4th FastPass and beyond at Animal Kingdom

[Mark Hammond]

With my FastPass booking window just a few weeks away, I’m just trying to finalise my FPP times, and was wondering what the typical availability of 4th, 5th etc. FPP would be like at Animal Kingdom if I had’t used my initial three until about 4:00pm? If there’s not likely to be any extra availability by that time, I was going to spread my initial three further into the day, as this would make for a more leisurely touring plan, and make things a bit easier on my two children (6 & 8) with less backtracking across the park, and would also have an impact on watching the diversion entertainment, and doing the trails etc.
We’d be visiting on Monday 27th May, which is showing 7/10 on Touring Plans Crowd Calendar at the moment.
We’re planning on making use of the morning EMH and will be there before RopeDrop, but won’t be joining the rush to AvatarLand, and was planning on going in the opposite direction to try avoiding the crowds, and hopefully being able to get a FPP for FoP. (Will be 60+2)
We’re making a point of catching Nemo, FotLK, and Up!, and also have a few ADR’s for the Rivers of Light dining package at Tusker House, so will cancel the unwanted ones once the FPP’s are booked. Also, I’ve read that Tusker House can run behind schedule by quite a lot, which will also impact my FPP times. I’ve read that a wait of 40 minutes or more after your ADR time could be quite possible. Is this the norm, or just a few isolated cases?
It’s three years since our last (1st) visit, and will probably be another three before we visit again, so I want to try getting as much out of the day as possible.
TIA.

 

[KenHutch]

Well we always do Pre Opening breakfast times at Tusker House so the most I have ever waited is 10 minutes or so. But afterwards we always walk over to Kilimanjaro without a fast pass and the longest wait was maybe 15 minutes. And your plan to go the opposite direction of Pandora is what we always do. We have knocked out most of their rides outside of Pandora this way in 3 hours or so. We try for fast passes for FoP (and have succeeded) but we go back an hour before closing and ride it again standby. For 4th Fast Passes we have found Kali to be the most found but we have never had an issue getting a 4th fast pass in the evenings. I checked my notes and the crowds on our 2 AK days in June were 7 and 8 and we managed just about everything each day.

 

[SaintsManiac]

AK was extremely busy yesterday and I managed to modify our 3rd FP for Everest at 4:10 up to 2:30. After we tapped in I was able to grab FoP for 4:20. While were in the pre show I grabbed another FoP for 6:40.

Party of 3. I couldn’t believe my luck.

 

[Klayfish]

Ditch the crowd calendars, they have no value.

My suggestion would be to use your FP+ earlier in the day, as FP+ availability at AK is very good...with the exception of FoP. Na'vi is a bit tough, but very doable. The rest are easy. So you can get all kinds of FP+.

Also, if you're there toward closing time, so many of the attractions are walk on, no wait. By the way, AK has an awesome night vibe, I love the street party atmosphere. Just my opinion, but Rivers of Light is boring as can be, I'd rather use the time taking in the other things happening at night.

 

[garris3404]

FOP at 60+2 is not a guarantee as it is Memorial Day. If you can get a FP for FOP, then great. I would still try to get to park 75 minutes prior to opening, and go for a FOP ride first thing in the morning. Riding it twice is worth the effort. It's that good.

 

[JETSDAD]

I would use the FP's earlier in the day and then add more throughout the day. As @Klayfish stated, most rides at AK can be readily found. The earlier you start the more you will be able to use.

Since it was just about 4:00, which you had asked about, I checked and was able to find all but FOP with looking for about 10-12 minutes (for 3 people).

 

[gharter]

Agree with using the FP early in the morning.
We usually RD 2-3 rides and have our 1st FP at 10, then hourly. Trying to move them up as possible.
Then start working on the 4th+ FP after that. We have had good luck getting most everything except FoP and Navi. Just have to keep refreshing and get lucky.

 

[michelepa]

That will be a very long day for a 6 and 8 year old. Extremely ambiguous!

 

[Mark Hammond]

Well we always do Pre Opening breakfast times at Tusker House so the most I have ever waited is 10 minutes or so. But afterwards we always walk over to Kilimanjaro without a fast pass and the longest wait was maybe 15 minutes. And your plan to go the opposite direction of Pandora is what we always do. We have knocked out most of their rides outside of Pandora this way in 3 hours or so. We try for fast passes for FoP (and have succeeded) but we go back an hour before closing and ride it again standby. For 4th Fast Passes we have found Kali to be the most found but we have never had an issue getting a 4th fast pass in the evenings. I checked my notes and the crowds on our 2 AK days in June were 7 and 8 and we managed just about everything each day
Thanks for the reply. I was planning to RD Dinosaur, Primevel Whirl, and then Expedition Everest, before cutting across to Tough Bug on the way to my first FP on Kilimanjaro, but Touring Plans has the wait at EE at 28mins at that point. If I shuffle it round to do EE first, the wait is still 28mins. In your experience, does that sound right? I was hoping the wait so early in the morning would be a lot less. I had Kali as one of my FPP’s, but I might swap it for EE and try to get Kali as a 4th now..

 

[Mark Hammond]

Ditch the crowd calendars, they have no value.

My suggestion would be to use your FP+ earlier in the day, as FP+ availability at AK is very good...with the exception of FoP. Na'vi is a bit tough, but very doable. The rest are easy. So you can get all kinds of FP+.

Also, if you're there toward closing time, so many of the attractions are walk on, no wait. By the way, AK has an awesome night vibe, I love the street party atmosphere. Just my opinion, but Rivers of Light is boring as can be, I'd rather use the time taking in the other things happening at night.

I hear what you’re saying about Rivers of Light, but it will be a one one done for us, so unfortunately, that puts paid to getting in line for FoP at park close. We’re actually visiting AK again on Saturday 1st June (60+7) but it will be a split day - A few hours in the morning at AK, then Blizzard Beach until mid-afternoon, and then back to AK for our FPP’s, and AvatarLand by night. Hopefully we’ll definitely get FoP on that day...

 

[Mark Hammond]

FOP at 60+2 is not a guarantee as it is Memorial Day. If you can get a FP for FOP, then great. I would still try to get to park 75 minutes prior to opening, and go for a FOP ride first thing in the morning. Riding it twice is worth the effort. It's that good.

I’d happily arrive that early if it wasn’t for the kids, but I think it would get the day off to a bad start if I made them wait at the gates for that long beforehand - Hence the plan of getting there a bit before 8:00am and going the opposite way. We’re doing RD ‘till park close at Hollywood Studios the previous day as well, so we’re pushing it as it is!

 

[Mark Hammond]

I would use the FP's earlier in the day and then add more throughout the day. As @Klayfish stated, most rides at AK can be readily found. The earlier you start the more you will be able to use.

Since it was just about 4:00, which you had asked about, I checked and was able to find all but FOP with looking for about 10-12 minutes (for 3 people).

That’s a lot better than I expected due to the relatively few amount of rides at AK. Thanks for looking!

 

[Mark Hammond]

That will be a very long day for a 6 and 8 year old. Extremely ambiguous!

Long day yes, but the shows will get them off their feet for a while, and I’m trying to keep the backtracking down as much as practically possible, although I appreciate that we won’t be able to start at one point and just go in a circle until we end up back where we started!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I would use the FP's earlier in the day and then add more throughout the day. As @Klayfish stated, most rides at AK can be readily found. The earlier you start the more you will be able to use.

Since it was just about 4:00, which you had asked about, I checked and was able to find all but FOP with looking for about 10-12 minutes (for 3 people).

I just watched a FP video on YouTube which was pretty darn good and then I read the comments. Someone there mentioned how she and her family could only get ONE extra FP a day. That was the way it was. I was like....what?? I quickly mentioned you and Klayfish as "friends" who have gotten at one point, 11 FPs in a day!

 

[JETSDAD]

I just watched a FP video on YouTube which was pretty darn good and then I read the comments. Someone there mentioned how she and her family could only get ONE extra FP a day. That was the way it was. I was like....what?? I quickly mentioned you and Klayfish as "friends" who have gotten at one point, 11 FPs in a day!

At MK, 11 would be a slow day lol.

There's a lady on KtP who used over 100 FP's in one day....almost all of those were Teacups so not my idea of fun (quite the opposite) but I believe it was part of a challenge between her and KtP.

I'd rather use 20ish FP's on better rides but it was neat to see.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

At MK, 11 would be a slow day lol.

There's a lady on KtP who used over 100 FP's in one day....almost all of those were Teacups so not my idea of fun (quite the opposite) but I believe it was part of a challenge between her and KtP.

I'd rather use 20ish FP's on better rides but it was neat to see.

11 a slow day??!! Get....out!! And 100...with the majority being Teacups?? No thanks! My son and I will be doing that once....ONCE. My motion sickness could kick in, but if I just sit and let it "cycle through me" I'll be good. I will have some medicine on me that I'll take several minutes before doing the ride. What's the most FPs you've done in one day....all parks if you remember?

 

[JETSDAD]

11 a slow day??!! Get....out!! And 100...with the majority being Teacups?? No thanks! My son and I will be doing that once....ONCE. My motion sickness could kick in, but if I just sit and let it "cycle through me" I'll be good. I will have some medicine on me that I'll take several minutes before doing the ride. What's the most FPs you've done in one day....all parks if you remember?

We finally found a way to ride Teacups and keep the whole family happy. DD rides on her own and can spin all she wants. DW and I ride together with no spin lol

I'm not sure of my max because we haven't really done a day where we really tried to push to see what we could do. I did look back and saw a post of mine on here where we were only at MK from 10-5:30 and we did 16 FP's on top of shows and non-FP rides.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/here-now-may-9-17-great-start.3681986/

 

[samsonjs]

At MK, 11 would be a slow day lol.

There's a lady on KtP who used over 100 FP's in one day....almost all of those were Teacups so not my idea of fun (quite the opposite) but I believe it was part of a challenge between her and KtP.

I'd rather use 20ish FP's on better rides but it was neat to see.

Wow, if I may ask when do you finish with your first 3 fastpasses? I scheduled mine for 10-11, 11-12,12-1. I think I got maybe 4 or 5 after that but we do take an afternoon break.

 

[JETSDAD]

Wow, if I may ask when do you finish with your first 3 fastpasses? I scheduled mine for 10-11, 11-12,12-1. I think I got maybe 4 or 5 after that but we do take an afternoon break.

We usually start with 9-10, 10-11, and 11-12. For MK, if we get to the park at opening we will hit a couple of rides SB and then use our first FP towards the end of the 1st hour. Then we can use FP2 at the beginning of that window. Once that is used we will move up our 3rd FP and start refreshing from there. Tiered parks or if we don't show up at RD then we will start with our FP's right away.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

We finally found a way to ride Teacups and keep the whole family happy. DD rides on her own and can spin all she wants. DW and I ride together with no spin lol

I'm not sure of my max because we haven't really done a day where we really tried to push to see what we could do. I did look back and saw a post of mine on here where we were only at MK from 10-5:30 and we did 16 FP's on top of shows and non-FP rides.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/here-now-may-9-17-great-start.3681986/

I haven't read your post yet, but I will.

WOW!!! 16??!! I don't think my son and I will even come close. But I'm hoping we can do at least 10 on both days in the MK. I know for sure we'll do that on our EMH day....but you never know.