Dapper Day/Dining Reservations Catch 22

I made reservations for Be Our Guest Restaurant a long, long time ago for our upcoming October WDW trip (180 days in advance, and I set my alarm!) and was SO happy to snag a spot for quick-service lunch.  It's what I've been looking forward to this whole time besides our "Disney Trifecta" which I wrote about in my last post (Dapper Day, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and Epcot's Food and Wine Festival).

Jim and I wanted more freedom to decide which park we were going to each day, instead of being bound by lots of reservations (especially since we didn't buy ParkHopper).  So I thought, why not book it the day I know we'll be in Magic Kingdom, for Dapper Day!  We'll be in our nice outfits and have a fancy meal to look forward to and really enjoy ourselves.

Well, it turns out Dapper Day is going to be at Hollywood Studios.  I was distraught!  So I used the Disney website chat people (who really couldn't tell me much) and the e-mail help to see if it was possible to purchase a ParkHopper for one day.

It is not, if you've purchased through Magic Your Way.  I also asked about the stand-by line to get in to Be Our Guest.  The chat guy said "it's a gamble" because of the restaurant's popularity.  The e-mail person said the stand-by is NO LONGER AVAILABLE.  Also, they are no longer offering the free quick-service lunch fastpass if you stay on Disney property.

So then came the question: which is more important?  Dapper Day or Be Our Guest Restaurant?

I reminded myself I'd been hoping to go to a Dapper Day for the past couple years and this may be my only opportunity.  But then I thought of that carved turkey sandwich on garlic bread from Be Our Guest.  And the grey stuff.  And those deep blue windows with the gently falling snow!  So Jim & I have decided that we will keep our reservations and, if we feel like milling about with a dapper crowd, we'll take the bus to Hollywood to look around at the entrance gates, and then walk down to the Dolphin & Swan for a sushi dinner with some karaoke!  Fancy people are sure to be around--maybe even people like us who made dining reservations at a different park!  And we can still get our own Memory Maker photos with the castle and all the other beautiful MK photo ops!  Problem solved!

FastPass+ Planning, and That Elusive Be Our Guest FastPass!

It's so fun to plan a Disney vacation.  You get stuff like this:

It's a magnet, and it has all my personalized "important dates" to help me plan!  One of the dates was June 24.  On that date, I would be able to begin selecting my "FastPass+" experiences!  I spent some time talking to my boyfriend (who's never been!) asking what he wants to do while we're there, and together we selected a few "experiences" we'd like to book.  I received a second reminder a week before that date:

So I stayed up till midnight the night before to make my selections (since this is so new, I didn't know if they "ran out" or "got booked").  But when I signed into "My Disney Experience," they said I couldn't start booking my FastPass+ selections until August 23, the date of our arrival in Disney!!  I shot off a polite-but-honest-about-my-feelings e-mail (since their online chat services run from 7AM-11PM).  I tried again in the morning at 7 before leaving for work and was able to use it!  I wonder if everything on their site operates within those hours, too, 7-11?  (They did reply to my e-mail very politely and saying they could see I was able to book, yadda yadda, did I have any further questions.)

After snagging FP+s for everything I wanted (I didn't even plan all 5 days yet--I just wanted to make sure we had FP+s for Toy Story Mania!), I remembered hearing about Be Our Guest quick-service lunch FastPasses.  I googled it and found some weird, secretive-looking sign-in to a website that gives you the FP!  You need to enter your first & last names and an ID number.  Hmmmm.  I tried my booking confirmation number, but it had a mix of letters and numbers, and the letters just didn't show up!  

I read a Disney blog that said if you are staying at a Disney resort, you receive this FastPass to Be Our Guest, and they said that after you "check-in" you will get an e-mail invitation to it.  I checked in online (which you can do starting 60 days before your vacation begins) and waited.  No e-mail.  

I used the online chat service for probably the 3rd or 4th time since beginning planning this trip, and asked a very helpful cast member about it!  She said that we will indeed be receiving this FP, and that we will get it when we "finish" checking in, when we're physically at the hotel.  

So there you have it, folks, if you will be staying at a Disney resort hotel, you are given a FP to quick-service lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant!!  You even get to pick your meal before you go!  How wonderful!  I was worried we wouldn't be able to see the restaurant (I want to take pictures even though I've pretty much seen them all on blogs already)--I didn't want to waste any time waiting in line especially since we already have a Character Breakfast booked at Magic Kingdom (Crystal Palace).  But now we're going, and I can't wait!!  Hope you can enjoy this perk, too!