Fast Pass HS, needs an update?

[CastAStone]

We'll have used 5 FP's within the first 2 hours of park open. At MK 20 is not hard to do in a day. Other parks we'll be 10-15. And we're not talking just about tier 2 rides. We routinely ride FOP 3-4 times per day when we are at AK. We do this while also normally resting back at the resort between 1:00-5:00.

While it’s a learning curve it is certainly possible to hit 10-15 FP a day at Disneyland with MaxPass. It’s also probably a little less necessary? The traffic flows are different, most of the crowd is local annual pass holders who can just come back. There’s also a ton of single rider lines. And a very different set of rides with FP. I don’t think you’re likely to ride RSR 4x using a FP but I guess it’s not impossible if you’re on top of refreshing for other people’s drops. I would start by reading the first post of the MaxPass strategy superthread, it is excellent.

Maxpass is a better system than FP+ for DLR even for people who thrive on gaming the system (and that’s coming from a guy who wrote a 1000+ word post on gaming DHS’s FastPass system last August). I don’t think it would work well at DHS/WDW and it certainly wouldn’t help Disney accomplish their financial objectives of keeping hotel rooms full of guests on long stays. Completely different financial incentive structure for Disney at DLR with only 3 hotels and a zillion APs, hence, FP/MP.

 

[disneygirlsng]

At Disneyland, I usually get between 10 and 12 FP's per day. At WDW you're lucky to get 5. DL system is much better

If you're only getting 5 FPs a day at WDW, you're doing it wrong. 10-15 is easy.

 

[Frozen2014]

If you're only getting 5 FPs a day at WDW, you're doing it wrong. 10-15 is easy.

Did you mean Disneyland? Or is there a trick/strategy for getting additional ones at Disney World? Last trip we often had a FP+ late in the day due to availability (e g. 7DMT) so not much left by the time we used up our 3 booked ones.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Did you mean Disneyland? Or is there a trick/strategy for getting additional ones at Disney World? Last trip we often had a FP+ late in the day due to availability (e g. 7DMT) so not much left by the time we used up our 3 booked ones.

The FP Addendum sticky has basic information about refreshing. After reading that, there are lots of people here who can give master classes on the advanced strategies.

You can move up a lot of those later, high demand FPs either by checking and getting lucky in the weeks before or refreshing the day before, morning before park open, or during that park day so you can get more after them.

 

[TinkSassy]

I think DL max pass you can get a new one every 2hrs or after you have used it

That is the posted - but I found that the windows were often closer

 

[CastAStone]

I think DL max pass you can get a new one every 2hrs or after you have used it

That is the posted - but I found that the windows were often closer

With MaxPass, you can add a new FP whenever any one of the following three situations occurs:

• 90 minutes have passed from when you booked your last one
• You have scanned in to your most recently booked Fastpass
• The following two things both become true:
  • It has been at least 30 minutes since you booked your most recently booked Fastpass
  • Your Fastpass return window is open for said Fastpass

In theory, you could get Fastpasses for something like Goofy's Sky School pretty much continuously by scanning in as soon as you get it and then booking it again.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Did you mean Disneyland? Or is there a trick/strategy for getting additional ones at Disney World? Last trip we often had a FP+ late in the day due to availability (e g. 7DMT) so not much left by the time we used up our 3 booked ones.

Nope, World. I always book my first 3 in the morning, regardless of what they are. And I have had no trouble getting rides like FOP, SDD, SDMT, FEA as 4th+ FPs throughout the day.

 

[lisa cameron]

H

Nope, World. I always book my first 3 in the morning, regardless of what they are. And I have had no trouble getting rides like FOP, SDD, SDMT, FEA as 4th+ FPs throughout the day.

how many in your party? How high of crowd levels?

we haven’t had luck with headliners for party if 3 or 4 on crowd levels 8 our greater. We don’t like splitting up our party so maybe that is apart of the problem.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Nope, World. I always book my first 3 in the morning, regardless of what they are. And I have had no trouble getting rides like FOP, SDD, SDMT, FEA as 4th+ FPs throughout the day.

For people new to refreshing DO NOT rely on this approach until after you have tried it yourself. It works this way for some people. Really well. Some people can get anything any time for larger parties with very little effort. Other people don’t have this kind of success (and when there was an FP booking glitch last year it became pretty clear that while we’re all accessing the same system there are differences we don’t understand).

Don’t give up ( or skip booking) high demand FPs unless you’ve used refresh before and know how it works for you. If it’s at a bad time you can always try to move it. If you can’t move it you can always make the choice of whether or not it’s worth it to you to keep the late FP and miss out on easier to get FPs or cancel the FP and ride standby. If you don’t book that later FP and can’t get another one you’ve only got standby as an option.

 

[JETSDAD]

H

how many in your party? How high of crowd levels?

we haven’t had luck with headliners for party if 3 or 4 on crowd levels 8 our greater. We don’t like splitting up our party so maybe that is apart of the problem.

I did some looking at different times over the holidays to see if I could still find top FP's at MK for 3 people. This included Christmas Day (what else are you supposed to do while at the in-laws??), Dec 27, and New Year's Eve (all crowd level 10). I found 1-4PM to be the trickiest but outside of that I was able to find many good FP's fairly easily. @PrincessWithABlaster is correct, not to always rely on this but it has worked very well for us most of the time (one time while we were there, there was a day where dropped FP's didn't go back into circulation....that was rough!!).

 

[YawningDodo]

Did you mean Disneyland? Or is there a trick/strategy for getting additional ones at Disney World? Last trip we often had a FP+ late in the day due to availability (e g. 7DMT) so not much left by the time we used up our 3 booked ones.

Biggest tip is to start moving those late-in-the-day FP+ up as soon as you'd like to start using them. My FP+ for my first DHS day are spread throughout the afternoon, but they'll only stay that way if I decide for whatever reason that I don't want to use them sooner. It can be harder to move headliners up and you may sometimes have to cut your losses, but I had pretty good luck with booking the ride I wanted for whatever time was available and then refreshing until it gave me a much sooner time. On a day when I got more than a dozen FP+ on the fly this way I only had to give up on one or two rides that just wouldn't budge in the schedule. It does require a little more flexibility, but it's doable.

...For a party of one, and I expect a party of two. Party of four may be a little more restrictive, but I would think it's still doable, if not to the same extreme. You just don't want to wait until afternoon to start trying, regardless of when your first three are booked.

 

[Remy is Up]

If you go to WDW and stand in any standby line that isnt a walk on, less than 5 minute wait, or doesnt have FP access, you arent doing Disney right. You should be using a FP for EVERYTHING. Christmas day we used 11 FPs ( Including all top level attractions) at MK and then 5 at AK including FoP. If you learn to use the system, planning a WDW trip and enjoying time while you are there isnt really hard at all regardless of crowd size. In fact the more crowded, the easier to get FPs because the percentage of people who know how to use the system is dramatically less. You dont stress over the 60 day window because you realize once you knwo how to use FP and refresh, 60 days means nada. You dont stress over not having a FP to something because its highly likely youll pull one. And you end up enjoying the trip more.

 

[YawningDodo]

Hey, can we stop telling people they're "doing Disney wrong"/"not doing Disney right"? There are strategies we can employ that most people would agree make things more enjoyable, but people can disagree with and/or decide not to use a strategy without it meaning they're somehow vacationing incorrectly. It's great to share strategies so other users know what tools and options are available to them, but "wrong" is a weird word to use in regards to, you know, a vacation.

Signed, someone who's been told she does Disney wrong because she doesn't use a touring plan.

 

[disneygirlsng]

H

how many in your party? How high of crowd levels?

we haven’t had luck with headliners for party if 3 or 4 on crowd levels 8 our greater. We don’t like splitting up our party so maybe that is apart of the problem.

Usually 3 or 4, I have had one solo trip recently (but I don't count that one because I know that is an outlier, but man was that amazing, got 19 FPs one day). I don't pay attention to crowd levels because they mean nothing to me, so I have no idea. One of my somewhat recent trips was around New Years and the week after (this was 2018 where everybody was still out of school the week after New Years and it led into Marathon weekend, so it was a bit nuts) with a party of 4 and we had plenty of success. I've actually found that the more crowded it is, the easier FPs are to get, because there are more people changing their plans.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Hey, can we stop telling people they're "doing Disney wrong"/"not doing Disney right"? There are strategies we can employ that most people would agree make things more enjoyable, but people can disagree with and/or decide not to use a strategy without it meaning they're somehow vacationing incorrectly. It's great to share strategies so other users know what tools and options are available to them, but "wrong" is a weird word to use in regards to, you know, a vacation.

Signed, someone who's been told she does Disney wrong because she doesn't use a touring plan.

When people are complaining that the FP system doesn't work and that they aren't able to get on rides because of it, then I would argue that they are in fact doing it wrong. If getting on as many rides as you can or avoiding waiting in lines during your trip isn't part of your vacation plan, then no, you wouldn't be doing it wrong.

 

[lisa cameron]

Usually 3 or 4, I have had one solo trip recently (but I don't count that one because I know that is an outlier, but man was that amazing, got 19 FPs one day). I don't pay attention to crowd levels because they mean nothing to me, so I have no idea. One of my somewhat recent trips was around New Years and the week after (this was 2018 where everybody was still out of school the week after New Years and it led into Marathon weekend, so it was a bit nuts) with a party of 4 and we had plenty of success. I've actually found that the more crowded it is, the easier FPs are to get, because there are more people changing their plans.

I have only been there when crowd levels are 8 or 9 and yes, got lots of FP, just no headliners. And yes, we start them first thing in the AM, once tap into a ride, modify to move the next FP, repeat.

 

[YawningDodo]

When people are complaining that the FP system doesn't work and that they aren't able to get on rides because of it, then I would argue that they are in fact doing it wrong. If getting on as many rides as you can or avoiding waiting in lines during your trip isn't part of your vacation plan, then no, you wouldn't be doing it wrong.

Okay.

 

[JenM]

Ouch. Planning a DL trip for 2021 and not looking forward to Maxpass. 30-90 minutes in between FP's will take some getting used to.

Don‘t worry too much - Maxpass was actually pretty great. We went to DL back in October and we didn’t miss a ride with it. It’s available in the app as soon as you‘re scanned in. We were able to get all of the headliners first thing in the morning before the big crowds showed up, and we were still able to get FPs for everything else pretty much all day. It’s a little overwhelming at first, but it quickly becomes your best friend in the park.

Heading back to WDW in July and already marking off the FP+ days on my calendar. Was hoping to go to HS in the afternoon we arrive, but stressing over how to plan now that I’m seeing what the tiers look like now.

 

[Remy is Up]

I have only been there when crowd levels are 8 or 9 and yes, got lots of FP, just no headliners. And yes, we start them first thing in the AM, once tap into a ride, modify to move the next FP, repeat.

Generally the higher the crowd level the easier to pull top end fps. The less locals or ap holders there the easier it is. Like the other posters I laugh at crowd level charts. They are unreliable and crowds have no bearing on ability to get fps.

 

[MMSM]

I too am going in April and wonder what time I should make my fats pass for. Right now they still have a 9am opening and no I do on mickeys runaway railroad yet. Should I try to get earliest I can go burn them or make it for two hours in so I’m ready for boarding group.?