Welcome To A Walk in the Park with Colleen!
My name is Colleen and I love Disney!! I have experienced over 20 trips to Disney since I went the first time at age 19.
I have been helping people plan and enjoy pixie dust trips for over ten years, and I love hearing about the memorable times they have had.
My motto is “no one should have a bad time at Disney”.
The PLANNING continues with My Disney Experience (MDE). I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to set up a MDE account in advance!!
A My Disney Experience account is a great addition to your planning because, this is where you will keep track of all your Disney reservations and information. When you set up your MDE account each of your trip members will be able to choose their own avatar. You can go with classic like Mickey or Minnie, or you could choose more recently introduced characters like Nemo or Dory, just to name a few.
Once in the parks you will want to use the MDE app on your smart phone to see what time your dining reservations are, your Fastpass times, and so much more. This great app let’s know the times for all the shows, parades, fireworks and character greetings, and the wait times for all rides. It can even tell you where the closest bathroom is!! In addition, MDE will keep track of your on-site hotel reservations, dining reservations and Fastpass reservations.
Another cool Disney feature that comes free to on-site guest and can be purchased through the Disney store are MagicBands. These are plastic wrist bands that you can link to your MDE account and if staying on site it is your ticket onto the Magical Express bus, your room key, your dining plan tracker, your park ticket, your Fastpass ticket, and charge card (if you set up for it). Imagine coming back to your room at end of a long fun filled day and all you have to do is wave your Magic Band on the door of your room and it unlocks it!! No more looking for room key and trying to get it to register in the slot so you can get into your room. Also, think about when standing in line to get food or a snack and being able to just wave your Magic band, how cool!! Another neat option of the Magic band is that it can be set up to charge automatically to your hotel bill (there are different limits to choose from, you have the option to allow your children’s Magic bands to charge, and can even set limits).
If staying off-site it is your park ticket and your Fastpass ticket. I highly recommend getting a Magic Band as it is so much easier than a card ticket. I suggest ordering them at www.disneystore.com in advance so you don’t waste time once you get to the park buying them and then connecting it to your park ticket (you can do this online through your MDE account in advance.)
Remember that by taking the time to plan your days in the Disney Parks you are planning for a magical vacation at the happiest place on earth! The planning adds value to your vacation by taking away the stress and making the time more fun, after all a Disney vacation is all about the fun!
When you are ready to start planning your trip please feel free to reach out to me at Colleen@awalkintheparkwithcolleen.net or 518-265-1421 and we can make your vacation in the Disney Parks enjoyable and MAGICAL!!
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Until next month, thank you and have a magical day!! Your friend, Colleen.
