Express pass ?'s, e-ride night

[mrspaha]

I need help planning... We only have one day left on our hopper passes from several years ago, so we want to make the most of this one day.

If we go to Epcot for example at 10:00 and get an express pass for the test track, and our time says to come back at 4:00, does that mean we cannot get an express pass for any other rides until after 4? And once we're done with our ride at 4:00, can we get another express pass for the same ride later?

My other option would be to use our one day at the parks on an e-ride night, but my problem here is that we won't get to the disney property until about 11:00 to noonish on an e-ride night. Would that be too late to buy the e-ride night ticket or whatever we need? Would we have time to do the thrill rides at MGM and Epcot with the express pass before we head to the Magic Kingdom? What time would we have to be at the MK?

Originally, I had planned to do Blizzard Beach on the day we arrive, (around noonish), staying on property that night (Friday night), then using our one day at the parks on Saturday, trying to utilize the express pass as much as possible.

Can anyone give me some advice?

Thanks.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

If you give us more information it will make it easier for people on the boards to guide you.
Please tell us the dates of your trip and where you will be staying. Also, how many in your party.
It sounds like you cannot get to any of the parks before 10-11am.
That's too bad because in order to get the most of your tickets you would really have to get to a park (any park) at opening. Maybe even an Early Morning so you would get more time.
Again, without knowing the dates it's hard to give advice.
If you plan on an e-night (currently Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) you can skip the MK early that day and concentrate on another park.
Fast Passes for Test Track run out pretty early and if you get one with a long window you won't be able to get another for a while.....although I'm not sure how long you would have to wait. It seems there is some formula involved.
Please give us more info so we can help as much as possible.

 

[mrspaha]

I didn't want to get too complicated with my ?'s -- but here goes. We're going to be at Universal first, from Tues Aug 3-6th -- checking out there on Friday, Aug 6th am. Then we're staying at the Swan on Friday and Saturday, the 6th and 7th. I'm travelling with my 15 and 16 yo son and daughter.

They've never been to Blizzard Beach, and they definitely wanted to do that, so we had first planned on doing that on Friday afternoon till they closed, then go back to hotel and watch epcot's illumination from the hotel area.

Then we thought we would use our one day left on hopper pass to do the parks on Saturday -- starting with early entry at MGM.

That was before I found out about e-ride nights -- which would only include that Friday August 6th. I tried changing hotel dates, but couldn't get discounted rates at any of the hotels we'd be interested in if we switched dates. I wanted to stick with Swan-Dolphin because of its location since we have to make the most of our limited time.

The kids seem willing to just stick with MGM and Epcot, since we did mostly MK when we were there several years ago. But I thought if we could take advantage of eride night, then they could get the best of all three parks. But with our current hotel ressies, we would be getting a late start on Friday.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[sunking]

let me see if i can help...you can purchase your e-ride night tickets when you check into the disney resort (in your case the swan)...you don't have to wait until the day of or go to the park to purchase the e-ride ticket...you will receive a plastic card that you will exchange at the magic kingdom for a wrist band that will allow you on the e-ride attractions...
regarding your fastpass questions...when you get one you will notice that there is a line on the bottom that states something along the lines of "your next fastpass will be available at XX:XX"...if you return at or after that time, you will be able to get a fastpass for any other attraction of the same attraction that offers fast pass...this is the case even if you have not yet used your current fastpass...you just need to wait for you next window to open up...
i also agree with wdwgoofeeee...if you are going to do e-ride night, don't spend the day at MK...go to a different park and then hop over to MK to get your wrist bands and enjoy the attractions there with shorter lines....
these links might be of help to you in your planning:
e-ride info
fast pass info
have fun and let us know if you have other questions...
sunking

 

[drogerstn]

To add to the confusion on fastpass... The time printed on your FP which allows you to get another FP should not be later than 2 hours after you get the FP. On many occasions, this time will be shorter than 2 hours and it should never be later than 5 minutes after the start of your return time for that ride. In your example of getting a FP at 10am with a return time of 4-5pm, you will be able to get another FP at noon or maybe even earlier.

If you picked up the original FP at 10am and the return time for TT was 10:45 to 11:45, then 10:50 should be printed on your FP as the next time you can get a FP.

There have been reports that some "lesser" rides will distribute a FP before the printed allowable time on your FP. And, some rides will distribute a FP with the printed allowable time for another FP only 5 minutes after getting the FP. (I've seen this on Jungle Cruise, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Living with The Land, and Haunted Mansion.) For example, get FP at 10am with return time of 10:45 to 11:45 and the allowable time to get another FP is 10:05.

So, if you get a FP at 10am for TT and it has 12:00noon as the allowable time to get another FP, you may actually be able to get a FP before noon at another attraction (especially Honey I Shrunk the Audience or Living with The Land). It wouldn't hurt to try...