Why schedule FP+ late?

[CLEO Z]

All of the strategies I've read suggest getting later FPs. Wouldn't the better strategy be to get in rides rides right after opening and then have FPs scheduled about an hour after opening and back to back? That way you could add more once you've used them. If you schedule late ones, you wouldn't be able to select more. A friend said she used 8 FPs on a busy summer day.

What has been your experience?

 

[karen1987]

From what I've read the advice seems to be don't book FP+ until after 11.00am, when the park starts to fill up. Prior to 11, if you're there for rope drop you can get on most rides without not too much of a wait without wasting a FP+.

We've booked ours for the afternoon and evening, but will be remaining flexible if FP+ times allow it and depending on weather and crowd conditions as we're going in August.

 

[boltfan]

I believe the reasoning is mainly for HS and Epcot if you plan to park hop to one of them later in the day. They have the tiering system which only allows one of the the main headliners and then two second tiers. These passes go very quickly, so if you were to go to say MK at rope drop and then HS, you really won't need FP's to ride in MK, but you would need them to ride TSMM or RnR at HS later as those FP would be gone before you ever used the MK FP's. Does that make any sense?

 

[catra121]

I think it mostly depends on the way you tour and what time of year you are going. FP+ will likely save you the most time in line in the afternoon and evening (once the parks start to fill up) and will save less time in the morning at rope drop (when lines are relatively short). By the time you use all three of your FP+ in the morning...some of the more popular rides MAY be gone...so now instead of one ride with a short standby wait at rope drop and a second ride with FP+ later...you only get one ride in the morning with a FP+ (when the standby would have been pretty short too).

It's a gamble either way. I am traveling in September when the lines are very reasonable anyway...but I have planned out my three FP+ for late morning and afternoon most days and I spread them apart. My goal at the parks is not to ride as many rides as possible or to get multiple rides on the same ride each day...I like to take things slow and don't like to criss cross or back track across the park (I use a walker and extra walking is tough on me). I find that back to back rides (unless they are in the same area) makes me rush around too much. For every ride that I feel needs a FP+...there are others around the area that don't and I don't mind waiting in the standby for those as I make my way through the park at a leisurely pace.

I also make 2 TS reservations a day...so I have to schedule my FP+ around those which means spacing them apart. Again...I prefer it this way because it forces me to take it easy and not overdo things (which I am prone to do in my excitement when I am at Disney). I just have to remember things like not scheduling Mission Space right after a heavy lunch at Epcot...lol!

I still like the idea of getting a 4th FP+...but my goal isn't to get as many as possible and I am content with the ones I have made already. A fourth would really be just a bonus. I expect we will be able to get a 4th at MK on our days there...but pretty much just expect things like Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc to be available by that time...and that's fine with me as I am always game to ride those and if it eliminates the line so much the better.

So booking them later works out much better for me and the way I tour...BUT...for people who want to get as many rides in as possible with as little waiting as possible then booking in the morning as close together as possible so you can get a 4th, 5th, and beyond FP+ makes a lot more sense I think. Each person needs to work the system to the best advantage in a way that suits THEIR touring style and helps them accomplish their goals for the day. I think this is one of those things where you can't just take the advice from other people...you have to think about what YOU want and how to schedule your FP+ to help you accomplish that.

 

[scchristo]

For our trip in JANUARY, we did midday FP+ every day, because we had Park Hoppers, almost exclusively at MK. We were normally at the park at rope drop or right before the park opened for non-site guests.

One day, we had the last breakfast seating for Akershus, then hopped to MK to use FP+. My DD was 3 and was not big enough to warrant any FP+ in EPCOT...we walked right on Living with the Land, Nemo, and waited about 7 minutes to ride Maelstrom after our meal (everyone was in line to see A&E I guess).

This was BEFORE the 4th FP+ was implemented...we are going without hoppers this trip (and with DSD, 18) so this trip is already messing with my FP+ strategy!!

Obviously the time of year/crowd level will really change one's experience.

 

[itchin2go]

From what I've read the advice seems to be don't book FP+ until after 11.00am, when the park starts to fill up. Prior to 11, if you're there for rope drop you can get on most rides without not too much of a wait without wasting a FP+.

We've booked ours for the afternoon and evening, but will be remaining flexible if FP+ times allow it and depending on weather and crowd conditions as we're going in August.

This was without a doubt the preferred plan BEFORE 4th FP came into play.

Now with 4th FP in play, it's potentially a different ballgame.

I say potentially because that 4th FP is a gamble. Maybe you blow your first 3 at non-optimal times in the hopes of getting a 4th or a 5th ... and then nothing good is available.

I am in the "not sure what to do" boat.

 

[starsweeper]

I think it depends a lot on your party and style of touring. We have 2 toddlers and 2 school-aged kids that can ride everything. We hit the parks at open and do things as a family, return for a few hours of rest/swimming, then hit the parks again around 5pm for quick dinner and a few more rides. DH usually leaves around 7pm with our toddlers for the night while the older kids and I use our FP+ for rides the toddlers can't do. So late FP+ works for us. We visit in early October.

 

[DisneyKidds]

If I was going to spend all day in a single park and didn't have to plan around lunch or a midday break I'd most likely schedule FP+ between 11:00 and 3:00. Strategy would be to take advantage of shorter standby lines for a couple hours after rope drop, use the 3 FP+ when the hoards begin arriving, then have the late afternoon and evening to get more FP+.

Of course it isn't that simple for us, because we park hop a lot, have meals to plan around, and take midday breaks.

Our primary strategy is to hit a park at rope drop, take advantage of shorter lines early on, take a midday break, then hit a different park in the afternoon/evening where we have FP+ scheduled. Without FP+ for the second park you wouldn't be able to accomplish much of anything.

That strategy doesn't result in the maximum number of FP+ used in a day, but it does save the most time for the 3 you use, because lines are at their worst in the afternoon/evening.

 

[CLEO Z]

Thanks everyone for your input. I should have mentioned that we are going in late September. It will be three middle aged moms with no kids or husbands. Yee ha! We will also be hitting some EMHs (morning and evening) other than Epcot (not offered during our stay).

I'm going to review my current FP+ selections with the points y'all have made.

More suggestions are welcome.

 

[btk2333]

All of the strategies I've read suggest getting later FPs. Wouldn't the better strategy be to get in rides rides right after opening and then have FPs scheduled about an hour after opening and back to back? That way you could add more once you've used them. If you schedule late ones, you wouldn't be able to select more. A friend said she used 8 FPs on a busy summer day.

What has been your experience?

We schedule ours for the afternoon.

We RD at one park and take advantage of the short lines at RD, then hop to the park with our FPP+ scheduled and use the FP+ to enjoy the short lines there. We generally assume that the fourth FP+ and so on will be useless because the good FP+ will have been grabbed in advance or early that morning.

 

[danielle.st]

I have my third FP+ scheduled for late at AK. We have never ridden KRR and don't want to walk around wet the majority if our day. I decided that we could do with having only having three FP+ for our AK day so that we could have KRR as the very last thing before we leave the parks. I was afraid if we waited to try for it for the fourth FP+ it may not be available.

 

[ShannonMB]

Mine are all 11am-3pm as a PP suggested. I thought about doing them back to back first thing in the morning so I could start on the 4th, 5th, etc, but then it became abundantly clear that those additional ones definitely aren't guaranteed for the headliners. I will ride as many headliners as possible at RD, FP early-mid afternoon, then try for more with the understanding that it's a crap shoot.

BTW, sounds like we are going right around the same time, and if crowds are as low as expected, I don't think we are going to have much of an issue.

 

[pjpoppins]

I'm having a hard time with this also. Most of our FP+ are for later in the evening for our second park. We hit RD and usually do morning EMH so i felt they would be a waste too early. But we usually take a break after lunch and then head back for a dinner somewhere 4p-7p and then hit the parks some more. So I didn't want to waste them and I didn't want to make them for the middle of the day and then not leave enough time for a break (which would lead to meltdowns, more from the adults). So I don't even know if I will be able to snag any 4th or 5th FP+ selections.
We are also adding water parks for the first time so it's hard to factor that in too. When we go it will be early in the morning or even after going to a morning EMH for an hour.
Every year we try to go a little less commando and a little more leisurely but every year Disney makes this harder. I'm waiting for the day when you have to order your meal for your ADR's at the 60 day mark

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Keep in mind that lines are their very shortest during the last few hours of operation. You don't gain much by booking fast passes for later in the evening.

Late morning and early afternoon are the most efficient FP+ times.

 

[mediadiva]

All of the strategies I've read suggest getting later FPs. Wouldn't the better strategy be to get in rides rides right after opening and then have FPs scheduled about an hour after opening and back to back? That way you could add more once you've used them. If you schedule late ones, you wouldn't be able to select more. A friend said she used 8 FPs on a busy summer day.

What has been your experience?

For the popular stuff I didn't exactly have many choices, I basically took what I could get. I worked the others around those... so it just sort of worked its way out and I am happy with my schedule. If I had free reign it would be one thing but there are not many choices when I was doing it. I had to sit and go through every day on BOG and I would find like 1 day with 1 time available during my entire stay, same with A&E. I setup hard to get ones first so my schedule would be fully open to whatever was avail, so my FP had to work around my restaurant schedule. Doing it this way I literally got everything I wanted, all the rides and meet and greets.

 

[klk77]

Can anyone confirm that 11:00 to 3:00 for FP has worked well for them this summer?