experts, please help a newbie plan FP+

[SpringSprite]

I've done A LOT of research, but still need some input to our specific situation, please! We are going for 10 days, 9/30 - 10/9. Staying at VWL - Hubby and I, boys ages 5 & 4 and our moms who are older and won't want to do a lot of walking.

Not buying Park Hoppers unless it comes highly recommended. I have a feeling my boys will be up early so I can TRY to make RD, especially since we plan on long afternoon breaks back at the hotel (the boys will totally melt down otherwise, this I know - I'm thinking 12-4 to relax at Villas) We'll be eating breakfast almost every day in the resort, and realistically can probably be at the parks (at least the MK) by 9:30. We are planning on a table service meal most nights (around 5 if I can get them) and then will hit the days' park again.

I have been scouting crowd calendars and have a tentative plan for park days. We will be at MK 4-5 days including arrival and departure days.

My immediate family loves all type of rides, and the boys are tall so should be able to go on almost everything. (almost 48" and almost 46" now)

I guess my main question is should I schedule fast passes for the mornings or evenings? I've read that both times are better than mid-afternoon when we'll be napping so that's good, but I'm torn. I know the ability is there to change them on the fly, but since reading about the glitches and knowing I don't want to be on my phone the whole time I'm there, I'll probably just miss a FP if we miss it or if the line is manageable.

Is there a way for hubby and I to use our moms FP selections for the rides they won't be going on? (Space & Splash Mountains, ToT, Rock Coaster, etc)

Is FP for a parade or fireworks worth it? (they do have them for both, right?)

And how long will it take to get from MK to VWL on the boat so I can plan for that?

Thanks for the help

 

[cleophus12]

If you are not doing park hoppers, I think I'd do 2 of the FPs for the morning park trip and get another for the evening if you think you will be going back after naps. Lines in the evening will be long, so if you have at least 1 FP in hand (in band!) then your group will have something to do besides just stand in line, and it will pass the time if you are planning on watching the parade. Since you are thinking you will get into the parks around 9:30 realistically and leaving around 12 for naps, the 2 FPs in the morning plus anything you can do on standby will fill your time easily. If you can get in at RD, you may be able to get by with one morning FP because we found morning standby lines quite short for most attractions and covered a lot of ground before crowds began picking up about 11-12.

 

[tjmac11]

Just wanted to let you know as far as using someone else's fast pass. When you scan your magic band your name comes up on a screen in front of the cast member standing at the fast pass entrance. I know this because as we entered a ride one day the cast member said good afternoon to each one of us by name. I was surprised by this and turned around to acknowledge him. When I turned around my name was on the screen. Do all cast members pay attention to this? I don't know. Is it a big deal? I don't know. I just wanted to let you know that the name of the person who owns the magic band will come up when it is scanned. If a woman's name comes up and a man is going through the turnstile, will they notice or care? I don't know. That being said I hope you have a great trip. My kids were about that age when we first brought them and it was an awesome trip. Have fun!

 

[redrosesix]

We are at MK most nights but RD at the other parks. I think you'll find using a FP for a parade or fireworks some days is worth it ie. rather than FP'ing your same favourite rides every day. We used one for F! and another to see Cinderella (a favour for a friend) and didn't regret it.

Using it for fireworks would be worth it because you'd save a lot of time and get a good viewing area. Waiting in a good spot for fireworks is just...waiting. There isn't much fun about it, and I'd rather spend extra time in an interesting queue area to make up for it.

You won't need any at RD, especially if you take the train to the back of the park. If you're going to be in the same park all day, it's a good idea to space them out. Back to back also works if you're going to be in the same area for a while eg. BTMRR and PoTC. But if you have them about an hour apart, it soon feels like you're on a schedule for everything you do. It's hard to fill the time in between without worrying about that extra long SB line making you miss the next FP. Same with scheduling them too close to ADRs. While some families like to tour that way and try to plan their trips down to the minute, my family would mutiny if I tried to do this.

 

[kay1864]

My immediate family loves all type of rides, and the boys are tall so should be able to go on almost everything. (almost 48" and almost 46" now)

This link is useful: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/height.htm

I guess my main question is should I schedule fast passes for the mornings or evenings? I've read that both times are better than mid-afternoon when we'll be napping so that's good, but I'm torn. I know the ability is there to change them on the fly, but since reading about the glitches and knowing I don't want to be on my phone the whole time I'm there, I'll probably just miss a FP if we miss it or if the line is manageable.

Honestly since you're planning ahead you won't have to change on the fly much, if at all. But I've found it very easy to do on a smartphone. Glitches are far less common than you might think from reading these boards.

Is there a way for hubby and I to use our moms FP selections for the rides they won't be going on? (Space & Splash Mountains, ToT, Rock Coaster, etc)

Yes, you can swap out magic bands with them. Hubby needs to be prepared for a CM saying "OK Mary, you're good to go" at the checkpoint

 

[SpringSprite]

Back to back also works if you're going to be in the same area for a while eg. BTMRR and PoTC. But if you have them about an hour apart, it soon feels like you're on a schedule for everything you do. It's hard to fill the time in between without worrying about that extra long SB line making you miss the next FP. Same with scheduling them too close to ADRs. While some families like to tour that way and try to plan their trips down to the minute, my family would mutiny if I tried to do this.

Since we are going to be there so many days, we are planning on doing Fantasyland/Tomorrowland for probably two days, and the other side of the park the other days. I know our moms are not up for hustling from one side of the park to the other, so back to back should work for us. Right now I'm leaning toward scheduling around 11 so we'll be SURE to get there in time, and hopefully can do shorter standby lines in the morning? Do the FP lines also get ridiculously long around that time?

 

[SpringSprite]

I know that I'm going to plan this all out beautifully, and my boys are NOT going to like the rides we've fast-passed, will be having epic meltdowns at our return times, will need the potty right as we're about to get on, etc...I have to keep reminding myself that man plans and God laughs.

 

[redrosesix]

Since we are going to be there so many days, we are planning on doing Fantasyland/Tomorrowland for probably two days, and the other side of the park the other days. I know our moms are not up for hustling from one side of the park to the other, so back to back should work for us. Right now I'm leaning toward scheduling around 11 so we'll be SURE to get there in time, and hopefully can do shorter standby lines in the morning? Do the FP lines also get ridiculously long around that time?

Longer than you would expect with FP-, but we never waited more than 25 minutes total in a FP return line. I think if you time budget for that amount, you should be ok and can walk a little slower to the next one if it isn't as long. By 11 am they will be longer than at 9 am, but they don't really change much for the rest of the day. Also leave some extra time for SB lines -- since FP+ has priority, a posted 5 minute wait could easily become 15 or more. But sometimes you get through much faster than the posted time because nobody with FP's came to ride.

Good plan to only book what you know you can do for sure.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Using it for fireworks would be worth it because you'd save a lot of time and get a good viewing area. Waiting in a good spot for fireworks is just...waiting. There isn't much fun about it, and I'd rather spend extra time in an interesting queue area to make up for it.

I am curious....when you reserve a FP+ for Wishes or Illuminations, where abouts is the FP+ location for them at? What area do you stand in to watch it? I am asking because I am trying to figure out if we should do a FP+ for our trip at the end of May. We have a favorite spot for Wishes that we like to stand at that is not crowded and as for Illuminations, we just walk around to where we will be able to see the whole show with not a ton of people around, but our favorite is to watch back in France area.

 

[redrosesix]

I am curious....when you reserve a FP+ for Wishes or Illuminations, where abouts is the FP+ location for them at? What area do you stand in to watch it? I am asking because I am trying to figure out if we should do a FP+ for our trip at the end of May. We have a favorite spot for Wishes that we like to stand at that is not crowded and as for Illuminations, we just walk around to where we will be able to see the whole show with not a ton of people around, but our favorite is to watch back in France area.

I'm pretty sure Robo has this one