Using FastPass+ at Walt Disney World

by The Pike's Place

Sad day, FastPasses are a thing of the past. This post was from 2018. I’m leaving this post up for nostalgia sake, I guess. Anyway you are out of luck because FastPass+ is gone and Genie+/Lightning Lane replaced it. For more current information on Walt Disney World and travel see our latest posts here.

FastPass+ allows Walt Disney World resort guests to reserve “Fast Passes” for select Disney park attractions up to 60 days in advance of their check-in date and non-resort guests 30 days in advance of their arrival date. FastPass+ is basically a reservation to get in a shorter line for that attraction during a specific time window. This can shorten your wait time drastically or guarantee you access to a show if used correctly. It’s also completely free and included in park admission for EVERY (more…)

Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios

by The Pike's Place

Toy Story Land is a cute new Toy Story themed land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It opened on June 30th, 2018 and we had the pleasure to visit it on July 4th less than a week after its opening. As you enter the land you are supposed to be walking into Andy’s backyard and become the size of one of his toys. It’s a pretty small Land. I don’t think I really felt the size of a toy, and my husband had no idea what the theme was besides just bright colors and toys. He loved that he had most of the toys they featured growing up (more…)

A Quick Guide to Walt Disney World Planning

by The Pike's Place

The days of just showing up to Disney buying a ticket and walking through the gates are long gone. If you’ve never been to Disney World before you may not realize the amount of planning people put into their vacations to the magical land of Disney. You can book vacation packages 499 days in advance, dining reservations 180 (more…)

Using a Baby Carrier at Disney World

by The Pike's Place

We just took our son for his first visit at Disney World. We tried using a stroller and using a baby carrier and there were pros and cons to both. Here are my thoughts on using a carrier or babywearing at Disney World and why it might be a good idea for your family.

Why Use a Carrier

Many people love and prefer to babywear at Disney World. A carrier gives you the freedom to have your hands free, not need to park or fold up your stroller, not leave it unattended, and baby is always safely attached to you! It is super easy to walk around (more…)

First Haircut At Disney’s Harmony Barber Shop

by The Pike's Place

We went to Disney World for my birthday this year and it was our five-month-old baby’s first visit. For a baby, he has a ton of hair! I thought it would be fun and memorable to have his first haircut done a (more…)

Pregnant at Disney: Tips for a great Disney Vacation while pregnant

by The Pike's Place

Being pregnant at Disney World doesn’t have to be miserable. You can have a fantastic vacation while pregnant. Yes, you will need to eat and drink more often and yes, you may need to rest more, but that shouldn’t hinder the fact you can have a blast! (more…)

Provincial Belle Running Costume

by The Pike's Place

Provincial Belle is a fun easy to put together running costume. Running in runDisney races has become a true passion, okay maybe an addiction, of mine. I was hooked after my first 5k and quickly upgraded to a 10k just the following fall! For my second race, I had to wear one of the fun costumes I saw on the race course at the 5k. I came up with the idea of doing Provincial Belle because I was running at the runDisney Wine & Dine 10k and that weekend has the Lumiere challenge, which made me think of Belle. (more…)

Peter Pan Nursery

by The Pike's Place

From just about the moment we found out we were pregnant we wanted to do something special with our baby’s nursery. With my love of Disney, something using a Disney classic was likely in the cards, but we did want it to be something a little different. During my pregnancy, we went to see Finding Neverland and I came up with the idea that a Peter Pan Neverland nursery would be the cutest idea for a boy. We didn’t know what we were having at that point, but the minute we found I immediately knew we had to go through with that idea. We had so much fun putting together this room and I (more…)

Disney’s World of Pandora

by The Pike's Place

I got the chance on Sunday of opening weekend to visit the new world of Pandora inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. There has been a lot of news about Pandora and how amazing it is. There has also been news that it is crazy crowded and will have huge wait times. I went and I survived without really having to wait at all. In this post, I’ll give you my advice, tips, and reviews to visiting the amazing world of Pandora.

Getting into Pandora

We went on opening Sunday in the evening after dinner before dusk. After getting into the Animal Kingdom, we waited 10 minutes to get in the Pandora section. Yes, we had to wait to even enter the section of the park. We had fast passes for the Na’vi River Journey ride, (more…)

DIY Magic Band Decals

by The Pike's Place

Whether you are planning your first trip to Walt Disney World or your 100th, you’ve likely seen or heard that Disney uses something called a Magic Band as an all in one source for your park ticket, room key, reservations, photos, fast passes and even a credit card to use on in park purchases. Basically, everything for your vacation is linked on this one little waterproof wristband.

If you book a stay at one of the Walt Disney World resorts your entire party will receive a magic band by mail at least 30 days prior to your vacation. (This is ending in 2021, but you can still purchase MagicBands to use) You can also choose to buy your own magic band and Disney sells many different ones. I now have way too many magic bands. I like to make these personalized magic band decals with my Cricut die cut machine. They add a little personality and then I can tell my bands apart.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links we will be compensated.*

The magic bands used for this project were the old style magic band. Around January 2017, Disney updated the magic bands and now uses a different style. UPDATE 2020: This project does work for the new Magic Bands without changing the sizes. You can modify if you want the imagine to be larger.

There are many places you can buy vinyl decals such as Etsy if you do not want to make your own vinyl decals. I love any excuse to use my Cricut, so I make them for myself, friend’s, and family. This is a pretty (more…)