60 days out, midnight, NO Anna Elsa for us.

[kaybird]

Okay, so I have a random (and probably stupid) question about this because this is the first time I will be scheduling Fast Passes ahead of time. For the Anna and Elsa passes...do I only need to get 2 for my daughter and my niece, or will I need to get a 3rd one for myself since they are too young to walk through the lines on their own?

And another (probably stupid) question...I can still get Fast Passes at the parks for like Splash Mountain and Space Mountain at the kiosks in front of the rides, right? Or can you only plan your Fast Passes in advance now? So much has changed since I was there in 2013 haha

Thanks so much for anyone's help!

You should have a FP+ for each one of you going through the line. There have been reports of kind hearted CMs allowing a parent to enter, but you are each supposed to have a FP+

There are no kiosks for FP+ at the individual rides. There are kiosks throughout the parks, but you are better off to have them prebooked, and change them if need be.

 

[anneboleyn]

Thank you so much, kaybird! Since I already scheduled my ADR's, I needed something new to obsess over and now the Fast Passes will do the trick haha

Have a great day!

 

[Precmom1967]

I have read that others interested in Fast Passes have been unable to book them at the 60 day window if the Magic Kingdom was still open for EMH. Not sure if this was the case for this post or not but thought this info might help others who encounter this. You have to wait until the park is actually closed for the FP window to open.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

I have read that others interested in Fast Passes have been unable to book them at the 60 day window if the Magic Kingdom was still open for EMH. Not sure if this was the case for this post or not but thought this info might help others who encounter this. You have to wait until the park is actually closed for the FP window to open.

not anymore i read its always midnight

 

[tlmadden73]

I had the same issue at my 60 day mark (about two weeks ago). Right at midnight ... no A&E available for the day I had planned for MK. Because we are on a "short" trip (4 days) .. we sorta get punished. While some can grab Fast Passes u to 70 days ahead of their MK day, if you are on a short trip, you can only book a few extra days in advance.

I wasn't interested, but hoping to secure a few for my nieces who are going with us. They opted for Cinderella and Rapunzel (which had plenty (and still does) of availability).

My question is .. is A&E open during morning EMH? Our MK day we are planning on being there for EMH, and while I was going to take my son straight to Tomorrowland for Buzz, maybe I can direct my nieces to Fairytale Hall for A&E with a hopefully short wait?

 

[FLCyndi]

We went in May and couldn't get fast passes. My DGD is 2. We went back to room in the afternoon so she could take a nap and went back later. As the fireworks started we got in line and only waited about 15 minutes. The wait times during the rest of the day were 90+ minutes. There was no way we were missing A&E.

 

[JimmyBean42]

When the new A&E M&G opens in Epcot, this should alleviate some of the problems people have had with getting the A&E M&G FP+. Which will be great since it will give double the opportunities for everyone to meet them (although I'm pretty sure Epcot purists are not happy about the new M&G area. or the new ride).

 

[lugnut33]

Wow, that is strange how I could be up at midnight at 60 days out for our Aug. 15-23 trip and could get A&E fastpasses every single day at any time I wanted to and yet OP couldn't get one during what is considered a slower time of the year. I wonder how much park hours influences the quantity of FP+ that are issued on a given day (at 60 days out)?

 

[pmaurer74]

This has happened to us and we have always gotten Fps eventually. Watch closely the park hours, if they change, they will likely real ease more FPs.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Is A&E open right at RD? I suppose the line won't be too long at RD

If you plan to get A&E at RD, then you need to be at the front of the pack - which means getting there at least 30-45 mins before opening time. We arrived 20 mins prior to opening, and they did RD 20 mins early. We entered A&E, but bailed after it was clear it was going to be far more than the 45 min wait that was posted when we entered at 9:05.

When the new A&E M&G opens in Epcot, this should alleviate some of the problems people have had with getting the A&E M&G FP+. Which will be great since it will give double the opportunities for everyone to meet them (although I'm pretty sure Epcot purists are not happy about the new M&G area. or the new ride).

I was listening to a podcast on the touring plans site with Len Testa and Jim Hill, and Jim Hill was suggesting that it is likely that when the new M&G in Epcot opens, that A&E will be moving over there completely, and they will leave Fairy Tale Hall.

Obviously no hard announcement or evidence from Disney, but it's something I've been wondering about for a while. It would certainly change the FP+ landscape in MK if they do leave MK.

 

[wdwlver]

Wow, that is strange how I could be up at midnight at 60 days out for our Aug. 15-23 trip and could get A&E fastpasses every single day at any time I wanted to and yet OP couldn't get one during what is considered a slower time of the year. I wonder how much park hours influences the quantity of FP+ that are issued on a given day (at 60 days out)?

Same here. Will be there 8/15-23 too and at 60 days I could've gotten a&e every day if I wanted. How can system be that arbitrary?

 

[PrincessJo]

We were there during Thanksgiving just last year and I checked everyday for FP and never could get them. We arrived at rope drop, went straight there and got in line, about 30 minutes later we were having our pictures taken with A&E. You can do it without a FP.

 

[Mary2e]

I went 4th of july week and was able to get E&A FP+s on several of the days.

There were available throughout my 60 booking window. Just because you can't get them at 60 days doesn't mean you won't be able to get them.

 

[Mamato2cutekiddos]

This is not at all meant to be snarky or rude, truly curious because my booking is in a few days and I'm expecting to have the same issue, and I'm not sure how much hair I'm willing to lose of this.

Is there not an option to just stand in line? Or if you don't have a FP your SOL and don't get to see them at all. What about people who buy tickets at the gate? Do they not have a chance?

On that note, my friend went in March (ill have to confirm if they used FP+ or not) and I remember her saying the wait to see A&E was under 60 minutes. Seems doable.

 

[slford00]

Same here. Will be there 8/15-23 too and at 60 days I could've gotten a&e every day if I wanted. How can system be that arbitrary?

A lot of it is related to park hours. September 11th and 12th the MK closes at 7 PM for the Night of Joy Christian music party. Then the following week, the Halloween parties start and MK closes at 7 multiple nights. With something like 7DMT or Space Mountain, where the hourly attraction capacity is in the hundreds or thousands, this still leaves plenty of FP available. For something like Anna/Elsa which hosts far fewer people per hour (A couple hundred? One hundred? Less than one hundred??), there are dramatically fewer FP available, so when the park closes 3-6 hours earlier than usual, the # of FP is significantly reduced in proportion.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just like last year, I'm not believing the mere loss of a few hours of park time is alone responsible for the abrupt change in availability of FPs to meet the duo, especially given the lower crowd levels that time of year compared to now.

I have a strong suspicion they are staffing at a lower level (2 pair meeting instead of 3, or 1 pair instead of 2) once crowds drop.

 

[DIS_AWC]

This is not at all meant to be snarky or rude, truly curious because my booking is in a few days and I'm expecting to have the same issue, and I'm not sure how much hair I'm willing to lose of this.

Is there not an option to just stand in line? Or if you don't have a FP your SOL and don't get to see them at all. What about people who buy tickets at the gate? Do they not have a chance?

There is always the option to just stand in line, of course! If I were going as a solo adult or with other adult travel companions, I don't think I'd have a problem waiting an hour or more for an attraction that I really wanted to see. But for those of us with small kids (and maybe you're in that boat too, so you likely understand!), the idea of waiting in an endless line when it's very very hot makes me want to stab myself... so if there is even a glimmer of hope to possibly reduce a wait to like 15-30 minutes (I don't know what the typical wait with FP is, I'm just assuming there is still a short wait at least), and at a reasonable time of day, then we all want to grab on to that. So that's why people are feeling disappointed or obsessing about FPs. At least that's my situation.

 

[TwoCortWort]

Well, this is a bummer. Up at midnight, 60 days out and not even one single fast pass available for Anna Elsa for my daughter. It says all the fast passes have already been given out for that day. Oh well, I'll keep looking to see if something will open up, in the mean time, got Tinker Bell for her instead.

Keep checking back! Check also for later in your trip also. Also try rope drop too. I have gotten that fast pass 24 hours before.

 

[slford00]

Just like last year, I'm not believing the mere loss of a few hours of park time is alone responsible for the abrupt change in availability of FPs to meet the duo, especially given the lower crowd levels that time of year compared to now.

I have a strong suspicion they are staffing at a lower level (2 pair meeting instead of 3, or 1 pair instead of 2) once crowds drop.

You might be right about that, I dunno. Still, the reduction in available FP when park hours are reduced from 15 hours (9am-12am) to 10 hrs (9am-7am) is significant--that's a loss of 1/3 of the total FP available for that entire day, for the entire park. And for something like A/E that only has, what, 100 or fewer FP available per hour(?), that greatly reduces supply.

Also to be considered as far as park crowds go: in the summertime, the overwhelmingly large crowds are driven by off-site guests who can't book FP until 30 days out. The entire month of September falls into the Free Dining season, which results in nearly 100% Disney resort hotel occupancy (like 97% or something I think is what Josh on EasyWDW has said about this topic). So while the parks as a whole are less busy, the number of people capable of booking FP at 60 days out is just as high during the "off" season as during the summer, if not higher.

 

[jormom1030]

When the new A&E M&G opens in Epcot, this should alleviate some of the problems people have had with getting the A&E M&G FP+. Which will be great since it will give double the opportunities for everyone to meet them (although I'm pretty sure Epcot purists are not happy about the new M&G area. or the new ride).

It should also free up FP for Test Track and Soarin since you will only be able to use a FP for one of those attractions each day (unless you luck out and there is one left after you use your first three).