“Refresh” is my new favorite strategy

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I have always booked my first FP after lunch into the afternoon. I see now I need to change my strategy. I still think when things are walk on right at rope drop it makes sense to ride them then, but I also see the need to get through them now! I’m torn with when to start! 10ish?

We’ve been making our first FastPass at 9:30, which gives us until 10:45 to be at the park and at the attraction.

2nd FP at 10:30 and 3rd at 11:30.

This allows us to hit the first 3 back to back to back with almost no wait, then it’s Refresh time.

It’s amazing how many good FPs will show up with little effort.

 

[Maxwell42]

I haven't read this whole thread, but I'm just chiming in to say that my family of 4 used refresh with great success on our Christmas trip last year. My teenagers really got into it, and scoring new FP became a challenge. It's a great dopamine hit when you get a good one!

This was once a very unpopular opinion, but I'm now of the mind that FP+ (with refreshing for more FP) works for us MUCH better than the legacy paper FP! No pressure to make rope drop, FP for popular rides don't run out by 11:00, and no running around the park to get the next FP and then doubling back to use it later. Now that the FP+ system has reached its maturity, we really love it! (Of course, that assumes that you can make your initial FP+ at 60 days and get the really tough ones like FOP.)

 

[nkereina]

Very intrigued by this thread. I'll be making my FPs soon and my previous strategy was always to go at rope drop, ride the headliners during the morning with low crowds, use FP+ during the afternoon and evening. But with refreshing, it sounds like the better approach is the book FPs as early as possible and back to back. Is this accurate? Would anyone stick to making FP+ reservations in the afternoon/evening?

 

[Maxwell42]

Very intrigued by this thread. I'll be making my FPs soon and my previous strategy was always to go at rope drop, ride the headliners during the morning with low crowds, use FP+ during the afternoon and evening. But with refreshing, it sounds like the better approach is the book FPs as early as possible and back to back. Is this accurate? Would anyone stick to making FP+ reservations in the afternoon/evening?

Rope drop still works great if you don't mind getting up that early, especially if you want multiple rides on the headliners. But I would advise using your first 3 FP+ as early as you reasonably can so you can get more. Also, once you tap in for your first FP+, you can get on the app and move the next one up earlier. Do the same with your third after you tap in for your second. Then you have your first three done and can go on to your fourth.

If you're going to do rope drop, then I'd allow an hour or so to ride standby with no waits before starting to use your FP, so schedule accordingly. But what we found was that we didn't feel pressure to rope drop because we knew we had the first 3 FP and could get more after that. On earlier trips, we always did rope drop, and I would feel tense when we got there late because I knew how much prime touring time we were wasting. But now I don't have that tension - I can just relax and know that we'll get to ride all we want via FP. The major headliners can be challenging to get (like FOP and now SDD) but everything else is in play. ETA - even the major headliners can be had, but they usually take a little more persistence to get them.

I'll also add that the strategy works at all of the parks, but it's easiest at MK because of the number of FP-enabled attractions. I think we did a total of 9 or 10 FP in one day there, and that was between the hours of 9am (no rope drop) and 4pm. But if there's a ride you want at any of the parks, you can get it with a little persistent refreshing, and once you have the ride, you can usually move the time up to within the next half hour. And we were doing this during the very busy week leading up to and including Christmas!

 

[nkereina]

@Maxwell42 - thank you for this info! Have there been any reports of the refresh strategy simply *not* working for someone? I'm thinking about re-working my plans to take full advantage of this, so that we aren't pressured to make rope drop and have more flexibility.

 

[chelseabun76]

Ah man, this is the first I'm reading of this strategy... it sounds great, but I don't know if I want to be on my phone that much and risk my rambunctious 8 year old getting away from me when I am not paying attention. lol

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

@Maxwell42 - thank you for this info! Have there been any reports of the refresh strategy simply *not* working for someone? I'm thinking about re-working my plans to take full advantage of this, so that we aren't pressured to make rope drop and have more flexibility.

A couple of people have posted that they didn't have good luck with it. For me it worked great for things that weren't the headliners at each park. I get a little jealous hearing about the success people have with headliners though. But I think most people shouldn't have much trouble getting JC and HM on down. For the mountains, etc, it seems like it's just matter of how long you're willing to keep doing it (it seems to take more time for some people than others).

If by reworking your plans you mean scheduling your FPs early, I don't think there's any harm in that. Personally, I wouldn't plan on giving up RD until I tried it out for a day but that's because I don't have the greatest luck with headliners.

Would anyone stick to making FP+ reservations in the afternoon/evening?

I wouldn't. Our last day we had early afternoon FPs and after a week of refreshing it was a little torturous having to wait (since I don't have much luck moving up headliners moving 7DMT up didn't work).

 

[mousestruck]

@Maxwell42 - thank you for this info! Have there been any reports of the refresh strategy simply *not* working for someone? I'm thinking about re-working my plans to take full advantage of this, so that we aren't pressured to make rope drop and have more flexibility.

Persistence is key! Tried this strategy last week. At first, I didn’t think it worked... but that’s because I was only refreshing a few times. In most cases, you have to continually refresh over the course of several minutes. With more patience I was able to snag lots of great FPS... including Frozen, Test Track, TSM, Navi and many others. I didn’t spend the day on my phone, but tried it while waiting on line or waiting for food. It became a fun challenge!

 

[mesaboy2]

For the first several months after the system launched, you could only get three per day.

Maybe I’m getting old, but I also don’t remember that ever being the case. I recall additional FPs being available from kiosks since the inception of FP, and through the MDX app some time later.

 

[ELLH]

For the first several months after the system launched, you could only get three per day.

Maybe I’m getting old, but I also don’t remember that ever being the case. I recall additional FPs being available from kiosks since the inception of FP, and through the MDX app some time later.

Maybe I'm mis-remembering, but I actually think Tink is right. It seems I recall being limited to only 3 FP+ per day and I also remember this being the case because it was a big deal when Disney finally began allowing people to get a 4th. Back then, the kiosks you speak of weren't a thing, either.

Edit: I googled and found this:
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/fp-limit-reached.880114/

So, my brain actually did remember something correctly for once; initially, through some period of time, you were limited to 3 FP+ per day.

 

[bjscheel]

We were there July 4-9, 4 people. On MK days we had total of 9-10 FP. The app was glitchy a lot though. On Sunday, we did a handful, then left for a break and came back for the Mine Train FP that DD19 had scored for us! After that, got BTMRR, followed by Splash (just had to go in the gift shop for 15 minutes till FP was good), followed by Jungle Cruise. Rode Pirates standby on the way and rode JC during the fireworks- totally didn't need a FP for it...

Hopefully we made someone happy with the Slinky Dog FP we released on Saturday because we rode at rope drop and were so done with the park before 3:25.

 

[asbyrneva]

There last week and after reading this thread I was ready to try it but not confident that it would work. We didn't really use it for the 4th or 5th FP+ much but did use refresh alot for modifications. As other posters have said on phone in line, on bus, and even did some back in the room for last minute changes. Definitely had to be persistent. Changed Startours to RNR. Grabbed one the night before HS day for 10:45 pm and refreshed for about 10-15 minutes getting earlier and earlier until I got 11:00 am. I actually did a little happy dance in the room and DH and DS thought I was nuts but very gratifying!

 

[Maxwell42]

Ah man, this is the first I'm reading of this strategy... it sounds great, but I don't know if I want to be on my phone that much and risk my rambunctious 8 year old getting away from me when I am not paying attention. lol

I understand your concern - you probably don't want to do it while walking around the park. But while you're waiting in line for a ride, or sitting down for a meal or quick break, you can easily do it.

Persistence is key! Tried this strategy last week. At first, I didn’t think it worked... but that’s because I was only refreshing a few times. In most cases, you have to continually refresh over the course of several minutes. With more patience I was able to snag lots of great FPS... including Frozen, Test Track, TSM, Navi and many others. I didn’t spend the day on my phone, but tried it while waiting on line or waiting for food. It became a fun challenge!

THIS! You really have to dedicate a few minutes to refreshing the app over and over and over again. Don't just check a couple of times and assume you can't get anything! But if you refresh over and over and over, you'll see most anything pop up within 5-7 minutes.

Another piece of advice - this has probably already been said - if you see the ride you want but at a time you don't like, go ahead and get it. Then go back in to modify that existing FP and search for a new time. Again, if you refresh over and over, you'll see lots of times pop up for most rides. But due to how the app interface is built, searching for a new time on an existing FP is quicker and easier than searching for a specific ride or attraction.

It's also cool that you don't have to be in the park to search for FP (another advantage over the old paper FP) - you can search from the bus or your hotel or restaurant, and find a FP to use when you return to a park later. Or you can be in one park and search for FP in another that you plan to hop to.

This strategy does work for major headliners like FOP too, but you'll need a little luck or more persistence for that. You might see FOP pop up fairly quickly, or it might take a while. I found one after about 10 minutes one day, but we were already at the hotel and not heading back to the park, so I had to pass on it. But I've read plenty of cases on here of others getting FOP even multiple times a day.

 

[cindyfan]

So I am a bit confused. I have used this before but not so far in advance.....
side note.... this is for my first 3 FP+ for the day. I know the "refresh" thing is mainly for additional FP+ for day of.

I am 43 days out and still trying to get Slinky Dog. I have Aliens, TOT and RnRC all booked for FP. So I have been trying to "modify" Aliens to get SDD. It gives me other times for Aliens and then also gives me times for Toy Story Mania. Then it says NO fast passes available for TOT or RnRC. But if I go to "modify" RnRC it lists times for ALL DAY.... like I can pick just about any time of the day?!
I thought even if I "modify" Aliens it showed everything available, then would give a message like you already have that, etc.
This isn't how I remember the modify option from earlier this year.

 

[Delirium]

Very intrigued by this thread. I'll be making my FPs soon and my previous strategy was always to go at rope drop, ride the headliners during the morning with low crowds, use FP+ during the afternoon and evening. But with refreshing, it sounds like the better approach is the book FPs as early as possible and back to back. Is this accurate? Would anyone stick to making FP+ reservations in the afternoon/evening?

I'm sticking to booking FPs where it best fits our schedule.

• Some attractions, I want to ride at night and prefer not to wait in line (Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Everest, etc.). Sometimes you may be able to get these attractions as an extra FP, but it's not worth the chance in my opinion.
• We park hop. Rope drop Epcot, which has lousy Tier 2 FP options and then hop to any of the other parks? I'm using the FPs at the second park.
• I have to believe that constant refreshing results in more criss-crossing of the park. If a party of 4-5 gets off Splash Mountain at 11:00 and a Big Thunder opens up at 3 o'clock, do they turn it down, or are they leaving that part of the park only to head back over there 3-4 hours later?

I see why the strategy works for some, but I don't think it's the only viable approach necessary to have a good time.

 

[ninafeliz]

So I am a bit confused. I have used this before but not so far in advance.....
side note.... this is for my first 3 FP+ for the day. I know the "refresh" thing is mainly for additional FP+ for day of.

I am 43 days out and still trying to get Slinky Dog. I have Aliens, TOT and RnRC all booked for FP. So I have been trying to "modify" Aliens to get SDD. It gives me other times for Aliens and then also gives me times for Toy Story Mania. Then it says NO fast passes available for TOT or RnRC. But if I go to "modify" RnRC it lists times for ALL DAY.... like I can pick just about any time of the day?!
I thought even if I "modify" Aliens it showed everything available, then would give a message like you already have that, etc.
This isn't how I remember the modify option from earlier this year.

I think I understand what you're staying, and I'll try to help. If it isn't clear, or if my understanding of this whole confusing process is wrong, I'm sure someone else will chime in with a more concise answer or a better one!

To check for SDD, you would have to attempt to modify AS2, since they are both tier 1 and you can only hold one tier 1 FP. So if you choose to modify AS2 what will come up first will be alternate times for that attraction, and then options for the other tier 1 attractions. So if TSM is available you will see those times, and if SDD is available you will see those times. So if you only see other times for AS2 and times for TSM, that means there are no SDD currently available to modify to. If SDD becomes available one of the times you try, I believe it will show up after new times for AS2 but before TSM because it's alphabetical, with the exception that the one you are trying to modify is always at the top of the list.

As for it showing no availability for TOT or RNRC, it's because you already have those booked as FPs and you can only hold 1 FP for each ride. Thats why if you go to modify TOT you see all of the other times available, but if you go to modify RNRC it shows TOT as not available. It isn't actually that it's not available and all FPs are gone, it's just that it isn't available for you to modify to, since you already have one of your other FPs booked for that attraction. Does that make sense? It really would be better if there was some different wording than just none available, because it is confusing until you realize whats going on.

 

[zeus12]

Haven't read the whole thread, but what's the biggest party people have had luck doing this with? We are going down in October with 9 and curious if this will work with that many.

 

[ninafeliz]

Haven't read the whole thread, but what's the biggest party people have had luck doing this with? We are going down in October with 9 and curious if this will work with that many.

I did it with a party of 4 on one of our days at the MK in June, and it worked well for the rolling 4th FP for immediate rides, but I wasn't trying to get anything too difficult that day. The only thing I had to split up to get what we wanted was space mt at a very specific time between breakfast and another FP on a different day when trying the night before - I split us into 2 and 2 and had then overlap. I don't think I've ever read about anyone trying for a party that large, I'm thinking it might be quite a bit more challenging but maybe someone who has done it will chime in!

 

[cindyfan]

I think I understand what you're staying, and I'll try to help. If it isn't clear, or if my understanding of this whole confusing process is wrong, I'm sure someone else will chime in with a more concise answer or a better one!
......
As for it showing no availability for TOT or RNRC, it's because you already have those booked as FPs and you can only hold 1 FP for each ride. Thats why if you go to modify TOT you see all of the other times available, but if you go to modify RNRC it shows TOT as not available. It isn't actually that it's not available and all FPs are gone, it's just that it isn't available for you to modify to, since you already have one of your other FPs booked for that attraction. Does that make sense? It really would be better if there was some different wording than just none available, because it is confusing until you realize whats going on.

Totally makes sense. And that's kinda the conclusion I came to..... But I thought I remembered last year doing this and it would state "you already have FP for this attraction".... or something of that nature... and still list the times, then tell you to modify that also.
Not sure if one of the many system updates changed that.
Or .... maybe I am thinking of MK that doesn't have any tiers?? I think it has to do with the tiers.... it can only modify one tier at a time.

Thanks for your explanation!

 

[ninafeliz]

Totally makes sense. And that's kinda the conclusion I came to..... But I thought I remembered last year doing this and it would state "you already have FP for this attraction".... or something of that nature... and still list the times, then tell you to modify that also.
Not sure if one of the many system updates changed that.
Or .... maybe I am thinking of MK that doesn't have any tiers?? I think it has to do with the tiers.... it can only modify one tier at a time.

Thanks for your explanation!

I do think one of the previous versions of the site (not sure about the app) did show you the times that overlapped with another FP but wouldn't let you book them, the rectangle around them was a darker black to differentiate them from the bookable ones IIRC, and you just couldn't click on them (as opposed to them just not being there). I don't remember if they also had this or another method of differentiating if it was an attraction you already had another FP for, but it certainly could have been similar.