Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 8 years and 7 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

Normally, when we’re at Disney for Labor Day, we spend Monday morning at the hotel, then do a little shopping at Downtown Disney before heading home. This year, however, we decided to skip Downtown Disney (still in the throes of its transformation into Disney Springs) and spend more time at the Magic Kingdom instead. And today, the FastPass+ system really worked well.

We started the day checking out of the hotel, loading our luggage into the car in the parking lot, and then taking the boat from the Wilderness Lodge over to the Magic Kingdom. First stop: the barber shop on Main Street where my wife and daughter got “glittered” (you can also actually get your hair cut there, and it was packed with kids!). Rain still threatened the area, but the overcast skies kept the temperatures cooler and for the most part the heavy rains stayed away so we didn’t have to pull out the ponchos again.

I have to admit that despite my early concerns about FastPass+ and the MagicBands, when the system works, it works pretty well. Our FastPasses for Space Mountain, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and meeting Anna and Elsa at Fairytale Hall all went smoothly. Then we were able to keep getting additional FastPasses (one at a time) for other attractions (like Stitch’s Great Escape, Philharmagic, the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion) very close to the current time.

Late afternoon we took the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge, got in the car, and drove home (with a quick stop at the Proper Pie Company to get some food for dinner later). Another Labor Day Weekend family Disney vacation in the books.