How do you decide about advance fastpasses doing rides together or apart as a group?

Bete

DIS Veteran
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Sep 14, 1999
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This is really bothering me. Our group of 8 will be with great grandsons who will be 8 up to great grandpa being 85.

I keep thinking at least for the three advanced fastpasses that we should pick rides we can do all together as a whole group. I already know it will be possible to do this to a large degree except for roller coaster rides. I could care less what rides we do as long as we get to do them together.

Then, my practical side kicks in with the roller coaster rides having some of the longest ride times and then I think it would be good to split up into two groups, those who can and those who can't or won't do the roller coaster rides.

Also, do you take turns deciding what rides to do with fastpass or does a certain person coordinate and pick all the rides, hopefully considering everyone's needs like medical conditions?
 
I've planned several multi-generational trips. First - unless they are good with Disney (MDE, etc.) and know the rides, I would absolutely 100% recommend one person be the planner. That person books ADRs, FPs, etc. It is overwhelming for non-Disney people to read up on all the things well enough to coordinate with others.

I definitely prioritize FP for longest lines for the rides people I'm going with really want to ride. Sending a couple people over to ride Standby on something with a two hour wait ruins everyone's day. We usually talk about rides in advance to figure out who wants to ride which things. If they aren't sure, I book them anyway. Usually with that, the FP group is done very quickly - fast enough that it's a snack break or a bathroom break for the rest of the group. Sometimes you can fit in a different ride but usually it's just too big of a hassle. (Also, normally I'm with a very little kid or two, so they need lots of breaks). The grandparents usually hit the shops or a bench and snack quite happily (it's exhausting!).

Some other big group tips - we planned for about half the day together (the 3 FPs, a particular park, and a Table Service lunch was typical). Then, we went back to our room for a nap/swim. Sometimes people stayed for additional attractions, sometimes not. Some nights we'd go out again, and some people would join us, sometimes not. We appreciated together time AND separate time, it was the best mix.

We also had some ground rules about splitting up at the park - if anyone wanted to split up for a bit, no drama, but we didn't go back and do things again and they rejoined the group when they were done with whatever it was they wanted to go do. This came in handy when people wanted to linger in shops but we had a FP coming up and the rest of us wanted to stay on plan!

Good luck - I have amazing once in a lifetime memories and pics from some of these trips. It's a lot of work but they're worth it!!
 
I think my plan I'd like to use is not to different from yours. We are staying offsite and using a larger SUV and that will be our only vehicle. I really don't want to use Uber or whatever if we don't have to do it.

Since we are somewhat bonded by our transportation I wanted our mornings to be together and use our first three fastpasses together. Then, we will return to the resort for a while and whoever wants to return to the park will do so for the rest of the day. For the return trip to the park we can go our separate ways or not depending on how everyone feels.
 
That's tough. I totally understand your thinking in wanting everyone together for the first part of the day to guarantee a little fun together. It also makes sense to do the 3 pre-scheduled FPs somewhat early in the day that way you can try to get more afterwards on the app. With that line of thinking, the 3 FPs would then be for things the entire party will do.

The downside to that, like you mentioned, is that if some people won't do the attractions with the longer waits, then the FPs will be used for things with shorter waits and those wanting to ride the coasters and such will likely be stuck in a long standby wait later.

When I travelled with family who wouldn't ride the "big" stuff, I planned FPs for the rides with the longest waits for those who would ride, along with a smaller attraction nearby for those who wouldn't. Like some would have FP for SDMT, others for Pooh. Some for Space, others for Speedway or Buzz. That meant we were still able to walk/talk together between rides/get a snack. We did those pre-planned FPs first, because it makes sense to schedule them early so you can get more later, but also because the kids got to do some of the things they were looking forward to early in the day without having to wait too long since they had FP. It avoided the constant "can we ride x yet" later in the day when we were doing smaller rides together since they were able to do those rides first thing and it seemed like the kids were better able to slow down and enjoy the family time on the smaller rides. We didn't do rope drop though and got to the parks around 11 most days.

If you guys are planning on hitting rope drop with the whole group, it would make sense to have everyone split and take advantage of the shorter waits for the big rides for those who wish to partake. If you do something like that, some of the bigger rides could be taken care of with little wait and the FPs could be saved for things to ride together. Maybe have the first 1.5 hrs (not sure how long until the lines start building up) be split with part doing roller coasters and the others meandering around, grabbing a snack, or hitting up a smaller ride or attraction. Then, meet up and do your 3 FPs together on smaller rides/attractions, then take your midday break. Or, have the thrill seekers go alone (assuming there's at least one adult of course) to the parks to take advantage of rope drop while the rest enjoy a quiet morning at the resort, then thrill seekers come back to the resort for lunch and you all go the parks together afterwards and do your FPs together.

If you're not planning on hitting rope drop, maybe have everyone split for FPs right after you get to the park, then after that, take your midday break. When you return to the park, spend a few hours riding smaller things together either standby or with FP (which you might be able to pick up some of the smaller rides as 4th, 5th, etc FPs later in the day). Even if you do have to ride them standby, (depending on the ride, of course) many of the smaller rides don't have as long of waits and you'd still get to spend that time together in the line.

Another way you could work it is pick 1 or 2 of the FPs as something everyone will enjoy and the other 1 or 2 as something that you split up on.

What I would do (if everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the parks) is have everyone select their top 1 or 2 things they want to do for each park, then go from there, trying to see what makes the most sense with planning FPs. For instance with Epcot, if half the group really wants to ride Soarin, and most would really like to ride FEA, it might make sense to have part of the group rope drop Soarin and make a FP for everyone for FEA later on since they both have longer lines and you can only FP one of them. For AK, if half want FOP but half would love Navi, split that FP up with half doing each. For MK, Peter Pan has notoriously long lines so if that's something that's a priority, schedule that for everyone.

Keep in mind that you don't have to follow the same general game plan each day. If one day you go the parks at 11, ride FPs separately then meet up later, it doesn't mean the next day you can't hit rope drop and have the thrill seekers ride the big stuff then meet up and do your FPs all together. Then the next day, spend the first few hours riding FP stuff together before splitting up. Just try to see what makes the most sense for each park, taking into consideration the top picks for each person. And if you have more than one day at any park, that makes it even easier since you'll have more pre-scheduled FPs to work with.

I'd also suggest typing up an overview of each day with a general outline of what park, when you plan to leave in the morning, scheduled FPs, ADRs, and a rough idea of when you'd like to be together and pass it out to all of the adults so they know ahead of time what's going on. I'd suggest getting input before your 30 day mark and if you have a rough idea of the plan, passing it out before you schedule the FPs that way you can get feedback from everyone and make changes if necessary. Then bring extra copies on the trip in case someone forgot to bring theirs, that way there's no confusion and things run smoothly with everyone understanding and hopefully being happy with the plans. I've found people get less grumpy if they know ahead of time that their favorite ride IS scheduled for later or (for the non thrill seekers) that we WILL be riding several things together later, we're just splitting up to do this first. Oftentimes once you're in the parks with a larger group, it's hard to relay verbal messages and have everyone hear it while you're walking so you end up having to say 8 times where you're going next and it leaves everyone frustrated.
 

I like your suggestions and perhaps we can implement them.

I think picking out two favorite rides in each park should make everyone happy if they can have one of the two.
 
This is really bothering me. Our group of 8 will be with great grandsons who will be 8 up to great grandpa being 85.

I keep thinking at least for the three advanced fastpasses that we should pick rides we can do all together as a whole group. I already know it will be possible to do this to a large degree except for roller coaster rides. I could care less what rides we do as long as we get to do them together.

Then, my practical side kicks in with the roller coaster rides having some of the longest ride times and then I think it would be good to split up into two groups, those who can and those who can't or won't do the roller coaster rides.

Also, do you take turns deciding what rides to do with fastpass or does a certain person coordinate and pick all the rides, hopefully considering everyone's needs like medical conditions?
How many ppl. are you talking about not doing a ride? There are a couple rides 1 or 2 in our group won't do; but it's still a priority for the rest of us, so we make the fastpass and those who want to sit out, sit out (maybe get a snack etc.) It's a "wasted" fastpass for that person but it works out better for us and then we keep getting as many fastpasses as possible for all. Touring and being together for the majority of the time is a high priority for us and honestly most times sitting out for a ride is a welcomed break lol.

We have 1 person (me) who coordinates everything and decides fastpasses etc. (the others are involved, but they don't know as much when it comes to best times, priorities, flow etc.) I prioritize by getting fastpasses for things we'll get the most bang for our buck...having said that we all go in with the understanding that the initial plan/itinerary is assuming we're wanting to hit almost everything. - No one is obligated to follow it, but all like having a plan with the best itinerary to avoid as many lines and backtracking as possible.
 
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There are a few rides in each park that are hard to get fp... i would aim to get at least one of those each day. Im guessing you all want to stay together. So when you get yo the ride the ones that dont want to ride can child swap at the front.
Not sure what rides you tube disney fastpass 2019 it really helps give you an idea.
 
We just got back from a trip with 17 of us. It worked well for me to be the coordinator of the trip. I got people's perspectives of what they wanted to ride, what the priorities were, etc, but ultimately I made the final decisions 2 months out. My mom and I talked on the phone while we both booked fast passes for all parties. We knew there were some people who didn't want to ride roller coasters, or some kids who were too short for certain things, so we booked other rides for them just so something was booked but they could change it if they needed. We put most of our effort into the rides that always have long waits, like Flights of Passage, and Expedition Everest, and Thunder Mountain, but we knew not everyone would want to do those rides. They either just waited for us, or did something different.

We were flexible overall. We stayed together for most of our FPs but there was one afternoon where everyone was just done and wanted to go back to the resort and swim, so we canceled one of our FPs and then rescheduled for later in the day. Remember, not everything is set in stone. It's really easy to switch things around the day of your trip, but you may not be able to get the rides like Flights of Passage so if that's a priority, make sure it's booked!

For us, it just worked best to have a coordinator, someone to make all the decisions. It's impossible to accommodate everyone. So I came up with the plan, and then I said if you want to do something different, that's totally fine too. Can you tell I'm the oldest child? Lol.
 
We just got back from a trip with 17 of us. It worked well for me to be the coordinator of the trip. I got people's perspectives of what they wanted to ride, what the priorities were, etc, but ultimately I made the final decisions 2 months out. My mom and I talked on the phone while we both booked fast passes for all parties. We knew there were some people who didn't want to ride roller coasters, or some kids who were too short for certain things, so we booked other rides for them just so something was booked but they could change it if they needed. We put most of our effort into the rides that always have long waits, like Flights of Passage, and Expedition Everest, and Thunder Mountain, but we knew not everyone would want to do those rides. They either just waited for us, or did something different.

We were flexible overall. We stayed together for most of our FPs but there was one afternoon where everyone was just done and wanted to go back to the resort and swim, so we canceled one of our FPs and then rescheduled for later in the day. Remember, not everything is set in stone. It's really easy to switch things around the day of your trip, but you may not be able to get the rides like Flights of Passage so if that's a priority, make sure it's booked!

For us, it just worked best to have a coordinator, someone to make all the decisions. It's impossible to accommodate everyone. So I came up with the plan, and then I said if you want to do something different, that's totally fine too. Can you tell I'm the oldest child? Lol.

I really like your ideas. I did kind of forget you can always change your mind later on if another ride is available if you don't like the choice by the coordinator. Like you said it's not set in stone. And I agree we should use the advance fastpasses for the longest waits and concentrate in that direction.

I can tell you did marvelous for your group. Kudos to you.
 
The biggest thing I had to get over when planning my "big Party (11)" trip was the realization that at one point in the day that people may have to be separated to see and do the things they wanted to do. At around 3-4 in the afternoon every day my in-laws after spending all mornings with us would go to a hotel bar and have a cocktail and appetizers, we had different aged children with young girls and preteen boys that simply had different imesn it came to rides. So to limit the amount of time away from each other the fast passes were split up so the boys can go on the "boy" rides and the girls can go on the Princess meet and greets or shows.
 
All of the Disney parks involve a LOT of walking, so good to keep that in mind when planning and realize if some in your party are the go-go-go type, others may not be able to keep up. Splitting up and/or letting others do what they want probably makes the most sense. Or else you agree to meet somewhere at a certain time. Some may be more into shopping or sightseeing vs. doing rides. Honestly, you can only pre-plan 3 FastPasses per day, so when we went earlier this year, we choose the most popular rides. No amount of planning will make the parks any less crowded, so you just have to see what else is available even if you can find some extra FastPasses once you have used up the 3.
 
In my case the two families involved are from different states. We use these trips and others like it to be together. We see each other maybe three times a year. I feel compelled to stay with one another as much as possible on these trips. I think I will take a middle line by having us together more than apart but realizing separate time will be necessary, too.
 
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