FP Times to Target for Rope Droppers

[ekms]

My family and I are avid rope droppers and will take advantage of morning EMHs. We have a week-long trip planned for late August, we have park hoppers, and we will be staying at GF. We plan to stay in the parks from the morning until about 1:00pm, take a break at the resort at the hottest part of the day, and then return to the parks around 5:00pm for QS dinner and a few rides until about 8:00pm.

My 60 day mark is approaching, and I'm thinking about three different strategies:
(1) Book FPs as early as possible in the day: use the first FP at 10am, then move the others earlier as soon as we tap in, and attempt for add-on FPs until we leave the park in the afternoon. At that time, we will reserve one last fast pass for the evening. This strategy means that we're using FPs when the park isn't that crowded and may mean our afternoon/evening touring is more difficult, as we'll be limited by the FPs we can get. But, it may also mean that we can get more FPs throughout the day, reducing our wait times overall.

(2) Book FPs for early afternoon until 1pm: Tour the park while it's less crowded in the morning and schedule FPs for when the park starts to get busy (11:00am-1:00pm). By the time our FPs are used, booking additional FPs for the afternoon might be challenging, but we can still grab one for the evening. This will reduce the number of FPs we can get during the day, with likely only securing on FP for the evening when we return.

(3) Book all three FPs in the evening: Tour the park while it's less crowded in the morning until it gets too busy to stay. Save all our FPs for the evening, so that we have our FPs for when the park is still relatively busy (i.e., 5:00 - 8:00pm). This will make evenings more enjoyable and limit wait times, particularly when we're tired.

I've seen these strategies discussed, but I'm wondering what early risers see as the best option, particularly when EMH are in play.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We are doing a mix of 1 and 3 in September. We like to have days where we start FP at 9am and bang them out all day at MK.

We plan on trying for FoP and Slinky on a couple of evenings, so that limits us obviously.

I love having FP pre-booked, but I really hate figuring it out! It's a complicated puzzle, especially when beating the heat is also a factor.

 

[DizneyMommy]

We are doing a mix too. Some days it makes more sense to get them done so we can try for 4th and 5th, and some days we want to save them for our afternoon park and RD the morning!

 

[saraheliz]

I'd do somewhere between 1 and 2. I'd start around 10:30, aim for a 10:30-11:30, 11:30-12:30, 12:30-1:30. Use your first one as soon as the lines start to kick up- if that's at 10:30, then use and try to scoot the others earlier and if if you can scoot them up as you tap in, great, then you may get a couple of extra rides in there with FP. If SB lines are still reasonable, wait until closer to 11:30 and then do FP 1 and FP 2 right in a row, and either scoot #3 up or grab lunch before it. As soon as you tap#3, you can look and see if there's a #4 you can use on the way out of the park. If not, then just book for when you get back in the evening.

 

[SarahC97]

Personally, when we rope drop we start fastpasses at 10 or so, then try to get as many as possible throughout the day. We've been very successful getting almost all the fastpasses we want during even very busy times.

 

[kniquy]

I have done the rope drop with a mix of 1 and 2. Our last trip we did MK for RD twice and were able to accomplish quite a bit when we did. We scheduled FP starting at 9:45 so that we really had until 10:30 to really hit the ride so in that hour and a half time from RD to when we hit our first FP there were pretty short lines. We had an afternoon FP for splash, but ended riding it twice in the AM so cancelled and changed that FP. We did 2 morning FP so 9:45 and 10:45 then the next wasn't until 12:45 - so that we could have lunch and then have our ride to hit and then leave the park after that FP. Once we were back at the resort for the afternoon I selected an evening FP. You do want to build in some time for lunch or just some shops and not feel like you are running from one FP to the next. You will be surprised what you can accomplish going at RD. IT is worth is and I think can make the rest of your day a bit more relaxed. Do try to plot out on a map your FP selections because if you are planning on lunch in a certain location you don't want to be trekking across the park to hit a FP.

 

[JETSDAD]

We go with 1. With some refreshing you should be able to continue to get additional FP's even at the 2nd park.

 

[PSUGuy]

By now we know which rides in which parks we can walk on at RD so we time our FP+ choices around those. For instance at MK we do Space Mtn and Buzz with little wait and we're usually boarding Peolpe Mover at 9:30 so we'll schedule Mine Ride for 9:10 - 10:10. We stroll over there and by the time that ride is over our next window is open. We'll either do #2 immediately or squeeze in a ride or 2 if crowds permit. Once we do our 3rd I grab what I can for Epcot as we're there for Food&Wine and hop to WS every afternoon except for Sat.

At AK we FP FoP but walk on Safari first, at DHS we'll be walking on TSMM and FPing Slinky and at Epcot we walk on Soarin' and FP TT.

Bill From PA

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

My family and I are avid rope droppers and will take advantage of morning EMHs. We have a week-long trip planned for late August, we have park hoppers, and we will be staying at GF. We plan to stay in the parks from the morning until about 1:00pm, take a break at the resort at the hottest part of the day, and then return to the parks around 5:00pm for QS dinner and a few rides until about 8:00pm.

My 60 day mark is approaching, and I'm thinking about three different strategies:
(1) Book FPs as early as possible in the day: use the first FP at 10am, then move the others earlier as soon as we tap in, and attempt for add-on FPs until we leave the park in the afternoon. At that time, we will reserve one last fast pass for the evening. This strategy means that we're using FPs when the park isn't that crowded and may mean our afternoon/evening touring is more difficult, as we'll be limited by the FPs we can get. But, it may also mean that we can get more FPs throughout the day, reducing our wait times overall.

(2) Book FPs for early afternoon until 1pm: Tour the park while it's less crowded in the morning and schedule FPs for when the park starts to get busy (11:00am-1:00pm). By the time our FPs are used, booking additional FPs for the afternoon might be challenging, but we can still grab one for the evening. This will reduce the number of FPs we can get during the day, with likely only securing on FP for the evening when we return.

(3) Book all three FPs in the evening: Tour the park while it's less crowded in the morning until it gets too busy to stay. Save all our FPs for the evening, so that we have our FPs for when the park is still relatively busy (i.e., 5:00 - 8:00pm). This will make evenings more enjoyable and limit wait times, particularly when we're tired.

I've seen these strategies discussed, but I'm wondering what early risers see as the best option, particularly when EMH are in play.

We are big rope droppers too since our trips aren't very long, we have to maximize our time. But we usually don't hop so we will do a late morning FP+ - a midday FP+ after lunch and then another one right after and then nab some more after our third.

If we do hop, which we don't usually, we do option #2 and as soon as we've ridden our last ride at that park, we book a FP+ for the next park stop. Most times, I think it's a waste to book FP early in the day (before 11am) especially if you're rope dropping.

 

[HHMcG]

We do #2. I am just not good at finding FPs on the fly. (We are a family of 5 which makes it a touch harder.) It makes us feel like we are rushing back and forth all over the park because that was the FPs I could get, instead of just riding what we want.

 

[MomOTwins]

We did #2 last time an hated it, so YMMV. What we did not like about it was that we had to hit a specific set of rides first thing (the Mountains, Jungle Cruise, Buzz lightyear etc.) to get on them before they got busy, so were rushing around the park all morning instead of leisurely wandering land to land and mixing it up between attractions and shows and other entertainment. Then it was super hot in early afternoon but we had to stick around when we would rather have just gone back to our hotel because we had wait around for that mid-afternoon 7DMT FP. I feel like I would have the same problem for #3 because I would have to ride standby all day and not enjoy it as much.

To be honest, it may be that we were just "bad" at doing #2 and did it wrong. But on every other trip we did #1, and loved it. We toured our first three FPs in the morning interspersed with a couple of stand-by rides, characters, or shows in between our FP windows. We had gone through our first FPs by shortly after 11, and could then ride FPs continuously back-to-back without waiting in a single standby because there are always plenty of 4th, 5th, 6th etc FPs to be had on rides other than the main headliners (and sometimes even the headliners). Much preferred #1 as meant we could FP almost everything instead of rushing between standby lines worried getting to them before the lines got crazy.

 

[Roxyfire]

I like to do a combination of #1 and #2. Basically if it's hot, I set the first one for between 9:45 and 10:15 and each hour afterward (11:15 and 12:15 for example) with the last two being attractions that are near each other. So, for example in MK the first one might be Space Mountain (for a second or third ride on it after low opening time waits). We'd tap in there close to the end of the window, then grab some QS lunch or do Sorcerer's Portals until toward the end of the second window, like toward 12 pm. Then tap into the second (for example Big Thunder) and the third right after when that window is open (Splash for example). At which point we can try to grab another one immediately after tapping in or find one for our evening park and go for a swim break at the resort. I do ones that are a longer experience time last so that the timing is better. Often times if we're at Splash we can hit Pirates on the way out if I've got a good refresh game going on.

 

[shanew21]

We always do strategy 1 and book more FPs throughout the day. We usually rope drop 1 or 2 rides, then get our fastpasses done very quickly so we can start making more.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When we did late August last trip I did option 3 everyday. It worked out GREAT! Crowds weren't awful and we did midday breaks each day. Since it was so hot we hit RD everyday and rode so much. One morning in HS we rode ToT and RnRC about 5 times each, plus a ride or two on TSM by 10:30 am. Then hit Epcot for lunch and back to DHS that evening with FP+. Right after Fantasmic! we rode TSM about 3 times in 20 minutes.

Next trip is Jersey Week and we have a mix of all 3 options depending on the day.

 

[Figment&Piglet]

We have always consistently done #2, riding popular attractions at RD (usually using a custom touring plan) and saving others for FPs that we usually book back to back for 10-1 or 11-2 or so, with other, less popular attractions between. By then we are ready to go back to our room and we grab one more for later in the evening after dinner but b4 whatever nighttime show is there.

That said, with all the talk of “refreshing” and the descriptions above about how people use FPs from RD throughout the day for almost everything, I wouldn't be averse to trying #1 either to see if its more effective. And #3 only has appeal to me if we are planning to enter the park late, say on arrival day or after a pool day.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Combo of 1 and 3.

For your trip in August, it's gonna be hot—maybe not thick of summer hot, but definitely pretty darn hot. I'd recommend getting everything done in the morning; going back to your resort to relax; then back to the park at night.

If you have a hopper, booking nighttime FP+'s allows you to do 2 parks in one day. Go early in the AM and crank out Tomorrowland: start with Space Mountain, then Buzz, then Peoplemover, grab some photos in front of the castle, then play it by ear depending on ride wait times. Finish up with the parade at 12, then head out.

We personally go during Christmas. The problem we often run into with afternoon FP+s is that we finally get a nice pool day, and we've got a FP+ for BTMRR or 7DMT at 2pm. Now we try and keep everything early and get out of the park by 12 or 1 so we have "open" time for the pool.

 

[Roxyfire]

We have always consistently done #2, riding popular attractions at RD (usually using a custom touring plan) and saving others for FPs that we usually book back to back for 10-1 or 11-2 or so, with other, less popular attractions between. By then we are ready to go back to our room and we grab one more for later in the evening after dinner but b4 whatever nighttime show is there.

That said, with all the talk of “refreshing” and the descriptions above about how people use FPs from RD throughout the day for almost everything, I wouldn't be averse to trying #1 either to see if its more effective. And #3 only has appeal to me if we are planning to enter the park late, say on arrival day or after a pool day.

Yes #3 is arrival day, for us anyway. The deciding factor is how big is your group. We only have 2 so constantly searching for more FP+ is pretty easy. I can pick one that's acceptable and work to further modify to get a better time or better attraction, or both. Often times this is accomplished while I'm waiting in the current FP line or while waiting on something else. The only thing I tried for that we didn't see pop up with FoP but I was not as concerned about that since we had 2 for that attraction anyway.

 

[Beer Me]

We try to do 1. The exception is if a hard to get fp is only available later in the day. Even then I'll use the app to try to make it earlier. If you're fp attraction has a very short wait ride stand by and change the fp to something else. Rinse , repeat.

 

[Rich M]

We do #3 every visit. We rope drop and usually have no waits or very minimal waits that we can handle in the weather. In the afternoon we like to take a break and I am not standing in any line including the FP line in that heat. I love going back to the park at night and have my FP already arranged and ready to go. This works best for us for sure and will be doing the same thing for our trip in October.

 

[mastermind307]

On our trip, we roped dropped almost every day including 2 AM EMH. I booked our FP+ beginning around 9:30-10. From park open until the end of our first FP+ time we'd get a lot accomplished. We'd do our first FP+ at the end of the window and when we were done it was time for our second FP+. Then we'd hit a couple less popular attractions or grab a snack until it was time for our third. And then as soon as we scanned our third FP+, I'd get on the app and get a 4th and so on. That plan worked really well for MK, there were a lot of choices available.

On the morning we went to AM EMH at MK, I booked our FP+ for AK later that day. We were only at MK from 8-10 so there was no need to use our FP+ selections there.

And I learned that just because you plan ahead and know what times you want your FP+ to be, doesn't mean those times will be available. Take whatever times you can get if you're trying the more popular rides (FOP, 7DMT, and I imagine the new Toy Story Land rides) and then keep trying to modify them.