Walt Disney World for Newbies

[ShaneW]

On 19/01/2020 at 10:54 AM, ads086 said:

I’m headed back to WDW in June. May try to swing DL in before hand, I’ve got 6 days on the ground state side before I’m booked in at Pop Century.

oh excellent@

We will be arriving at POP Century for our very first WDW trip on April 23.... staying for 9 nights so just trying tog get our head around the whole FP and experience, Ours open up on Feb 23 so will see how we go.

 

Hoping we aren't there during peak Spring Break period though !! 

[ads086]

Remember you can make dining bookings now, so if there’s any sit down restaurants you’re keen on (Beauty and the Beast’s castle has the grey stuff as a dessert for instance) you can book that now. 

Fast Pass opens for the entire length of your stay 60 days ahead of your first day, so hard to get fast passes will be easier on the later days.

Make sure you have the app. If you can’t get the ones you want, book any 3 early in the day so you can knock them off quickly and then keep refreshing throughout the day to get that coveted one. Also, extra magic hours is how I got on Seven Dwarves mine train - the 40 minutes was more like 20.

[ShaneW]

6 hours ago, ads086 said:

Remember you can make dining bookings now, so if there’s any sit down restaurants you’re keen on (Beauty and the Beast’s castle has the grey stuff as a dessert for instance) you can book that now. 

Fast Pass opens for the entire length of your stay 60 days ahead of your first day, so hard to get fast passes will be easier on the later days.

Make sure you have the app. If you can’t get the ones you want, book any 3 early in the day so you can knock them off quickly and then keep refreshing throughout the day to get that coveted one. Also, extra magic hours is how I got on Seven Dwarves mine train - the 40 minutes was more like 20.

great tips!

The family have created a list of what FP everyone wants but yeh like you say if theres any not available just choose any three available early i guess.

We have booked the Tomorrowland dessert party for the fireworks at Magic Kingdom for the night that it is my daughters 7th bday so she should like that

Regarding the extra magic hours in morning, how does that actually work regarding rides? Are all rides open and is the park open to everyone but just resort guests can 'tap on' rides?

 

[ads086]

For morning magic hours they only let hotel guests in. Typically all rides will be open. 

The evening magic hours is where the park stays open but if you try to join a line for any attraction they scan your magic band to check you’re a hotel guest.

[Whombex]

The 'boarding groups' way of launching Rise of the Resistance at DL (which I believe is how they did it at DW) sounds like a good way to do it. It sounds like the glitches have been mostly minor with this method, only affected by ride downtime.

Basically, no matter what time you enter the Park (Magic Hour, or the management opening early to ease the crowds in the Esplanade), once the 'official' opening time rolls over, you can use the app to request to ride Rise of the Resistance. The group you have listed on the app are then assigned a boarding group, and are given notification on the app when you're allowed to ride. You get 2 hours to enter the queue at this point. 

No Fastpass until it dies down in a few weeks/months.

By the time we go in October it will be on the Fastpass system by then, but Spider-Man Slingshot in Avengers Campus might be on boarding groups still.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Whombex

[ejpdtd]

2 hours ago, Whombex said:

The 'boarding groups' way of launching Rise of the Resistance at DL (which I believe is how they did it at DW) sounds like a good way to do it. It sounds like the glitches have been mostly minor with this method, only affected by ride downtime.

 Basically, no matter what time you enter the Park (Magic Hour, or the management opening early to ease the crowds in the Esplanade), once the 'official' opening time rolls over, you can use the app to request to ride Rise of the Resistance. The group you have listed on the app are then assigned a boarding group, and are given notification on the app when you're allowed to ride. You get 2 hours to enter the queue at this point. 

No Fastpass until it dies down in a few weeks/months.

By the time we go in October it will be on the Fastpass system by then, but Spider-Man Slingshot in Avengers Campus might be on boarding groups still.

I think its a good system if you get lucky, but seeing people who started lining up in the early hours of the morn at DL to then get Groups for the evening or missing out altogether due to the lottery is pretty sad. 

I think it would make more sense if they just let you join as soon as your whole party enters the park, so lining up early can guarantee you an early spot if you only have one day there for example.

But virtual queues is pretty awesome, not having to wait in a 4 hour standby sounds awesome.

Edited January 22, 2020 by ejpdtd

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

^As you say, it's a double edged sword...

the park doesn't have a snake of a queue running around the entire park. No massively choked pathways. No fights between guests who claim someone cut the line who just went for a bathroom break after queueing for 10 hours, but on the flip side, someone who only has one day in park is deprived the opportunity to say 'i'm going straight to that line, lining up and riding that thing, and if i do nothing else today i'm doing that' simply because the computer didn't assign them a group

[ShaneW]

also - without knowing anyone thats been there , and only been to all our theme parks here in Australia, what is the comparison size wise for Disney Land, California Adventure and all the WDW parks? 

As we will have a 14 month in tow with us as well as our 7yr old , just trying to fathom how big days we would like to plan there at each park. Staying at POP Century so not too bad and open to the idea of going back for the afternoon maybe if it is the best way to tackle them. We always do all the gold coast parks in one day pretty easily .

This will also help with our FP selections when they are open in 3-5 weeks for our stay

[joz]

I'd love to help but I don't really understand the question. The parks are all much bigger, and going back to your hotel at WDW is similar to traveling from Sea World to the southern end of Surfers or Broadbeach on average  (haven't stayed at POP but apparently it's in a pretty good location though so you might be a bit easier than where I stayed on property, one of the All Star Resorts. Open late though so potentially worth the effort if you've got kids with you.

 

Per park is tricky, but for my tastes I'd say 6 days overall with the option to park hop, though again haven't done that since they brought in Magic Bands.

 

Disneyland most hotels on Harbour Blvd are within a 20min walk of the park, I'd plan a stay of 4 days for the 2 parks. You'll still miss stuff but you hopefully shouldn't feel too 'rushed' and you should be able to more than easily do the things you wanna go on, and lots of re-rides on the kids favs.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Having a 14 month old in tow will pad that out for you too - all of the unplanned, unexpected stops - find a parent's room (or you know, change a nappy and leave it on the ride vehicle for the cast to sort out.... IM KIDDING don't do this), cranky bub will probably insist on naptime during the day - if you're lucky, they'll sleep in the stroller and you can keep enjoying the park, but otherwise - mandatory returns to the hotel room for naptime will drag things out a bit.

I've always regarded california as a 3 day minimum, but i've never done it with kids. As Joz says, 4 days there would probably be enough - devoting two full days to each park - do DL first, then DCA on day 3, and if you feel you got everything done at DCA on day 3 you can park hop for day 4 to tick off missed opportunities and re-rides.

No clue for Orlando, but if it were me, i'd work out how many days i thought i'd need playing it safe (TBH, Joz's suggestion of 6 doesn't seem like it would be enough for me) but add one more day on top. If you don't need it, its a good chill out day by the pool, exploring a waterpark, doing some shopping or taking in some other experiences, but if you do need it, you'll be grateful its there.

[ShaneW]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

Having a 14 month old in tow will pad that out for you too - all of the unplanned, unexpected stops - find a parent's room (or you know, change a nappy and leave it on the ride vehicle for the cast to sort out.... IM KIDDING don't do this), cranky bub will probably insist on naptime during the day - if you're lucky, they'll sleep in the stroller and you can keep enjoying the park, but otherwise - mandatory returns to the hotel room for naptime will drag things out a bit.

I've always regarded california as a 3 day minimum, but i've never done it with kids. As Joz says, 4 days there would probably be enough - devoting two full days to each park - do DL first, then DCA on day 3, and if you feel you got everything done at DCA on day 3 you can park hop for day 4 to tick off missed opportunities and re-rides.

No clue for Orlando, but if it were me, i'd work out how many days i thought i'd need playing it safe (TBH, Joz's suggestion of 6 doesn't seem like it would be enough for me) but add one more day on top. If you don't need it, its a good chill out day by the pool, exploring a waterpark, doing some shopping or taking in some other experiences, but if you do need it, you'll be grateful its there.

yeh totally agree the whole experience will be determined on how well (or not) our 14 month old daughter is!

Definitely not expecting her to go a full 12 hours at a park but we can always hope right. I always say expect the worse and anything better is a bonus

Our FP+ selections at Hollywood Studios we have lined up ready to input on 23rd Feb when they open for our stay in April are now having to be done again with the change in attractions and tiers now that Smugglers Run Millennium Falcon ride has been added to FP+ there are only 2 Tier 1 attractions now being Smugglers Run and Slinky Dog Dash.

Would would have thought going to a theme park would need so much preparation hahaha

I think we just plan what we can and whatever happens , happens right? haha

[ejpdtd]

I think a full week is required for WDW unless you want to kys and do rope drop to fireworks. Especially with the new additions this year, ROTR, M&MRR, and Remys, you'll want one day for each park, plus a second day at MK and then another half at the others. In response to the size question, the parks themselves are a good two or three times the size of our GC parks and the WDW property itself is absolutely enormous, but every day I split my days up and do a morning at a park, get the transportation back to resort around midday for a nap and then head back out to the parks for the evening. Get there early and stay late to make the most of the day and avoid crowds. I can't commend the Disney transportation enough, the busses are so easy and generally quite comfortable (sans the crowded ride home after fireworks), the drivers will occasionally have fun with the guests and sing songs or do trivia etc on the trips to the park. The longest bus journey is only 25 minutes or so from one end of the property to MK, or if you're at POP then the longest will be to AK which is about 20-25 max. Disney makes it really easy now, you can see when the next bus is arriving at your resort on the MDE app, so you don't have to wait outside, just check the app from your room and then plan accordingly to get to the bus, plus Skyliner will make journeys to Epcot and HWS very easy for you with a stroller, won't even need to pack it up like on the busses. 

New tiers at HWS are great, makes doing HWS possible in 1 or 1.5 days now. General FP tip, book your first one for about an hour after park opening and the consecutive hours after that, like 10, 11 and 12. You don't need FP for anything in the first hour of opening generally, and it means you can book more for your evening after you are finished up with your FP at 12pm.

But yeah, just plan your fast passes and then wing the rest is my recommendation when you're in the parks you'll see stuff you want to do and just spontaneously jump on etc if the lines are short. Keep refreshing MDE if you're looking for a particular FP on the day, or go into modifying on your current ones and see if there are better options. As a single rider in September, I don't think I ever waited more than 20 or so minutes for anything my whole trip because I refreshed the app and got the day of FP for pretty much everything after I had used my booked ones.

 

DLR, probably can be done in 3 days as I did in Sep, if you're doing WDW first, a lot of DLR will feel the same and I felt I only needed one day in DL to be happy and the two in DCA, I would definitely recommend a park hopper though so you can walk next door if you get bored, especially if you plan on getting MaxPass to take full advantage of booking across either park.

[ads086]

Take advantage of parent swap too! One of you lines up with your 7yo and then rides, then swap parents at the exit letting the other parent ride without needing to wait the standby time again - just speak to the cast members at the line entry.

Magic Kingdom has something like 23 rides, not including shows and parades. Its enormous. 

Staying at POP means that buses to HWS and Epcot are one per hour, you basically have to use the Skyliner. There’s loads of activities going on at the resort so grab an activity guide off the checkin cast member - they play a movie by the hippy dippy pool each night. Also, remember you can eat at any resort restaurant or meal hall, you aren’t restricted to POP - so maybe look into the character breakfast at Chef Mickeys at Contemporary, and I think they just introduced one at Riviera now too. 
There are stroller restrictions - make sure you have the right size or hire one. If you’re park hopping, keep your hire receipt from the first park and show it at the second and you should be covered - cost per day, not cost per visit/park. 
Learn where the first aid spots are on your park maps - they also sell baby goods in there should you have an unplanned situation occur. 
 

My first WDW visit I allowed 7 days, 6 in the parks. Spent one morning swimming in the pool. Also did the return to hotel mid-day a couple of times - it’s a big day and jet lag is a thing (I went via London so I didn’t know which Timezone I was in for a while).

Also, take a hat - not a lot of shade around WDW parks.

[Whombex]

On 24/01/2020 at 8:06 AM, AlexB said:

Having a 14 month old in tow will pad that out for you too - all of the unplanned, unexpected stops - find a parent's room (or you know, change a nappy and leave it on the ride vehicle for the cast to sort out.... IM KIDDING don't do this), cranky bub will probably insist on naptime during the day - if you're lucky, they'll sleep in the stroller and you can keep enjoying the park, but otherwise - mandatory returns to the hotel room for naptime will drag things out a bit.

I've always regarded california as a 3 day minimum, but i've never done it with kids. As Joz says, 4 days there would probably be enough - devoting two full days to each park - do DL first, then DCA on day 3, and if you feel you got everything done at DCA on day 3 you can park hop for day 4 to tick off missed opportunities and re-rides.

No clue for Orlando, but if it were me, i'd work out how many days i thought i'd need playing it safe (TBH, Joz's suggestion of 6 doesn't seem like it would be enough for me) but add one more day on top. If you don't need it, its a good chill out day by the pool, exploring a waterpark, doing some shopping or taking in some other experiences, but if you do need it, you'll be grateful its there.

 

7 hours ago, ejpdtd said:

I think a full week is required for WDW unless you want to kys and do rope drop to fireworks. Especially with the new additions this year, ROTR, M&MRR, and Remys, you'll want one day for each park, plus a second day at MK and then another half at the others. In response to the size question, the parks themselves are a good two or three times the size of our GC parks and the WDW property itself is absolutely enormous, but every day I split my days up and do a morning at a park, get the transportation back to resort around midday for a nap and then head back out to the parks for the evening. Get there early and stay late to make the most of the day and avoid crowds. I can't commend the Disney transportation enough, the busses are so easy and generally quite comfortable (sans the crowded ride home after fireworks), the drivers will occasionally have fun with the guests and sing songs or do trivia etc on the trips to the park. The longest bus journey is only 25 minutes or so from one end of the property to MK, or if you're at POP then the longest will be to AK which is about 20-25 max. Disney makes it really easy now, you can see when the next bus is arriving at your resort on the MDE app, so you don't have to wait outside, just check the app from your room and then plan accordingly to get to the bus, plus Skyliner will make journeys to Epcot and HWS very easy for you with a stroller, won't even need to pack it up like on the busses. 

New tiers at HWS are great, makes doing HWS possible in 1 or 1.5 days now. General FP tip, book your first one for about an hour after park opening and the consecutive hours after that, like 10, 11 and 12. You don't need FP for anything in the first hour of opening generally, and it means you can book more for your evening after you are finished up with your FP at 12pm.

But yeah, just plan your fast passes and then wing the rest is my recommendation when you're in the parks you'll see stuff you want to do and just spontaneously jump on etc if the lines are short. Keep refreshing MDE if you're looking for a particular FP on the day, or go into modifying on your current ones and see if there are better options. As a single rider in September, I don't think I ever waited more than 20 or so minutes for anything my whole trip because I refreshed the app and got the day of FP for pretty much everything after I had used my booked ones.

 

DLR, probably can be done in 3 days as I did in Sep, if you're doing WDW first, a lot of DLR will feel the same and I felt I only needed one day in DL to be happy and the two in DCA, I would definitely recommend a park hopper though so you can walk next door if you get bored, especially if you plan on getting MaxPass to take full advantage of booking across either park.

Urgh.. we only have enough time for 2 at DL/CA, 5 (maaaaybe 6) for DW..

Ah well, rope drop to fireworks it is. Fortunately we'll be there in October when statistically it's quieter than summer, Halloween notwithstanding. We're going mainly for Galaxy's Edge, so might focus on Avengers Campus at CA and do Galaxy's Edge at DW.

 

Also, great advice in bold there, @ejpdtd. ✌️

Edited January 25, 2020 by Whombex

[Gazza]

Could you stretch it to 3 days for DL/DCA?

If you've got little kids, and they can't ride certain things, couldn't you take turns and do many of the big rides on single rider anyway.

In particular, DL/DCA is really good for that these days, and most of my favourites have single rider.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/single-rider-line/

[cheski]

So I recently just came back from visiting the US and Disney World and Universal in Orlando, so here are my thoughts and tips:

Fast Pass

Like others have said on here, place in your fast pass selections 30 days (or 60 days if staying in a Disney resort) for the more popular rides. 

You can make 3 ride pre-selections for a single theme park per day. Once you arrive at the park and use up these 3 selections, you may make 1 fast pass selection at a time until closing time. Therefore I strongly recommend you make all your selections for the morning, so that you can then make more fast pass selections once you have used your initial 3 up. 

We didn't book our fast passes in advance and were still able to get fast passes for the rides we wanted by constantly refreshing the app. People will cancel their bookings for rides throughout the day (opening up slots), and Disney does open up some slots here or there, so if you strategise and prioritise which rides to use the fast passes for, you should still be able to ride all the main rides in a single day. 

The Disney Parks have wifi throughout their parks which definitely makes it easier to use their Disney World app and not waste a lot of mobile phone data. 

Disney Magic Band

Disney sells at their entry points and within their marks magic bands, which is essentially and watch looking wristband with an RFID chip in it. It allows you to link your entry ticket to it, so you don't need to carry around your paper ticket.

Essentially you can use it to easily scan entry into the park, enter the fast pass queues of rides, and easily link photos taken by Disney crew to your account.

For a lot of rides, your ride photo will automatically be added to your account also without having to do anything (as the RFID sensor on the ride picks up your magic band when taking your ride photo). This was a really cool and handy feature!

Also if you are staying at a Disney Property, you can use the magic band to add purchases at the parks onto your room account (rather than having to use cash/card). 

At around USD$15 I would definitely recommend getting one for each person, even just for the conveience of not having to take the paper ticket in/out of pocket and worrying about loosing it. 

TIP: At the gate they only sell several plain colours of the magic bands (Ie: grey, yellow, blue, green ect). If you want more cooler designs, purchase one once you enter the park at one of the gift stores around the park.  

Disney World Parks Overview

Depending on who you go with (just adults or with kids) will probably dictate which parks you will enjoy or spend more time at. At minimum, 1 day at each park (4 parks + 1 water park) is needed; though you may feel a bit rushed trying to get through it all. It is therefore recommended to get a 6 day hopper pass if possible to cover any parts/rides you missed or want to re-live again. 

In Ops situation, a 14 day pass will give you all the time in the world to experience the parks.  

Here are my brief thoughts of each of the 4 Disney parks (in order of which I preferred the most):

Animal Kingdom - More of an African/Safari themed park, which centrepiece is a massive tree (tree-of-life). Contains a safari tour/ride, expedition Everest (roller coaster in a mountain), Dinosaur (underrated ride imo), and Avatar Land (including Flight of the Passage Ride - arguably the best ride Disney has produced to date). 

It has a good mixture of rides (for both adults and children), and I really enjoyed the African/Safari vibe of the park. Feels different to the other parks. 

Avatar land is amazing visually (on the same level as Star Wards Land), though I preferred the theming of Avatar over Star Wars. Also, don't stress if you don't get to ride the Navi river boat ride, as though its cool visually, its quite a quick and lacklustre ride. 

Disney Hollywood Studios - A universal studios/ movie world Gold Coast kind of park which contains also a good mix of rides for both adults and kids. Aerosmith roller coaster is the most thrilling ride, though I enjoyed Toy Story Mania (family shooting ride), muppets show, and Hollywood Tower also. 

This park contains toy story land, and the new Star Wars land - so is quite busy at present, and obviously riding both Star Wars rides within the land is a must. 

Magic Kingdom - The classic Disney theme park which obviously has the princess' castle in the middle of the park. Walking down main-street (especially at night) is truly magical, and out of all the theme parks, it definitely carries the most charm and beauty of all the parks. It's this what I loved most about the park.  

The rides are not as thrilling as the above 2 parks, and you can tell that this park is more catered towards young children. Space mountain was the most thrilling, along with Thunder Rail Road, though they are building a TRON roller coaster at present which will be opening in 2021. 

Most of the rides are more of the classic kind (e.g. its a small world, pirates of the Caribbean, splash mountain) which were lovely, though felt a bit tired/old and could use a few 21st century technological enhancements. 

Being the main Disney park, this park can get very busy so be prepared for long wait times for general rides/attractions (fast passes help here). 

Most popular ride at present: 7 dwarfs mine ride. 

Epcot - Out of all the parks, this was my least favourite and very easily can be all done within a day. Note however this park is currently being renovated/overhauled, and over the next few years some new rides and ride refurbishments are happening which will hopefully make it a much better park. 

Most of the rides are at the front of the park, with the world showcase taking up the rest of the park. The showcase is 11 different themed pavilions representing 11 different countries. All of these 11 pavilions/areas try to recreate the country they represent by displaying appropriately themed buildings/structures. 

Most of these 11 areas contain no rides/attractions, and only specialty restaurants, food stalls, gift shops, and meet-and-greets, which for me personally felt like Disney was just trying to milk me for more money. This will hopefully change with the addition of the Mary Poppins and Ratatouille rides. 

Mission Space (intense version) is definitely the most intense ride in any of the Disney parks, so unless you can take a few g-forces, I wouldn't ride it. Ride the less intense version instead. Also Test Track and Soarin' rides should be given a try at this park. A few child attractions like Frozen, Finding Nemo, and Imagination ride also exist. 

The bad/confusing park layout, with outdated and minimal rides, and lack of attractions around the world showcase (only gift shops and restaurants/stalls), made it my least favourite park.  

Transport

If staying at a Disney Hotel or at a non-Disney Hotel in the area, they will generally shuttle you to the Epcot Park via a free shuttle bus. From the Epcot park, you can then transfer to another free shuttle bus to one of the other theme parks. 

From Epcot, you can also catch the monorail to Magic Kingdom, or go on the sky way to Hollywood Studios (note: to catch the sky rail from Epcot you need enter and walk to the back of the park). 

Some Disney Hotels are also within the Monorail route, which might make it easier getting to/from Epcot or Magic Kingdom. 

Due to the fact that there wasn't direct transport to each park, and buses being on a timetable, we pretty much used Uber or Lyft (another US ride share app) to/from each of the parks for convenience. 

Park Hours/ Time

Different Parks are opening different durations throughout the week. Magic Kingdom may close at 6pm one night, and be open till midnight another night. Therefore find out the opening hours of each of the parks ahead of schedule and plan which parks to visit on what days accordingly. 

Also know that the timetable can change leading up to your arrival to Orlando, so if you make your plan far ahead of time, check just before you leave for the US (and even once you arrive) just to make sure the parks opening hours haven't changed. 

If possible, arrive 30 - 45 minutes before the parks opening time to easily clear the security and entry checkpoints, and be able to tick off popular attractions first thing in the morning before all the crowds come. It'll then give you more time to take it easy and enjoy the park in the afternoon.

Edited January 30, 2020 by cheski

[New display name]

@cheski Orlando?  Is that you Ash?   😂

 

Thanks for the trip report.

[cheski]

25 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

@cheski Orlando?  Is that you Ash?   😂

 

Thanks for the trip report.

Honestly don't get your Ash reference lol, though thanks for the thumbs up  

[Alex Berriman]

1 hour ago, cheski said:

Disney Magic Band

Disney sells at their entry points and within their marks magic bands, which is essentially and watch looking wristband with an RFID chip in it. It allows you to link your entry ticket to it, so you don't need to carry around your paper ticket.

Essentially you can use it to easily scan entry into the park, enter the fast pass queues of rides, and easily link photos taken by Disney crew to your account.

For a lot of rides, your ride photo will automatically be added to your account also without having to do anything (as the RFID sensor on the ride picks up your magic band when taking your ride photo). This was a really cool and handy feature!

Also if you are staying at a Disney Property, you can use the magic band to add purchases at the parks onto your room account (rather than having to use cash/card). 

At around USD$15 I would definitely recommend getting one for each person, even just for the conveience of not having to take the paper ticket in/out of pocket and worrying about loosing it. 

TIP: At the gate they only sell several plain colours of the magic bands (Ie: grey, yellow, blue, green ect). If you want more cooler designs, purchase one once you enter the park at one of the gift stores around the park.  

Just to clarify this part, Magicbands are supplied for free if you stay at a Disney Resort. They’re just a basic colour that you can choose on your reservation, and you can then purchase one with a design on it or customize one.

[cheski]

1 hour ago, Alex Berriman said:

Just to clarify this part, Magicbands are supplied for free if you stay at a Disney Resort. They’re just a basic colour that you can choose on your reservation, and you can then purchase one with a design on it or customize one.

Thanks for the handy pick out Alex. That is correct, hotel guests staying at one of Disney's resorts can get one of the plain coloured bands for free (even if staying just for 1 night). 

In Ops situation, as she is staying at the B Hotel (which is not owned by Disney), you won't get a complimentary magic band. Her hotel however is eligible for extra magic hours (can enjoy extra park hours before/after opening hours on specified days).  

[Alex Berriman]

8 minutes ago, cheski said:

Thanks for the handy pick out Alex. That is correct, hotel guests staying at one of Disney's resorts can get one of the plain coloured bands for free (even if staying just for 1 night). 

In Ops situation, as she is staying at the B Hotel (which is not owned by Disney), you won't get a complimentary magic band. Her hotel however is eligible for extra magic hours (can enjoy extra park hours before/after opening hours on specified days).  

They said both Port Orleans Riverside and a moderate or deluxe resort as well, with the B resort being in between those two stays.

[cheski]

3 hours ago, Alex Berriman said:

They said both Port Orleans Riverside and a moderate or deluxe resort as well, with the B resort being in between those two stays.

If she is staying at the Port Orleans Riverside first, then yes... luckily for her she can get one of the plain coloured magic bands free of charge :)