FP+ for Soarin' AND testtrack...???

[IBLarsen]

I'm a ways out from booking FP's, but I'm trying to educate myself and have a plan in place so when my window opens I'm set. Our trip is in March with two adults/2 kids (9 and 11).
We really only want to ride Soarin' and Testtrack. Looking at the Tier system, I can choose one or the other, and two from the lower tier. But what if I don't want any from the lower tier? My understanding of strategy is that I would just book something i don't want early in the day for the two lower tier rides, let them expire so that I can then choose a 4th FP for either Soarin' or TT (whichever we didn't already do). I realize this is subject to avail, how much success do people have obtaining one of these mid day?

I would generally just say stand in line for the opposite first thing at rope drop, but I'm trying to work the system to where we may not have to be in parks at rope drop, if I could get FP's for those two. My main goal is to see the countries this time but add in those couple rides my kids want. Trying to see if I can make this a sleep in day and still do what we want and stay for Illuminations.
Strategy suggestions welcome

 

[manateesmom]

What I have heard, though I have not tried it and cannot guarantee it works, is that you book your three, including one that you actually want. Then, BEFORE you use the first one (before you enter the park, even), you cancel the two you don't want. Then, after you use the remaining one, you should be able to get more from a kiosk in the park. But you must cancel the two you don't before their times come up and before you have used any FP for that park day. You may need to cancel through the website versus the app, too.

Having read a lot about this strategy, I will admit that I don't understand why you can't accomplish the same thing by just booking one FP, and going to a kiosk when it's been used. I'm interested in hearing from anyone else on this.

 

[IBLarsen]

What I have heard, though I have not tried it and cannot guarantee it works, is that you book your three, including one that you actually want. Then, BEFORE you use the first one (before you enter the park, even), you cancel the two you don't want. Then, after you use the remaining one, you should be able to get more from a kiosk in the park. But you must cancel the two you don't before their times come up and before you have used any FP for that park day. You may need to cancel through the website versus the app, too.

Having read a lot about this strategy, I will admit that I don't understand why you can't accomplish the same thing by just booking one FP, and going to a kiosk when it's been used. I'm interested in hearing from anyone else on this.

I very well could be getting myself confused, having read so many different things on FP+ I can't keep it all straight. I thought I had read that If you book just one, the other two you go to book (even in the parks) has to be tier 2 if your first was a tier 1. I didn't think it reset after your tier 1 was used, unless you used/expire the two tier 2 rides.

If I could just book one tier 1 early, use it then book the second tier 1 ride, would make things much easier

 

[lillyshula]

I am not sure if that system will work or not as I have not personally tried to do this. What I did in June was get a FP+ for Test Track and went straight from the rope drop to Soarin'. It worked out perfectly. We only had a five minute wait for Soarin' and still had the FP+ for Test Track which gave us a short wait as well.

I did not even see that you did not want to go to rope drop. I would suggest trying to get all of your FP+ for as early as you want to be there. When you have finished with all three, try to get the FP+ for the ride you did not choose. Even if you do not make it to the World Showcase until 1:00, that still leaves you a good 8 hours until the usual closing time. Now the fourth FP+ may be for later in the day, but you could always tour the World Showcase and then hit up the FP+ return time and go back to the countries you have to hit yet.

 

[Dis703]

I'm curious if anyone has tried to just only book the one and see if they can add new ones at the kiosk after it's used. I know you can cancel the extras online as we did this in the past but I'm not sure then if you are still able to book new ones after you use the 1 or 2 that you do book. It seems like it should work but who knows.

 

[SeilerBird]

I live close to WDW, I have an AP and I go to each one of the parks once a week. I ride Soarin' and Test Track every time I go. Here is how I do it. I book a FP for Soarin'. Then at rope drop I head for the single rider line at Test Track. I am usually done with both rides before 10:00 am.

 

[nkereina]

Little to no success for getting either Soarin or TT same day from a kiosk, after your initial 3 pre-booked ones. Your best bet would be to book a fast pass for Soarin and ride TT single rider which always has a minimal wait. If you prefer not to do that, you can book a FP for TT and then hit Soarin at rope drop. We did this the week before Thanksgiving and it worked out fine - got in around 9:15 when rope drop was at 9 and waited maybe 15 minutes.

 

[ktlm]

I have seen 2 people report that it worked for them when they cancelled the other 2 FP+, BEFORE they entered the park, but I have also seen another person report that it did not work for them... so I think it is worth a try if you really don't care about any other ride, but it isn't a guarantee. I also saw a post not too long ago from someone who had tried only booking one, but could not get another tier one when they arrived until they booked 2 more tier 2. I have no personal experience with these tricks, maybe someone will come along who does.

Also, Test Track and Soarin are often not available at all the day of. We made some friends on our October trip who had come down not knowing that there was no more regular FP, and that they absolutely needed to book FP+ before their trip to get them for the most popular rides. They had to get them set up at the resort when they got there, and they could not get Soarin or Test Track for their EPCOT day, which I think was either their first or second full day there. They also went to the kiosk at the park that morning to try again, and neither were available. It was not a particularly busy time either.

We FP+ Soarin, and then single rider line Test Track. Not optimal since we can't get our Memory Maker TT pics with all 3 of us together, but better than standing in line for over an hour for TT.

Be aware that the lines build up fast now. Even if you are there at rope drop, you need to be more towards the front of the pack. We went straight to Soarin at rope drop one day hoping to get to ride it twice and the line was already 45 minutes by the time we got there.

Also, while the Tier 2 FP+ seem pointless- they are not as pointless now. FP+ has really increased the standby lines. It was not that busy when we were at EPCOT. We have always walked on Journey Into Imagination and walked on or had about a 5 minute wait for Nemo. Now, with FP+ those lines were 25 to 30 minutes for a good part of the day. We actually went and booked a 4th FP+ for Figment one day because DD wanted to ride it and the line was 30 minutes. We got a FP+ for around 20 minutes later, and then went and did something else while we waited for it to kick in. We did find our Mission Space FP+ absolutely pointless though as we ride the green side. The FP+ line is a combination of green and orange and does not separate you out until the front so we got stuck way back in the FP line behind everyone wanting the orange, and watched standy people getting in line and getting on the green side ride ahead of us. We were stuck until they moved enough of the orange FP+ people through to get those wanted the green. Turned out to be a slow pass for us. There were a significant number of people that got in the standby line AFTER we got in the FP+ line, that got to ride before we did.

 

[L&Lfan]

I'd get the FP+ for Soarin' and do single rider for Test Track. At 9 and 11 I would imagine your kids are old enough. Works like a charm.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Single riders line works great! It's worth a try - but it's of no use if you have young kids or if you just want to be sure your party is riding together. Some folks just aren't interested in riding apart from their companion(s). OP's kids are technically old enough to use the single riders line (kids have to be 7 or older), but they have to realize that if they go that route each member of their party may end up in separate cars.

I don't know anything about whether you can narrow to one before you use any of your FPs for the day and then use the kiosks after that one is exhausted. Haven't tried it. But if you want an extra FP from the kiosks, the attraction you want has to be available. There aren't that many headliners at Epcot, so it's a toss up as to whether either TT or Soarin' will be available via kiosk for your entire party of 4 at a time when you might like to ride. If they are available, you can get an additional Tier 1 ride via the kiosks.

 

[MrInfinity]

I very well could be getting myself confused, having read so many different things on FP+ I can't keep it all straight. I thought I had read that If you book just one, the other two you go to book (even in the parks) has to be tier 2 if your first was a tier 1. I didn't think it reset after your tier 1 was used, unless you used/expire the two tier 2 rides.

If I could just book one tier 1 early, use it then book the second tier 1 ride, would make things much easier

Correct, you will not get a new Tier 1 once you use your first Tier 1, rather, you will get a new whatever's left once you use your original 3.

This is by design. Gotta remember that for each person who would / might book two of TT/Soarin, some other person would by simple math, get none. If you research the capacity of TT and Soarin combined, you'll see that there are fewer ridings of the combination of both of these rides than there are number of guests in the park in a day.

With Maelstrom closed, the problem is that much worse.

Until Epcot gets a 3rd high-demand attraction to spread the load, you will not be able to get 3, save by going early, using your 3, then seeing what's available by 11 or 12. But by doing this, you are by default then using your most important FP (your pre-book one) at a terrible time to waste it (early in the morning) on the hopes of getting something for an unknown time.

So since the Frozen ride is in the works... and when this opens, it will be so mega-huge that everyone will want to FP it and TT/Soarin will be comparatively much less hard to get... the problem will get better eventually, just not till Frozen opens.

I always tell ppl to just pick it for the time you want it. Don't try to anticipate getting more, cuz if you don't, you've wasted your best one.

Even if you can cancel your other two, you still have to burn your primo FP at a time when you really don't need to, to hope to get something later in the day at a time you can't control.

Note when we went, we had no trouble getting on Soarin and TT several times in a day, so in practice it does not serve to be a real problem and you should get to ride both rides, even several times.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I walked into Epcot on Oct 16th with no fastpass+ preselected. I opened my tablet and used the web browser not the app and clicked Soarin', Test Track and Living with the Land... to my total astonishment I got all three. I suppose it was a lucky glitch. The times were very spread out though.. Test Track in the morning and Soarin at 8:30pm

 

[tamhugh]

DH and I were there for Food and Wine in October on a pretty crowded day. We had FP+ for Soarin', Journey Into Imagination, and Spaceship Earth. We figured we would rope drop Test Track but the WDW bus system was not cooperative.

We arrived at the park 20 minutes before our Soarin' window and the line was already long for Test Track. We hit Nemo first and then right onto Soarin. As soon as we got off Soarin', I got on my app and moved up the Journey FP to be able to ride immediately. When we got off that, I did the same thing for Spaceship Earth. It got us through all three of our FP+ very quickly. I then went to the closest kiosk (near Mouse Gears since the one at the Pin Traders was closed) and asked for a 4th FP for Test Track. The CM told me it wasn't likely, but he found one right away. It wasn't until 7 pm, but we had dinner reservations for Mexico at 5 so I took it. Then I kept checking the app all day and a new window opened early and I was able to change it.

It is easier if you only have two people, but you might get lucky. As long as you have access to the app and it is working well, you can adjust your FPs on the fly and possibly get that 4th one to Test Track.

 

[famy27]

I have seen 2 people report that it worked for them when they cancelled the other 2 FP+, BEFORE they entered the park, but I have also seen another person report that it did not work for them... so I think it is worth a try if you really don't care about any other ride, but it isn't a guarantee. I also saw a post not too long ago from someone who had tried only booking one, but could not get another tier one when they arrived until they booked 2 more tier 2. I have no personal experience with these tricks, maybe someone will come along who does.

Also, Test Track and Soarin are often not available at all the day of. We made some friends on our October trip who had come down not knowing that there was no more regular FP, and that they absolutely needed to book FP+ before their trip to get them for the most popular rides. They had to get them set up at the resort when they got there, and they could not get Soarin or Test Track for their EPCOT day, which I think was either their first or second full day there. They also went to the kiosk at the park that morning to try again, and neither were available. It was not a particularly busy time either.

We FP+ Soarin, and then single rider line Test Track. Not optimal since we can't get our Memory Maker TT pics with all 3 of us together, but better than standing in line for over an hour for TT.

Be aware that the lines build up fast now. Even if you are there at rope drop, you need to be more towards the front of the pack. We went straight to Soarin at rope drop one day hoping to get to ride it twice and the line was already 45 minutes by the time we got there.

Also, while the Tier 2 FP+ seem pointless- they are not as pointless now. FP+ has really increased the standby lines. It was not that busy when we were at EPCOT. We have always walked on Journey Into Imagination and walked on or had about a 5 minute wait for Nemo. Now, with FP+ those lines were 25 to 30 minutes for a good part of the day. We actually went and booked a 4th FP+ for Figment one day because DD wanted to ride it and the line was 30 minutes. We got a FP+ for around 20 minutes later, and then went and did something else while we waited for it to kick in. We did find our Mission Space FP+ absolutely pointless though as we ride the green side. The FP+ line is a combination of green and orange and does not separate you out until the front so we got stuck way back in the FP line behind everyone wanting the orange, and watched standy people getting in line and getting on the green side ride ahead of us. We were stuck until they moved enough of the orange FP+ people through to get those wanted the green. Turned out to be a slow pass for us. There were a significant number of people that got in the standby line AFTER we got in the FP+ line, that got to ride before we did.

I'm one of the people who's had luck cancelling my Tier 2s and booking another Tier 1 immediately after riding. In both June and August, I cancelled my Tier 2s prior to getting to EP. After I rode Soarin', I immediately went to the kiosk and booked TT as my next FP. In June, we got a return time around 5:00 (booked at 11:45) and in August, it was closer to 7:00 (booked at 11:20). We spent most of the day in WS, had dinner, and wandered back to ride TT later on.

I saw a reference by Robo to the poster who did not have luck with this method, but I can't find the actual thread, so I don't know what he/she did or when or what has changed (if anything). For us, it was no risk. We cancelled Tier 2s we didn't care about. I figured the worst that would happen is I have to rebook to Tier 2s in the park. That was not a big loss to me.

ETA: Just wanted to update this. I just communicated with the poster who had no luck cancelling the Tier 2s. He actually tried to cancel them at EP after her rode the Tier 1. So that method doesn't work. I haven't seen any other reports of people not being able to book additional Tier 1s if they have cancelled their Tier 2s PRIOR to getting to the park. I cancelled mine a few weeks before getting to EP, and I had no issues immediately grabbing additional Tier 1s after riding the Tier 1.

 

[leebee]

Here's what worked for DD/DH (I was sick sick sick in bed ) when they were in Epcot on Wednesday of Columbus Day week, when the parks were packed. I made Soarin' FP+ for 10:30am, with Figment at 9 and Nemo at noon. As soon as it was 9am, I shifted our Nemo FP+ to 9:30am. DD and DH arrived at Epcot around 10-ish, rode Soarin', and IMMEDIATELY hit the kiosk and got a TT FP+ for 5:30pm. After getting the TT FP+, they bummed around Future World until World Showcase opened, had lunch at Biergarten, and strolled the countries for the afternoon (with a few drinks/noshes along the way). After riding TT at 5:30, they hopped on SE and then headed back to WS to enjoy more of F&W. (I, on the other hand, spent the day sleeping and running to the potty. What a way to finish up vacation!)

 

[ktlm]

that much worse.

So since the Frozen ride is in the works... and when this opens, it will be so mega-huge that everyone will want to FP it and TT/Soarin will be comparatively much less hard to get... the problem will get better eventually, just not till Frozen opens.
.

UGH! I had not even though about the fact that Frozen is obviously going to be Tier 1, so now I probably won't ever get to ride Soarin, which is one of my favorites. Thanks to FP+, I did not get to ride RNRC at DHS on our October trip because we had to use our tier 1 on TSM. DD won't set foot on RNRC and the whole family likes TSM. The day we were there, the RNRC single rider line was never under 30 minutes, and was 40 to 45 minutes for much of the day, so for DH and I to take turns riding it, that would have been over an hour that we would have taken away from family time and DD. We didn't want to do that for us both to ride it, and DH told me to go ahead and go, but I didn't think it was fair for me to go ride it when he loves it too and would not be able to (and he felt the same way so neither of us got to ride). By the time we could get a 4th FP, there were none available for RNRC. Now, I can look forward to that happening at EPCOT with Soarin too. Bad enough that we don't get to ride Test Track as a family and all single rider it now (thank goodness DD is 8 because if she was under 7, it would even be a bigger problem).


I also have a warning for those of you who plan to use your 1st FP+ early and then move the next one up. I tried that on one of our EPCOT days and it went horribly wrong. We had hoped to do that and then have a shot at maybe getting Test Track. I tried to move a Nemo up in time. It showed me the time it was changing it to which was about 15 or 20 minutes away, I clicked on it to confirm.....and I suddenly had a Nemo FP+ HOURS LATER!!! It did not give me the time it showed it was giving me. I then tried to at least change my FP+ back to my original and it was no longer available. I then tried to switch it to a different attraction, and as explained in the paragraph below, that turned out to be a disaster and I wound up with one that didn't even kick in until after 6:00 p.m. So, I marched over to a kiosk to see if they could fix it. No luck. They told me they could not fix it because the time I was supposed to get was not available, nor was anything earlier or at my original time, nor was my original that I had given up to try to get my Tier 2's gone faster. They moved us to some different FP+, but we still wound up worse off than we were to begin with as far as getting the Tier 2s finished, and of course I was scared to change anything else. The explanation I got was that what most likely happened is that either it glitched, or someone else was trying to get a Nemo FP+ at the same time I was and it came up for both of us as available, but they hit confirm before I did. So... by trying to push our FP+ earlier to get to a 4th faster, I wound up making us worse off that day. Of course, to make me feel better, the CM said- "Don't feel bad there weren't any TT available even at park opening today anyway, and I haven't really seen any pop up today either".


Also be aware that if you try to change attractions, it will look like it is going to give you a FP+ for the same time, BUT when you confirm it does not. When you change attractions it just shows you all the attractions that are still available at ANY time that day for a FP+, but does not let you know what time they are available for. When you hit confirm, it assigns you the earliest time, which might be at 8:00 that night. You think you are getting one for 10:00 a.m., but then when you hit confirm, you suddenly have one at 8:00 p.m. instead. As I stated above, we made that mistake it trying to fix the problem that the "glitch" originally caused, and the next thing we knew we wound up with a FP+ at 6:20 p.m.- in the place of our FP+ that was originally set for 10:00 a.m. before I started making any changes!