Odds of modifying these FP ... what would you do?

[caribou47]

Hi all -- First trip to WDW in 2 years, staying offsite so stuck with 30-day window for FP+. Predictably shut out of the 3 FPs I wanted most (Flight at AK, SDD at HS, SDMT at MK). Here are the "good" ones we got:

Mon. Dec. 17th at AK: Na'vi River at 6:25 (ouch - so much for Park Hopper)
Tues. Dec. 18th at HS: AS2 at 4:15
Wed. Dec. 19th at MK: SM at 1:20

1) Is there ANY chance of me moving Na'vi River up, or modifying AS2 into SDD? I keep reloading, reloading, reloading both in the app and on desktop and nothing new ever comes up. Should I keep going? There are four of us -- would it be better odds if I try two at a time? (Is TSM different now than it was? I see slots for that one but we've done it many times before.)

2) I usually go by crowd calendar and messed up big time, mixing up Tues/Wed -- Wed. is actually an "8" at MK. Eeek. But now I'm locked into all these FPs. Just live with it? Is that Wed. going to be that bad?

I'm realizing these boards are pretty down on AS2 and Na'Vi River -- now I'm wondering if I should even let two so-so rides be dictating our entire trip this way. I don't know what to focus on to improve our lot here. What would you do?

Thanks,
Laurie

 

[Tomh]

First off, I enjoy Na'vi River Journey. It isn't Flight of Passage by any means, but it is a beautiful ride! I would, of course, keep trying for Flight of Passage, it is always possible that it will pop up. If it does not, then I would plan on being at the park early, and get on standby line for FOP as soon as they let you in, then use the Na'vi River Journey FP later. I would not consider a visit to AK complete if I didn't ride NRJ, it really is quite a beautiful ride.

I can't comment really on AS2 vs SDD, as I haven't visited Toy Story Land, but I suspect that the same strategy holds true, if you can not get SDD FP's, then simply get there early, and ride SDD at rope drop.

Forget what I said about the crowd calendar, that is the week before Christmas, it is going to be crazy busy. Still though, the same basic strategy applies. Get there early, get to a headliner as soon as the park opens and ride standby. You should be able to get a second headliner in before the lines get too long. After that, use your FP, and if you see a ride with a short line take advantage of it.

I just want to point out again, really, honestly, don't put too much stock in what you read here about rides, restaurants, shows, anything honestly. These boards hate on many of the restaurants that are favorites for my family. Likewise, they hate on some of our favorite rides. NRJ is visually stunning. Truly, the only down side to it is that it doesn't last long enough for me, but that doesn't detract from the beauty of the ride.

 

[NikkiDP]

Absolutely keep trying! Before our trip last week, I had to search for FOP for 6 weeks before I was finally able to get one that worked with our schedule. While in Disney, I was able to get AS2 day of multiple time (even though we ultimately chose to not ride it in favor of Mania FP). I never saw SDD but we also weren't in HS all that much. There have been a lot of reports of the Toy Story Land rides having low wait time towards the end of the night so if that is an option it might be worth giving a try.

You would be surprised what pops up the day of when you aren't expecting it. We had this happen with almost all the big rides on our last trip (SDMT, BTMR, SM, TSM, PPF) you just have to be patient and persistent! Most importantly, don't let three rides ruin your trip! You will have an amazing time even if you don't get the rides you want!

 

[kniquy]

I keep reloading, reloading, reloading both in the app and on desktop

That is really the only thing that you can do. I had issues even with booking FP at 60 day - could not get SDD, 7DMT or FoP. But i kept randomly checking and eventually found FoP and 7DMT. Honestly Navi is a nice ride, very colorful and interesting but for us is certainly not worth the wait nor using a FP for - it is very anticlimactic. FoP is definitely worth getting - if you could snag one of those i would definitely grab it.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

I love Navi River Journey, however, no FP+ outside of maybe FOP should ever dictate your day. There are too many other ways to enjoy a particular attraction to let it hamper your experience for an entire day. You have rope drop, end of the night and FP+ modification to assist you.

Wednesday, Dec 19 at MK will be a madhouse. It's sandwiched between two MVMCP nights so you have to decide if you want to go to MK on a night with/without fireworks. Based on the FP+ you have right now, it would be ok to ditch them all and start your park planning over. Have a great trip!

 

[caribou47]

Thanks for the fast replies! Can always count on this board. Question for those who've had success modifying FP+ by the endless reloading method -- what I'm doing is going into one of my existing FP+, choosing "modify," choosing the same four family members, and when it comes up with no times for that attraction but lists other options like TSM, I just hit "morning" or "9 AM" again, it reloads again, I hit "morning" or "9 AM" again, it reloads again, etc. Do I keep doing that, or after a couple tries, accept that nothing new is happening and try again later?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hi all -- First trip to WDW in 2 years, staying offsite so stuck with 30-day window for FP+. Predictably shut out of the 3 FPs I wanted most (Flight at AK, SDD at HS, SDMT at MK). Here are the "good" ones we got:

Mon. Dec. 17th at AK: Na'vi River at 6:25 (ouch - so much for Park Hopper)
Tues. Dec. 18th at HS: AS2 at 4:15
Wed. Dec. 19th at MK: SM at 1:20

1) Is there ANY chance of me moving Na'vi River up, or modifying AS2 into SDD? I keep reloading, reloading, reloading both in the app and on desktop and nothing new ever comes up. Should I keep going? There are four of us -- would it be better odds if I try two at a time? (Is TSM different now than it was? I see slots for that one but we've done it many times before.)

2) I usually go by crowd calendar and messed up big time, mixing up Tues/Wed -- Wed. is actually an "8" at MK. Eeek. But now I'm locked into all these FPs. Just live with it? Is that Wed. going to be that bad?

I'm realizing these boards are pretty down on AS2 and Na'Vi River -- now I'm wondering if I should even let two so-so rides be dictating our entire trip this way. I don't know what to focus on to improve our lot here. What would you do?

Thanks,
Laurie

I would just keep trying to modify. The closer to the trip you get, the bigger chance you'll have of being able to modify. People change plans, on the fly, even day-of. That being said, I would not plan my whole trip around Nav'i and AS2. What are your rope drop plans? If you are rope dropping FoP, I would simply go to Nav'i after that, but, honestly, if you miss Nav'i, you aren't missing much. I would then even try for day-of Nav'i. If you are RD'ing DHS, same thing, go to SDD and then go to AS2 (again, if you miss it, it's not that great of a ride!). You could even try moving your MK day to Monday or Tuesday.

I just ended a 4-day trip yesterday and was traveling with friends who hadn't been there in over a decade. After our first day at MK, they wanted to switch the NEXT DAY from DHS to AK and wanted to completely change their MK day yesterday. I was able to get day-of FoP on Sunday and scored 7DMT (in addition to Space and BTMRR) the night before our 2nd MK day. I was also able to book Splash day-of yesterday. Is it guaranteed you will be able to do this? No, but I just want to encourage you not to give up and definitely don't plan your trip around Nav'i and AS2! They aren't worth it.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Thanks for the fast replies! Can always count on this board. Question for those who've had success modifying FP+ by the endless reloading method -- what I'm doing is going into one of my existing FP+, choosing "modify," choosing the same four family members, and when it comes up with no times for that attraction but lists other options like TSM, I just hit "morning" or "9 AM" again, it reloads again, I hit "morning" or "9 AM" again, it reloads again, etc. Do I keep doing that, or after a couple tries, accept that nothing new is happening and try again later?

Yes, that's how you do it. You could try to modify for only 2 of your group and then after getting the FP+ you want, work on the other 2 in your party. Keep trying to modify several times each day and like others have said, when you get closer to the actual date (inside of 5 days), you will notice much more movement and fluidity of FP+.

 

[kiramay]

Modify, modify, modify. Especially the days before and day of. We got tons of great fastpasses this way, including same day FoP (late though). TSL wasn’t open. The only ride we could not get same day was 7 Dwarfs. 2 passes are easier to find than 4 so you could split it up and try smaller parties.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

you can keep trying, but you are most likely wasting your time focusing on it now. Refresh/modify works best in the park day of. I was just in AK on Sunday, and with our family of 4, modified to keep moving up our fastpasses all day long. I Had a FOP FP+ for 9:00 am, and after doing that, then Safari, and EE, got a new FP for Dinosaur at 12:15 and moved it up to 11:45, then got a FP for FOP for 2:30, two more for EE, and then another FOP for 5:00. YMMV, but this is a pretty typical situation for us (local AP holder). I think that HS is the most difficult to refresh/modify most time because of the reduced amount of attractions, though we still have success there as well. My suggestion is to take any FP and lock it in, then keep modifying it day of. It may only change by 15 minutes, but keep taking those and move them up. It will depend on crowds, but since your time is still before christmas week, should still work for you.

 

[Klayfish]

Thanks for the fast replies! Can always count on this board. Question for those who've had success modifying FP+ by the endless reloading method -- what I'm doing is going into one of my existing FP+, choosing "modify," choosing the same four family members, and when it comes up with no times for that attraction but lists other options like TSM, I just hit "morning" or "9 AM" again, it reloads again, I hit "morning" or "9 AM" again, it reloads again, etc. Do I keep doing that, or after a couple tries, accept that nothing new is happening and try again later?

Yes, that's correct. However, it's nearly pointless to do it now. You're not likely to find much. The "day of" your FP+, the system will become very fluid, things will pop up all the time. You'll have a very high chance of modifying anything you want and getting just about anything you want (FoP and SDD will be the hardest, 7DMT isn't hard at all).

By the way, ditch the crowd calendars...they're utterly useless.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The only FP+ I would let dictate my trip would be FOP and SDD if I've never ridden SDD before. All others can be dropped and done stand by or modified.

Our trip two weeks ago we did AM EMH at AK after our arrival day which was also a late night. We got there by 8 am for EMH RD and by 9 am DD12 told me she hated every ride at AK. She was super tired and cranky. I made an executive decision to go back to the room and let her sleep. I moved our EE and Safari FP to the PM but couldn't move Navi which was from 12-1 pm. DD didn't wake up until 12:30 pm so I dropped the FP and we never got to ride the ride but we still had an amazing trip. We went back and did our FP+ and a few additional rides. I wouldn't let it dictate my trip and would drop it if you want to leave AK before then.

 

[scdisneyguy]

Agree with many here keep refreshing. We are going same time Dec 15 through 23 party of 12. I booked my 4 and other 8 extended family had agent do their fpp booking. At 60 day mark my group of 4 were only ones that got FOP SDD and we are at AK DHS 2 days each.. I kept modifying and checkong and all 12 have both on both days now. They arent alll together but pretty. darn close . Also our original 4 SDD and FOP were both late days in trip and only got 4:50 and 6:45. PM respectively for SDD FOP. Thise are now. At 11:30 and 11:45 A.M through refresh and modify. It's boring and time consuming but I did it randomly at many times a break at my desk at work watching TV whenever. Feels useless. and pointless most tines but when you find that one you are lookong for it's like hitting a small win in Vegas to me Will have better luck closer you get to trip and day of but doesn't hurt to try I saved my sister the absolute need to be up crack of dawn for FOP and SDD ..by getting those other 8 members of party fpp she isn't an early riser at all so was big to her. We will be at different parks thosedays but hope you have an awesome time and best of luck in the fpp search

 

[gharter]

Keep checking to see if you can modify the FPs.
People continually change plans and FPs, so they do become available. Its just a matter of being lucky and checking at the right time.

 

[DebbieB]

I would switch Tuesday and Wednesday now while you have time to possibly get fastpasses. Non party days at MK are a zoo, party days are the best days. Touring Plans has Tuesday as a 3 for MK.

You will not see a lot of movement until closer to the date.

 

[DavidNYC]

Get rid of the Na'vi FP and do it at rope drop. It'll be a walk on and then you can use your other FP for the easier things to get. If you have a hopper, I'd suggest heading back to AK right at closing another night and getting on line a few minutes before park closing - line will be very reasonable (and probably half of what is actually posted).

(Also seconding that "refresh" is really a day of strategy. The FP are A LOT less fluid in advance although things will change periodically - just not minute to minute like day of. So if you get FP for safari, everest, one other, you'll likely be able to move them a bit earlier in the day as soon as you wake up that morning. Do a 1/2 day at AK in morning doing Na'vi, your 3 FP and anything else you want to do there then hop to other park. Do reverse another day and head to AK at closing to see Rivers, FoP, anything else you can get a 4th FP for, etc.

 

[scdisneyguy]

Hi all -- First trip to WDW in 2 years, staying offsite so stuck with 30-day window for FP+. Predictably shut out of the 3 FPs I wanted most (Flight at AK, SDD at HS, SDMT at MK). Here are the "good" ones we got:

Mon. Dec. 17th at AK: Na'vi River at 6:25 (ouch - so much for Park Hopper)
Tues. Dec. 18th at HS: AS2 at 4:15
Wed. Dec. 19th at MK: SM at 1:20

1) Is there ANY chance of me moving Na'vi River up, or modifying AS2 into SDD? I keep reloading, reloading, reloading both in the app and on desktop and nothing new ever comes up. Should I keep going? There are four of us -- would it be better odds if I try two at a time? (Is TSM different now than it was? I see slots for that one but we've done it many times before.)

2) I usually go by crowd calendar and messed up big time, mixing up Tues/Wed -- Wed. is actually an "8" at MK. Eeek. But now I'm locked into all these FPs. Just live with it? Is that Wed. going to be that bad?

I'm realizing these boards are pretty down on AS2 and Na'Vi River -- now I'm wondering if I should even let two so-so rides be dictating our entire trip this way. I don't know what to focus on to improve our lot here. What would you do?

Thanks,
Laurie

One more thing is that your only day st MK ? Someone mentioned switching Tuesday and Wednesday and that might not be bad idea but if thats your only day during trip to see HEA might not work.
You could switch Tuesday and Wednesday if 1 you dont care about seeing HEA or 2 you hip back to MK just for fireworks in Wednesday but that kills some time in moving around as well. We have only 3 days out of 8 when HEA shows rest are party nights at MK so I know the dilemma, we decided to bite the bullet and just go to MK on a non party day for HEA. Knowing it will be pretty crowded but we have a whole other day at MK as well as MVMCP night so we will get through what elwe can on non party day and just roll with it.

 

[caribou47]

Thanks to all for the really concrete, helpful advice. I was very afraid to mess with the FPes I had but I took the plunge today and attempted to switch parks and FPes for Tues/Wed of our trip. Astonishingly I ended up with pretty much the same FPes on different days on the first try, which I guess means I was putting way too much importance on the power of 7 AM 30 days out. I guess if you're not booking 60 days out it doesn't really matter what you do! I'm so glad I did it -- wouldn't have tried without the encouragement from this board. All the help here is great and helps me have peace of mind that we now can probably modify our way into most of what we want, plus RD or before-closing attempts, and make it work. With teenagers this trip we can also split into twos if need be, which helps too. Can't wait!

Thanks!

 

[Lisa F]

I've been helping some friends book last minute FPs. IME there is not a ton of movement until day of when people start cancelling stuff once you're much inside the 30 day window.

I grabbed a 12:10 FoP this morning by refreshing a few times and tried to modify it earlier and got TONS of Navi options. Yesterday there was nothing.

So unfortunately you're just going to have to wait and see.

 

[MaryKM]

Based on my own experiences, I think it's entirely possible for you to adjust those FPs. As a PP said, people are changing plans all the time and you never know what you'll find.
I managed to snag a FoP FP and modify it to a better time within the 30 days of our upcoming trip; it was not available on my FP day, so I just kept checking on it. I also managed to get Slinky Dog within 30 days; it popped up randomly one day about 3 weeks before the trip.
I will say that I look forward to my iPhone "screen time" alerts diminishing after this trip, because I was honestly checking on those FPs compulsively throughout the day, but the persistence was worth it.
I still have one ADR that I am trying to tweak (I'm looking at you 1900 Park Fare!) and I'm not going to give up on that one until we are on the monorail to the GF.
Good luck!