Help me with FP strategy for upcoming August trip, please

[bjs1228]

Hi everyone. Love this board & read as much as I can. We are going August 6-12th for our 4th consecutive trip. I had never been to Disney until I was 40 & now I just cannot get enough! Our kids are 14, 12 & 9. We have been before in March twice & May once. This year we could only fit in a trip if we went in August. I am use to Arkansas summers and humidity so I know what hot is and understand that it will be really miserable in the afternoons, especially. So.... how to make FP+ selections with the crowds and summer heat in mind? We are rope dropers who love to ride things like Splash and BTMR as many times as we can. We typically stay in the park ALL day but know that we will probably want to take a break in the afternoon this trip. Is it best for us to hit rope drop and make fast pass selections for later in the afternoon when we come back from a break? I know that this won't allow us to get those additional fast passes as early, but our friend just returned and said there really weren't many additional ones available for the headliners. Is this accurate? Thanks for reading and any advice would be appreciated. Oh, here are the days we are in the parks:
Wed- Mk partial day; Thurs- Epcot; Friday- HS; Sat- AK; Sun- Mk partial day; Monday- undecided & Tuesday- MK partial day
Brenda

 

[kmb584]

I would hit RD and either schedule FP+ for later in the afternoon or schedule them for the 11-12p, 12-1p, 1-2p time slots. By going the route of the second option you'll be using your 3 FP+ selections prior to leaving for an afternoon break thus freeing up those late afternoon and evening hours for a 4th+ selection immediately upon returning to the park. You could even book that 4th one before leaving for your break and know it's waiting for you when you return. In May the only attractions we weren't able to schedule for an additional FP+ were Toy Story and Soarin' though the headliner availability may be decreasing now due to the summer crowds rolling in.

 

[bjs1228]

Thanks for your reply. Still mulling it all over!

 

[maryj11]

Yes most of the fastpasses for headliners will be gone by afternoon. We did manage to get a Soarin for 7:45-8:45pm when we tried around 3:00 this past week but HS was not very crowded that day.

 

[Chumpson]

My plan is as follows...
Rope drop without FPs, gat as much done as we can until we feel he need to break because of heat or lines. Then head back for naps, pool, lunch and possibly early dinner. Then return and do our FPs and evening touring. I'm not sure how much we will get done, but I know, being from Oregon, we need to get out of the parks for awhile to have a FUN vacation.