FOP Strategy

[dis1010]

Hi all,

Our trip is scheduled for a week in September and our FP+ booking window will open up on July 9th. I'm hoping to get a FOP FP, but realistically I know I might fail in that regard.

We are traveling with twin 20 month olds who, obviously, won't be going on FOP.

It turns out that AK is having EMH every morning during our visit, starting at 7 am. We're coming from the west coast. So, the time change is a big question. But regardless of how well our girls adapt, I don't realistically see us making it in time for rope drop in advance of 7 am. So, I see rope dropping FOP as a non-starter.

The standby line during the day is also a non-starter. One of us cannot watch our twins for 90 minutes or more. We can't do anything without two adults present. They won't be happy being rolled around in a stroller for that length of time.

So, I see two options for us, both of which would involve getting a sitter and doing it as part of a "date night":

1) Try to ride right before closing. I hear conflicting stories about how successful this will be in terms of waits.

2) Drop $250(!!!) to do AKL After Dark, which is taking place one night during our trip. Again, conflicting reports on this. I've seen some folks say that there will still be significant lines for FOP and we'll waste 1/3 of our time on that one ride. Others have said they rode it multiple times during the course of the event.

Any thoughts on how you would approach this?

Thank you,
David

 

[sponica]

I think if you put FOP as LATE as possible in the trip, you should be able to FP it (especially as a party of 2 or two parties of 1). I would schedule overlapping FPs though, to give a buffer in case you're running late. Person A from 10-1100, person B 1030-1130 or something like that.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Given the information you posted and extra cost involved unless you really really want to ride FoP I'd put it off to a later year when the girls are older.

If you opt to do the ride as part of a date night just aim for a start of the date hour 2 or 3 days into your reservation window opening meaning if your reservation window opens on a Monday you immediately make a FOP FP on your 2nd or 3rd night and then book days 1,2, etc after.
Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

[dis1010]

Sponica - Overlapping FPs...I never thought of that. Are you suggesting that because Person A might end up getting off of FOP too late for Person B to make it in time during the FP window (unless we do the overlapping thing)? I've never even thought of that. If that's the case, I have two questions:

1) If we DON'T do that (i.e. just get two FPs for the same time), can we just use rider swap to handle that issue instead? I only ask because if I start booking FPs at 4 am Pacific on my first booking date (yes, that's what I've gotta do), maybe I'll luck out in getting a FP for FOP by doing it first at the latest date in the trip. But then by the time I try to book a second FP (i.e. the one for Person B) for FOP, might I be out of luck at that point? Would I have an easier time just booking two FPs for FOP immediately upon the opening of the booking window?

2) Are there any other rides I should be keeping this in mind for in terms of scheduling overlapping FPs? SDD? SDMT?

Thanks!

 

[Christine]

I know I'm only one person, but I did FoP at closing on three different nights and it worked really well. Anywhere between a 30-45 minute total time from entrance into the tapstyle to exiting the ride (the wait time posted was much longer). This was in July 2018.

 

[sponica]

@dis1010 How many days are you staying?

Usually the "priority" FPs are SDD, SDMT, and FOP. I would just focus on those first. I think booking 2 FPs in the same time frame would work. Just quickly modify one of them to an overlapping time. Or just keep one FP and rider swap.

You're also going during uncharted territory (unfortunately). We just don't know how all the EMHs in MK, AK, and DHS will impact FP selection/choices. And the changes to the tiering in DHS are also a monkey wrench into the planning.

 

[dis1010]

We'll be there for 7 nights. So, we have somewhat of a sizeable window if I start booking from the end of the trip.

I know what you are saying about uncharted territory. The last time I went to WDW there was no FP+ system at all. So, trying to read up on strategy. But these new wrinkles are making it that much harder!

 

[sponica]

@dis1010 it should be easy with that long of a stay to get the harder FPs towards the end of the stay. For context, I had 4 park days in May last year with a party of 4 (but on resort days 2 through 5), I had a lot of flexibility with FOP on day 5. The only reason I didn't look earlier was because of some hard to get dining reservations that I didn't want to move.

 

[rg35]

If you do AK at the tail end of your trip, you should be able to get a FP.

We're going for a week and a half in August, and I put AK one one of the last days of the trip and there were Fastpasses available at all times.