Beyond confused with the FP System

[sageandbelle]

I totally thought I had this all figured out, I guess i’m wrong! At HS, I was under the impression that after you use your first tier 1 fastpass, you’re able to book another. Right now I have Rock n Rollercoaster scheduled at park open for that very reason, so I could try and snag another tier one early in the day. I have a muppet vision FP at 11:00 which is a throw away and Fantasmic FP which is...also kind of a throw away (not huge interest in it). I’m just very confused. Do I have to use all three of those before I can book another tier 1?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Do I have to use all three of those before I can book another tier 1?

Yes.

An earlier throwaway FP (or one you’ll actually use) rather than the F! FP would be a better way to go.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I totally thought I had this all figured out, I guess i’m wrong! At HS, I was under the impression that after you use your first tier 1 fastpass, you’re able to book another. Right now I have Rock n Rollercoaster scheduled at park open for that very reason, so I could try and snag another tier one early in the day. I have a muppet vision FP at 11:00 which is a throw away and Fantasmic FP which is...also kind of a throw away (not huge interest in it). I’m just very confused. Do I have to use all three of those before I can book another tier 1?

Yes, you will need to use all 3, because you are staying in HS. I would switch Fantasmic to an earlier throw away, modify muppets to earlier and then you can get another tier 1.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Book your throw away as early as you can. 9am and 10am even. Hopefully you even want to enjoy one of those. Get those 2 out of the way, and redeem your first Tier1 of course, and your golden for the rest of the day. I wouldn't concern your self with the Fantasmic FP. It will prevent your from booking extra Tier1s. You can use regular seating or try to grab a last minute Fantasmic FP about an hour before the show. You have to scan it to throw it away, so Fantasmic doesn't work for that, as its scanned at the end of the park day.

Do your RnR. As soon as you scan in for that open MDE while in line and book the nearest throw away you can at the earliest time. Hopefully that will be before your Muppets FP. Then after your Muppets youre all set.

 

[sageandbelle]

Book your throw away as early as you can. 9am and 10am even. Hopefully you even want to enjoy one of those. Get those 2 out of the way, and redeem your first Tier1 of course, and your golden for the rest of the day. I wouldn't concern your self with the Fantasmic FP. It will prevent your from booking extra Tier1s. You can use regular seating or try to grab a last minute Fantasmic FP about an hour before the show. You have to scan it to throw it away, so Fantasmic doesn't work for that, as its scanned at the end of the park day.

Do your RnR. As soon as you scan in for that open MDE while in line and book the nearest throw away you can at the earliest time. Hopefully that will be before your Muppets FP. Then after your Muppets youre all set.

Okay so I switched Fantasmic to The Little Mermaid at 9:30 but we won't be at the park at that time. If we miss that fastpass, will it still count in terms of it being "used" for me to get another tier 1?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Okay so I switched Fantasmic to The Little Mermaid at 9:30 but we won't be at the park at that time. If we miss that fastpass, will it still count in terms of it being "used" for me to get another tier 1?

It should expire, but if it won’t go away you can go to the guest service kiosk and have them clear it for you. The Guest Experience CMs are very helpful and easy to find.

 

[sageandbelle]

Yes, you will need to use all 3, because you are staying in HS. I would switch Fantasmic to an earlier throw away, modify muppets to earlier and then you can get another tier 1.

Do you think I'll have decent luck modifying Muppets to earlier? I go this Sunday so currently it is very slim pickings in terms of available FPs. I would love to get Muppets earlier but these crowds have me worried lol!

 

[Brett Wyman]

Okay so I switched Fantasmic to The Little Mermaid at 9:30 but we won't be at the park at that time. If we miss that fastpass, will it still count in terms of it being "used" for me to get another tier 1?

You have to scan ALL your magicbands to get "credit" missing it will just give your FPs back to you.

Just get the throw a ways as early as you can for times when you can scan them : )

Once the two throw a ways are used you can book as many Tier1s as you want, one at a time of course.

You know how to "refresh" right?

 

[sageandbelle]

You have to scan ALL your magicbands to get "credit" missing it will just give your FPs back to you.

Just get the throw a ways as early as you can for times when you can scan them : )

Once the two throw a ways are used you can book as many Tier1s as you want, one at a time of course.

You know how to "refresh" right?

Yes, I was planning on using the refresh method once at the park. I really wish I would have understood this earlier when there was better selection ):

 

[SaintsManiac]

Do you think I'll have decent luck modifying Muppets to earlier? I go this Sunday so currently it is very slim pickings in terms of available FPs. I would love to get Muppets earlier but these crowds have me worried lol!

Keep trying! Things pop up, but if I remember correctly the show starts at 10am. I don’t know if that has changed since November.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

You have to scan ALL your magicbands to get "credit" missing it will just give your FPs back to you.

Just FYI, not sure if I’m reading your post correctly, but this is not entirely accurate. Missed FPs aren’t given back to you as unused FPs. It is true that occasionally a missed FP can get “hung up” in MDE and not “fall off” as it should which may prevent refreshing for additional FPs, but they ‘should’ fall off. If they don’t, visiting a Guest Experience Team station can be helpful as @SaintsManiac notes above.

OP - it is safer to tap or actually use your Tier 2 FPs you’re trying to get through quickly, but many will let them go unused and go about things that way.

 

[GrandMum]

I don't understand the "refresh" suggestions. Would someone please explain? Thanks

 

[JETSDAD]

I don't understand the "refresh" suggestions. Would someone please explain? Thanks

It's searching over and over for FP's. FP availability changes moment by moment so you keep looking in order to find FP's that people may drop. You can do this by hitting different times on the app or using the mobile site and just hitting the same time over and over.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Just FYI, not sure if I’m reading your post correctly, but this is not entirely accurate. Missed FPs aren’t given back to you as unused FPs. It is true that occasionally a missed FP can get “hung up” in MDE and not “fall off” as it should which may prevent refreshing for additional FPs, but they ‘should’ fall off. If they don’t, visiting a Guest Experience Team station can be helpful as @SaintsManiac notes above.

OP - it is safer to tap or actually use your Tier 2 FPs you’re trying to get through quickly, but many will let them go unused and go about things that way.

Right I didn't want to get to into the weeds and I'm not even sure I fully understand it. Obviously to prevent abuse you can't just book two throw-a-ways, miss them, and then move on to a day of tier1 bliss. And you're correct the FP doesn't automatically pop back in as soon as you miss your scheduled window. But they also don't count as one of your lower tier FP. So say you have two tier2s and a tier1 booked, if you miss one tier 2 and make one tier2 and your tier1. You'll still need to book another tier2 before you can move on to unlimited tier1s. Im openly to thoughts from any FP experts out there on this.

 

[Remy is Up]

Refresh is your best friend if you know how to use it and understand drops

 

[JETSDAD]

Right I didn't want to get to into the weeds and I'm not even sure I fully understand it. Obviously to prevent abuse you can't just book two throw-a-ways, miss them, and then move on to a day of tier1 bliss. And you're correct the FP doesn't automatically pop back in as soon as you miss your scheduled window. But they also don't count as one of your lower tier FP. So say you have two tier2s and a tier1 booked, if you miss one tier 2 and make one tier2 and your tier1. You'll still need to book another tier2 before you can move on to unlimited tier1s. Im openly to thoughts from any FP experts out there on this.

There are all sorts of mixed responses to whether or not expired FP's will fall off. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. On recent trips we've had good success with them falling off properly. We had an arrival day at Epcot planned so we added two AM tier 2 FP's and an evening Test Track. After using the TT FP the expired FP's fell off just fine and we were able to add additional tier 1's. The FP's do tend to stay on MDE even after having expired until you use another FP. I don't know if this is where the mixed results may come in. If I do a tier 1 and then try to let 2 tier 2 expire I don't know if they will count as having expired. The other way around and it's worked for us.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Right I didn't want to get to into the weeds and I'm not even sure I fully understand it. Obviously to prevent abuse you can't just book two throw-a-ways, miss them, and then move on to a day of tier1 bliss. And you're correct the FP doesn't automatically pop back in as soon as you miss your scheduled window. But they also don't count as one of your lower tier FP. So say you have two tier2s and a tier1 booked, if you miss one tier 2 and make one tier2 and your tier1. You'll still need to book another tier2 before you can move on to unlimited tier1s. Im openly to thoughts from any FP experts out there on this.

If you let at Tier 2 expire, it is the same thing as being used. So if you book two Tier 2s and miss them (throw them away) and they fall off like they are supposed to, you absolutely can then just start booking Tier 1's. The problem is, they don't always fall off like they are supposed to.

 

[JARNJ3]

Just curious, does WDW Mgmt care about the terminology of the word "throw away" to apply to their attractions? And if everyone is using this strategy, how is it helping crowd control/management and guest enjoyment?

 

[Brett Wyman]

If you let at Tier 2 expire, it is the same thing as being used. So if you book two Tier 2s and miss them (throw them away) and they fall off like they are supposed to, you absolutely can then just start booking Tier 1's. The problem is, they don't always fall off like they are supposed to.

Ah okay thats good to how its supposed to work. Unfortunately in 3 years of manipulating FP+s we've always had to "rebook" missed FPs in all parks except WDW if we wanted to book more Tier1s. I wish Disney would get it working as intended then.

 

[sageandbelle]

Just curious, does WDW Mgmt care about the terminology of the word "throw away" to apply to their attractions? And if everyone is using this strategy, how is it helping crowd control/management and guest enjoyment?

Many people don’t know about this strategy, people on this board are just special skilled lol! For me, I’m not a huge fan of HS shows so I book them as throw aways, I honestly don’t think Disney cast members either know or care though.