” I could then manage them all from my phone… Had a great day and the extra FP+ really helped.
Thanks TK!