Fast Pass Lines?

[SignMeUp]

What time do they typically open the FP lines for a given ride? I'm interested mostly in Soarin' and Space Mountain as those are rides that we will be trying to get on at rope drop and hope to ride twice... BUT we will have GAD FPs, so I'm wondering if going to those rides right at RD is the best plan since that's where the rest of the RD crowd will be headed. I don't want to waste time standing in the FP line to get a GAD/immediate FP and then the FP line not even be open yet. Would it be better to wait a bit after the initial RD crowd has cleared from the FP machines? Any recommendations??

 

[jayandstacey]

I would go to those rides at RD and ride once. Then upon exit, look at the lines for both the ride AND the fast pass. If the line to get on the ride is more than, say, 15 minutes, I'd get regular FPs for that ride for later that AM.

If the line is shorter than 15 minutes, just ride and be ready to hustle to the second big ride on your list.

Most likely you'll get in two rides in a row AND be left with no regular fast pass commitment, AND still have your GAD fastpass. Then as soon as you hit a big ride that morning that has a 15+ minute line, get a regular fast pass for it.

My general approach is to focus 90% on riding when the lines are low. By going at RD, you are doing just that. The fast passes I use judiciously, but as a kind of "backup" to simply riding when others aren't there.

I don't think you'll have an issue getting a fast pass before the fast pass line is open. First, I don't think that they do that, but second if you always check the line first (and ride if there's little line) you'll never have to worry about that.

Have I helped?

 

[jayandstacey]

Also, at RD, you kind of don't have TOO much of choice of what rides to ride. Generally it is the headliners that open a little early for the RD people, and those RD people aren't (in my experience) enough to really cripple the ride - maybe a 10 minute line or so.

And that effect stands for as much as 90 minutes after RD. You can tour and either walk on most rides, or have a short wait. Around 10 to 11 the crowds roll in.

Recently we started using FPs to help rides certain rides at certain times - like "I want to ride Soarin before dinner" or "I want to ride BTMR in the dark" - those late-in-the-day shots can be very unpredictable in terms of line length, so we might just get a FP and hold it, even well beyond our window, as we know when/where we want to be later in the day.

To me, FPs are like trump cards. Very valuable, but don't waste them early or on minor gains.

 

[SignMeUp]

That is helpful, thank you. I would prefer not to do a lot of criss-crossing the park, so that's why I was thinking we'd go ahead and use the GAD FPs if needed as we likely won't come back to an attraction later in the day. I am a planner to a fault (although I'm willing to adapt/adjust my plan on the fly as needed).

This is our Epcot touring plan for June 1st, evening EMH:

We'll be entering through the IG, hopefully with GAD FP in hand before RD
Soarin' - ride 2x (use GAD FP if needed)
Living w/the Land (GAD FP if needed)
Circle of Life
hope to be done w/Land Pavillion ~10-ish
Innoventions West (I can see this being a big time consumer, but we mainly want to see Rockin' Robots, Video Games of Tomorrow & Club Cool) - allow about an hour here, so now we're at 11-ish
Journey into Imagination - if time, if not then do after lunch (really hope to get it done before lunch though)
11:40a ADR @ Le Cellier
Test Track (GAD FP)
Mission:Space (GAD FP only dh & ds8 will ride)
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Spaceship Earth (might save this for after dinner if line is long and/or we're running behind)
Seas w/Nemo
Turtle Talk
Check out the rest of the Seas Pavillion and let the kids play at Bruce's Sharkworld
May do the Seas Pavillion attractions after dinner depending on time
6:20p ADR @ Coral Reef
Seas Pavillion and/or Spaceship Earth if not done before dinner
9p Illuminations
Back to resort

Advice???

I'll post our MK touring plan in a separate post.

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

We went to rides that didn't have FP options early at RD, then we used our FP's when convenient to us on the busier rides. They were like gold. It was so nice not having to worry about when to be at a ride.

If you hit the non-headliners first, you'll have little to no wait on those. If you do the headliners first with your FP's, the others will be more crowded later in the day.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The two you mention typically start more or less at RD. Many of the others do not. It is up to the discretion of the person in chrage of that ride, as I understand it (from what I've read onthe DIS.) Often rides like SPlash and Kali do NOT open their fp's right away. Kali's FP may not open at all on a cool, slow day.

I think previous posters are a tad optimistic on how quickly the queue for Soarin' fills up. Althought the first hour the parks are open does give some shorter lines...how long that line is by the time you get off the ride may indeed be longer than 10 minutes, especially for a ride like Soarin'. LOTS of people head there first when the park opens. Even witha fp, Soarin' can take a bit of time.

Living with the Land will not have fp open first thing in the morning. You won't need a fp for it.

In general...if I had a GAD, I wouldn't use it at Epcot. Probably the only rides you'd use it on are Test Track and Soarin'. You should have no trouble getting regular fp's for those.

Whereas, at MK there are a good number of rides you'd use it on.


Personally, I would not do two TS places in one day. Meals can easily take 1 1/2 to two hours. Plus you have to allow time to get over there. With an 11:40 ADR, you probably won't ahvet to wait too long past your ADR time to get a table (at Le CEllier in particualr, you often have to wait a good 20-30 minutes PAST your ADR time to get your table!) But even at opening, many Disney restaurants stagger how they seat folks. One year we did all our dinner ADR's just as places were opening for dinner, and often there was a line of folks waiting to be seated. Often enough we ourselves waited past our ADR time- even though were on time and the place was empty. I also couldn't eat that much food.

Circle of Life, IMO, is kind of boring and a big time suck. I think the movie only runs about every half hour...so if you aren't in line at the right time, you can incur a healthy wait. It isn't worth a long wait. But that's just my take.

You can easily hop on Soarin' then grab a fp when you get off. or do the opposite: grab a fp, then ride. You can ride Living w/the Land while you wait for your FP window...if you need more time, maybe graba cup of coffee, or maybe hop on Imgaination. It's closer than it looks. (You can probably do it and get back within about 15 min.)

When your Soarin' fp finishes, get a fp for TT. It is right next to Innoventions, and you only need ot send one person to get FP's while everyone else hits the restroom or starts Innoventions.

You probably wont need a FP for Mission:Space, but if so - you can easily fit that around TT, Innoventions, and Energy.

Beyond that, you can probably do more than you have planned...but it depends a tad on how crowded it is and how motivated you are.


Oh - one more item we've both left off...It's called, "The Sum of All Thrills" in Innoventions. I don't think it has any FP. The line gets long in a hurry. It's an indoor virtual roller coaster. You get to pick how intense your ride is. If you are skipping M:S, then YOU may not want to ride it, but the person who likes M:S probably would enjoy riding it.

 

[SignMeUp]

Thank you mickeyluv'r!! That's all very helpful. We are coming back to Epcot the next day to cover WS. We plan to arrive at 9am, dh & ds8 will head to Sum of All Thrills while ds6 and I run for either Soarin' or TT FPs... whichever one we want to ride again that day. Then we'll check out the rest of Innoventions East since it's not on the schedule for the previous day while we wait for WS to open and/or our FP window.

Also, we are on the deluxe DDP and we like the TS meals. It's a nice break for us even though it does take time away from the attractions. We had good luck last year with our ADRs and only had to wait more than 5 minutes once... I know that's not always the case though.

 

[doconeill]

To follow up on what mickeyluv'r said, typically (I'm learning to not use the words "always" or "never" with Disney ) once an attraction opens for the day, IF it is using FPs that day (they don't always, although most of the major ones do), then FP opens when the attraction does.

This is especially important for morning Extra Magic Hours. Not every attraction opens with EMH, such as Splash Mountain. Once it opens, so will Fastpasses for it, with and offset time to start between 30-60 minutes.

We typically open Epcot with the Soarin' Dash, getting FPs right away and then getting in line. After we return, we've got enough time for a relaxed breakfast from Sunshine Seasons and then return for our FP time.

I also agree that I wouldn't use a GAD FP at Epcot in general unless I had several vouchers to kill.

 

[SignMeUp]

Oh yeah, meant to address the vouchers... we have 3 of them and we're not going to AK on this trip. So we'll have GAD FPs to use at MK, DHS and Epcot .

Here's our MK itinerary for Friday, June 4th, which also has evening EMH:

Be at RD with GAD FP in hand
Space Mountain - ride 2x (only dh & ds8 - use GAD FP if needed)
Buzz Lightyear - might ride 2x if time allows
10:05a ADR @ Crystal Palace
Hope to catch 11am Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street Parade (or at least part of it)
Peter Pan (GAD FP) - ds6 and I will ride PP twice, dh & ds8 will ride once and then go to BTMRR while ds6 & I ride the 2nd time
BTMRR - for dh & ds8 only (GAD FP)
Meet at boat to Tom Sawyer's Island, play there for about an hour
Country Bear Jamboree
3pm parade - watch in Frontierland
Take train to Main Street, then monorail to Poly
5:05p ADR @ 'Ohana
Monorail or boat back to MK, bus back to resort

We might try to do PoTC and/or Haunted Mansion if time allows. As you can probably tell, ds6 & I are not roller coaster people .