Help with plans for Feb 2015

[DisneyTopper]

Hi everyone,

I used to be a regular on this board a few years back when my kids were little and we traveled to WDW every couple years. I knew just about everything there was to know about this place.

A couple of my good friends want to go and take their younger kids to WDW (around 13 years old) and we are beginning to plan a trip.
We are thinking about heading down President's Day weekend. I know it's a crowded time of year, but with everyone's school schedules, it's the only option for now. Since I haven't been to WDW since June, 2010, I was hoping someone could summarize the big changes since then. Particularly:

1. How super-crowded is it really? Would it be impossible to have a good time that weekend?
2. What strategies are there for beating the crowds? I think I read somewhere that they've changed the FastPass system, which really sounds like that stinks.
3. Rent a car or not? I am leaning towards no, but I am worried we'll be on the bus for a while. It's likely my friends will want to stay at a Value Resort which may impact our ease of getting to the park.
4. Do they still have the free airport shuttle transportation to/from WDW?
5. What other types of updates am I missing that would help us enjoy our stay? I am willing to spend a bit more, but I don't want to blow a ton of money for this weekend, either. So the Grand Floridian is out of the question!

Thanks for all your help in advance. I am pretty busy lately, I don't have the time to do the research I once did, and I know how friendly and helpful everyone on this board is.....:mickey:

[faline]

Presidents' Day weekend is one of the very busiest times of year. You will have lots and lots of company at the park(s).

Fastpass+ can be booked 60 days in advance if you are staying on Disney property and have your park tickets already purchased. I would highly recommend you book fastpass+ in advance. You can only get 3 fastpasses and they all need to be in the same park. To book fastpass+, you need to have a My Disney Experience account. Your room reservation and tickets need to be linked to your account. If you are managing fastpass+ for your entire group, you need to invite them to link to your account and they need to give you permission to manage the fastpass reservations. Plus, everyone in your group also needs to have their room reservations and tickets on their My Disney Experience account(s). Once you have used your 3 pre-booked fastpasses, you can book an additional fastpass+ at an in-park kiosk. At such a busy time of year, I would not expect to be able to snag any headliner fastpasses for a 4th or 5th ticket on the same day.

If you're only going for a weekend, I wouldn't bother with a rental.

Disney Magical Express is still available for no additional charge for your travel to and from the airport.

If you're going to use photopass, it is now called Memory Maker and you should purchase that at least 3 days prior to arrival.

There are no really good ways to beat the crowds any longer. If you can, take advantage of extra magic hours. At the very least, arrive at park opening. You can often accomplish quite a lot before the heaviest crowds roll in mid to late morning.

Book your dining reservations in advance as well. You're already pretty late for that so I'd suggest doing that soon.

A lot has changed since 2014 but the fastpass changes have the biggest impact on park touring.

[DisneyTopper]

Thank you so much for the info!

So to make sure I understand...we can book three online. And once those are booked, when we get to the park we can do whatever is left over the 'old' way? I assume the disadvantage to waiting would be there would be less available.

[faline]

So to make sure I understand...we can book three online. And once those are booked, when we get to the park we can do whatever is left over the 'old' way? I assume the disadvantage to waiting would be there would be less available.

You can book 3 on-line but the in park fast passes are not exactly the same as the old way. There are no paper fast passes any longer. There has been some dissenting information as to whether or not you can fastpass number 4 after your first 3 ELAPSE or you have actually USED all of your first three. In any case, there are kiosks around the park(s) at which you can book a 4th fast pass after you have used your first 3. It is highly likely that the "big" rides will be unavailable or would have ride times that are hours away - perhaps beyond the time you still want to be in the park.