FastPass+ Basic Info, Suggested Priorities, And Strategies--Part II

[kay1864]

So, we are disney nuts but Have not been since past pass plus has started

Help me understand in basic terms. lol

1. I know I can reserve ahead, but are there still fast pass kiosks at the parks?
2. How accessible are they if there is?

3. We are early risers, so do rides like the dwarfs min have a long standby wait first thing?

4. Trying to figure out if we should use our same stratgey of getting to parks early, hitting popular rides quickly without fast passes and saving fastpasses for later

Or does the plus change that?? thx!

1. Yes, but not located at each FP ride as before. Instead, any of the multiple in-park FP kiosks can get you FPs for that park's attractions.
2. Kiosk locations (and other useful information) are in this thread.
3. Yes. If you can't get a FP in advance for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, many have suggested riding at the end of the day.
4. That is still a useful strategy. However, getting your FPs in advance (for the afternoon) instead of at the in-park kiosks on "day of" will give you much better availability.

 

[AmyB2006]

1. Yes, but not located at each FP ride as before. Instead, any of the multiple in-park FP kiosks can get you FPs for that park's attractions.

Just to add to this though, you can't get a 4th FP until you have used your pre-scheduled 3 FP+ or the time on them has expired. So if you scheduled your 3 FP+ in advance, for say noon or later, you can't walk by a kiosk to try to get a FP at 10:00 am.

 

[Baptist]

I checked a few posts up and found the link to the FP+ advice. Thank you. I still could not get a single. We are at the disadvantage of only a 5 day stay.

 

[Priory]

Yes, I agree that booking at 60 days for onsite is unfair as well. However, I understand why Disney does this. It's a perk to encourage you to stay at a Disney Hotel (just like the pools, service, and EMH). We all have the choice where to stay. However, I don't have the choice to turn my 5 day vacation into a 14 day vacation just to maximize my FP+ availabilities. Nobody's doing that.

What next, will there be a special pool or maybe fireworks viewing areas for those who stay 10 days+?

Yes, please!

Kidding.

Kind of...

 

[Cyrano]

So, we are disney nuts but Have not been since past pass plus has started

Help me understand in basic terms. lol

I know I can reserve ahead, but are there still fast pass kiosks at the parks?
How accessible are they if there is?

We are early risers, so do rides like the dwarfs min have a long standby wait first thing?

Trying to figure out if we should use our same stratgey of getting to parks early, hitting popular rides quickly without fast passes and saving fastpasses for later

Or does the plus change that?? thx!

Moved to the definitive thread on FP+

 

[Cluelyss]

I checked a few posts up and found the link to the FP+ advice. Thank you. I still could not get a single. We are at the disadvantage of only a 5 day stay.

Do not give up hope! It took me several weeks of obsessively searching and tweaking before I locked down the date/time I wanted for my party of 4.

A few tips:

1. Grab singles as you see them, as it's easier to search for a new time than new attraction. Also, once your party is broken up, I found the website better more reliable than searching with the app.

2. Subscribe to the A&E cancellation thread for your month. I know there were ones for October and November, I'm sure there's a December one now as well. People will post trades and drops there - can also be a good way to swap singles with others who are searching too. And people will often post openings that they come across as well.

3. If Disney announces extended park hours for any days of your stay, additional FP spots will open up, and everyone is now on equal footing to grab them. Follow the Disney Parks Blog for this information. This recently happened for several non-party nights in October, and tons of folks were reporting having snagged FPs for A&E on my cancellation board right after.

4. Keep checking back, especially over the next 1-2 weeks. I found a lot of people would schedule A&E for any day of their trip that they could get them, then dropped the ones that didn't work best with their plans. Watch the cancellation board for these, I saw it all the time in my October one.

Good luck!!! Sending some pixie dust your way!!!

 

[mbrittb00]

We are going to be at Disney the last week of October, and are considering adding a MNSSHP to our trip. Our first day in the parks (Sunday) is currently planned to be MK and we have FP+ selections for that day including A&E and 7DMT. One option we are considering is starting our trip a day earlier and going into the MK (or possibly AK) on that Saturday, then sleep in and just do MNSSHP on Sunday.

How does adding a party ticket effect FP+ selections that you have already made? If we enter the MK on a party ticket will we still be able to use the FP+ selections we have already made for that day under our regular park ticket? Will we need our main magic bands as well in order to use those FP+ selections? What about FP+ selections for the Saturday before?

Also, can you still enter the MK at 4pm using a party ticket?

Thanks,

 

[Cluelyss]

We are going to be at Disney the last week of October, and are considering adding a MNSSHP to our trip. Our first day in the parks (Sunday) is currently planned to be MK and we have FP+ selections for that day including A&E and 7DMT. One option we are considering is starting our trip a day earlier and going into the MK (or possibly AK) on that Saturday, then sleep in and just do MNSSHP on Sunday. How does adding a party ticket effect FP+ selections that you have already made? If we enter the MK on a party ticket will we still be able to use the FP+ selections we have already made for that day under our regular park ticket? Will we need our main magic bands as well in order to use those FP+ selections? What about FP+ selections for the Saturday before? Also, can you still enter the MK at 4pm using a party ticket? Thanks,

Yes, you can enter MK at 4 pm with your party ticket, so if your existing FP selections on Sunday are between 4 and 7 you can use them on your party ticket alone. If not, you would need to use a day of regular park admission to enter MK prior to 4 pm that day. If they are after 4, once you add the party ticket to your MDX account, you will have an "extra" day of FPs to schedule on Saturday. If not, you will not gain any extra FP scheduling availability. Hope that makes sense?

 

[mbrittb00]

Yes, you can enter MK at 4 pm with your party ticket, so if your existing FP selections on Sunday are between 4 and 7 you can use them on your party ticket alone. If not, you would need to use a day of regular park admission to enter MK prior to 4 pm that day. If they are after 4, once you add the party ticket to your MDX account, you will have an "extra" day of FPs to schedule on Saturday. If not, you will not gain any extra FP scheduling availability. Hope that makes sense?

What if one of your FP+ selections cross over. I.e. from 3:30 - 4:30? (that's our A&E). Also, what happens when I go into the park with my admission ticket on Saturday (i.e. a day I had not made FP+ selections for)? Can I make FP+ selections for that park at that time? What happens to my other FP+ selections on other days?

 

[ckelly14]

We are going to be at Disney the last week of October, and are considering adding a MNSSHP to our trip. Our first day in the parks (Sunday) is currently planned to be MK and we have FP+ selections for that day including A&E and 7DMT. One option we are considering is starting our trip a day earlier and going into the MK (or possibly AK) on that Saturday, then sleep in and just do MNSSHP on Sunday. How does adding a party ticket effect FP+ selections that you have already made? If we enter the MK on a party ticket will we still be able to use the FP+ selections we have already made for that day under our regular park ticket? Will we need our main magic bands as well in order to use those FP+ selections? What about FP+ selections for the Saturday before? Also, can you still enter the MK at 4pm using a party ticket? Thanks,

Yes, you will be able to make enter the park at 4 and make FP+ reservations for the 4-7 time slots.

You will be able to make FP's for the day AND the 4-7 slot if you have the regular ticket and the party ticket on separate MDE accounts. You will then need to bring the hard ticket and your magic bands to the park to access both sets.

 

[mbrittb00]

Yes, you will be able to make enter the park at 4 and make FP+ reservations for the 4-7 time slots.

You will be able to make FP's for the day AND the 4-7 slot if you have the regular ticket and the party ticket on separate MDE accounts. You will then need to bring the hard ticket and your magic bands to the park to access both sets.

Our plan is to ONLY go in for MNSSHP on Sunday (i.e. 4pm+) and go to either MK or AK on the Saturday before (this would be an addition to our current plan and currently have no FP+ reservations for that day). We would like to use the FP+ selections we already have for Sunday once we enter the park at 4pm for the party, especially since one of them is A&E that we have had to struggle so hard to get.

We would also like to be able to make FP+ reservations for Saturday, but it starting to sound like if one of our FP+ reservations for Sunday is (or starts) before 4pm, we won't be allowed.

 

[mbrittb00]

Do I also understand correctly that there aren't any FPs (+ or otherwise) avaliable during the party only hours (i.e. 7pm-12am)?

 

[mbrittb00]

Yes, you will be able to make enter the park at 4 and make FP+ reservations for the 4-7 time slots.

You will be able to make FP's for the day AND the 4-7 slot if you have the regular ticket and the party ticket on separate MDE accounts. You will then need to bring the hard ticket and your magic bands to the park to access both sets.

Is the system designed intentionally so that you can make FP+ selections between 4-7 if you have a party ticket, or is that just a bug/loophole in the system?

 

[Cluelyss]

Is the system designed intentionally so that you can make FP+ selections between 4-7 if you have a party ticket, or is that just a bug/loophole in the system?

Its not a "loophole" - it's a legitimate park ticket that you can schedule FP selections with. However, the system will not differentiate between a party ticket and a regular ticket, so you need to ensure that you are only scheduling FPs between 4 and 7?if you want to be able to use them on your party ticket.

 

[mesaboy2]

Do I also understand correctly that there aren't any FPs (+ or otherwise) avaliable during the party only hours (i.e. 7pm-12am)?

Correct, as mentioned in the OP.

Is the system designed intentionally so that you can make FP+ selections between 4-7 if you have a party ticket, or is that just a bug/loophole in the system?

MNSSHP tickets allow selection of FPs like any other admission media, including scheduling them during all normal park hours. It's just that you can't use them if they're before 4:00p.

 

[Cluelyss]

Our plan is to ONLY go in for MNSSHP on Sunday (i.e. 4pm+) and go to either MK or AK on the Saturday before (this would be an addition to our current plan and currently have no FP+ reservations for that day). We would like to use the FP+ selections we already have for Sunday once we enter the park at 4pm for the party, especially since one of them is A&E that we have had to struggle so hard to get. We would also like to be able to make FP+ reservations for Saturday, but it starting to sound like if one of our FP+ reservations for Sunday is (or starts) before 4pm, we won't be allowed.

You can schedule FPs on a party ticket for any time of the day, you just can't USE them until after 4, since you can't get into the park until 4. This will not prohibit you from scheduling FPs on Saturday, too.

And in response to your other question, YES you can use your A&E FPs since part of the window is after 4pm. Just run there first thing!!

 

[slzer0]

Looks like the trade thread has expanded to include SDMT. Thought it was worth a mention here.

 

[mrcricket]

So i've been studying this Fast Pass + thing and finally got to book my Fast Passes today. I must say I am NOT impressed with this system at all. Way too many flaws and it totally screws up how we approach the parks. I'll hold off final judgement until after experiencing the parks with this new system, but frankly right now, Disney seems to be sucking the magic out of their park experience with this über planning approach. I was very frustrated with the timing options of the rides and attractions I wanted and as such, not as looking forward to my time there as in previous years. I'm hoping with the time of year I'm going (early Dec.) that the crowds will be small enough that we can still see and do most of what we want to do. But frankly, right now, FastPass+ is sucking for me.

 

[WuvEeyore]

I was very frustrated with the timing options of the rides and attractions I wanted and as such, not as looking forward to my time there as in previous years. I'm hoping with the time of year I'm going (early Dec.) that the crowds will be small enough that we can still see and do most of what we want to do. But frankly, right now, FastPass+ is sucking for me.

You can change the times of the rides. You don't have to keep the times they gave you, just modify your fastpass and choose change time.

 

[ncdj2013]

Yes, I agree that booking at 60 days for onsite is unfair as well. However, I understand why Disney does this. It's a perk to encourage you to stay at a Disney Hotel (just like the pools, service, and EMH). We all have the choice where to stay. However, I don't have the choice to turn my 5 day vacation into a 14 day vacation just to maximize my FP+ availabilities. Nobody's doing that.

What next, will there be a special pool or maybe fireworks viewing areas for those who stay 10 days+?

I don't think its unusual or unfair for a company to reward it's top customers and that would be those that spend the most and stay the longest.