No Fast Pass Plus....Big Mistake?

[brighteyes]

I only have selected fast pass plus for one of our days so we can see wishes. Although the second part of our trip we have ADRs booked we really have no idea what park we will be on a given day except our ADRs.

Our last trip we park hopped a lot and want the freedom to do the same this trip. Did I just screw myself out of our favourite rides or is there still fast passes available in the park when we get there?

Has anyone NOT gotten fast passes in advance and still have a great trip and go on their fav rides getting fp at the parks that day?

P.S. My trip is 10 days out....Might be kind of a pointless question at this point...

Thanks.

 

[tinkerbesh]

Unless you're truly ok with lines or missing headliners, I'd at least try to make some plans...

Check this site to see for yourself what's available for parties of 4: http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=835236

And FP+ or not, at least check a crowd calendar so you know what you are up against: http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/08-august-2015-crowd-calendar/

My advice is always that the more planning you do up front, the more you can minimize headaches/annoyances while on vacation.

Best of luck, and have a magical trip!

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

Why not book FPs around your ADRs? You'll know you're in that park then. Example: If you have an ADR for Via Napoli at 7, you could get TT or Soarin' for around 5:30-6:30. Otherwise for headliners, rope drop, go during parades/nighttime shows, go at/near park closing, or be prepared for decent waits if you don't get lucky with FP+ availability.

It really depends on your favorite rides and expectations. Riding SDMT multiple times in a trip is a lot harder than Star Tours or Everest multiple times.

 

[brighteyes]

Unless you're truly ok with lines or missing headliners, I'd at least try to make some plans...

Check this site to see for yourself what's available for parties of 4: http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=835236

And FP+ or not, at least check a crowd calendar so you know what you are up against: http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/08-august-2015-crowd-calendar/

My advice is always that the more planning you do up front, the more you can minimize headaches/annoyances while on vacation.

Best of luck, and have a magical trip!

Well we are only a party of two...

I am sure you are right but we have never used a crowd calendar before and my icd would come out in full force if I looked at that and had adr in a certain park on a red day lol

It has already been a nightmare to plan this trip and I am so over planning at this point.

I am scared to look at the crowd calendar..but I might...

Thank you.

 

[brighteyes]

Why not book FPs around your ADRs? You'll know you're in that park then. Example: If you have an ADR for Via Napoli at 7, you could get TT or Soarin' for around 5:30-6:30. Otherwise for headliners, rope drop, go during parades/nighttime shows, go at/near park closing, or be prepared for decent waits if you don't get lucky with FP+ availability.

It really depends on your favorite rides and expectations. Riding SDMT multiple times in a trip is a lot harder than Star Tours or Everest multiple times.

What is SDMT??

In the past we do rides during slow times or parades and have even ridden multiple times.

But yes that is a good idea to plan some around ADRS. But then I heard that I can't get any more fast passes until those ones are used. So if I have a dinner ADR I can't get FP for earlier in the day if I am in another park in the morning if I choose FP plus now?

 

[Karin1984]

Seven dwarves mine train.

And yes you are right, no other fp untill you have used your 3 scheduled ones.

Just think and decide what is more important to you and your p arty : flexibility or headliners. If it's the first, sit back and relax till you get to the park. If the second, see what you can get.

FP reservations do not oblige you to use them. If you don't feel like going to that park at that time, change them or let them go.

 

[smidgy]

the ADRS are not conected at all to the fast passes. you have to get the 3 fast pass plus at the same park but it does not have to be the same park as your ADR.
so.. if you have an adr for teppan edo at epcot at 6 pm... you can still get 3 fast pass plus at magic kingdome that mornign or early afternoon. you can get FP+ fpr 7D mine ride, at, say 10 am, big thunder at 11, splash mt. at 12. go back and swin at the resort. then go to your dinner reservaton at teppan edo at 6.

OR!! once you r SPlash mt FP has expired, you can go to epcot and make another fast pass at a kiosk. hopefully at test track or soarin. or maybe for illuminations. bear in mind, you can't make another FO at the new park (or any park) until you use the one you have or it expires (so if you make it for illumintaons, that's it)
the only expereinces worth fast passing at epcot are all in the same tier anywa.. how stupide is that.. who fast passes Journey into the "Lack of Imagination" pavillion? lol or capt. eo?

 

[Kathryn777]

My friend was going to make the choice not to make any. Then we talked for a while about how easy it is to change them, how nice it is to avoid at least a couple of lines and that it doesn't matter if you miss them. She booked most of them and made the rest When she got there.

In particular, I would book the headliners. Soarin and/or test track at Epcot, toy story mania or rock & roll coaster at dhs. Definitely seven dwarf mind train if you can get it. Those lines can be so long.

Fp has made the normal lines longer, so without it you wait more than you used to.

I found we needed them after 11 in the morning and especially for headliners

 

[LetsTalkWDW]

Seems like your not really into planning, a lot of people aren't.

There are a couple of routes you can take at this point. You can do as other people have suggested above and try to plan around your ADRs or if you really don't know which park you will be in on a particular day, you could take your chances at the kiosks in the parks and try to get some FP+ as you enter the park (people call this a Same Day Fast Pass, SDFP). A word of caution, for parks like EPCOT or DHS there are so few attractions that all the FP+ for the "headliners" will be gone very early (if there any available at all).

Planning around your ADRs and booking your FP+ now is a much better plan (sorry for the 4-letter word )

 

[cakebaker]

What is SDMT??

In the past we do rides during slow times or parades and have even ridden multiple times.

But yes that is a good idea to plan some around ADRS. But then I heard that I can't get any more fast passes until those ones are used. So if I have a dinner ADR I can't get FP for earlier in the day if I am in another park in the morning if I choose FP plus now?

It makes more sense to me to get any fp+'s for the park you'll be at in the evening. Mornings are much easier to do using standby. You obviously aren't keen on planning in advance anyway, so this works well for you. Just pick 3 in the park you have your adr's for- if it's evening, all the better.

We plan and very much enjoy planning- but we rarely have any fp+'s until evening and we have a great time!

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

What is SDMT??

In the past we do rides during slow times or parades and have even ridden multiple times.

But yes that is a good idea to plan some around ADRS. But then I heard that I can't get any more fast passes until those ones are used. So if I have a dinner ADR I can't get FP for earlier in the day if I am in another park in the morning if I choose FP plus now?

As others have answered, SDMT is Seven Dwarves Mine Train which tends to have a long line throughout the day.

Yes, you must select your first three FPs for one park, and cannot book FPs for a second park until you have used or let expire all FP+ at the first park. To book the FPs at the second park, you must use a kiosk at that park...no making 4th FP+ on your phone or at MK for Epcot. The thing is FP+ is not set up well for park hopping because of this. FP availability is OK the night before and morning of, but by afternoon it's quite limited. Check out this link to see what you're looking at and keep in mind that even if FP is available for the ride you want, the time could be for after you're planning on hopping somewhere else.

 

[Nancyg56]

I look at FP+ as a no harm no foul deal. On my first foray into planning these "appointment", which I avoid like the plague at home, I got my bloomers in such a bunch! Made massive srpeadsheets with touring plans an park directions , it was a nightmare! And of my own making I might add! So I tossed the whole shebang out, looked at our ADR's and which park we were probably going to be in, and then just booked my passes. Not the best planning tool, but for a nonplanner like me, it worked out just fine. WE missed a few becuase something better came up, but we did that with our legacy FP too.

OP- I would look at the ADR's you planned and book FP for whatever park you are close to at that time. OR just check out a crowd planner. I usually use Touring Plans but will also look at Josh on WDW easy. I only consider the number, not the magic hours, and will sometimes disregard them completely if the plan is not convenient for us. Remember that unlike an ADR, FP+ is not a reservation that impacts anyone, and if you miss your window it is okay, you just lose the FP. Which you may not have even had if you waited til the day of to book.

This trip we avoided all the drama I created the first time. WE made a list of the must do attractions, and for my girls the M&G, looked at our park day and ADR I had booked, planned three and we were done. If we miss them we miss them. That just means we were enjoying something else at the time. ANd fo us, that is vacation!

 

[caroline1851]

We were there in early June and it would've been a miserable trip of waiting in long, long lines if we didn't use fp+.

 

[minnie mum]

I am sure you are right but we have never used a crowd calendar before and my icd would come out in full force if I looked at that and had adr in a certain park on a red day lol

Isn't that a little like sticking your head in the sand? Wouldn't it be better to know that you are heading to the busiest park on a certain day so you can be prepared for the longer waits? Or to at least schedule your FPs so you can avoid a few of those lines?

One of the unpleasant new things about WDW is that multiple rides per day on your favourite ride are very difficult to do now that FP+ has resulted in longer standby lines. If you don't book FPs for your favourites, then resign yourself to waiting in much longer lines for most of the day.

 

[nkereina]

100% agree with PPs. We're only two adults, have been many times, and were there during a slow period the last two years. Headliners do not have day-of fastpass availability. If you show up without FP+ booked, your only option will be to wait standby for the headliners which, as you probably know, quickly grows to 50-60+ minutes in the morning and doesn't slow down til close to closing. Soarin, Test Track, Toy Story, RnRC, sometimes TOT, Mine Train, Big Thunder, Splash, and Space were all iffy if you didn't have FP+ but some you could get on at rope drop with an ok wait. Good luck!

 

[dfisher9]

Why don't you just book for the park you most likely to be in that day. If you change your mind the night before, just change them. You would be n the same situation as not having FP+, but if you don't change your mind, you are in good shape. It's a no lose situation to make the fastpass reservation.

 

[larryz]

Some people find that spending more time in lines gives them an opportunity to meet and talk with the people around them.

 

[Sytrace]

I tend to book my FP around ADR's when I have them or, I just pick a park the morning we plan to go and see what is available that we like to ride.
EPCOT is Test Track or Soarin, Mission Space and Spaceship Earth.
MK is SM and BTM and possibly BLSRS.
AK is EE, KRR and Dinosaur
HS (you notice this is last on the list) TSMM, ST and possibly GMR. We sometimes do a couple of parks in a day and just wait if we want to for rides we did not get FP for. Or just wander around and enjoy the fun and people watch.
If there are no FP at any of the parks that we are interested in, we just go to DTD and check out Splitsville or HOB.

If you have ADR's though, then it makes more sense to book any FP around the reservation.
Hope you have a great time with whatever you decide to do.
As I always tell my kids and hubby, a rainy or crowded day at Disney is still better than any day at school/work.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I mean, you'll probably decide where you will be the next day by the night before, or even when you get to the bus stop, so make them whenever you know.....but at least try to make some at that point, it may make things easier for you

 

[Rosey_Rosetta]

You'll definitely have the freedom to go wherever you want to, but it's going to be a lot more difficult to get to the rides that you really want to because everyone will already be making plans up to sixty days in advance.