Fastpass Selections on Double-Park Days

[PollyannaMom]

Our next trip will be our first with Park Hoppers since Fastpass+ went into effect. Last time, doing one park per day, we made our FP+ selections near the middle of the day - figuring we could get some rides in early without them, then use them at the busiest times. But this time, we'll be switching parks sometime in the middle (dinner reservations are at park two, but otherwise, we're not sure exactly what time we'll be "hopping".)

So, if you are going to two parks, do you usually make your Fastpasses at the first one, or the second?

 

[sponica]

It probably depends on what park I'm starting in and what park I'm going to (and why).

One of my hop days we only used 2 FPs in the first park, so we used the 3rd FP in the second park.

 

[PollyannaMom]

It probably depends on what park I'm starting in and what park I'm going to (and why).

Hopping from MK to Epcot on one day, and from Epcot to MK on the other - hoping to take advantage of EMH, but then not stay in the most crowded park all day (also particularly want to end up in MK on second day).

Small possibility of going back to our resort for a rest in between (or maybe visiting monorail resorts between hops one day, to see the Christmas decorations) but most likely just going straight from one to the other.

One of my hop days we only used 2 FPs in the first park, so we used the 3rd FP in the second park.

I thought you had to make all three in the same park?

 

[TinkSassy]

Hopping from MK to Epcot on one day, and from Epcot to MK on the other - hoping to take advantage of EMH, but then not stay in the most crowded park all day (also particularly want to end up in MK on second day).

Small possibility of going back to our resort for a rest in between (or maybe visiting monorail resorts between hops one day, to see the Christmas decorations) but most likely just going straight from one to the other.



I thought you had to make all three in the same park?

You have to make all 3 advance reservations in the same park - but you don't have to keep them. I usually make all 3 for the second park if I'm at the first for rope drop. But, our last trip we were hopping later in the day not until after lunch so I made all 3 for the first park. In many cases we didn't use the 3rd FP so I used the modify function in the park to change it to a ride at the park we were headed to.

I'd pick based on the rides you want to accomplish each day - if there are a lot of headliners I might front load your FP days and then just see what you can get for the afternoon for the other park when you arrive.

 

[DaniMoon]

Always where we start. We only plan the first part of our day, late afternoons/evenings are wherever we feel like going.

 

[jwolfpack]

We typically pick FP for our 2nd park because we are rope drop pros. The exception would be for an Epcot start / MK finish. We will typically rope drop Test Track, and FP Soarin (or vice versa). I usually schedule this FP for mid morning. As soon as I tap in, I modify my other 2 FP reservations for later in the day at MK. We just don't need 3 FP at Epcot for the things we ride.

 

[JohnneeO]

I thought you had to make all three in the same park?

You need to make all of your ADVANCE FP+ reservations in the same park, of which you can make a minimum of one, and a maximum of three. After you have used all of your advance FP+ reservations, then you can begin making and using additional FP+'s (one at a time) in any park.

 

[sponica]

Hopping from MK to Epcot on one day, and from Epcot to MK on the other - hoping to take advantage of EMH, but then not stay in the most crowded park all day (also particularly want to end up in MK on second day).

Small possibility of going back to our resort for a rest in between (or maybe visiting monorail resorts between hops one day, to see the Christmas decorations) but most likely just going straight from one to the other.



I thought you had to make all three in the same park?

They changed this at some point. You can only preselect in one park, but I believe once you've tapped into the first FP you can book the third in the second park.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Almost always, we'll make the FPs for the first park. We like to rope drop and go until lunchtime. By mid-morning, the lines are growing so that having those 10am-1p FPs work well. We take a resort break after lunch and return to 2nd park for dinner and make do with the 4th FPs available. We almost always have one morning in each park, so this works for us. Evenings are usually just dinner, 1-2 attractions and the evening show.

 

[SaintsManiac]

They changed this at some point. You can only preselect in one park, but I believe once you've tapped into the first FP you can book the third in the second park.

Correct. You no longer need to make 3 in the first park. You can do 1 or 2 then book for park #2.

 

[happymommy]

They changed this at some point. You can only preselect in one park, but I believe once you've tapped into the first FP you can book the third in the second park.

I'm pretty sure you must tap into the second FP+ if you've made two before making a third in a different park.

We never get out early, so I make them midday (or late morning) for the first park. I have an exception, in that one day I booked two early ones that we know for certain we won't use, since we'll be at brunch that morning. The third we have is Slinky Dog from 3-4, so once we tap that, we can see what's available for either Alien Spinning Saucers (if it is), Toy Story, or another park (there isn't much at HS we like any longer).

 

[SaintsManiac]

I'm pretty sure you must tap into the second FP+ if you've made two before making a third in a different park.

We never get out early, so I make them midday (or late morning) for the first park. I have an exception, in that one day I booked two early ones that we know for certain we won't use, since we'll be at brunch that morning. The third we have is Slinky Dog from 3-4, so once we tap that, we can see what's available for either Alien Spinning Saucers (if it is), Toy Story, or another park (there isn't much at HS we like any longer).

Yes you do have to tap into all FPs you prebooked before moving on to park #2.

 

[chiisai]

I prebook the three at our morning park. After tapping in to the third I will make our 4th for when we want to arrive at our evening park.

 

[AJT607]

We always make our FPs in the first park we are going to, and we always try to schedule them to start around 9:30-10:00AM. We will rope drop until the very end of our first FP window, then try to maybe ride something standby as we look to modify our 2nd FP/3rd FP and move them up. Using this process, we usually get 7-8 FPs on any given day.

 

[Crystal824]

I would usually prebook the FPs at the park I am going to be at in the morning. However, it depends on a few factors. How long is the trip? Have I been to that park already during the trip? If so, I might book them at the second park. For instance one trip, we stayed at AKL and spent a lot of time at AK. During our third morning at AK, I booked our FPS for that afternoon at Epcot because we had already done the Pandora attractions and were concentrating on attractions where you really didn't need FP. Of course, FP is helpful at FEA.

 

[buzznina]

If doing RD then use FP+ at ending park.

 

[Boulie]

We usually do our fast passes for the park we are doing in the morning (aiming for late morning or early afternoon, when crowds are heaviest), and then select new fastpasses for the second park after we are done. If MK is your second park, you probably won't get the mine train or peter pan with your 4th or 5th fast passes using this approach, but I've had pretty good luck getting fast passes for most other rides (people change plans at the last minute, so stuff does open up if you check with some frequency).

I'd especially recommend this approach if Epcot is your evening park. My view is that morning/afternoon FPs at MK are way more valuable than doing advance FP selections for an evening at Epcot.

If EP is your morning park, you might consider scheduling only one or two FPs (Soarin/Test Track, plus maybe Spaceship Earth) and then doing what others suggest above, which is making your third selection for MK after tapping in at your first FP. (Last time I did this, we could select our third FP (at a different park) after tapping the first FP. It's possible this has changed, but that was my experience last year).

Of course, if you have a must-do ride and can only get the evening FP for it, then that works too. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

BTW, we always park hop (mostly doing one park all morning/early afternoon and then hitting MK or Epcot at night) and love it. Hope you enjoy it too.

 

[monorailsilver]

We just came back and had 5 day PH. I did all mine for the park we started in. Some days were better then others park wise but it depended on what park we were in!