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

[Cluelyss]

So Mesa thanks so much for all this great info. I have searched this and can't d=find it but I think I know the answer. do I need the actual hard ticket in my hand to do FP for the 4-7 window? because of dvc discount I have to pick them up when I get there.

The tickets just needs to be linked to the account and showing under your "tickets and reservations" in MDX.

 

[nettajean]

We did our Fast Passes last Monday night for our trip the 1st week of November. I didn't anticipate that there might be a problem with two of us logging in to two separate accounts on two separate computers, so that was our plan. It worked perfectly. She made FP+ reservations for our party of 4 for three days and I made FP+ reservations for our party of 4 for 2 days. We were able to get everything that we wanted include 7DMT for our first day and A&E on our last day. Maybe we just got lucky, cause I am notorious for making computers/websites not function properly. I'm sorry to hear that the site has been glitchy for others.

 

[disneygirlsanddrew]

I am new to this whole fastpass+ thing. We are set to arrive to WDW on 11/9. Does that mean my window for scheduling these opens tonight at midnight or tomorrow night? And I keep seeing you guys say that my reservations need to be linked in order to schedule these. What exactly does that entail? Thanks so much!

 

[treehugnmama]

This is a continuous debate--how many are allowed with rider swap. Won't be solved here. It ultimately comes down to the CM on station when you try it.





Technically they must be below the height minimum, but CMs have been known to make exceptions. I know this practical info is in direct conflict with information on WDW's own website.

good to know thanks she is no where near under the height limit she just doesn't like any of the "thrill" rides at disney

 

[mbrittb00]

...
Technically they must be below the height minimum, but CMs have been known to make exceptions. I know this practical info is in direct conflict with information on WDW's own website.

The Official Walt Disney World website states that "If Guests in your party don’t want to board an attraction . . .either because they do not meet the height requirement or simply do not wish to ride." you can get a rider swap.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

How can the Offiical Walt Disney World Website be wrong? That would be false advertisement and would open them up to numerous lawsuits.

 

[mesaboy2]

The Official Walt Disney World website states that "If Guests in your party don't want to board an attraction . . .either because they do not meet the height requirement or simply do not wish to ride." you can get a rider swap.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

How can the Offiical Walt Disney World Website be wrong? That would be false advertisement and would open them up to numerous lawsuits.

I'm not sure if you're asking this question seriously or not. This is the exact text I was referring to above. In practice, CMs may or may not allow tall-enough children to qualify for rider swap. I think I might just give up on this country if someone were to actually sue over something like this.

 

[mbrittb00]

I'm not sure if you're asking this question seriously or not. This is the exact text I was referring to above. In practice, CMs may or may not allow tall-enough children to qualify for rider swap. I think I might just give up on this country if someone were to actually sue over something like this.

The question you highlighted, for the most part seriously. It is by definition the Official website. If it can't be trusted then what can? I understand that mistakes can be made on the website, however a company the size of Disney would have a whole group of people making sure that their website matches company policy, and this specific "error" has been there for a while now.

I do agree with you that sueing over such would be extreamly silly, however it begs the question, is this the only "promise" on their website that they selectivally fulfil, or are their others? If there are others, then individially they may not be a big deal, but collectivally maybe they are. Or if this IS the only one they won't fulfil, why not?

Let's face it there are some rides (not many) that are extreamly scary to some kids (Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, etc) even kids that are tall enough to ride. Is it really the right thing to ask a parent of such a child to wait for the others to ride, then have to go through the standby line all by themselves?

I'll be honest I'm a bit biaed. I have an 8 year old daughter that doesn't care much for Roller Coasters. I am hoping that she will ride (and enjoy) space mountain. If not, there is no way we can go through standby twice, so either my wife or I will have to miss the 2nd time around.

 

[Best Aunt]

I am new to this whole fastpass+ thing. We are set to arrive to WDW on 11/9. Does that mean my window for scheduling these opens tonight at midnight or tomorrow night? And I keep seeing you guys say that my reservations need to be linked in order to schedule these. What exactly does that entail? Thanks so much!

I haven't been posting much on this board, but it doesn't look like anybody answered your questions so I will give it a shot.

I use a Disney Dining Reservation Date calculator to figure out dates, even if I'm not using it to plan dining reservations. It lets you enter a date, and then it tells you when you can make reservations at 180 days before that date, 60 days before that date, etc. It says that 60 days ahead would be 09/10/14. So my understanding is that at that you would be sitting at your computer at 11:55 pm on 09/09/14 and when the clock strikes midnight, you would be able to start making your Fastpass Plus reservations.

But you can only make the reservations 60 days ahead if:
(a) you have a My Disney Experience account
(b) You entered your hotel confirmation number into your MDE account
(c) You have purchased theme park admission, and you entered the number for your theme park admission into your account.

This is assuming that everybody in your party is entered into your account. Other people have posted about how you can make FP+ reservations for someone who is not part of your hotel reservation.

Here's the link, assuming the Dis lets me post it:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

 

[mesaboy2]

The question you highlighted, for the most part seriously. It is by definition the Official website. If it can't be trusted then what can? I understand that mistakes can be made on the website, however a company the size of Disney would have a whole group of people making sure that their website matches company policy, and this specific "error" has been there for a while now.

I do agree with you that sueing over such would be extreamly silly, however it begs the question, is this the only "promise" on their website that they selectivally fulfil, or are their others? If there are others, then individially they may not be a big deal, but collectivally maybe they are. Or if this IS the only one they won't fulfil, why not?

Let's face it there are some rides (not many) that are extreamly scary to some kids (Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, etc) even kids that are tall enough to ride. Is it really the right thing to ask a parent of such a child to wait for the others to ride, then have to go through the standby line all by themselves?

I'll be honest I'm a bit biaed. I have an 8 year old daughter that doesn't care much for Roller Coasters. I am hoping that she will ride (and enjoy) space mountain. If not, there is no way we can go through standby twice, so either my wife or I will have to miss the 2nd time around.

Maybe a phone CM?

 

[twoolle]

Copying is exactly how is sounds - directly copying the FP+ selections for a given day from one member of your party to another. The issue is in availability, as you mention. I've heard that if the exact time slots/attractions are not available for the party you are copying TO, the system may change the attraction(s) for both parties to something available for 2. For example, you are trying to copy an A&E FP+, but there are no more available that day, so now you have 2 FP+ to meet Rapunzel/Cinderella and have lost your original A&E. It appears that the website gives you a warning and the option to cancel if it can't copy exactly, but the app does not. Either way, I wouldn't risk it if you have something you don't want to lose.

I have used the copy functions many times and most recently (today) to snag a 2nd 7DMT FP+ on our arrival day, that way DH and DS4 can ride together and then myself and DS3 can ride using rider swap. (DD1 will also be there). We are 12 days away! My experience with the copy function was that if a ride was not available it would pick a different time for that ride, but leave the 1st person's original time in tact. I never had it change both people, but it is probably something that happened a lot at first. If there are no additional slots available for a ride then it will pick something else for the 2nd person.

 

[vfalkner]

We are going to Disney Nov. 7-12 but had to do a split reservation for FD so our tickets are linked to our second reservation for Nov. 9-12 (we are going to pick them up early and add a day when we get there). So I thought (and the system was telling me) that I wouldn't be able to get into the FP+ system until Sept. 10 which is 60 days out from our tickets (Nov. 9). Tonight I was goofing around to make sure everything was set up correctly and "holy cow" it let me into the system and I was able to make our FP+ for Nov 9-12!!! It had to be based on the first reservation for Nov 7-8.

The funny thing is that I stressed about this and had a plan to copy down all the passes I wanted tomorrow to be ready, but with this pleasant surprise, I was actually much more relaxed about it (although I did already know exactly what we wanted.) But I am kicking myself thinking that I could have done this last night or even this morning!

So here is my issue now, we were able to get A&E on Nov. 12 - but the earliest time for the 4 of us was 3:40-4:40. Since our flight out is at 5:00 - I don't think we are going to make that.

So how do I now go through the process of trying to get an earlier time? Do I release the 3:40-4:40 FP and look for an earlier FP for less people? Is there a way to look for fewer people without releasing the one I have?

Other than that, we were able to get everything we wanted and just about at the time we wanted them! Crazy. I had such low expectations.

 

[JustLikeMe]

We check in on Nov 8th, so I was up at 5am UK time this morning to book FastPass+ reservations. It was all much easier than I anticipated - I wasn't looking for Anna and Elsa which certainly helped, but I was able to book 7DMT for Sunday the 9th with ease, loads of times available.

The one thing which surprised me is that while there was plenty of availability for 7DMT on Sunday the 9th, there was no availability for BTMRR! Is this normal? I did manage to get it a couple of days later on Tues the 11th, but I wasn't expecting it to be unavailable at 61 days out!

 

[Cluelyss]

We are going to Disney Nov. 7-12 but had to do a split reservation for FD so our tickets are linked to our second reservation for Nov. 9-12 (we are going to pick them up early and add a day when we get there). So I thought (and the system was telling me) that I wouldn't be able to get into the FP+ system until Sept. 10 which is 60 days out from our tickets (Nov. 9). Tonight I was goofing around to make sure everything was set up correctly and "holy cow" it let me into the system and I was able to make our FP+ for Nov 9-12!!! It had to be based on the first reservation for Nov 7-8. The funny thing is that I stressed about this and had a plan to copy down all the passes I wanted tomorrow to be ready, but with this pleasant surprise, I was actually much more relaxed about it (although I did already know exactly what we wanted.) But I am kicking myself thinking that I could have done this last night or even this morning! So here is my issue now, we were able to get A&E on Nov. 12 - but the earliest time for the 4 of us was 3:40-4:40. Since our flight out is at 5:00 - I don't think we are going to make that. So how do I now go through the process of trying to get an earlier time? Do I release the 3:40-4:40 FP and look for an earlier FP for less people? Is there a way to look for fewer people without releasing the one I have? Other than that, we were able to get everything we wanted and just about at the time we wanted them! Crazy. I had such low expectations.

Easiest done through the app, you can search for alternate times on that day (or alternate experiences on a different day) without releasing your current selections. If you don't like what they give you when you're searching, simple hit cancel (online) or back (in the app) and your original selections will remain intact. In the app, however, you can search for individual times, and may find more availability for A&E (on an earlier date, even) by searching that way. The goal would be to get overlapping return windows for all members of your party, and you would enter the queue during the overlapping times. That's how I was able to secure my A&E FP for all 4 of us. Good luck!!

 

[mbrittb00]

Maybe a phone CM?

Unfortunatlly I've gotten incorrect info from them as well.

 

[mom2rtk]

Unfortunatlly I've gotten incorrect info from them as well.

Yeah, he was kidding. The phone CMs are notorious for giving out bad information.

Honestly, I take every bit of information I get directly from Disney with a grain of salt. They aren't meticulous with maintaining an accurate message. I suppose because they don't have to be. Or because they are too big. Or likely a combination of both.

 

[mesaboy2]

Yeah, he was kidding. The phone CMs are notorious for giving out bad information.

Honestly, I take every bit of information I get directly from Disney with a grain of salt. They aren't meticulous with maintaining an accurate message. I suppose because they don't have to be. Or because they are too big. Or likely a combination of both.

 

[gorjus121]

Sorry if this has been asked already ... How often do the hard to get or popular FP+ like the 7DMT become available if at all? Have any of you gotten one closer to your trip? Unfortunately these have all been disbursed by the time my window opens. Is it worth it to try and check periodically like ADRs? Thanks in advance

 

[Cluelyss]

Sorry if this has been asked already ... How often do the hard to get or popular FP+ like the 7DMT become available if at all? Have any of you gotten one closer to your trip? Unfortunately these have all been disbursed by the time my window opens. Is it worth it to try and check periodically like ADRs? Thanks in advance

Yes, definitely keep checking! I found several in the week to ten days after my window opened (specifically for A&E, I was able to get 7DMT at midnight on my 60-day mark). I'm assuming this is because people scheduled several different FP times and then released those that didn't end up working in their final schedule. I've had less luck recently, though (I am almost month past my date now). I have heard the rumor that Disney will release additional FP into the system 30 days out for off-site guests, however, so will be testing that theory out this weekend! Will report back if I am successful Also, there are A&E/7DMT cancellation threads out there that you can subscribe to as well. Good luck!

 

[smscrapbooks]

I have been looking for the answer to my question with no luck. Sorry if this is a repeat.
When booking your 4th FP, after you've used your first 3 FPs, can you book the 4th using the phone app or do you have to use a kiosk in the park? Thanks!

 

[ckelly14]

I have been looking for the answer to my question with no luck. Sorry if this is a repeat.
When booking your 4th FP, after you've used your first 3 FPs, can you book the 4th using the phone app or do you have to use a kiosk in the park? Thanks!

Kiosk only (for now)