Step 1: Once signed in to your My Disney Experience Account (hover over the My Disney Experience Tab) & click on My Plans.

Step 2: Under Resort Hotel (hover over) you will find a blue tab labeled Link a Reservation (highlighted in yellow below).  Click on Link a Reservation.

Step 3: You will now be able to type in your confirmation number here along with the main last name on the reservation.  Once everything is filled out click on the Green Next Button at the bottom of the screen.

Step 4: Your next page will show and you will need to check your travel party information.  If you haven’t used the My Disney Experience App before it will require you to add each guests name that is going on the trip and their date of birth; once this is done and confirmed and you have added everyone in your travel party to match your reservation you can click on Done at the bottom of the screen once it is in Green (that means everything is correct and you can save).  Once this is complete your Walt Disney World Vacation Package is fully linked to your My Disney Experience Account.

180 Days Before your Arrival Date – You can start making Dining Reservations

* You mean I have to know where I want to eat and what I will be in the mood for 6 months in advance? I recommend making reservations for families that are looking to do the special character dining since it is so sought after. Most times you will want to know what characters you want to dine with; so I can suggest a restaurant or two based on those characters and we can plan your park schedule around that. For other restaurants like California Grill; where you can view the fireworks show for Magic Kingdom nightly I would highly advise reservations for these places as well. However; a lot of times clients do cancel 24 hours in advance and I have gotten some great last minute dining reservations this way and also using an app like Open Table (especially for restaurants located at Disney Springs). So with that said; no you don’t have to have every meal planned out but for the ones you know you want to do I will help you reserve those and get good times the 180 days in advance.

I am here to assist you with all of your dining reservations and help you narrow down options and also plan accordingly to what parks you will be visiting. I have helped numerous clients book their dining reservations over the years and it is one of my favorite parts about the planning process.

Once your Walt Disney World resort package is linked to your My Disney Experience Account your Dining will auto calculate the first day you are able to start making reservations. Once you are to the Exact date of 180 days out from the start date of your vacation it will allow you to click on Make a Reservation (see below) . Guests who are staying at a Walt Disney World Resort and have already booked a room; can begin making dining reservations 180 days prior to the first date of their visit plus the next 10 days into their vacation.

Guests who are not staying at a Walt Disney Resort Hotel can make Dining Reservations 180 days in advance of their trip but only 1 day at a time. If you want to make more than one reservation you will need to make them 1 day at a time beginning at the 180 day mark.

60 Days Before your Arrival Date – You can Start Making Fast Pass Reservations
* Yes I know more planning. However; I believe this is one of the biggest advantages to staying on-site at a Walt Disney World resort / hotel. This is one of my favorite parts of the planning process; and I have clients look at it as 3 rides that are guaranteed to be short wait times because you can go through the fast pass lines. So even though we have to pick the parks you want to go to more than 60 Days in advance I help you through that process and will guide you to the rides that will be best suited for you and your family. Disney has a Tier system for their rides; so the more popular rides will be under Tier 1 and you will only be able to pick one of those for your 3 rides (per day) of that day.

So for example at Hollywood Studios the current Tier System Rides are as follows (subject to change as Disney changes these every so often):

Tier 1

• Slinky Dog Dash
• Toy Story Mania
• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (also has single rider line; so sometimes guests don’t waste a fast pass on this ride when you can take advantage of single rider lines which are shorts; as long as you don’t mind if your group is split up)
• Tower of Terror

So you would be able to pick only 1 of the rides listed above and then 2 other rides from Tier 2. I usually advise clients to get to the park early (at least an hour before opening) and head straight to the ride that they couldn’t get a fast pass for; but really wanted to ride on. This way even though it looks like a lot of people in the large crowd; it actually goes quickly as a lot of people don’t tend to arrive until after opening. So I always book for example a fast pass for 10:30am and head to the park and am there by 8:00am for a 9:00am opening, that way I can get at least 1 or 2 rides in before my first fast pass that goes from 10:30am – 11:30am (fast pass times start and end within a 1 hour window; giving you time to get to the ride).

Hollywood Studios has been adding more and more attractions and lands and it is no longer a half day park like it used to be. If anything I truly believe that it could be a 2 day park to fit in everything at that park now; especially if you go during peak times.

(A Note on Fast Passes – We are able to reserve 3 Fast Passes before you travel; however once you use your fast passes up, on your mobile device using the My Disney Experience App OR at a Fast Pass Kiosk area inside the park you can add an additional fast pass; then once that one is used you may add another; and so on.)

* Please see my fully detailed pdf file on Fast Passes.

Once your resort package is linked to your My Disney Experience Account your Fast Pass+ Reservations will auto calculate the first day you are able to start making reservations. Once you are to the exact date and it is 7:00am or later you will be able to click on the Make A Selection section and start reserving your Fast Passes.

30 Days Before your Arrival Date – You can Start Making Fast Pass Reservations
If you choose to stay at a hotel / resort off-site this is the first day you will be able to make Fast Pass reservations for your trip. Please note: some of the more popular rides may not be available this close to the trip.

Clients staying at an off-site property may select 3 FastPass+ attractions, up to 30 days in advance of each theme park visit day. In other words, you can only book one day’s worth of Fast Pass+ entitlements 30 days in advance of each visit day.

Magic Bands Ship to You Directly

Please make sure when you sign up for your My Disney Experience Account that your profile address is up to date and correct as this is the address that Walt Disney World goes by to mail you your Magic Bands. Magic Bands will ship about 30 days before you are scheduled to check-in to your Disney Resort Hotel. You can log in to your My Disney Experience account & check the status of your Magic Bands. Once the time limit for customizing your Magic Bands has ended they will ship shortly after. You will also receive an email (to the email address associated with your My Disney Experience Account) once they do ship.

For Additional Information on Magic Bands (Please visit: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/bands-cards/)

60 Days Before your Arrival Date (Only for clients staying at a Walt Disney World Property)

You can complete your online check-in for your hotel. Please go under your Plans on your My Disney Experience and you can click on Start Check-in. This will save you time and you can actually avoid the front desk all together now if you have completed this process. They will ask you for a credit card to have attached to the room for incidentals as well as a cell phone number for the day of travel. With this number they will send you updated text messages and will let you know when your room is ready and the room number when it is officially ready. Once your room is ready your Magic Bands will be your Key to the Room; therefore avoiding having to go to the front desk to get a key, etc. (If you didn’t receive your magic bands ahead of time; please stop by the front desk and they will have your set of magic bands waiting for you; they may be all gray depending on when they were ordered).

If you arrive at the resort early in the morning and your room isn’t ready for an early check-in you will be able to leave your bags with the bellman and you can use the pool, visit a park (if you have park passes for that day already planned), or visit Disney Springs (by taking the complimentary transportation provided by your hotel.)