Fastpass + SUCCESS during Christmas time

[5Hfan]

keeping fingers crossed for our booking window tonight!

 

[phoebusII]

I booked last night for 12/22 - 1/3 and got every ride I wanted. My only issue is that 7DMT on 12/23 is for 5:55 p.m. and I wanted an earlier time. I tried to switch the time, but couldn't. At least I got the FP+, so I'll keep checking to see if something earlier opens, if not we'll just deal with it.

 

[podgirl]

I booked last night for 12/22 - 1/3 and got every ride I wanted. My only issue is that 7DMT on 12/23 is for 5:55 p.m. and I wanted an earlier time. I tried to switch the time, but couldn't. At least I got the FP+, so I'll keep checking to see if something earlier opens, if not we'll just deal with it.

Same here. I booked my 7DMT for 12/26 first and got an afternoon time, but when I went to book it for 12/23 (a few minutes after midnight!) the earliest time was 7:05pm. Just checked right now and the earliest time for 12/23 is now 8:00pm or so.

Good luck to others tonight!

 

[wendyt_ca]

Just did ours. Overall got most of what we wanted. I couldn't get the Christmas parade on Christmas day so hopefully we won't have an issue that day. And for some reason we couldn't get any wishes fireworks show on our MK days Dec 23, 25 or 31st. But that was about it. No A&E on Dec 25th but it was available on the 31st.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Just booked mine and got everything we wanted. (12/23-12/31)
A&E and Mine Train were available for both our MK days. (Dec. 27th and 29th.) I noticed that there were plenty of A&E starting from the 5th day of our vacation. Also got the parade on the 27th.

Haven't read the whole thread yet, but I actually think we all may be at an advantage Christmas week when it comes to booking FP+. The amount of rooms on site is limited, and only on-site can book at 60 days. Even when it is a much lower crowd level and the parks close earlier (or MK closes for the parties) the resorts will still sell out due to free dining etc... With the much longer hours Christmas week, we have the same number of resort guests competing for a lot more FP+.

Can't wait!

 

[5Hfan]

just booked 23-27 and got pretty much what/when we wanted, working around some hard fought ADRs. Got A&E for my dd and I so that's something. Curious to see in 30 days how the end of our split stay shakes out in the week between Christmas/New Year's, as we'll be staying second class at SOG then...at least we have the must do's booked early, barring any glitches or weather/closures! off to bed now, alarm is going to hurt!

 

[sabrecmc]

Booked ours for Christmas week last night. The only one I couldn't get was A&E on Christmas Day, which was not a surprise. I got them for our other MK day with no problem, so it wasn't a huge deal. Got TSM, Soarin', Big Thunder, 7 Dwarves...I was happy with it, overall.

One thing I noticed was that, because of the FP+ times, I had to cancel two restaurant reservations that we weren't going to be able to make, which was no big deal for me, and I'm sure they'll be scooped up by other people that week, so no loss to Disney. Still, that was the only unfortunate issue I found. All in all, it was easy to do and kind of fun.

On the other hand, I feel for those who are not staying on property. There isn't going to be much of anything left, I'll bet.

 

[M2DD's]

I'm so happy to see that everyone is having as much success as I was able to have booking Christmas week

Now only if I could get BOG FP for lunch,change resorts, and get my DD a BBB apt. I'd be on

 

[David29]

DD, DS, DW and I Staying at the Wilderness Lodge 12/22/14 to 12/27/14, Then off to 7 night Disney Cruise for New Years starting the 28th. I was able to get most of all my FP+ selections except for the Dwarfs train on the 22nd, so I instead got them for the 26th and the 27th. We also have A&E for the 26th mid afternoon. How much of a help is having FP+s for parades during this week? I decided to get them for the MK. Any opinions? are welcome...

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We will also be there the week of Christmas.

I have a 1 night reservation to get MBs and 60 day FP+ since there are 10 of us.

At 60 days I was able to get 7DMT for the 10 of us (12/23), but not until after 5:00 p.m. As I then booked each night, I was still able to see 7DMT for our 2nd MK day (12/27), but not until after 7:00 p.m. I didn't book it a 2nd time since we have done it before.

I was also able to get every FP+ we wanted in all 4 parks on the day/time I was looking for. (Didn't try to get A&E since we don't have any small children).

Luckily it worked for us, but I am glad I booked the "Throwaway" room.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

David29:
I don't know how valuable FP+ will be for the Christmas Parade that week, but we are going similar dates and got parade FP+. We've never been Christmas week and the holiday things are why we are going, so we like the assurance of having FP+ for the parade. I don't know how packed the FP+ area will be - we are hoping for an experience similar to when we tried FP+ for MSEP. At our night at MSEP FP+ area in June, people were only two deep so everyone could see well. I worry that more will be packed in for a Christmas parade, but I hope not...

 

[SmallWorld71]

David29:
I don't know how valuable FP+ will be for the Christmas Parade that week, but we are going similar dates and got parade FP+. We've never been Christmas week and the holiday things are why we are going, so we like the assurance of having FP+ for the parade. I don't know how packed the FP+ area will be - we are hoping for an experience similar to when we tried FP+ for MSEP. At our night at MSEP FP+ area in June, people were only two deep so everyone could see well. I worry that more will be packed in for a Christmas parade, but I hope not...

Same with us. We've never considered FP for a parade before, but all the Christmas activities are our top priority as we will likely not be able to go at this time of year again due to schedules. So, we have one for the Christmas Parade that I had originally intended to use for Peter Pan. If we don't make it onto PP this trip, I figure there is always next time and that won't be true of the parade. I will say that the reviews I've seen on using FP+ for the parade seem to be mostly positive. People seem to like the viewing area and all the reports I've seen indicate that it is limited to those with FP+ only, no matter how crowded it gets in other spots.

 

[David29]

David29:
I don't know how valuable FP+ will be for the Christmas Parade that week, but we are going similar dates and got parade FP+. We've never been Christmas week and the holiday things are why we are going, so we like the assurance of having FP+ for the parade. I don't know how packed the FP+ area will be - we are hoping for an experience similar to when we tried FP+ for MSEP. At our night at MSEP FP+ area in June, people were only two deep so everyone could see well. I worry that more will be packed in for a Christmas parade, but I hope not...

I am worried about it being over packed in the FP+ viewing areas too. Has anyone here experienced MK parades during Christmas week in the FP viewing areas?

 

[robinb]

I am worried about it being over packed in the FP+ viewing areas too. Has anyone here experienced MK parades during Christmas week in the FP viewing areas?

There have been no FP viewing areas prior to this Christmas, so no.

 

[pad406]

Had posted earlier in this thread about my Christmas success. Doing the Jan part today I noticed that on Christmas Eve I had only booked FP+ for myself, left out the rest

But thankfully, no problem, managed to add them all in

Probably very lucky that we plan to be in AK that day

 

[Cluelyss]

And success! Honestly, it was much easier than I'd expected. I literally got everything I wanted, at the times I wanted. E&A M&G on the 12/26 7DMT on both 12/23 and 12/26 Soarin on 12/20 and 12/27 Test Track on 12/24 Toy Story Mania, ToT and Frozen Sing-Along on 12/22 And many other B rides, too. But I couldn't believe the availability of top tier rides, all at the times I wanted. I initially, and very quickly, took the option that best suited our plans, but then went back into everyday and tailored our FP+ selections to fit exactly how I wanted. Really... my schedule could not possibly look better (unless I magically had more than FP+ to spend per day). Except for two things I need to check out in the AM, once CMs are available... - I exceeded my FP+ allotment after booking eight days worth, even though we'll be there for 9. Can't remember... is your FP+ allotment tied to number of nights you stay, or number of days in the parks? - In my rush to make sure I had E&A booked, I grabbed FP+ for my DH and DS11, neither of which has ANY desire to meet Elsa or Anna. When I went back in to change their selections, it would only let me change for all of us - NOT an option. So then I tried to cancel out their FP+, which worked, but then when I went back in to book them for a different FP+ selection, it was going to change ALL of their selections for the day - also not an option. So I just left it for now - it's almost perfect, I didn't want to mess it up!! So for those who will be booking in the next few days, take comfort in the fact that the FP+ availability for even premium attractions was not only available, it was WIDELY available on multiple days. Good luck!!

Wasn't sure if you were still having issues - but wanted to let you know that if you modify your FP selections via the app you can select to change for only certain members of your party instead of for everyone.

Also, regarding the limited FP availability in the fall (we were there in October and struggled getting A&E especially), I had read rumors that there were 2 sets of A&E meeting in PFH during the busy summer months, which they dropped back to 1 for the lower fall crowds, making those FPs harder to get in Sept/Oct. If this is true, I'm assuming they're back to 2 sets for the Christmas crowds, so wouldn't worry about longer FP lines!