FP+ - early or late?

[zigzag]

Thinking about a FP+ strategy for our visit next year (first time with FP+) and would value some opinions on the following strategy when park hopping:

Is it better to schedule FP+ early in Park A, use them, then hop over to Park B in the afternoon and try to add on some more FP+ if they are available

or

Start on Park A and do what you can walk-on then hop over to Park B for the afternoon where you have your FP+ scheduled for afternoon times, then if available get some more FP+ for late afternnon/early evening

 

[Robo]

Many details, strategies and FP+ priorities found HERE.

 

[mesaboy2]

Many details, strategies and FP+ priorities found HERE.

Yep.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here.

 

[johde]

Yep.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here.

I agree, even for one group it's going to depend on time of year, where you're hopping from, where you're hopping to, size of party, park hours, is a "super headliner" on your "must do" for that day. Depending on you're answers to all those things, it could go either way.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Thinking about a FP+ strategy for our visit next year (first time with FP+) and would value some opinions on the following strategy when park hopping:

Is it better to schedule FP+ early in Park A, use them, then hop over to Park B in the afternoon and try to add on some more FP+ if they are available

or

Start on Park A and do what you can walk-on then hop over to Park B for the afternoon where you have your FP+ scheduled for afternoon times, then if available get some more FP+ for late afternnon/early evening

Of course if you are only going late (say 2 pm to closing) that would change things, but otherwise I would go for early. Reason being that you can add additional FP once you used up the three you sign up for. Otherwise my advise would be to schedule them for soon after your arrival (of course make sure to leave some time for getting to the first ride!)

 

[chelseabun76]

Depends if you are rope drop people too...

 

[wareagle57]

I'm not a fan of the "use them early" strategy for a few reasons.

1. Using them early in the morning when lines are very short is wasting your 3 most valuable FPs. You could be riding other things with little to no wait.

2. You aren't going to get any TRULY valuable FP as your 4th.

3. It takes time finding a kiosk, waiting in line, and booking your next attraction, and then walking to it. FP lines sometimes let you load immediately but sometimes they might take 5-15 minutes. Add that into the kiosk and walking time and you might as well just lined up standby wherever you actually wanted to go next.

But I seem to be in the minority on here and that's ok. Magic Kingdom is really the only place I see value in the additional FPs, but even then I just hate the idea of running around to kiosks to get FP for Buzz, Small World, and Jungle Cruise. That said, I do have morning FP's booked for 1 of our 5 days, and right around noon on another day. Like a previous poster said, there are a lot of variables and reasons to book them at different times.

 

[Mikie]

Full disclosure: my strategy under the old FP and new has never been to accumulate a max number of FP, but to get quality FP, minimize total wait time and do "some of everything" (I'm not much of a repeat rider unless lines are very short or we've done everything else first)

That in mind, getting to a park at opening yields very reasonable waits for the first few hours. I'd hit the most popular rides first, moving on to next popular rides next (lines may be building but still manageable for mid-tier rides). Have lunch and then move to park B where I'd use FP+ through the thick of the afternoon/early evening when waits are longest, then stick around til close for shorter lines again and also ride during parades or evening fireworks.

Totally agree with wareagle about your first FPs being very valuable and availability of 4th being unpredictable.

 

[elaine amj]

Thinking about a FP+ strategy for our visit next year (first time with FP+) and would value some opinions on the following strategy when park hopping:

Is it better to schedule FP+ early in Park A, use them, then hop over to Park B in the afternoon and try to add on some more FP+ if they are available

or

Start on Park A and do what you can walk-on then hop over to Park B for the afternoon where you have your FP+ scheduled for afternoon times, then if available get some more FP+ for late afternnon/early evening

Depends on the park and the rides and what are must-dos.

I'm going Christmas week and one day I have Epcot planned for the morning and DHS for the evening.

I'm planning the RD Epcot to ride Test Track standby and then do several other no-wait attractions (skipping Soarin') before our afternoon break and WS & CP. Then in the evening, hopping over to DHS where we have FP+ for TSM, Star Tours & Frozen singalong. I think TSM in particular would be very difficult to get later in the day so for my plans, I feel much better booking evening FP+ rather than taking the chance. I think Test Track at RD will be very easy to do.

Same thing with my MK day. I have 2 FP+ in the morning and a 7DMT FP+ at 10:30pm. I would prefer all 3 in the morning, but I am taking whatever I can get for 7DMT. It works fine in our touring plans since I am going at RD and we will do all the long standby rides first thing in the morning before using our 2 FP+ then taking a long afternoon break. If a morning FP+ for 7DMT opens up, I would happily take it. However, that's unlikely since my 2 morning FP+ are blocking out most of the morning hours.

 

[scoobydooby]

I have had one trip using FPP and based on that experience, this is what I will do next time. Never do a rope drop at Epcot again. Complete waste of time unless you only have one day there now. We will visit over three evenings and get FPP each time and so tour the park in three chunks, including three restaurants. When we rope drop MK I will not get FPP until at least two and a hours after park opening so we can do favourites twice without waiting. These days we will leave after the afternoon parade and just do fireworks and no line attractions if we hop in the evening. AK. You can do Everest, dinosaur and Primeval Hurl multiple times each if you do rope drop without touching a FPP. So I'll save them for the safari, Kali and Nemo after lunch. FPP also works well if you spend the last three hours of the day at AK as in the last half hour Everest can also usually be ridden multiple times with no FPP. DHS. FPP is a royal pain here due to the tiering system. My strategy will now be to head straight for R and R for a couple of rides and FPP Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror for later in the day. Overall I like FPP better than legacy FP at MK and AK where there is no tiering, but found it messed up how we tour badly at DHS and Epcot due to the tiering system. However. As my son is less and less keen on rope drops now he's a lazy teenager it certainly has it's advantages. Me and DD went alone in May for a short 9 day trip and are rope drop park stormers and it worked less well for us. However. We always visit for 15 nights when it's the whole family so have multiple days in each park meaning it could work out well for us, especially Mr Sleepy Head

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

we have not found 4th FP+s to be valuable. We have two mornings of am FP+s for an upcoming trip and we hope on those days to get a 4th FP+ for something much later that night and/or something mid-tier. We will see...
What worked well for us in January and June was late morning/early afternoon FP+s. We are 2adults w 2teens and RD, do a bit of everything, done in the afternoon, then relax in the evening at the resort people - generally. We enjoyed early morning EMH and first hour or so parks open touring followed by using FP+s interspersed with lower line things and/or ADRs while awaiting FP+ times.
As others have stated; your touring style, group size and demographics, parks, and must-do's will determine what works best for you.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I have had one trip using FPP and based on that experience, this is what I will do next time. Never do a rope drop at Epcot again. Complete waste of time unless you only have one day there now. We will visit over three evenings and get FPP each time and so tour the park in three chunks, including three restaurants. When we rope drop MK I will not get FPP until at least two and a hours after park opening so we can do favourites twice without waiting. These days we will leave after the afternoon parade and just do fireworks and no line attractions if we hop in the evening. AK. You can do Everest, dinosaur and Primeval Hurl multiple times each if you do rope drop without touching a FPP. So I'll save them for the safari, Kali and Nemo after lunch. FPP also works well if you spend the last three hours of the day at AK as in the last half hour Everest can also usually be ridden multiple times with no FPP. DHS. FPP is a royal pain here due to the tiering system. My strategy will now be to head straight for R and R for a couple of rides and FPP Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror for later in the day. Overall I like FPP better than legacy FP at MK and AK where there is no tiering, but found it messed up how we tour badly at DHS and Epcot due to the tiering system. However. As my son is less and less keen on rope drops now he's a lazy teenager it certainly has it's advantages. Me and DD went alone in May for a short 9 day trip and are rope drop park stormers and it worked less well for us. However. We always visit for 15 nights when it's the whole family so have multiple days in each park meaning it could work out well for us, especially Mr Sleepy Head

This is actually the strategy I would use. I wouldn't do FP before 11 but I would then use them soon after 11 so that by 1 or 2 I'm ready to get more. When I was there in July (a crowded season) I still was able to get FP for some popular rides (Ok not 7DTR or TSM) but still good rides.

 

[BroganMc]

I go for the afternoon/evening strategy of FP+ Afternoon tends to be the most valuable time to have a FP+. It's when everyone is in the park and the Standby waits are the longest.

The 4th FP+ tends not to be as valuable anymore because by the time you can get one the only attractions available are in the B & C group. Cs almost never need FP+ anyway. Bs can have moderate waits and a few will balloon (like POTC) throughout the day, but you don't get the 2 hr + waits on them.

If you're visiting in the summer the parks are open later. Then I'd use a combination of RopeDrop/Standby mornings and Afternoon FP+/late night EMHs.

It is really hard to predict what the crowds will do today. My last trip I found the crowd calendars to be extremely unreliable, especially for Magic Kingdom. So your touring schedule should be based more on you and what you can do.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I was able to get 4th, 5th and 6th FP for Splash and Space Mountain in July. I don't agree that 4th FP and on are of no value. No you don't get TSM or 7DTR but they are hardly unvaluable.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there last week. Doing FP+ at around 10, 11 & 12 worked well for me. That gave me some time before the first one to do standby (keep in mind that the 10:00 one you actually have to 11:00).

 

[Lees75]

I was there last week. Doing FP+ at around 10, 11 & 12 worked well for me. That gave me some time before the first one to do standby (keep in mind that the 10:00 one you actually have to 11:00).

This is how we did a few of our days, too. We did as many things as possible on stand-by from 9-10.50 and them used our 10am FP, followed straight away by our 11am FP, followed by lunch, 12pm FP, then getting a 4th FP by 12.30pm. We were able to get a Splash one day and POTC another day when it had a 60 minute wait, followed by a 5th FP for HM which had a 40 min wait. My kids don't wait longer than 30 mins, so for us it was great. When at DHS, we got a 4th for RR, which was awesome