Fp strategy easter week

[kenny]

Going Easter to following Sunday.

Given the crowds is it better to schedule early FP and then take secondary rides with 4th FP or schedule later or 2nd park FP and go early and ride standby ?

 

[davkata]

I can only comment on our experience last year during President's week which is also very high crowds. We did rope drop or EMH RD every morning at one park. We then took a mid-day break and would hop to another park where our 3 FP+ were booked starting around 4 or later. Once done there, we even hopped to MK some nights as it was open until 1 am most of the week. Using this strategy, we hit all the headliners multiple times during our 5 days there. I did not pay attention to which parks were "recommended" each day as it was 9/10 all week anyway. If there were EMH morning hours, that is the park we chose, if not, we picked the park that either opened the earliest or whichever one we wanted to based on our other plans. We did use evening EMH too, but they really didn't seem to make a difference in dropping crowd levels or ride wait times.

 

[wisblue]

I completely agree with davkata.

We will be visiting from the day before Easter to the following Saturday so our FP window opens Monday night. We plan to make late afternoon/ early evening FPs (except for early ones on departure day) and take advantage of the mornings to do things with shorter waits. We will probably be out of the parks in the middle of the day most days.

We are expecting, or at least hoping, based on recent years that the 8 AM EMH at MK every day through Friday the 10th will be changed to 7 AM. If they do, we will be able to do a lot of things before 10 or 11 AM with short waits.

IMHO, if you use up your FPs earlier you will be using at least some of them when standby lines aren't that long and then the selection for 4th FPs may be sketchy.

By making FP+ reservations for later we will be using them to bypass standby lines that will undoubtedly be long.

 

[kenny]

I completely agree with davkata. We will be visiting from the day before Easter to the following Saturday so our FP window opens Monday night. We plan to make late afternoon/ early evening FPs (except for early ones on departure day) and take advantage of the mornings to do things with shorter waits. We will probably be out of the parks in the middle of the day most days. We are expecting, or at least hoping, based on recent years that the 8 AM EMH at MK every day through Friday the 10th will be changed to 7 AM. If they do, we will be able to do a lot of things before 10 or 11 AM with short waits. IMHO, if you use up your FPs earlier you will be using at least some of them when standby lines aren't that long and then the selection for 4th FPs may be sketchy. By making FP+ reservations for later we will be using them to bypass standby lines that will undoubtedly be long.

But the flip side to that is use FP early on headliners then 4th and 5th fp later in day on 2nd tier rides like pirates, HM, buzz etc

 

[allmydisneydreams]

Any idea when that time change would be made? We went two years ago the the 7 AM EMH and loved it !

 

[davkata]

But the flip side to that is use FP early on headliners then 4th and 5th fp later in day on 2nd tier rides like pirates, HM, buzz etc

This may work at MK if you are not picky about your 4th, 5th, etc. options, but from what I have read on here, it is a crap shoot on what will be left at the other parks as there are less rides to begin with at them. I guess it would depend on which rides are "must do" for your group. I just know that RD'ing headliners and then using FP+ for those same rides on a different day in the afternoon guaranteed us multiple rides on our favorites which happened to be headliners.

 

[wisblue]

But the flip side to that is use FP early on headliners then 4th and 5th fp later in day on 2nd tier rides like pirates, HM, buzz etc

That can make sense if you plan to be in the park all day, but as far as I'm concerned you will be taking a chance as to what will be available for those extra FPs and how long the kiosk lines will be to get them.

The way we approach 7 AM EMH at the MK we will be doing 7DMT, Space, Buzz, BTMRR, Splash, POC, HM, Jungle Cruise, and maybe a few other quick rides in Fantasyland before 10-10:30, all without using any FPs. Then we'll use our FPs later in the day, probably at another park, when standby lines will be long all over for any major attraction.

But, it's a matter of choice and style.

 

[wisblue]

Any idea when that time change would be made? We went two years ago the the 7 AM EMH and loved it !

The last few years the expanded hours seem to be announced in February. We're going to be disappointed if they don't do that again this year.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

Thanks - Is there any expectation that MK might stay open later than the posted 11:00?

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm thinking it will be changed to 8-12 for most of those days, with a 7A EMH daily. But, we'll have to wait and see.

For Christmas, we tended to put our FP+ earlier in the day, just because the crowds tended to amp up quickly. We didn't really bother with "extra" FPs, and didn't even always need all three that we reserved. But, we were also there mostly for the holiday stuff, so the rides were a bit of an afterthought. I'm going back the same time as OP, and plan to follow a similar strategy.

 

[rwdavis2]

I can only comment on our experience last year during President's week which is also very high crowds. We did rope drop or EMH RD every morning at one park. We then took a mid-day break and would hop to another park where our 3 FP+ were booked starting around 4 or later. Once done there, we even hopped to MK some nights as it was open until 1 am most of the week. Using this strategy, we hit all the headliners multiple times during our 5 days there....

This is exactly how we plan to use it when we finally go back. IMHO, that's the best way to use it. Assuming you do rope drop. Even if you don't it's good for reserving rides to the park you get to later in the morning. By mid morning some rides would have 8 hour or more return times with the old FP system.

 

[kenny]

The late FP is what I would normally lean towards as we usually close the park and have a hard time getting there early.

Agreed my 4th 5th strategy really only works at MK. At other parks will be using FP at least a few days. Going for 10 days do hitting every park multiple times

We at MK and Epcot people so that is where we will spend most of our time. Right now our plan has most of our MK time at night so may split my time there and do some days FP at night there and some early day at other parks and do 2nd tier MK at night

Miss the old FP days. Outside of soarin and toy story not in to planning my rides now