Fast Passes-Can't Get Them In Advance, Can We Still Ride Anything?

[sunb75]

We are headed to the parks in a few weeks. My daughter is going with her dance team and competing at UDA Nationals. I asked her dance coach if the kids would get their tickets ahead of time to make FP and she said NO Their park day (Monday, February 5th) also happens to be my daughter's birthday and I was hoping to get some FP for rides she liked, and then some more for the following few days because we are staying longer than the group. We will do rope drop each day, Monday through Thursday. Will we be able to get many decent FP the day of or a couple days in advance?

 

[Klayfish]

Yes. We do it all the time.

You may need to do a bit of refreshing, but with very few exceptions, you can get almost anything.

 

[mesaboy2]

From the FP FAQ:

Availability

The vast majority of the 60 FP attractions at WDW have FPs available as late as day-of.

- Attractions listed here are the most difficult to get. Onsite guests can expect limited availability even at 60 days in advance, while offsite guests are unlikely to get much availability (if at all) at 30 days. Acquiring these attractions less than 7 days in advance may require frequent monitoring of FP availability via the MDX app or website. Same-day FPs are most unlikely, but possible with constant monitoring via MDX.

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Magic Kingdom)
• Frozen Ever After (Epcot)
• Avatar Flight Of Passage (Animal Kingdom)

- Attractions listed here can be difficult to get. Onsite guests can expect good availability at 60 days in advance, while offsite guests can expect limited availability at 30 days. Acquiring these attractions less than 7 days in advance will likely require regular monitoring of FP availability via the MDX app or website. Same-day FPs are possible with constant monitoring via MDX.

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom)
• Peter Pan's Flight (Magic Kingdom)
• Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
• Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
• IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth (Epcot)
• Soarin' (Epcot)
• Test Track (Epcot)
• Toy Story Mania (Hollywood Studios)
• Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (Hollywood Studios)
• Navi River Journey (Animal Kingdom)
• Rivers of Light (Animal Kingdom)

- All other attractions are relatively easy to get. Onsite guests can expect wide availability at 60 days in advance, while offsite guests can expect good availability at 30 days. Acquiring these attractions less than 7 days is likely, but availability may be limited. Same-day FPs are likely, but may require frequent monitoring via MDX.

- Success at getting FPs depends primarily on two factors: the size of the group and how often one is willing to “refresh” the available FP list for that attraction. Constant refreshing, patience, and persistence can result in getting even the most difficult FPs as late as day-of.

- The MDX system can be used to check availability at any park, even if FPs are selected for a different park that day. However, guests are advised to be careful not to confirm any selections offered, or existing FPs will be affected. See the FP FAQ Addendum for more information.

- In general, day-of FP availability for most headliners--particularly outside of Magic Kingdom—is typically low and approaches nonexistent as choices for 4th FPs since several hours must pass until guests are eligible for 4th FPs.

- There is little evidence that different “pools” of FPs are maintained for different booking windows. In other words, the full slate of FPs available for any particular attraction is released at one time, some 70+ days in advance, and none are saved for offsite guests or those who wait until they arrive in the park.

- If maximum choice and times of FPs is desired, then reserving them at the earliest opportunity is highly recommended.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

You can get a lot done at MK without any FastPasses if you're willing to stay late when the lines are shortest.

Here is what we were able to accomplish in under 4 hours during a recent summer visit on a crowd level 8 day.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[Kathlita]

My daughter did a band trip a couple of years ago. They didn't get their tickets ahead of time, and her friends couldn't decide what to ride, so they stood in long lines all day. Not to mention they wasted the first hour because they were forced to take a big group picture by the bus. (At rope drop. Really???)

The most popular rides may not have FP availability, or it will be limited. The ones that are available, you may not even need. I told my daughter to go on the less popular rides and have fun vs wait in long lines all day. Her friends knew nothing about WDW, but wouldn't listen to her. She absolutely would have LOVED to have those extra family days. Have fun!

 

[Davey Jones II]

For most rides, there is usually availability. For the headliners, your options are two-fold: ride at rope drop, or ride shortly before closing time (an hour or less before the park closes). We used the latter strategy to get short waits for 7DMT, TSMM, Na'vi River, and FEA.

 

[Klayfish]

For most rides, there is usually availability. For the headliners, your options are two-fold: ride at rope drop, or ride shortly before closing time (an hour or less before the park closes). We used the latter strategy to get short waits for 7DMT, TSMM, Na'vi River, and FEA.

Or three-fold...just pick them up as same day FP+. FoP is still extremely difficult to get same day, but the others aren't. FEA, 7DMT, TSMM (that's really easy), Na'vi, RnR, Space, etc...