Blog - Page 3 of 11 - Buster and the Banshee

BUSTER THE MYTHBUSTER: Are Mondays Really the Worst Day To Visit the Magic Kingdom?

Archivetrip planning, walt disney world

We're back with another edition of "Buster the MythBUSTER"! In today's episode, we're looking at whether Mondays are really the busiest day at the Magic Kingdom. In many Facebook groups, blogs, Disney information sites, it is a pretty commonly held belief that one should avoid the Magic Kingdom on Mondays. The general thinking is that Mondays are usually the first park day for many visitors, and most people want to make the Magic Kingdom the first park that they visit. They want to start their WDW vacation by seeing the castle, riding the classic rides, seeing the parades, the fireworks,…

FIVE OBSERVATIONS on the New Disability Access Service Policies at Walt Disney World

WDW With Disabilitiesdisabilities, disability access service, walt disney world

As we previous reported, Disney announced that they were making changes to their Disability Access Service in order to reduce abuse and fraud. Well, these changes have gone into effect at WDW this past week, so now we have some real world feedback on the new system. In this article I will summarize some of the initial observations I have, based upon what I am hearing. To put together this article, I read various stories that people have posted on different social media sites, message boards, and other forums. However, rather than basing my opinions on individual stories, I looked…

EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Archivedisability access service, genie+, rides, walt disney world

This past week, Disney dropped a whole bunch of new information about Tiana's Bayou Adventure, coming to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Because the amount of information that is now out there on the inter webs, we at Buster and the Banshee thought that we would do everyone a solid by consolidating all of that information in one place. If you have any questions about the ride, keep reading because you are bound to find the answer! Also, in true Buster and the Banshee fashion, we will also include our own commentary on some the announcements, as we love to…

REVIEW: Keys to the Kingdom Tour… A Peek Behind the Curtain

Archivekeys to the kingdom tour, magic kingdom, walt disney world

On our recent 25th anniversary trip to Walt Disney World, Banshee and I checked off one of our biggest WDW bucket list items: the Keys to the Kingdom tour. In this article, we will give both a "spoiler free" and "spoiler-y" review of the tour itself. TL;DR: Our overall conclusion is that this is a great tour for any seasoned WDW veteran who wants to get more insight into the Magic Kingdom. Things to Know Before You Go What is it? Keys to the Kingdom is a five-hour walking tour through the Magic Kingdom where you learn more about the…

CHANGES COMING to EPCOT’s Festival Schedule

Archiveepcot, flower and garden fesitval, food and wine festival, trip planning, walt disney world

In recent years, EPCOT has been the "park of festivals". Since 2017 it has hosted four seasonal festivals for guests to enjoy: International Festival of the Arts: a celebration of the arts in all of its many forms International Flower and Garden Festival: a celebration of horticulture - perfect for spring! International Food and Wine Festival: a celebration of the culinary arts from around the world International Festival of the Holidays: an exploration of the winter holidays and how they are celebrated by different cultures Each of these festivals gives guests the opportunity to enjoy limited time food & drink…

BUSTER THE MYTHBUSTER: Genie+ Edition

Archivebuster the mythbuster, genie+, walt disney world

As you probably know, Genie+ is Walt Disney World's latest iteration of its "select an attraction return time" service. When you buy Genie+, you can reserve return times for select attractions throughout the day. When your retune time comes, instead of waiting in the regular standby line, you get access to the ride through the "Lightning Lane". This allows you to get onto the ride faster. While that description sounds simple, Genie+ is anything but simple. It has all sorts of different rules and restrictions which can make the head spin of even the most seasoned WDW guest. It's no…

CHANGES COMING to Walt Disney World’s Disability Access Service

WDW With Disabilitiesdisabilities, disability access service, walt disney world

This past week, Walt Disney World announced that there are changes on the horizon to their Disability Access Service (DAS). You can read our past articles on DAS, but in a nutshell, DAS allows people who can't wait in the traditional queue to receive a return time for when they can ride the attraction. The return time is based upon the current standby line wait time so, effectively, this allows an individual to wait outside of the normal line. This service mainly is meant for people who might have some invisible disability which makes it harder for them to tolerate…

Four Reasons Why the Polynesian is the BEST Walt Disney World Resort

Trip Planningpolynesian, trip planning, walt disney world

Disney operates over 20 separate resorts at Walt Disney World. With so many to choose from, there is bound to be something that appeals to everyone. The resorts runs the gamut from Disney animation themed, to classic beach resort themed, to elegant Victorian resort themed... and everything in between. However, there is one resort that stands out from the rest. We consider this one to be the best resort of them all... Disney's Polynesian Village Resort Now we understand that this is considered a Deluxe resort, which puts it in a higher price category. However, if you can fit it…

TRIP REPORT: 25th Wedding Anniversary WDW Trip

Archivetrip report, walt disney world

Banshee and I just got back from our 25th anniversary WDW getaway. Thanks to the kindness of Banshee's mom, we were able to make this trip without children... our first child-free trip to WDW since 2001! All throughout the trip, Banshee and I comment how different it is to experience the parks without Little Buster and Little Banshee. Not better... not worse... just different! It did give us the opportunity to explore certain things that we wouldn't have been able to do with Little Banshee. Now, there was a little twinge of guilt not having her with us. However, we…

Ranking the Perks of Staying at a Walt Disney World Hotel

Trip Planningparks, trip planning, walt disney world

While we personally are fans of staying off-site, we agree that there are plenty of perks of staying at a Walt Disney World hotel. Disney offers several exclusive benefits to entice guests to stay at an "on property" resort, and they are constantly tweaking them. Case in point... Disney recently announced a new perk for 2025: free admission to a Disney water park on your check-in day. In honor of this newly added extra, we thought it would be fun to rank the various perks that Disney guests receive when they stay on property! We even included the new water…