Choosing fp+ at last minute - anything left?

[penguinande]

Okay, so I confess I haven't done a lot of research on fp+, but I understand the general idea. Here's my situation:We are taking our first family trip to WDW the first week of September. It will be me, dh, dd5, and ds2 (almost 3 by then). We are staying 7 days, 6 nights. We will be going to the parks either 5 or 6 days + 1 waterpark day. I'm not planning to add hopping to our tickets unless we get some magical extra money . My plan is to spend one full day in each park and for the 5th/6th day(s) let the kids choose which park(s) they would like to visit again. We have been to Disneyland CA several times, so I won't automatically assume that MK will be the top choice. If we wait until the day before, are there going to be any good fp+ left? Can you recommend a strategy we might use? Thanks!

 

[Brian Noble]

We made about half of our spring break FP+ the night before last year. Wasn't much of a problem. Some things will be gone (Toy Story, 7DMT, Anna/Elsa) and others might only have times late in the day, but you should be able to put together something sensible.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

Since you are going at a slow time of the year you should have some good selections same-day.

What I would do if I were you though, is take a guess as to which parks/rides the kids might want to do and make FP+ selections in advance for the harder to get rides. You can always change them if you change your mind on the fly, but at least you would know you would have something as a back up.

If you think the kids are going to want to do TSMM, or 7DMT, or TT for example, you might have trouble same-day.

 

[penguinande]

Can we book fp in different parks? For instance, can we choose one ride in each park that we think we would want to ride and that we know will be hard to get last minute, then change 3 of them once we have chosen a park?

 

[hiroMYhero]

All 3 pre-booked per day have to be in the same park.

 

[penguinande]

All 3 pre-booked per day have to be in the same park.

Darn, ok thanks!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Do use Rider Swap in conjunction with your FPs.

For the rides that your daughter is tall enough to ride, schedule her plus one adult for a FP. Adults swap and your DD rides for a second time.

You can also schedule one adult FP, then with Rider Swap, the second adult and DD ride. She can get in a lot of rides this way.

 

[IrishNYC]

Since you are going at a slow time of the year you should have some good selections same-day.

What I would do if I were you though, is take a guess as to which parks/rides the kids might want to do and make FP+ selections in advance for the harder to get rides. You can always change them if you change your mind on the fly, but at least you would know you would have something as a back up.

If you think the kids are going to want to do TSMM, or 7DMT, or TT for example, you might have trouble same-day.

We are going in May, and this is my plan for our "choose your adventure" day. I'm going to assume DD5 will choose MK, and pick FP+ for that day, but if she chooses somewhere else, I'll just change on the fly and hope for the best. I'll have the "big ones" already chosen (hopefully!) for the day we have solid plans to be in MK.

 

[penguinande]

Do use Rider Swap in conjunction with your FPs.

For the rides that your daughter is tall enough to ride, schedule her plus one adult for a FP. Adults swap and your DD rides for a second time.

You can also schedule one adult FP, then with Rider Swap, the second adult and DD ride. She can get in a lot of rides this way.

That's fantastic, thanks! We do essentially the same thing at Disneyland. Great to know it will work with fp+ too.

 

[hiroMYhero]

That's fantastic, thanks! We do essentially the same thing at Disneyland. Great to know it will work with fp+ too.

What you could do for your 5th and 6th days:

Choose 3 FPs for your DH and DD for one park.

Choose 3 FPs for you in another park.

Hope that your kids pick one of the two chosen parks. That way, using Rider Swap, you'll get in at least 3 rides pre-booked (except your son) and then choose the others the night before or the "day of."

 

[penguinande]

What you could do for your 5th and 6th days:

Choose 3 FPs for your DH and DD for one park.

Choose 3 FPs for you in another park.

Hope that your kids pick one of the two chosen parks. That way, using Rider Swap, you'll get in at least 3 rides pre-booked (except your son) and then choose the others the night before or the "day of."

Perfect, thanks!

 

[penguinande]

We are going in May, and this is my plan for our "choose your adventure" day. I'm going to assume DD5 will choose MK, and pick FP+ for that day, but if she chooses somewhere else, I'll just change on the fly and hope for the best. I'll have the "big ones" already chosen (hopefully!) for the day we have solid plans to be in MK.

Good plan! I will definitely try to get all of the "must-dos" done on our first day in each park.