WDW Daily News

After many trips to the World, I can’t help but think about the places inside the Magic Kingdom that would make lovely homes for those of us who just can’t get enough of the magic. After a brief conversation with my husband, we came up with a few potential locations for our future dream home as long as Disney doesn’t mind us moving in.

1. Fort Langhorn on Tom Sawyer Island: This location would be ideal because it is off the beaten path, and you could have some privacy here from the many crowds that populate the Magic Kingdom. The areas on the upper level of the fort could be converted into living quarters, and the audio animatronics in the various barn spaces would have to find a new home. The bedrooms could occupy these barn spaces, and you could expand the bathrooms that already exist. I would leave the guns in the rifle roost, but I would make sure that they each make the satisfying shooting noise that they are each supposed to make when you “shoot” them. You would have to have your own boat transportation for getting to and from this island, or you could create a secret tunnel under the Rivers of America, so you could escape at any time if necessary. If you set up a viewing area, you could even enjoy the Wishes fireworks from high atop the fort. Clearly, the fort would be a wonderful place to live as well as offer a unique view of the Magic Kingdom.

2. An apartment on top of the Plaza Restaurant/Ice Cream Parlor: My husband would love to live in this area because he cannot get enough of that waffle cone smell that emanates from the ice cream parlor. This would also be a prime location for fireworks as well as parade viewing. Who wouldn’t want to live on Main Street? You could pop into the Plaza for a daily ice cream treat or a tasty hamburger. After all of those calories, you will have to do some serious exercise, but you could just keep walking around the park because you would already be home!

3. The second floor of the Columbia Harbour House: If you have eaten at the Harbour House, you have probably noticed the spacious area on the second level of this restaurant. This area could easily be converted into a home. You would have excellent views of Fantasyland as well as Liberty Square. The second floor is huge, so you could have many rooms. I would keep the nautical theme and the background music. I love to listen to the sea shanties because they remind me of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride. If you get hungry during the day, you could go downstairs for a hummus sandwich and an apple dessert treat. In addition, you could easily visit the Haunted Mansion for a quick ride or the Hall of the Presidents. This would be quite a centrally located home.

4. Swiss Family Robinson Tree House: Now, this is an obvious choice because it is already set up to be a home, a primitive home, but a home nonetheless. This house would offer excellent views and photo opportunities as well as an endless supply of Swiss Polka music. Yes, I would leave the Swiss Polka playing, all day, all the time. It is just that awesome! Some of the rooms would need to be closed in and modernized for our comfort, but this would not require too much work. Plus, who wouldn’t want to live in Adventureland with an amazing view of the Magic Kingdom? With regard to the prime location of this home in Adventureland, you would also be able to frequent Aloha Isle so that you could purchase daily Dole Whips.

5. The Formerly Burning Settler’s Cabin: Now, this is definitely a fixer upper, but it is already set up as a house, and it has a lovely forest surrounding it. Back in the olden days of Disney history, this cabin used to perpetually burn, but now the fire has been extinguished. As a result, we could move right into this cabin. It is a little small, but we could do some additions. Like the fort, we would need to have a secret tunnel in order to reach the cabin, and we would also have an excellent view of the fireworks at night. As the riverboat passes on the Rivers of America, we could stand out in front of our homestead and wave at all of the passersby. We could become castmembers and dress as residents of our pioneer cabin. This would definitely be fun. We would have a place where we could live, work, and play! It’s our own version of EPCOT.

I hope you have enjoyed my look at potential Magic Kingdom homes. Where would you choose to live? Until next time, have a magical day, and keep moving forward!

In my mind, there is a spectrum of Fastpass+ users: on one side, there are the people who don’t use Fastpass at all. These Disney guests either don’t care or don’t know what Fastpass is, and if they choose to ride the more popular attractions, they’re probably going to be waiting in lines for 45 or more minutes. On the other end of the spectrum, we have what I call the ultra-planners. These are the moms/dads who plan out where the family is going to be every hour of every day. Fastpasses are booked 60 days in advance, times guides are planned out on spreadsheets- these people go the whole nine yards. Although I’m not saying that it’s bad to be an ultra-planner or not use Fastpass+ at all, I aim to be somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Fastpass+ is a great system if you use it correctly, so here are just a few tips on making the most of Fastpass+ without going to the extremes.

1. Use the option to change experiences/times for Fastpasses. Disney offers Fastpasses in groups of 3 Fastpasses per park per day. However, sometimes the times or attractions offered to you aren’t ideal. This is where you use the option to change times or the experience for your Fastpass. What I usually do is choose the group of Fastpasses that has the most of what I had in mind, then I go back to each individual attraction and check to see what times are available. If you’re lucky, you can choose just about any time that you want to experience the attraction, especially if you’re booking at least a week in advance.

1. Download the MyDisneyExperience app. Although Disney offers Fastpass+ kiosks in the parks, there are sometimes long lines just to get to the kiosk to choose your Fastpass+ experiences or change times. If you have a smartphone, I would definitely recommend downloading the free MyDisneyExperience app, which is how you can choose Fastpasses, manage dining plans, see your available park tickets, and view reservations. It’s a lot easier and faster to use your own phone to schedule a Fastpass than to use the in-park kiosks, and you get more time to make sure you’re getting what you want.

1. Don’t use Fastpasses up on unnecessary attractions. Sometimes, I wonder why Disney even offers Fastpasses on some attractions. Many attractions at Disney rarely have long lines, and sometimes the Fastpass line is just as long as the regular line is. Some attractions that I would recommend not using a Fastpass on are: Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Mickey’s Philharmagic, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, MuppetVision 3D, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. These attractions almost never have long wait times, and for most shows, the Fastpass line just ends up meeting up with the normal line.

1. Schedule Fastpasses for earlier in the morning first. If you want to take a chance at getting more than 3 Fastpasses in one day, it’s best to schedule your first three Fastpasses for morning/early afternoon. Then, after you use up those Fastpasses, you’ll get a chance to schedule additional Fastpass+ reservations using your MyDisneyExperience app or the in-park kiosks. Although choices might be limited, there’s always a chance that you’ll be able to score a great Fastpass!

1. Realize that you won’t get everything done. So many people try to cram as many experiences into their short time at the parks, and honestly, I think it takes a lot away from the experience. Although I can understand that going to a Disney park might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some, or just an every-five-years experience for others, rushing off from one attraction to the other leaves no time for recognizing the intricate details that Disney works so hard to create and just simply enjoying one another’s company. We always try to slow it down while we’re at the parks, and I’ve found that this often makes a more memorable experience than ultra-planning ever will.