“Refresh” is my new favorite strategy

[nkereina]

The good thing about Disboards is that we find out about secrets like Refresh the bad thing is this secret has now been reviewed by over 20,000 people (sure many are repeats) and the secret is not so much a secret now....but i am glad i now know about it

The DisBoard population in the parks on any given day is a fraction of the total guests there. Its been discussed in prior threads that guests who do research, read the blogs and forums, etc. are in the minority. Most guests don't even go that far.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I have been doing it for years as well. I also wouldn’t really call it a “secret.” It is common sense.

I haven’t noticed it getting any more difficult. I helped a group of four at MK this Monday and they used 17 FP. Could have hit 25 but they decided to leave at 6:15.

I totally agree. We went a few weeks after they enabled getting 4th+ on your phone and by the end of the trip I had it figured out. But knowing that you can get headliners by doing it enough is helpful. I also didn't think to split my party on my own.

There's the point of view that so many people don't know how to use FP at all that it won't be a problem. And I've definitely seen people in the parks who obviously don't understand how FP works. But for every one of those people I see 50 with the MDE app visible on their phones. In line, walking around, during shows, etc.

 

[Christine]

How does the refresh strategy impact battery usage in iphones? I know the app is pretty slow to load on mine so I don't really want to open and close it all day while at the parks so that would mean leaving it open and refreshing throughout the day.

The app did a good job of draining my battery while doing refresh for awhile.

 

[JETSDAD]

I totally agree. We went a few weeks after they enabled getting 4th+ on your phone and by the end of the trip I had it figured out. There's the point of view that so many people don't know how to use FP at all that it won't be a problem. And I've definitely seen people in the parks who obviously don't understand how FP works. But for every one of this people I see 50 with the MDE app visible on their phones. In line, walking around, during shows, etc.

My favourite though is when they are on the app, looking at ride wait times to see which ride they should go to next...complaining about how long the waits are and deciding which line to go wait in......instead of using the same time to just get a FP.

 

[Klayfish]

FWIW, I've also been using it for 2 years and haven't notice a signification difference but I also never had the greatest luck with the biggest headliner in each park (works great for everything else though).

I haven’t noticed it getting any more difficult. I helped a group of four at MK this Monday and they used 17 FP. Could have hit 25 but they decided to leave at 6:15.

I totally believe what you two are saying, and I'm hoping my experience in June was more of an aberration. Like I said, I've used it a ton over the past few years. Usually we can literally hop from FP+ to FP+. For example, we would tap into Splash and often by time we sat on the ride, I'd have our next one for BTMRR...or at the worst it would take just a couple of minutes to get. This summer, it wasn't quite as easy. We still got them, but it took a lot more work, I was quite surprised.

 

[Alucard84]

This strategy served me well last June, but I woke up on our 5th day to the realization that I had stared at my phone the entire vacation. I had missed the parks, my families reactions, etc. Over the course of our two MK days we rode all the rides in the park multiple times(7DMT 3 times) and we only stood in 1 standby line. It works, but there are tradeoffs.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I totally believe what you two are saying, and I'm hoping my experience in June was more of an aberration. Like I said, I've used it a ton over the past few years. Usually we can literally hop from FP+ to FP+. For example, we would tap into Splash and often by time we sat on the ride, I'd have our next one for BTMRR...or at the worst it would take just a couple of minutes to get. This summer, it wasn't quite as easy. We still got them, but it took a lot more work, I was quite surprised.

There was a period of time not too long ago where there were a lot of FP and app issues that seemed like it might have been a result of the update that rolled out the new digital rider swap. It seemed like things settled down or they fixed the issues. You didn't happen to be there at that time did you? If so, maybe that explains it. If not, we were there in May. Hopefully things haven't changed since then.

 

[lilpiglet97]

Refresh has worked great for us this trip. We've gotten both Na'vi River and FOP as 4th and 5th FPs.

 

[Gehrig1B]

This strategy served me well last June, but I woke up on our 5th day to the realization that I had stared at my phone the entire vacation. I had missed the parks, my families reactions, etc. Over the course of our two MK days we rode all the rides in the park multiple times(7DMT 3 times) and we only stood in 1 standby line. It works, but there are tradeoffs.

We are a family of 4 and just trade off. You can get obsessed with working the phone and lose a bit of the magic if you aren't careful.

 

[Disney Ron]

We arrive at WDW in 3 days and I admit I haven't read this thread, but you can't pick a 4th FP+ until you've used the first 3 that day correct?

TIA

 

[TrixieBel]

We’ve (hubby and I) been here since Tuesday. Have tried multiple times on multiple days to use the refresh system to move fast passes earlier or get what we want for our additional fast passes.

We haven’t be able to get ANYTHING that we were trying for. Not even once. Not in any park. Haven’t been able to move any of our ‘next’ fast passes earlier while in the line having scanned the ones for what we are currently on. Haven’t been able to get any of the ones that we really wanted for our 4th or 5th passes.

We tried using the app and the website.

We spent many minutes in lines, on buses, while eating, trying to get passes or move them forward. Nada. Zilch. Nothing...

Definitely not feeling we had the magic... only extra I’ve gotten is RSI from hitting my phone screen fast...haha

We’ve still had heaps of fun though, and are going to be at the DAH tonight.

 

[Mome Rath]

We arrive at WDW in 3 days and I admit I haven't read this thread, but you can't pick a 4th FP+ until you've used the first 3 that day correct?

TIA

Yes, you are correct. Refreshing doesn't change that, but you can try to use refresh to "move up" your FP times so you go through the first 3 quicker.

 

[Disney Ron]

Yes, you are correct. Refreshing doesn't change that, but you can try to use refresh to "move up" your FP times so you go through the first 3 quicker.

Great info thank you very much.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We arrive at WDW in 3 days and I admit I haven't read this thread, but you can't pick a 4th FP+ until you've used the first 3 that day correct?

TIA

If you are hopping you do NOT need to use 3 first.

 

[Klayfish]

There was a period of time not too long ago where there were a lot of FP and app issues that seemed like it might have been a result of the update that rolled out the new digital rider swap. It seemed like things settled down or they fixed the issues. You didn't happen to be there at that time did you? If so, maybe that explains it. If not, we were there in May. Hopefully things haven't changed since then.

Yep, we were there when they did that roll out, it was later part of June. It made for a messy few days. We would tap into a FP+ and out of the 5 of us, only 1 or 2 would register that we had gone through. But we had been there for a solid 7-10 days before that happened and still found it harder to refresh. Again, not terrible, but certainly not as easy at it once was. We won't be back in the theme parks until 2020 as next summers' trip for us is water parks only. Hopefully refresh will still work in 2020.

 

[TrixieBel]

Forgot to add to my post above... while in the parks I saw MANY people refreshing while in lines etc. And many people using the FP+ stands at the parks too.

So maybe our having no luck with refreshing was because so many other people now know about it outside of those here on the dis...

 

[SaintsManiac]

Forgot to add to my post above... while in the parks I saw MANY people refreshing while in lines etc. And many people using the FP+ stands at the parks too.

So maybe our having no luck with refreshing was because so many other people now know about it outside of those here on the dis...

It's common knowledge now.

 

[Mome Rath]

Great info thank you very much.

If you are hopping you do NOT need to use 3 first.

When hopping you do still have the first three you book in a chunk or in groups (for example, the day of, you can book FoP at AK and then after you tap into FoP you can then make 2 FP's at EPCOT if you're hopping). What changes is that you can book a tier 1 without using the first 3 (after taping into FoP you can make a tier 1 FP at a different park plus another FP).

Here's the go-to thread for newer FP info; FP FAQ ADDENDUM

 

[SaintsManiac]

When hopping you do still have the first three you book in a chunk or in groups (for example, the day of, you can book FoP at AK and then after you tap into FoP you can then make 2 FP's at EPCOT if you're hopping). What changes is that you can book a tier 1 without using the first 3 (after taping into FoP you can make a tier 1 FP at a different park plus another FP).

Here's the go-to thread for newer FP info; FP FAQ ADDENDUM

I know how it works. I've done it. You do not have to prebook 3 FPs. I'm not sure you're understanding my post to the person I quoted.

 

[kat_lh]

If you are hopping you do NOT need to use 3 first.

So if you have PH, you can book a 4th FP in another park without using your first 3?