are the guide books "slow days" accurate

[lentesta]

Hey WeLuvPluto,

In most cases, you can get a second FASTPASS when the *earlier* of one of the following two conditions is true:

1) 120 minutes has elapsed since the time you got your first FASTPASS.
2) Your first FASTPASS start time arrives.

So, for example, suppose you grab your first FASTPASS (for Pooh) at 9 a.m. It has a return time of 9:35 a.m. At 9:35 a.m., then, condition (2) above is true, and you can get a second FASTPASS. (FWIW, you can get that second FASTPASS even before you ride Pooh, too.)

Suppose you decide to defer riding Pooh for a few minutes, and you go to Peter Pan. You get a FASTPASS for Peter Pan. Alas, the FASTPASS return time is already 3:15 p.m. But it's only 9:40 a.m. now. When can you get your next FASTPASS?

The answer is that you can get your next FASTPASS at 11:40 a.m., when condition (1) will be true. Most attractions (Peter Pan included) make you wait two hours before getting another FASTPASS.

The only exceptions to this that I know of are the Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror. For the JC and HM, you can get a second FASTPASS five minutes(!) after you get a FP for one of those attractions. For the ToT, it's 60 minutes. These are the only deviations from the 120-minute rule I'm aware of.

michygoomy, hope you enjoy the 2003 Guide. Let me know if there's anything I can help with for your trip.

Sincerely,

Len

 

[lentesta]

Hey jeankeri,

I'm not much of a park hopper, either. The transportation time is the thing that keeps me from leaving. I believe the plans in the Guide tend to gravitate towards shows and high-capacity attractions in the middle part of the day. This would mitigate as much as possible the extra wait times you'd see from crowds during EMH days. By 3 p.m. or so (depending on the park and time of year), more folks are leaving the park than entering, so wait times will start dropping. So with a good touring plan, you'd be okay staying in the park, I'd think.

[joking]
Of course, if the park I'm hopping to is Epcot (my favorite), all bets are off. There's *never* a bad time to go to Epcot. The food. The countries. The high-capacity attractions. The fiber-optics embedded in the pavement. Attractive Castmembers with charming accents handing you pastries every hundred yards. What's not to like?
[/joking]

Len

 

[jeankeri]

Len, Thanks for your reply. If we manage to get to EMH intact and ready to go, I couldn't imagine switching gears and starting the process over. I have found much good advice in the Unofficial Guide. My 6 & 8 year olds insist on checking the grade school ratings for all attractions before deciding to add something to the list!

 

[weluvpluto]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation Len!

I really have learned something new today (and we thought we had the whole thing down pat!)

 

[MandaMom]

What is the guide? and where can I get one?

It sounds like a lot of time and effot when into compiling accurate statistics for this guide. I would like to check it out.

I am going Aug. 8 to the 17th and I haven't been to WDW in the summer time since I was 16. I am going to need all the help I can get.

TIA

MandaMom

 

[MandaMom]

Nevermind, my bad.

I didn't notice the title in Len's signature. I am going to order the Unofficial guide right now. I used this and the Birnbaum guide for my 3 of my WDW trips. Found them to be helpful. But choosing from the guides that are now available is very difficult. Len sounds like he really knows his stuff.

Len, when will your planning software, if ever ,be available to the public?

TIA

MandaMom

 

[GinB]

UMMM,

Houston, there's a problem.

Disney has made a change to fastpass. The first fastpass you can get is not until 10AM. I believe the fastpass return time can not start until 10AM, but you can get the fastpass.

Won't that skew everyone's touring plans a little, since guests that would be getting a FP to come back will now be standing in line in front of you?

-- updated--- I spoke with a CM at Disney by phone just now. She could not confirm that the return time does not start until 10am, but did confirm that you can GET the pass right away.

Anyone back recently that noticed this change?

Thanks!