Here now fourth FP+ is a mirage

[MaryKatesMom]

Yesterday the only 4th one was Tough to be a bug in the Afternoon after a chase though the park for the kiosk. 3 CM's did not know where they were located. There was a line because you had to pick the attraction first then look for the times. Everything good was long gone and this was at 1pm. We picked Talk to be a bug because it was the only thing available earlier and we didn't waste an afternoon hanging around waiting. CM said they started the day with 10% on Kali.

Day before at Epcot the ONLY thing available by 1 was a late night Maestrom or SE which since we had dinner plans there was fine.

Just tried to change POTC to Splash and only times available are during dinner tonight and the park hasn't opened yet.

So as expected, it is 3 or 4 then out.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Yesterday the only 4th one was Tough to be a bug in the Afternoon after a chase though the park for the kiosk. 3 CM's did not know where they were located. There was a line because you had to pick the attraction first then look for the times. Everything good was long gone and this was at 1pm. We picked Talk to be a bug because it was the only thing available earlier and we didn't waste an afternoon hanging around waiting. CM said they started the day with 10% on Kali.

Day before at Epcot the ONLY thing available by 1 was a late night Maestrom or SE which since we had dinner plans there was fine.

Just tried to change POTC to Splash and only times available are during dinner tonight and the park hasn't opened yet.

So as expected, it is 3 or 4 then out.

IMHO it probably depends on the crowd level in the park that day and what time of day you're trying to get the 4th FP. I checked DHS yesterday and they had FPs available for TSM and RnRC as late as 12:45, which surprised me.

OP, looks like you were at AK yesterday. TP.com projected crowd levels as a 7 but it turned out to be a 9, so high crowds would affect FP availability, for sure.

IMHO as more people learn about the 4th FP, it's going to be tougher to get the 4th one at a high-demand attraction. Nature of the beast, I'm afraid.

 

[mggeary]

Yesterday the only 4th one was Tough to be a bug in the Afternoon after a chase though the park for the kiosk. 3 CM's did not know where they were located. There was a line because you had to pick the attraction first then look for the times. Everything good was long gone and this was at 1pm. We picked Talk to be a bug because it was the only thing available earlier and we didn't waste an afternoon hanging around waiting. CM said they started the day with 10% on Kali.

Day before at Epcot the ONLY thing available by 1 was a late night Maestrom or SE which since we had dinner plans there was fine.

Just tried to change POTC to Splash and only times available are during dinner tonight and the park hasn't opened yet.

So as expected, it is 3 or 4 then out.

It appears as if "extra/afternoon" FP+ availability is even more crowd and season dependent than the old paper FP system, given the higher percentage of people using FP+ vs legacy FP.

You might get the opposite trip report in Sept or Jan of plentiful and immediate 4th FP+ in the afternoon. My guess is summer will be much as you report.

 

[kmb584]

Yesterday the only 4th one was Tough to be a bug in the Afternoon after a chase though the park for the kiosk. 3 CM's did not know where they were located. There was a line because you had to pick the attraction first then look for the times. Everything good was long gone and this was at 1pm. We picked Talk to be a bug because it was the only thing available earlier and we didn't waste an afternoon hanging around waiting. CM said they started the day with 10% on Kali.

Day before at Epcot the ONLY thing available by 1 was a late night Maestrom or SE which since we had dinner plans there was fine.

Just tried to change POTC to Splash and only times available are during dinner tonight and the park hasn't opened yet.

So as expected, it is 3 or 4 then out.

Oh, wow. When we were there in May the only attractions without a 4th FP+ availability were the headliners and even then some of them had times available. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out now that the parks are entering summer season.

 

[jeffbear]

Oh, wow. When we were there in May the only attractions without a 4th FP+ availability were the headliners and even then some of them had times available. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out now that the parks are entering summer season.

Yeah ... that was our experience as well. During our trip in May we were able to add fourth FPs for Space Mtn, Big Thunder, and Test Track in addition to "lesser" attractions. We were not able to add FPs for Toy Story Mania or Soarin' but those were the only two that we tried and struck out on. Splash Mtn was down for most of our trip so we never bothered with that one.

I'm certain that crowd levels are a big factor, but even the Friday before Memorial Day when things were nutso in the MK I was able to add a FP for Space Mtn. right after lunchtime. It was for 10 PM, but whatever.

 

[mcconnellfam96]

Ugh, I don't like hearing these reports. Hoping we will be able to get at least a FEW 4th FPs during our trip next month!

 

[handicap18]

Also keep in mind there aren't as many attractions at Animal Kingdom to choose from so that park will have the hardest time getting extra FP's. Also that park isn't open as late as the other parks so there are less time slots to choose from.

I had no problem moving around fast pass times and getting extra fast passes at MK 2 weeks ago. Granted 2 weeks ago it wasn't as busy as it was now.

 

[Polydweller]

Ugh, I don't like hearing these reports. Hoping we will be able to get at least a FEW 4th FPs during our trip next month!

It's really no different than what would happen with the paper FP. All the FPs for the day for an attraction would be given out by noon so no paper FP would be available. Same thing for FP+, when they're all given out for the day for an attraction there are no more for that day.

What you did with paper FP was move on to another attraction that did have availability and pick up one for that attraction. Again same thing wth FP+.

 

[thevolcanogod]

Day before at Epcot the ONLY thing available by 1 was a late night Maestrom or SE which since we had dinner plans there was fine.

I was there the same day - TT, Soarin, Maelstrom were gone. Mission space was available in the early afternoon but gone shortly thereafter. Many others were also available - Imagination, Nemo, EO, Turtle Talk (was our 4th), Spaceship Earth (was gone by mid-evening tho). Lines were not long tho so we didn't bother with many. We walked on Universe of Energy, Land, Mexico and Nemo. TT standby was 40 mins in the evening.

 

[Meriweather]

We only got a 4th one once (that's all we tried for).
It was DHS on SWW and we got ST at 5:30 for 6:30, so worked well for us.
To be expected I guess. The "good" things go first.

 

[PEC]

We were there this week a year ago. Headliners were gone before lunch with old paper FP. I was tracking this on my phone to know when to get a paper FP conviently. I did luck up and get a TSMM around 1115 with a return time of 8. I remember tracking and normally they were completely gone by 1100. MK should be a little different minus 7DMT and A&E. Lots of options. Busy times have always limited wither the number or quality of FPs.
The only thing I wish now is I could find all the tracking info I did last year with the old FP system. IT would be interesting to compare actual numbers.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I expected it also for the 4th one but I wasn't expecting Splash to be gone BEFORE the park opened.

RD for 7DMT is 60 days out quite a bit longer than Noon day of.

 

[GillianP1301]

My thought on this is the 4th + FP is likely to only be of a real benefit in MK because of the sheer volume of attractions. The other parks just don't have the quantity to be of any real use to people after the initial 3 are done. And it's looking like higher crowds make it even tougher, which was to be expected. I'm not relying too heavily on the 4th+ FP in my touring plans for late August. Crowds are lower then, so it will likely be more fruitful than crowd level 7 and up days, but to me it will be a happy surprise/bonus, at this point.

 

[PEC]

Another factor at MK this week is at night almost all rides are very short waits. If you can stay until park closing of 1 AM (or even 12 AM) the wait times for all but 7DMT go down significantly. The drops are gradual starting around 5 until 9. The ones in Fantasyland minus Peter Pan and 7DMT having the biggest drops. Then big drops happen at 9 (1st MSEP), then 10 (Wishes) and then 11 (2nd MSEP). IF you can stay until one from 11-1 AM you are doing lots of walk on rides.

 

[HM]

I expected it also for the 4th one but I wasn't expecting Splash to be gone BEFORE the park opened.

RD for 7DMT is 60 days out quite a bit longer than Noon day of.

But, how could you even check before park opening? Don't you have to wait for all three to be used and THEN check on a fourth?

 

[Praying Colonel]

At 11:30 am (just about the earliest time a 4th FP could be obtained:

AK: Everything available

DHS: Everything available

EP: No Tier 1 attraction available except LWTL (which is a joke, putting it in Tier 1); All Tier 2 available except M:S

MK: All available except FoF, MSEP, A&E, 7DMT and Wishes

 

[PEC]

Very similar to last year with old Fast Pass. Looking at EPCOT by 1130 your chances of getting a FP for TT or Soarin were decreasing rapidly. The changes to return time for those 2 rides and TSMM looked like one of those National Debt clocks you see going up so rapidly.

 

[Praying Colonel]

At 12:15:

AK: Same as @ 11:30 (everything available) except Safaris now unavailable

DHS: Same as @11:30 (everything available) except TSM now unavailable

EP: Same as @ 11:30 (no Tier 1 attraction available except LWTL, all Tier 2 available except M:S)

MK: Same as @ 11:30 (no FoF, MSEP, A&E, 7DMT and Wishes), except ETWB & Splash now unavailable

 

[DisneyFive]

When the 4th+ FP+ was first implimented, not a lot of people knew about it, so availability was sure to be pretty high.

I'm sure as time goes on, more and more guests are finding out about it, which will make availability less. That may be the case by now.

Dan

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

I also think that the timing of the FP+ system affects availability of the the 4th FP+. In the old system I could get the next FP as soon as the window opened for my current FP - I did not have to wait the full hour for the 2nd FP. So my first three FPs were used in just over an hour (the way we did it, which is now irrelevant) so we would be looking for 4th FPs at 10:30, not 11:30 or 12:30; and I think that makes a huge difference. We had no luck the first week of June moving a 10-11 FP+ earlier when we were done riding our 9-10 FP+ ride at 9:15. Also with the old system late-risers did not affect the system until arrival, but now they can reserve theirs in advance so there are less afternoon FP+s available even at RD. Just my opinion and experience FWIW.
I expect 4th FP+ to be rarely available on crowded days; and when it is available, it will be for something that didn't used to have a line longer than 10 minutes. This is the way it is now and I will accept it for our next trip which is paid except for food. Crowds must be requiring this new reality...
I have a whole spiel here that I deleted before sending - use your imagination