Heading to WDW for First time. Need Help From DLR Vets.

[HydroGuy]

So basically you mean I have to have ACTUALLY used 3 FP before I can book a tier 1. And if I cancel my 3rd FP i will need to have booked another Tier 2 AND used it before I can book a tier 1 again?

Yes sort of. There are tricks even here and you need to read the other WDW sticky thread on this: https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...al-tier-1-booking-anytime-fps-cl-fps.3538258/

In brief summary, what you can do is book your low tier FPs on non-desired rides physically near the top tier ride, walk up to the non-desired ride, swipe your MagicBand (MB) then just leave without riding. Then you can bump up your other FPs. E.g., make Tier 1 FP at 9-10AM, then Tier 2 at 10-11AM and 11AM-12PM. Ride Tier 1, bump up FP #2 in time (which is easy because it is a low demand FP) tap the MB and leave, bump up FP #3 in time, tap FP #3 and then you are good to make FP #4 on a Tier 1 ride. Maybe as early as 10AM.

 

[Drew Perri]

For me I typically would book FPs at 9-10, 10-11 and 11-12. And I would try and hit #3 right on the dot (actually 5 minutes early) at 10:55AM. As soon as I scan my MagicBand (MB) for the FP, and am walking to the ride, and before I get on the ride, if possible, I make another FP reservation for a #4. I have had great luck with this strategy on getting FPs for everything except the top 1 or 2 rides in the entire resort.

So in that case should I just book the 3 soonest things possible everyday and not worry about what it is for?

 

[HydroGuy]

We are debating renting a car since we will be there 7 days, we only intend on park hopping from 1 park to another and doing half days at each, and only really doing that 2 or 3 times, the hopper was only an extra 58 dollars i think for me to get it so we said why the heck not.

If we did rent said car, does parking in 1 park cover parking in the next, and is this worth it in general? Does it cut the time down that hopping can take?

I have never understood why anyone would rent a car at WDW and use that to get around. If you had a car, I would park it somewhere and use Disney transportation. Folks at TouringPlans have done studies and cars do not give you any real advantage. I like being free from a car. If I really need to get somewhere fast I Uber.

How would you rate the parks. Up until a year to so ago, I would have probably never gone to EPCOT or AK, but I have done so much research and watched videos that I am so excited for EPCOT...AK still not so much BUT i REALLY wanna ride EE and im excited to see how similar Dinosaur really is to Indy

That is a hard one. Most DLR vets find Epcot non-Disney and kind of boring. At first. It is an acquired taste for most including me.

For me MK still has been tops.

Until last year I would have had DHS as my second favorite park. I just loved the feel of that park even though it had limited things to do. Now it is a whole new thing with TSL and SWGE coming. I don't know anymore what to say but once SWGE opens I think DHS will be my #2. They have taken out so many things. I thought the LMA car show was just so good and perfect for DHS. Now they are talking about taking out the Indy show.

For me AK would be #2 as of right now.

DHS would probably be #3 now

And Epcot would be #4.

But I like Epcot and would be sad to miss it on a trip.

 

[HydroGuy]

We go to WDW about once a year

Stay at a disney resort, economy is fine
No car, take the busses
Stay longer, after 4 days it's like $10 a day
Slow down, there is a lot to see, do not kill yourself trying to do it all
Get fast passes and restaurant reservations
Go late at night, most people go for the open and drop out by 9
Disney Springs and the Waterparks are also fun
Get the photo pass
Don't waste time and money going to anything other than disney, you have plenty to see on a first trip
Do not get freaked out by rain, they don't seem to mind, and rain means buckets

Totally agree here, except I cannot make myself arrive late after RD unless it is a day I plan for resting.

 

[HydroGuy]

As a WDW veteran that hasn’t made 2 trips to DL, I can add a couple observations about going to WDW. First off, if you are staying on property I would not put much value in extra magic hours — they are awesome in California, but in Florida we’ve found ourselves heading to parks without that option (especially morning). Just simply too many hotels enjoying the perk.

I agree 100%

Don’t buy into the idea that AK is a half day park — it is absolutely stunning, filled with so many nooks and crannies to explore, and some of the best shows at WDW.

I agree 100% again. This has become true in spades since they opened Pandora in 2017, but even before that we usually needed 1.5 days for AK. FOTLK is my favorite show at all of WDW aside from some of the night shows.

Park hopping to Epcot for dinner is common.

LOL IMO the only decent reason to park hop at WDW! But all the other parks have good food options and park hopping is not required.

AOh, do Blizzard Beach or Typhoon lagoon for half a day and then head over to DIsney Springs for dinner one day.

Especially on longer trips of 6 days or more, this is a great idea for a down day / rest day.

And, consider touring some of the wonderful resorts when crowds get to thick.

Yah, think GCH hotels times 10. Also most have some nice dining and you can couple a hotel visit with a nice meal.

 

[HydroGuy]

So in that case should I just book the 3 soonest things possible everyday and not worry about what it is for?

No, not usually. It depends though. Usually I make FP #1-3 on the best rides I can get during the morning times. Also once you make the FPs, folks still cancel top rides so if you have time keep an eye on MDE and change your FPs by canceling previous ones and changing to new ones.

 

[Drew Perri]

No, not usually. It depends though. Usually I make FP #1-3 on the best rides I can get during the morning times. Also once you make the FPs, folks still cancel top rides so if you have time keep an eye on MDE and change your FPs by canceling previous ones and changing to new ones.

And, consider touring some of the wonderful resorts when crowds get to thick. Did I mention bring really great shoes? And, prepare by walking 5 miles or more a few times before you go? Have Fun!

Definitely kind of a humble brag here but Feb 15th - 25th i will be with my fiancee at disneyland for our 2019 vacation since we bought APs last time we were there in OCT, this WDW trip is a spontaneous last minute invite from a very good friend of mine to tag along on his family vaca since his wife couldn't go for personal reasons and he already bought the plane ticket and park tickets.

i noticed by day 4 or 5 last time we did 10 day at DL my feet stopped hurting as bad, so I imagine they will be some what used to the heavy work load by then lol

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Definitely kind of a humble brag here but Feb 15th - 25th i will be with my fiancee at disneyland for our 2019 vacation...

Welcome back to you and your fiancee! Keep a close eye on the weather reports for DLR. February has gotten off to a wet start here, and DLR has even had to shorten their hours on a day or two. Wet days in the parks can be really fun in an unexpected sort of way, but only if you are dressed appropriately for the weather. (And sloshing around in a trash bag or cheap poncho -- same difference -- and wet tennis shoes does not count at all!) Along the lines of your post topic: DLR rain is not the same as WDW rain. See this thread: Can we chat rain?.

 

[Aladora]

basically a few of the things i had questions about as far as strategy were:

1) If the morning times are already pretty much booked up for 2 of the 3 rides we want to book, is it better to instead book them early afternoon, lets say 12, 1 and 2 and then rope drop at a different park early and then park hop to that one?

2) I know there is a trick to manipulate fastpass times but going into modify and then going out and doing this many times until u find something closer to the time you'd like, i was able to get this done a few times, but it doesnt seem as easy as some youtube tip videos make it out to be, it took me about 20 mins and about 25 attempts to get Space mountain from 12:45 to 11:35, but what about doing this trick to snatch up a fastpass for a ride such as 7DMT or Slinky dog thats already sold out, I thought I heard this was possible

3) To continue with the last bulletin, i know that once you use all 3 FP+ you can start picking freely almost like with Maxpass, but on day of, what realistically is open to choose from? If rides like Toy Story, and Aerosmith Big thunder ETC are already booked up until afternoon 30 days out, wont they be sold out by day of? I read sometimes if your 3rd FP is much further out than you would like that canceling it entirely is the best option so you can start booking freely quicker

Thats all i could think of for now, Im sure as my planning gets more in depth I will have more

thank you in advance

Also Trip dates March 1st -8th (leaving the 8th, no park that day)

We are debating renting a car since we will be there 7 days, we only intend on park hopping from 1 park to another and doing half days at each, and only really doing that 2 or 3 times, the hopper was only an extra 58 dollars i think for me to get it so we said why the heck not.

If we did rent said car, does parking in 1 park cover parking in the next, and is this worth it in general? Does it cut the time down that hopping can take?

also to both responders that took the time to respond in such detail, thank you so much.


How would you rate the parks. Up until a year to so ago, I would have probably never gone to EPCOT or AK, but I have done so much research and watched videos that I am so excited for EPCOT...AK still not so much BUT i REALLY wanna ride EE and im excited to see how similar Dinosaur really is to Indy

We are DL vets who have been to WDW twice.

My thoughts in no particular order and I am sorry for repeating what others have said!

On our first trip we planned for 6 park days (6 day ticket, without hopper) and anticipated doing 1 each at AK and EP and 2 each at HS and MK. We ended up doing a total 180 and spent 2 days at AK and EP and only 1 day at the other two. Having said that, this was before TSL and Pandora.

For our second trip, we got 7 day no hopper tickets and we booked MNSSHP for one of our non-park days. That was we were able to go to each park twice. Since you already have park hoppers, my thoughts on whether or not they are useful are irrelevant!

We did not bother renting a car so I have no input on this.

We stayed onsite so we were able to book FP+ at 60 days and I was able to get everything we wanted, if not always at the exact times we preferred. I picked what park we were going to go to on each of our days and then made a list of the rides we wanted to go to in each park, in order of priority. Then I started with our top priority and worked around that. Some of the time I had to book later in the day than I wanted (I'm looking at you, FOP!) but after I had everything booked, then I went back and tried to move things around so that they were as early as possible. If there are rides that you really want to go on, then book whatever time you can get right now. After that, you can look at moving things but at least you have locked in your priorities.

How do we rate the parks?

Well, I put it like this: as a whole, my favourite group of parks is Disneyland but my favourite single park is AK.

I love, love, love AK and even more so now with Pandora. My family is originally from South Africa so AK really reminds me of visiting my grandparents when I was young. There is almost nothing about AK that I dislike...well, RoL is not my favourite nighttime show I guess.

We tend to gloss over a lot of MK since there are so many similarities to DL.

HS is better now with TSL but on our first trip it was not even a full day park for us.

Epcot was one that took us all by surprise, I didn't think we would love it as much as we all did.

 

[siskaren]

Yes.
You'll have to go from HS to the TTC and then take a bus to AK. OR pay for a couple of Minnie Vans to take your group there directly.

This is incorrect - there are direct buses between all parks (except for MK and Epcot, which has the monorail). The only buses at the TTC are for offsite hotels.

 

[ktlm]

How does the refresh trick work if the ride says out of FP. Do i just keep refreshing until it shows available. I thought you had to be able to book a time slot period. And then modify it.


Is there any chance of getting slinky dog or 7DMT same day? Im not worried about flight of passage because unfortunately everyone ive seen who is my build 6'3 350lb says its not fit for bigger guys who are also tall.

Book any ride for a FP+ then you go in and try to modify that FP to a ride you want. I would book just anything several hours away and then start trying to modify it to get the ride I wanted. I would grab any time that came up as I was trying to modify for the ride I wanted, and then I would start working on modifying to a better time, if I wanted a different time. It is pretty easy once you start playing with it. I would do it while I was in line for other things-- or when we were sitting at a table eating.

I had no luck getting Slinky Dog for the same day. I have gotten 7DMT on the same day before.

I would not give up on FOP yet. I think they have made adjustments since all of the initial reports out there. Also, the CMs have reportedly gotten a lot better at positioning guests so that the restraints fit. I've seen reports of people that are your size that are able to ride. There is a test vehicle outside of FOP. I would definitely try that before you totally give up on it. Also, the test seat was not modified so there are people who don't fit in the test seat that easily fit on the ride. I think a lot of it depends on where you carry the weight and your calve size and lower leg length. I have seen at least one you tube video on tricks about getting it to fit. It is like sitting on a motorcycle, but it has to clasp onto the lower legs and the back. Don't flat foot--be on your toes and get your knees as far in as you can. Also sit up straight- that helps get the back restraint to click. It is definitely a good enough ride that it is worth a try.

 

[longboard55]

We were at the four last season last trip and had to use a lot of uber and lyft, it was OK, you could get a car pretty quick, but the issue is the drop off / pick up spots were not very good. The one at disney springs was way past cirque. I would have rather waited for a bus.

 

[Drew Perri]

Does anyone know if you can apply the price of your Sig Pass and a 7 day ticket you just bought to WDW to instead get the Premier Passport?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Does anyone know if you can apply the price of your Sig Pass and a 7 day ticket you just bought to WDW to instead get the Premier Passport?

Call the AP Hotline (number on the back of your AP) and Guest Services to compare their answers. Remember that there will be tax on the FL part of your Premiere AP. And with the recent price increase, do the math (always!) to make sure that even with your upcoming FL trip, that upgrading now would be to your best advantage.

 

[crvetter]

Does anyone know if you can apply the price of your Sig Pass and a 7 day ticket you just bought to WDW to instead get the Premier Passport?

Premier Passports are something most cast members are not aware of. When I went to the park to purchase (once at WDW and once at DL) it seemed that didn’t know much about it. However, my first time they did allow me to upgrade my WDW AP and Disneyland Tickets to a premier passport. Essentially they cancelled the Disneyland tickets and gave me their cash value and finally did the upgrade taking the cash back.

You can not do anything about getting the Premier Passport but at the parks and all renewals must take place at the parks. Also I think the Premier is cheaper at DL because of the tourism tax at WDW.

Also remember it will carry the same expiration as you current DL AP.

 

[crvetter]

basically a few of the things i had questions about as far as strategy were:

1) If the morning times are already pretty much booked up for 2 of the 3 rides we want to book, is it better to instead book them early afternoon, lets say 12, 1 and 2 and then rope drop at a different park early and then park hop to that one?

2) I know there is a trick to manipulate fastpass times but going into modify and then going out and doing this many times until u find something closer to the time you'd like, i was able to get this done a few times, but it doesnt seem as easy as some youtube tip videos make it out to be, it took me about 20 mins and about 25 attempts to get Space mountain from 12:45 to 11:35, but what about doing this trick to snatch up a fastpass for a ride such as 7DMT or Slinky dog thats already sold out, I thought I heard this was possible

3) To continue with the last bulletin, i know that once you use all 3 FP+ you can start picking freely almost like with Maxpass, but on day of, what realistically is open to choose from? If rides like Toy Story, and Aerosmith Big thunder ETC are already booked up until afternoon 30 days out, wont they be sold out by day of? I read sometimes if your 3rd FP is much further out than you would like that canceling it entirely is the best option so you can start booking freely quicker

Thats all i could think of for now, Im sure as my planning gets more in depth I will have more

thank you in advance

Also Trip dates March 1st -8th (leaving the 8th, no park that day)

So I’m not Disneyland Vet as I have only been 5 or so times (just on this Board for info for my next visit in Sept) but I’m very much a WDW Vet with 35+ weekly visits. I feel like I can provide some clarity on your above questions.

1) I 100% do this on purpose even when a desired Fastpass has availability in the morning. While you should budget 30-45 mins to get between parks it is worth it to rope drop a park to ride those rides first. Depending on the rides and parks you should expect to get there 30-60 mins before open. Getting there means waiting at the gates. WDW is known to open the popular rides before park open especially during busy seasons. I’ve ridden FOP 20 mins before official park open and was in line 50 mins before open. By 30 mins before open the line was already being marketed as 1.5 hours.

As for transportation between parks sometimes it’s easier to hop busses to resorts. When trying to get to Epcot from any park it is just as easily to take a bus to Beach Club, Swan/Dolphin, or Boardwalk and enter the International Gate (you can walk to HS from these hotels but it’s about 15-20 min walk). As for getting to Magic Kingdom busses to Contemporary (walk 10 mins) or Polynesian (walk 10-15 mins to TTC) are super convenient also. Just really gauge it on the lines on which routes to go.

2) This is a trick you should practice. However, I wouldn’t consider it manipulating Fastpass times as Fastpass+ is an actively monitored system (met the main programmer once for it at the park randomly) and searching repeatedly is checking for cancellations prior to the park arrival day. Now I 100% recommend searching throughout the day when at the park because it is actively monitored. So if they need to draw crowds aware from other rides they will/do open Fastpass times during the day when you otherwise thought it was sold out. Fastpass at WDW is very different than DL there is t a set amount given out (except nighttime spectaculars) it’s all based on active capacity at the park (when looking that day, preplanning is based on projected capacities). Remember finding Fastpasses to sold out rides is really more successful day of for the active crowds whereas prior to that day you are mostly trying to catch cancellations. Often times the big rides FOP, slinky, 7 Dwarf are sold out Fastpasses 60+ days. In fact you usually can make them only 64+ days out if preplanning. If you stay on site you make Fastpass reservations 60 days out plus length of stay so that’s why they disappear earlier than 60 days. Also club level guests can buy 3 extra Fastpasses they can make 90 days out.

3) Some rides I’ve gotten day of Thanksgiving week for a party of 4: all of them (yep just takes some patience in looking which I do while waiting in lines). I can’t think of one ride I couldn’t get it. I just actively search during the day since it is an actively monitored system not based on a strict capacity amount. The easier (big ticket rides) to get are HS: Toy Story, Rock’n, Tower of Terror, Beauty and the Beast; AK: Expedition, Kali, Safari, Lion King (amazing show worth doing); MK: everything but 7 Dwarf (not worth anymore that 5-10 min wait IMO); Epcot: everything but Frozen (however this past year I got Frozen twice same day looking day of). I always clump my original 3 Fastpasses together early afternoon (10-11 start times) so I can pick more at a reasonable hour and get good stuff. In general I don’t wait standby lines at WDW unless they are 30 mins or less.

Some general hints do Park Hop never stay in the same park (security is minimal concern as they have large number of lines and without a bag it’s super easy). While some DL vets seem to suggest against this I say do it for food and a set of rides. It’s worth it if you will spend 2-3 hours the next park. I Park Hop especially when I can get good Fastpasses day of. It’s jusy different than DL in that you can’t really Park Hop for 1 rise back and forth. That is my opinion. Avoid parks in the morning that have Extra Morning Magic Hours they will be packed. Epcot has the best food in the parks hands down (all in WS). MK has the worst food (but some great stuff is to be found like Sleepy Hollow, Casey’s Corner, and Friars Nook).

Also while the monorail seems iconic it is often slower transportation. So MK to Epcot they suggest the Monorail sometimes they will run buses direct between the two when busy. Or going to TTC from MK take the Ferry Boat (if a huge line for the monorail) fits a lot of people.

Transportation Map: http://www.wdwfocus.com/img/map/wdw-transport-map-full.png

Transportation Guide: https://wdwprepschool.com/how-to-na...rld-transportation/#Traveling_between_resorts

The guide is super convenient you pick any starting location and ending location it tells you how to get there.

Hopefully that covers a lot. They are two different animals of Resorts and should be treated as such and appreciated as such. Resort hop too. Grand Californian is themed amazingly but know imagine 10-15 (depending who you ask) hotels that are themed just as well. While each hotel at WDW technically have a theme some are not that great. POP, Poly, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Port Orleans French Quarter are some of my favorite. Plus some hotels have amazing food.

 

[longboard55]

Does anyone know if you can apply the price of your Sig Pass and a 7 day ticket you just bought to WDW to instead get the Premier Passport?

Unless things have changed the answer is no. They gave me some story on how WDW and DL were separate accounting so you could not do that

 

[crvetter]

Unless things have changed the answer is no. They gave me some story on how WDW and DL were separate accounting so you could not do that

I upgraded a WDW AP and Disneyland Ticket to Premier Passport (exact opposite of OP). They just returned the Disneyland Ticket to do it. But you definitely can upgrade the AP to Premier Passport (as this is a DL and WDW ticket). The Premier Passport upgrade can only happen at a Guest Services at one of the Parks (and DS) and will require a manager to do it.

Though a call to AP services would be useful. But as seeing that the OP bought the 7 day ticket already it won't hurt to ask at Guest Services once arrived

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Does anyone know if you can apply the price of your Sig Pass and a 7 day ticket you just bought to WDW to instead get the Premier Passport?

I did this exact thing in September. I had a DL Sig+ AP, and a 3 day WDW hopper ticket. I asked at DL if they could upgrade to Premier for me, and the answer was no I had to wait until I was by guest relations at WDW.

When I arrived at WDW, only the guest relations offices at the very front of the park were able to complete the transaction because they need a special card maker apparently. But yes, they took my DL AP, applied the cost of my 3 day hopper, then I just had to pay the difference at the guest relations desk. I tried doing this at the international gateway desk at Epcot, inside Epcot, etc first, but the ladies at the front of the park were finally able to upgrade everything for me.

Also, the process does take a little time. They have to call over to DL and confirm your purchase date, price, etc so I think it took about 25 minutes to complete the the whole transaction. The CM's I interacted with were all great to work with, but save yourself some hassle and go directly to the front of the park office.

 

[Drew Perri]

I did this exact thing in September. I had a DL Sig+ AP, and a 3 day WDW hopper ticket. I asked at DL if they could upgrade to Premier for me, and the answer was no I had to wait until I was by guest relations at WDW.

When I arrived at WDW, only the guest relations offices at the very front of the park were able to complete the transaction because they need a special card maker apparently. But yes, they took my DL AP, applied the cost of my 3 day hopper, then I just had to pay the difference at the guest relations desk. I tried doing this at the international gateway desk at Epcot, inside Epcot, etc first, but the ladies at the front of the park were finally able to upgrade everything for me.

Also, the process does take a little time. They have to call over to DL and confirm your purchase date, price, etc so I think it took about 25 minutes to complete the the whole transaction. The CM's I interacted with were all great to work with, but save yourself some hassle and go directly to the front of the park office.

If I bought my Sig Pass in OCT, does buying this premiere now Mean it also ends in OCT?