Booking FP+ for larger group, easier to get if split up?

[marshallandcartersmo]

Researching for an upcoming offsite trip during a busy time with 9 people. Knowing it will be hard to get popular fast passes 30 days out, have you had luck getting FP+ (for example) 4 people at 10:10 & 5 people at 10:15 so all still go in together?
TIA

 

[bcinohio]

I would check for them all together first. Then split them up like you said. My DH did that for a band trip with our son. We knew all about the FP system and kids kept joining his group so he had to keep adding FP's. That is what he did and they just all went on the ride at the time that they overlapped. He ended up with 10 in his group and it worked out. We were there over Easter last year and they stayed offsite.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I would check for them all together first. Then split them up like you said. My DH did that for a band trip with our son. We knew all about the FP system and kids kept joining his group so he had to keep adding FP's. That is what he did and they just all went on the ride at the time that they overlapped. He ended up with 10 in his group and it worked out. We were there over Easter last year and they stayed offsite.

Thank you! That gives me hope, lol!

 

[WDmommyof4]

When I have my four boys with me, I usually split us up into a group of 2 and a group of 3 when looking for hard to get fastpasses. I make them for two different times if I have to and one group will do another ride close by while the other does the hard to get one with fastpasses and vice versa. I have never had trouble finding fastpasses the day of for us this way for any ride.

 

[_Mickey_]

I've not booked my FP for our upcoming trip yet, but I plan on splitting us up into groups for some of the parks (there are 7 of us total).

For instance, you might be fine searching for FPs as a whole group for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom (as it seems as if the FP demand is not as high for those parks). For Epcot and Magic Kingdom, where certain rides have a high FP demand (Test Track, Soarin, 7DMT, etc.), you may have better luck splitting up your party into groups of 3 to try and get overlapping times.

I was messing around with FP availability for 30 days out, and noticed that if I split our party up into (2) groups of 2 and (1) group of 3, I could easily get overlapping FP for Test Track. When I searched for FPs for TT as a party of 7, there were none available.

Availability of course will depend on crowd levels for when you are visiting, and whether you have a 60 day advanced booking window or a 30 day advanced window. I only have a 30-day window, so I know I'll have to be a bit creative in how I book the FP.

If you are going to be booking 4th, 5th, etc. FP (day of FP), I would definitely recommend splitting your party up into smaller groups to snag overlapping times for more popular rides.

Good Luck, and have a great trip!

 

[Silvercrest]

My 60 day window is rapidly approaching! Our group is a combination of 3 families for a total of 11 people. We will be there the week of Jan 8-14. Will it be possible for me to even attempt to get 11 FP+ or will I need to break into smaller groups to start with?

 

[hiroMYhero]

My 60 day window is rapidly approaching! Our group is a combination of 3 families for a total of 11 people. We will be there the week of Jan 8-14. Will it be possible for me to even attempt to get 11 FP+ or will I need to break into smaller groups to start with?

I would follow the advice of the previous poster, @bcinohio, and search for all 11 for your highest priority ride.

Then, split if you can't get 11. Book all your FPs according to priority not by park day and then go back in and complete your total of 3 FPs for each park day.