SDFP: CHANGES COMING!! Beware the 7th of June?!

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I just happened upon this thread and I promise I did read the entire post #1. But just need to clarify...family of 10 going but one is under 3 (will be 13 months at time of trip).

Should we make FPs at 60 days out on the baby's band even if it means rides that the baby will not do (Mountains, etc). That would give one member of our party an opportunity to use the baby's band and ride again. OR should we just use the baby's band to make SDFP once in the park? It will only help one member of our party at any one time. I don't plan to acquire extra Magic Bands to make this SDFP system work for all. But I appreciate the info and like the suggestion to ask for plastic room keys so that mom and baby can pass their bands on if they leave parks early.

You will not be able to make advanced FP on the baby's MB because she/he (presumably) does not have any tickets associated with her/him. Yes you can use it for SDFP.

 

[Surgie2]

You will not be able to make advanced FP on the baby's MB because she/he (presumably) does not have any tickets associated with her/him.

This was so obvious but I still hadn't figured it out! Thanks for clarifying. We still have over a year until our visit and my head is spinning.

 

[BbearRosenfeld]

Four parties, solo. Just wow.

If you want ride photos, be sure to wear a band, even though you won't be using it for admission. You could also have Photopass photographers tap a band, so the pics will show up on your Memory Maker.

You're right, you don't have to link the four cards to your MDE. But if you do, then the kiosk-booked phantom SDFP will show up on your MDE for convenient reference. And of course, the names will show up on the kiosk screen, helping you keep track of which sets of SDFP coordinate with which cards. Sharpie the phantom names in the upper right corner of the front of each card in big letters.

Moving forward, you might find it convenient to have four phantoms with cards on your MDE. Let's say your neighbor can't go to MVMCP and wants to give you her ticket. She's already linked it to her MDE, so she can't just hand you the card. That card will stay on her profile forever. But Disney allows unlimited reassignment of tickets (before use, obviously). Let's say you don't want the ticket reassigned to your real profile because you do want the extra set of prebooked FP this time. You can just have her reassign the card to one of your phantoms - and because the phantoms have cards, you can access the entitlement of the MVMCP ticket. That scenario is obviously not likely to happen, but it's the sort of thing that can come up and make you glad you have phantoms with cards. Otherwise, you'd have to buy MagicBands to access MDE phantom entitlements.

The downside to linking the tickets to phantom profiles is that you won't be able to remove those profiles without calling guest services. Some people find it distracting to have extraneous profiles on their MDE. I rather like them, myself. One big happy family!

Enjoy those parties!!

Thank you so much for all the fantastic advice!!!

 

[CrowleyFam]

What an amazing day! Thanks for sharing. Quick question - when you went to get FP inside MK were there times immediately available that morning? Like 9am? Do you remember? Just curious if only late in the day FP are avail. Thanks!

There were morning times available for some rides but we were booked up in the morning.

 

[cooperams]

Hello all. Will this work?
Staying at Poly and heading to Epcot for rope drop and then hopping to MK later in the day. Can I take Monorail to MK around 7:30am, use my real Magicband to enter Main Street at 7:45ish, go to a Kiosk and make secondary fast passes with my family's secondary MBs, exit MK, and meet the rest of my family at Epcot for rope drop at 9?

 

[ScrapYap]

Hello all. Will this work?
Staying at Poly and heading to Epcot for rope drop and then hopping to MK later in the day. Can I take Monorail to MK around 7:30am, use my real Magicband to enter Main Street at 7:45ish, go to a Kiosk and make secondary fast passes with my family's secondary MBs, exit MK, and meet the rest of my family at Epcot for rope drop at 9?

You're not likely to get into Main Street at 7:45 a.m. without an 8:00 dining reservation. Unless the park opens at 8:00 a.m. on the day in question? If it's a 9:00 a.m. opening, you may not get in until after 8:00. You won't be at the kiosks for long, and the wait for a monorail to the TTC is likely to be short. But you could end up just missing the Epcot monorail and might wait there as long as 15 minutes. Then you have to find the family. You might just miss rope drop, which wouldn't be the end of the world. So it could work.

However, I wouldn't do it. Unless you and your family are all extremely low key, go-with-the-flow people, this is going to be an hour of stress for everyone. You'll be frazzled when you get to Epcot (unless, again, you're a surfer-dude kind of guy who just doesn't fret). And your family will be frazzled by the time you rejoin them. It's really stressful waiting for someone when the clock is ticking down to rope drop.

And the thing is, you'll find plenty of FP when you do arrive at MK later in the day. People are constantly changing their selections - making their previous choices available to you. You could end up getting to MK at 8:00 a.m. and still not finding the rides you were hoping for - those might not open up until the afternoon.

Let us know how the day goes. Is it coming up soon?

 

[5DisneyNuts]

You're not likely to get into Main Street at 7:45 a.m. without an 8:00 dining reservation. Unless the park opens at 8:00 a.m. on the day in question? If it's a 9:00 a.m. opening, you may not get in until after 8:00. You won't be at the kiosks for long, and the wait for a monorail to the TTC is likely to be short. But you could end up just missing the Epcot monorail and might wait there as long as 15 minutes. Then you have to find the family. You might just miss rope drop, which wouldn't be the end of the world. So it could work.

However, I wouldn't do it. Unless you and your family are all extremely low key, go-with-the-flow people, this is going to be an hour of stress for everyone. You'll be frazzled when you get to Epcot (unless, again, you're a surfer-dude kind of guy who just doesn't fret). And your family will be frazzled by the time you rejoin them. It's really stressful waiting for someone when the clock is ticking down to rope drop.

And the thing is, you'll find plenty of FP when you do arrive at MK later in the day. People are constantly changing their selections - making their previous choices available to you. You could end up getting to MK at 8:00 a.m. and still not finding the rides you were hoping for - those might not open up until the afternoon.

Let us know how the day goes. Is it coming up soon?

@ScrapYap Karrie, sorry to be completely off topic, but you should consider a career in writing - you have a great style and crack me up ! Thank you for all the great info.

 

[cooperams]

@ScrapYap Karrie, sorry to be completely off topic, but you should consider a career in writing - you have a great style and crack me up ! Thank you for all the great info.

You're not likely to get into Main Street at 7:45 a.m. without an 8:00 dining reservation. Unless the park opens at 8:00 a.m. on the day in question? If it's a 9:00 a.m. opening, you may not get in until after 8:00. You won't be at the kiosks for long, and the wait for a monorail to the TTC is likely to be short. But you could end up just missing the Epcot monorail and might wait there as long as 15 minutes. Then you have to find the family. You might just miss rope drop, which wouldn't be the end of the world. So it could work.

However, I wouldn't do it. Unless you and your family are all extremely low key, go-with-the-flow people, this is going to be an hour of stress for everyone. You'll be frazzled when you get to Epcot (unless, again, you're a surfer-dude kind of guy who just doesn't fret). And your family will be frazzled by the time you rejoin them. It's really stressful waiting for someone when the clock is ticking down to rope drop.

And the thing is, you'll find plenty of FP when you do arrive at MK later in the day. People are constantly changing their selections - making their previous choices available to you. You could end up getting to MK at 8:00 a.m. and still not finding the rides you were hoping for - those might not open up until the afternoon.

Let us know how the day goes. Is it coming up soon?

Thank you for the extensive response. I didn't know that I wouldn't get onto Main Street until 8 at the earliest and that I might still have good fastpass options even if I don't get them until later in the day. However...I may try it. I do not stress easily, and this will be our fifth trip, so if I don't make it for Epcot rope drop and my family rides TT without me, I'll be good.
Thanks again, and if anybody tries this and can report back, I'd appreciate it. We are going until the summer.

 

[AngelDisney]

You're not likely to get into Main Street at 7:45 a.m. without an 8:00 dining reservation. Unless the park opens at 8:00 a.m. on the day in question? If it's a 9:00 a.m. opening, you may not get in until after 8:00. You won't be at the kiosks for long, and the wait for a monorail to the TTC is likely to be short. But you could end up just missing the Epcot monorail and might wait there as long as 15 minutes. Then you have to find the family. You might just miss rope drop, which wouldn't be the end of the world. So it could work.

However, I wouldn't do it. Unless you and your family are all extremely low key, go-with-the-flow people, this is going to be an hour of stress for everyone. You'll be frazzled when you get to Epcot (unless, again, you're a surfer-dude kind of guy who just doesn't fret). And your family will be frazzled by the time you rejoin them. It's really stressful waiting for someone when the clock is ticking down to rope drop.

And the thing is, you'll find plenty of FP when you do arrive at MK later in the day. People are constantly changing their selections - making their previous choices available to you. You could end up getting to MK at 8:00 a.m. and still not finding the rides you were hoping for - those might not open up until the afternoon.

Let us know how the day goes. Is it coming up soon?

I wonder whether I should try this for AK. RD at MK for afternoon FP then hop over to AK. I mainly want to ride Splash Mountain. Its refurbish schedule screws up my plan, and I want to try if I can squeeze the ride in with a SDFP before its closed for late August. I am considering adding two phathom 10-year-olds to my hotel reservation. How likely is it to get a FP for Splash Mountain at 8 am on a Sunday? TIA!

 

[ScrapYap]

@ScrapYap Karrie, sorry to be completely off topic, but you should consider a career in writing - you have a great style and crack me up ! Thank you for all the great info.

Thanks @5DisneyNuts! I have had a career in writing, in fact!

 

[ScrapYap]

Thank you for the extensive response. I didn't know that I wouldn't get onto Main Street until 8 at the earliest and that I might still have good fastpass options even if I don't get them until later in the day. However...I may try it. I do not stress easily, and this will be our fifth trip, so if I don't make it for Epcot rope drop and my family rides TT without me, I'll be good.
Thanks again, and if anybody tries this and can report back, I'd appreciate it. We are going until the summer.

The fact that you're starting at the Polynesian, right on the monorail loop, makes it more doable than otherwise, obviously. Have a great trip!

 

[ScrapYap]

I wonder whether I should try this for AK. RD at MK for afternoon FP then hop over to AK. I mainly want to ride Splash Mountain. Its refurbish schedule screws up my plan, and I want to try if I can squeeze the ride in with a SDFP before its closed for late August. I am considering adding two phathom 10-year-olds to my hotel reservation. How likely is it to get a FP for Splash Mountain at 8 am on a Sunday? TIA!

You have a good chance for Splash FP throughout the day. Especially if your FP party isn't too large? Are you at an MK resort?

You might be better off just planning to visit the kiosks at the MK several times. And when you do look for your Splash FP, stay at the kiosk and refresh for as long as there is no line forming behind you. You'll get your Splash on!

 

[AngelDisney]

You have a good chance for Splash FP throughout the day. Especially if your FP party isn't too large? Are you at an MK resort?

You might be better off just planning to visit the kiosks at the MK several times. And when you do look for your Splash FP, stay at the kiosk and refresh for as long as there is no line forming behind you. You'll get your Splash on!

Thanks ScrapYap! Unfortunately we will be staying at Beach Club. It's only DD who will be 20 and myself on the trip. I will keep in mind about refreshing the screen when there is no line behind me.

 

[Mrspeaks]

Since I got such great help with the SDFP, I thought I would come back and report how it went. We visited 3/12 - 3/17 and visted all 4 parks. I purchased 5 extra magic bands as our party grew from 3 to 5 in the weeks before the trip.

It was spring break with crowd levels reported at 7-10 each day so it was really crowded.

Sunday 3/12 - MK day - I had my 30 day FP+ already set up for 7 Dwarves, Big Thunder and Peter Pan. At rope drop I headed to City Hall and was able to get Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion. When we used up our original FP+ we added Buzz Lightyear and later Pirates. We waited in line for a few other rides at opportune times and although the crowds were insane, we felt we "did it all". There is no way we would have felt that way without the SDFP.

Monday 3/13 - HS day - I had my 30 day FP+ set for Toy Story, Tower of Terror & Star Wars. We headed to the Kiosk at the end of Hollywood at rope drop and checked for additional FP+. Zip. Nothing but shows. I got Beauty and the Beast but only my wife and our friend attended because it overlapped with Tower. We waited for Rockin Rollercoaster but pretty much left the park early. It was super crowded and there really is only 5 rides open right now. No difference with SDFP.

After Monday, our friends left and gave us their used tickets so we now had 5 MBs and 2 tickets to use for the 3 of us.

Wednesday 3/15 - EC day - I had my 30 day FP+ set for Soarin, Living with the Land and Mission Space. We hit the Kiosk at rope drop and I was able to add Test Track, Seas with Nemo & Spaceship Earth (Soarin was gone). Not huge lines for any of these, but very convenient not to wait at all. We waited for Soarin first thing and so was able to do that twice. This was another good day in a crowded park thanks to SDFP!

Friday was just my son and I so we had all 7 SDFP media to use for the day!

Friday 3/17 - AK day - I had made 30+ day FP+ for Everest, Dinosaur and Kilimanjaro Safari. We ended up at the Kiosk *before* rope drop and was able to secure 3 more Everest rides, Primeval Whirl (ended up riding it 6 times) and Kali River Rapids. We rode all day. We only waited in line once for Everest and bailed after about 30 minutes to get use a FP+. By far the best day for sure.

So I spent an additional $65 on MB's and it was definitely worth it. Thanks for all the help!

We are a party of 5 and will have 5 extra bands. Was it easy for you to find 5 SDFP together or did you have to split your party to find 5?

 

[Tomh]

I just want to say thanks to the OP for all of the great information in this thread!

We used the SDFP strategy last August, and it was wonderful. Kind of like the old days of paper FP's, got lots of rides in, and were very happy with the results. We will be doing the same again this coming August.

 

[PSofiasMama]

I feel like my level of Disney parks knowledge is high but how did I not know about SDFP before?!?! I will be taking my second trip to WDW this year next week and will be traveling with first timers! I had my brother ship me his magic bands from our last trip together (2015) so we can give this a shot. Spring break + first time visitors + only 4 nights at WDW = hoping SDFP will help us avoid some waits and be able to experience more! We will be traveling with 3 girls who are not fans of the "big" rides yet so saving time on any ride is going to be fabulous! MK is going to be our focus. I will report back after my trip.

Thank you for this amazing information!

 

[robinb]

Hey everyone! Does anyone know if WDW has transitioned completely to the new style MBs? I think we will be doing a whirlwind visit in May to see Wishes and the Avatar AP preview. We have SDFP MBs from our last WDW trip in December but they are the old style (as are our AP MB's). Will we look odd walking around and making SDFPs with old-style MBs?

 

[ArielSRL]

What an amazing day! Thanks for sharing. Quick question - when you went to get FP inside MK were there times immediately available that morning? Like 9am? Do you remember? Just curious if only late in the day FP are avail. Thanks!

I'm not the PP you were asking but I "practice" booking SDFP from my computer around 8:15-8:30 many mornings and I do see 9am availability for several of the secondary type rides.

 

[ArielSRL]

Hey everyone! Does anyone know if WDW has transitioned completely to the new style MBs? I think we will be doing a whirlwind visit in May to see Wishes and the Avatar AP preview. We have SDFP MBs from our last WDW trip in December but they are the old style (as are our AP MB's). Will we look odd walking around and making SDFPs with old-style MBs?

I dont think so. We will actually still be using our old style for regular use on certain days as they are themed or decorated. And we will be using some for SDFP, as well.

 

[ScrapYap]

Hey everyone! Does anyone know if WDW has transitioned completely to the new style MBs? I think we will be doing a whirlwind visit in May to see Wishes and the Avatar AP preview. We have SDFP MBs from our last WDW trip in December but they are the old style (as are our AP MB's). Will we look odd walking around and making SDFPs with old-style MBs?

There will still be people walking around with old-style MBs for years to come. Many of us have invested big bucks into special MagicBands (in the old style). Why would we stop using them? The new ones are larger, so there will always be people who think the old ones are more comfortable. The new ones have no new functionality, so many people will decline new MagicBands to be more eco-friendly and continue using the old ones. Some guests will be staying off-property, so will just use their old bands. Lots of reasons. This summer, it will still be 60-40 (maybe 70-30) old bands versus new bands.