FastPass... What's all the hype about?

[empedocles]

So a few days ago, I booked a trip that begins June 9, 2019.
1 day in MK, 1 day in Epcot.
I've read all this doom & gloom about how you MUST book FPs at 60 days out or you're screwed.

So I spent my morning putting together a chart of FP times, and for the stuff my gf & I are interested in, they are (mostly) wide open. Times every 10-30 minutes, all day long.

Looking at mostly classic/standard rides: Pirates, Peter Pan, Mansion, Spaceship Earth, etc.

Peter Pan is not available in the morning, but plenty of afternoon availability. The only other one on my list with limited availability is Soarin', but still plenty of times available, just not as much as the other rides. Test Track is wide open. Not interested in Frozen.

So what am I missing?

Is it because I/we don't do coasters and similar rides?
(For the record, Test Track is on my iffy list, as it looks coaster-ish.)

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

Some FPs are harder to get than others. If you check availability for 7DMT, FoP, SDD then you'd find availability much more limited, and it's more likely that there's no availability at all. If you want those, the best advantage is at 60 days out plus length of stay (meaning you could book them as much as 74 days before you go to that park). With the exception of maybe Peter Pan, the attractions you mention are usually easily obtained even on the day-of in the park as a 4th or later FP. Soarin' is less popular as a FP attraction than TT or FEA because it tends to have less of a wait than the other 2.

ETA: for some, they want the most availability (at that 60 day mark) because of other plans they are trying to schedule around. Also, in your case you are booking for a party of 2. Larger parties sometimes have better results booking early.

 

[FSU Girl]

It doesn't seem you're trying for the very hard to get rides, Seven Dwarfs, Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog. Magic Kingdom is usually easier to get fast passes because there are so many rides to choose from and no tiers. You are only a few days past 60 days. When it hits 30 days and offsite guests can book the availability will go down quite a bit.

 

[reisdawg]

The main issues are related to the newer rides such as Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom. MK is probably the easiest park because it has so many rides. SDMT is the main challenge but otherwise you will be fine. Plus you are a small party and early June is the start of summer so you should be able to find what you want as long as you are flexible in your schedule. Plus the main issue I see is around the spring break. It looks like this year was very busy and it appears that the summer is slower than expected. Last year the summer was really slow compared to previous years and Disney even offered Free Dining to help bring in the crowds.

 

[auralia]

also consider for epcot you can't get soarin and test track and frozen... only one of those... so your looking day of otherwise. FOP was amazing and i booked that fast pass 60 days out one time slot available and never was able to change the time of it at all. For the week we were there last week I could get the rolling fast pass for some select rides but nothing for headlineres even with refreshing etc. It was the week before "crazy" easter week and was difficult to walk at many points during the day. During rope drop a dad with a stroller ran over my 8 year old from behind and blamed him and told me off. I watched a scooter tip over during crowds on mainstreet (passanger ok), had one family try to push past my 8 year old for slinky dog dash even in line had another family of adults and older teens cut my husband off from my daughter in a morning crowd and the many saw my husband later and gave him a nasty look when we found my daugther and got her with us again (she is 12).... I regreted that rope drop for sinky dog.... It was as I expected crowd wise and my very well educated planning worked... but the crowds were supposed to be 5-7... if that was 5-7 i never want to see the 10!... no fast passes for any major rides available after 2-3 in the afternoon 99% of the time and no ability to move aorund times for the fastpasses i booked at 60 days.

 

[Klayfish]

So a few days ago, I booked a trip that begins June 9, 2019.
1 day in MK, 1 day in Epcot.
I've read all this doom & gloom about how you MUST book FPs at 60 days out or you're screwed.

So I spent my morning putting together a chart of FP times, and for the stuff my gf & I are interested in, they are (mostly) wide open. Times every 10-30 minutes, all day long.

Looking at mostly classic/standard rides: Pirates, Peter Pan, Mansion, Spaceship Earth, etc.

Peter Pan is not available in the morning, but plenty of afternoon availability. The only other one on my list with limited availability is Soarin', but still plenty of times available, just not as much as the other rides. Test Track is wide open. Not interested in Frozen.

So what am I missing?

Is it because I/we don't do coasters and similar rides?
(For the record, Test Track is on my iffy list, as it looks coaster-ish.)

Not sure where you read that you MUST get FP+ at 60 days or you're screwed. That's not true at all.

Having said that, from your list it sounds like you're going for the less in demand (relatively speaking) attractions, so it's no surprise you're finding it easy. Spaceship Earth is easy to get same day, as is Haunted Mansion and Pirates, let alone at 60 days. As others have said, there are some such as 7DMT, Test Track, etc...which are harder. You can still get them after 60 days pass, but they're "harder".

Test Track is kinda/sorta a roller coaster. Most of it isn't, it's indoors and you move around relatively slowly. Then there is the outdoor part that is roller coaster-ish, kinda. It hits about 60 mph and goes through a steeply banked turn. Not a roller coaster, but simulates a race track turn.

 

[chimoe]

I remember also hearing this. So on our 60day mark me and my wife had 2 laptops and were up at 5AM ready to role to book the high demand fast passes.

The only ones I noticed which were VERY hard to get were:
1. Seven dwarfs Mine train - fully booked on our arrival day.
2. Flight of Passage - limited time slots
3. Slinky Dog Dash - we were only able to find PM slots and that was on day 5 of our trip.

There was a nice post that had rated FP from A to C, A being the most demanded. That was really helpful when we went through the booking process.

Everything else with exception of the above can really be booked anytime upto the day of. If if you want preferred times, you want to get those booked earlier.

 

[MainMom]

Some people have specific plans with specific times of day they want their fastpasses to start. I am going the same week as you with a group of 12. I had time frames I was shooting for due to ADR’s and other plans. 60 days was important for us.

 

[cakebaker]

There are 3 rides that are hard to get. SDMT, FOP and SDD. If you aren’t after those and your times are flexible, it’s not a big deal.

That said, I’ve been trying to change our Mickey meet n greet at the MK to a later time for weeks. I got the big 3, no problem. lol

 

[NJlauren]

Also time of day matters, example we rope drop, not because I like getting up early but because I have little kids who don’t sleep past 7, so it makes sense, so I like early FP, the are harder to get. Which you saw by Peter Pan not being available in the morning.

Also seems your skipping the hardest rides to get FP for.

Have a fabulous trip!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

So a few days ago, I booked a trip that begins June 9, 2019.
1 day in MK, 1 day in Epcot.
I've read all this doom & gloom about how you MUST book FPs at 60 days out or you're screwed.

So I spent my morning putting together a chart of FP times, and for the stuff my gf & I are interested in, they are (mostly) wide open. Times every 10-30 minutes, all day long.

Looking at mostly classic/standard rides: Pirates, Peter Pan, Mansion, Spaceship Earth, etc.

Peter Pan is not available in the morning, but plenty of afternoon availability. The only other one on my list with limited availability is Soarin', but still plenty of times available, just not as much as the other rides. Test Track is wide open. Not interested in Frozen.

So what am I missing?

Is it because I/we don't do coasters and similar rides?
(For the record, Test Track is on my iffy list, as it looks coaster-ish.)

I wouldn't call it doom and gloom. And no, you're not necessarily screwed if you can't book 60 days out. I watched the WDW Couple go into MK without a single FP and get some REALLY awesome ones just by refreshing and modifying. Actually, they didn't book 30 or 60 days out. She booked her FPs on the monorail I think she said on the way into MK. If I remember correctly, they picked up Mine Train for early that morning! You've answered your own question. Because you weren't looking for any of the headliners you had an easier time. I was wanting Mine Train on my first day in MK, but the only times available were late afternoon. So I looked on our 2nd day in the MK and found a 1:50 time. I was able to modify it the next day to 1:25. I'm looking to get noon and will try again when they increase park hours for June and release more FPs for that day.

 

[tinkerjo]

Last year DD decided to go with us 35 days out. Luckily they had just extended park hours and we were able to get 6 FP for FOP at 8:10 in the morning ( we RD anyway) it just takes more work the closer you get to your travel dates. Sometimes persistence is the key

 

[Magical2017]

Some people like to get all morning FP for harder to get rides, use them, and then refresh. You can certainly go without any FP and try to rope drop or go towards closing. That way you have more flexibility in your schedule.

 

[Disneypro1]

I have never understood the issues with FP+ either. Its simple and it works. Planning is easy. Its all part of the fun.

 

[gharter]

I have never understood the issues with FP+ either. Its simple and it works. Planning is easy. Its all part of the fun.

I think the issue comes in when you can't get the ones you want (FoP at 60+1, SDD ay 60+1, etc), or can't get close to the times you want ( SDD at 4 pm, FoP at 4pm). That messes up the opportunity to get extra FPs.
Once the FPs are booked and you were able to get what you wanted, the rest is easy.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is it because I/we don't do coasters and similar rides?

Well, yes, exactly.

I have never understood the issues with FP+ either. Its simple and it works. Planning is easy. Its all part of the fun.

If you’ve read posts by people with issues, then you know that some have issues. Like with the OP, it’s awesome that you haven’t had problems, but others have.

 

[mesaboy2]

I have never understood the issues with FP+ either. Its simple and it works. Planning is easy. Its all part of the fun.

It is very far from simple. I also disagree that it works well, that planning is easy, or that it’s particularly fun.

 

[Robo]

It is very far from simple. I also disagree that it works well, that planning is easy, or that it’s particularly fun.

The very fact that a guest has to know what attractions everyone in the party wants to ride, and on which day, and at what time, 60(+) days in advance is enough to eliminate "simple" as a primary description.

 

[FastPasser.]

Disney has done a lot of stupid things and the current FP system is just one of them. Just my opinion. Hey, you kids get off my lawn!

 

[tinkerjo]

My DD lives on the west coast so she frequents DL a lot. For $10 they can get an app and get fast passes for almost anything throughout the day ( I know there’s are some rules ie:time elapsed between FP and I think she said 1 per ride but I can’t be sure) but I am still a fan of the old FP system. We had it down to a science and i loved deciding the day before what park we wanted to go to. It gave way more flexibility.