fast pass strategy

[ltkl7]

Is it smart to try to get your fast passes as early as possible in order to get additional ones, after you use the initial three?

 

[DJ_Big_Daddy]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that if you use your initial 3 fastpasses, you can get a 4th, but you a) need to have shown up for the previous three and b) need to use a kiosk to get the 4th.

Bit of a bummer if you can't get them early. I was spoiled when we went in 2013, as the magic bands were in the "testing" phase, so you could double dip with the fastpass+ and the OG fastpass.

 

[Travis B]

That's one way to do it. However, if you're hitting the park at rope drop, it might be wise to queue for attractions early while the park is still slow, and then schedule FPs for a bit later in the day when the park is busy. If your FPs are done by two or three, you still have plenty of time to grab new ones. This April was my first experience with FP+ (never used legacy FP) and IIRC I tried to organize my FPs by location when possible. For example, Splash Mountain and then BTMRR or vice versa. That way we could get to Splash towards then end of our window, and head right over to BTMRR without having a bunch of time to kill between the two. Similarly, in Animal Kingdom I tried to schedule our FPs in the same order we would encounter them while circling the park, guessing at the amount of time it would take us to walk between the attractions. All in all I was pretty happy with my strategy, and we didn't have to do a whole lot of inefficient running back and forth. I would also make sure you get the MyMagic+ app for your phone - I scored some pretty sweet last minute FP changes (think 7DMT) on the fly. I wouldn't schedule FPs crazy early - that's not when they're most valuable, and even if you are due for your fourth FP that's no guarantee what you want will be available.

 

[tobikaye]

Is it smart to try to get your fast passes as early as possible in order to get additional ones, after you use the initial three?

I haven't used FP+ yet, but I would say it depends on what your schedule looks like. If you are staying all in one park, then I would probably schedule the 3 FP+ for midday. That way, I could take advantage of shorter waits on attractions early in the day and get attractions with long lines midday and attempt for more FP+ as I go. Now, if there was an attraction that I wanted to do at night, then I would possibly hold off on the FP+ until late. If I planned to park hop, then I would save my FP+ options for a park that I would get to later in the day.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that if you use your initial 3 fastpasses, you can get a 4th, but you a) need to have shown up for the previous three and b) need to use a kiosk to get the 4th.

Your times for the initial 3 have to have passed, whether you use the FP or not, at least as far as I understand. You do have to go to a kiosk to get additional FP+s.

 

[mom2rtk]

You need to balance your desire to have additional FPs with your desire to get the most value from the first 3, especially since you don't know what will even be available after you use them.

Skipping a line at rope drop has little value. Skipping a line once crowds have built has more value.

I'd probably start mine at 10 or 11 in the MK or AK, knowing I can choose to go early or late in the return window depending on how crowds are that day.

DHS and Epcot I'd do what best suits my timeframe that day since the odds of getting a headline for a 4th are low.

 

[Hootch]

It varies for us. We hop most days so it depends on which parks we are in that day. For example, if we are at DAK in the morning, we will use FPs for DAK because of the long lines at Kali. The same at DHS and Epcot.

If we are hitting one park, for the day, rope drop, tour for a couple of hors and have FPs starting around 11 or so.

The MK has the best opportunity to get added FPs by far.

 

[MasterGracey84]

Best scenario in my opinion: IF you are an individual that wants to maximize the amount of attractions you can experience during the day, make your FP+ reservations in the mid morning to lunch time. If you can discipline yourself to get to the park @ rope drop, you can have 2 or 3 attractions under your belt before the masses arrive to the parks. Then, you can happily use your fastpasses when the park has started to fill up and wait times have increased. Once you've used them, go back to a kiosk and see what else you can grab. Good luck

 

[nanalisa]

Best scenario in my opinion: IF you are an individual that wants to maximize the amount of attractions you can experience during the day, make your FP+ reservations in the mid morning to lunch time. If you can discipline yourself to get to the park @ rope drop, you can have 2 or 3 attractions under your belt before the masses arrive to the parks. Then, you can happily use your fastpasses when the park has started to fill up and wait times have increased. Once you've used them, go back to a kiosk and see what else you can grab. Good luck

That sounds like excellent advice. I actually wrote it down!