Two things threw up flags at me. First, it tells me to get my first FP (Space Mountain, not Star Tours!) at 9:05 when the gates open at 8:00, then ST at 9:33. This totally throws off the whole fastpass-stacking thing we do (following HydroGuy's tips). It only has us collecting 3 FPs for the entire DL day. And with stories posted here on the DIS about the FPs for ST running out early around 9:30, well...
Second is that it splits up the Fantasyland rides between early morning and then after the fireworks. This is crazy since after the fireworks everyone pours into there! In my experience the FL rides are almost LONGER at night than during the heat of the day, so getting them over and done with before 9:00 am is a must.
There's other little things, but these are the two biggies.
Hmmm...well for the first FP thing, it might be a bit of strategy on the part of Ridemax. They assume that many people will be going to be getting a ST FP first, which will push the time you can get your next FP probably to 2 hours. So if you buck the trend, get a SM FP first, you can be holding 2 FPs by 9:30am, instead of one.
And as far as ST FPs being out by 9:30am, I am guessing that once the SoCal Select folks are blocked out (today is their last day until August), things will settle down a bit. Of course, the proof will be seeing what the next few weeks look like, so the jury is still out on that one. But keep in mind that when SoCal APs are blocked, you will have more of a tourist crowd, not people who will come to DL just to ride one ride over and over.
As for getting a FP at 9am instead of 8am, if you have any Fantsyland rides on your itinerary, it is going to tell you to go there first and ride PP and Dumbo and probably Alice and/or Matterhorn. That is because these rides will get insanely long later and there are no FPs. If you take Fantasyland out of the equation, it will tell you to get a FP first. I think this is pretty commonly accepted wisdom here around the DIS, that if you desire to ride PP at all, do it first thing before getting a FP. And since you are already there, RM is telling you that the shorter waits outweigh your FP collection. Of course, you may not agree. You may value holding more FPs over shorter wait times, but the program is designed to minimize your wait time over any other consideration.
If you want to hold more FPs, then just add in more rides to the plan. Or you can collect more FPs during your free time. You can also have RM put in multiple rides of the same attraction, just add them in again. That should boost your FP collection.
If you will be there for two mornings, I would start in DL both days. One day (preferably a non-MM day), I would bee line over to PP, Dumbo, Alice, Matterhorn, Tea Cups, etc. Then collect FPs. Another morning I would forget Fantasyland and start maximum FP collection. I did this in May when ST was in soft opening with FP distribution. I collected 3 FPs that day for ST, but this was before there was a line for FP distribution. I almost always park hop everyday instead of doing one park one day and another park another day.
As far as going to Fantasyland after fireworks, I am surprised you found the rides more crowded. My last trip there, we waited after the fireworks and rode Toad and Snow White with maybe a 5 minute wait. Maybe someone else can chime in about their experiences, but I have always found post fireworks to be a good time to sneak in to Fantasyland when I want to ride Toady again.
So keep in mind that the program is all about decreasing your wait time, not about maximizing FP collection (although the two will overlap at times). So it may tell you to do things that sound odd. If you decide that is not the way you want to tour, then it may not be worth it to you. However, I wouldn't say it is necessarily a waste. I find RM to be most helpful in trip preparation, using it to determine the best time of day to ride a particular attraction or to craft a good park hopping strategy. But everyone is different, so to each his/her own! Have a good time!
We typically get on all but 5 rides/attractions (we skip Toontown and Nemo) and do about 10 rides twice, mostly due to using our FPs. We know that you always go to Pirates and BTMRR around 5:00 since they have no lines at that time, and to stay away from Adventureland between 3 & 5:00 due to crowds. And all shopping is done at the WoD the day before in DTD so we stay out of the stores. Yeah, we're crazy (my DH will concur), but it's worked.
I thought you had to go back during the time it says, but I guess you don't! And I didn't know that if it gave us a comeback time of like 4 hours, that we only had to wait 2 hours to get more. I can see how this can really help! I do have one more question, and that is, what is an E ticket ride? Thanks so much for the tips!
