Christmas fast pass question

[jvz82]

i haven't been to Disney since they started the fast pass+ system. It sounds like you can get more fast passes once you've used up the first 3 that you book in advance. My question is since we will be at Magic kingdom during a peak time (December 19) will they run out of fast passes? We plan to get to the park early that morning and go on as much as we can, because in my experience mornings at Disney at Christmas time aren't bad at all. I don't want to waste my advanced fast passes on rides in the morning if we are then not able to get more passes for later in the day. Does that make sense?

Currently my thought is to get fast passes around the 10 am, 11 am, and 12 pm times. We will go home for a break after that and come back closer to dinner time. But I know the lines can be pretty long at that time so it'd be nice to have some fast passes to rely on!

 

[Robo]

A. It sounds like you can get more fast passes once you've used up the first 3 that you book in advance. My question is since we will be at Magic kingdom during a peak time (December 19)
B. will they run out of fast passes?
C. Currently my thought is to get fast passes around the 10 am, 11 am, and 12 pm times.
D. We will go home for a break after that and come back closer to dinner time.
E. But I know the lines can be pretty long at that time so it'd be nice to have some fast passes to rely on!

A. Yes. One at a time.
B. No. (But, the more popular rides and times can be gone.)
C. That's a popular plan. Ride standby early in the morning, then use FP as the lines get longer.
D. That can be a good plan in the summer. But, less wise (nor really needed) in the winter.
E. If you have used all 3 of your first 3 FP by, say, 12:10PM... book a 4th FP as soon as that 3rd FP has been used.
Then, you can book a 5th FP as soon as that 4th one has been used... etc.

All that said, Dec. 19 is generally not nearly as busy as the following week and on until the end of the year.

 

[jvz82]

Thanks for your reply! Very helpful.

The main reason we're considering a break is because we have 4 young children, one on the autism spectrum who gets very overstimulated, and I felt like a break might be nice. Plus the baby can nap in the hotel. Last time we went, we didn't take any breaks in the day and my oldest who is on the spectrum, 5 at the time, had a major meltdown in the afternoon. I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Then again, maybe just heading over to Tom Sawyer island and letting everyone run free or finding a shady quiet place to rest for like an hour could be enough.

 

[Baklava]

Thanks for your reply! Very helpful.

The main reason we're considering a break is because we have 4 young children, one on the autism spectrum who gets very overstimulated, and I felt like a break might be nice. Plus the baby can nap in the hotel. Last time we went, we didn't take any breaks in the day and my oldest who is on the spectrum, 5 at the time, had a major meltdown in the afternoon. I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Then again, maybe just heading over to Tom Sawyer island and letting everyone run free or finding a shady quiet place to rest for like an hour could be enough.

Table service meals are also a good way to impose breaks. We went with the Deluxe dining plan in part to ensure that we had a couple breaks of about an hour each. It's not wasted time if it makes the rest of the day run more smoothly.