How early do you book your first MK FP after rope drop?

[ScrapYap]

It's hard to know how soon to start your FP. When do the lines generally lengthen in the MK?

Maybe you start your first FP at 10:00? Or 10:30?

Or do you find the day goes better if you book at 9:00 for the first one, and the next two as soon as you can - so you can move on to #4 and beyond as quickly as possible?

 

[FelisLachesis]

Regardless of an AM EMH day or not, I wait until an hour after rope drop, to book my first one. Then I'll do my second FP that second hour, that third FP right after that, so they're all next to each other on time.

I'll use my first one when it looks like the line might get long. Then the second one I'll use as late as possible, and then swing the third real quick. After that, I'll try to look for more FP on MDE.

 

[Alesia]

I book my first one between 11:00 and 11:30, regardless of when the park opens

 

[IndyJammer]

Depends on the Park now. Used to just RD everywhere and save FPs for the afternoon. But, with tiering now at 3/4 Parks, it makes you 'burn' FPs earlier. (At least for DHS & Epcot - bc I've done NJR & will NEVER waste a FP on it again!).

I do 9-10-11's at DHS & Epcot and then start looking for my next Tier 1 at 11:01! Or, I will Change Places to a FP in a different park at that time or for later.

Sat, I easily got a 4th FP for GMR and 2 more for TSM after burning my regular 3 early (but it rained that afternoon, so the park emptied early #mileagemayvary). Sun, we got Soarin' FPs after using our 1st 3.

 

[han22735]

We usually book them for 10/11/12. This gives you time for RD rides.

 

[mtemm]

At MK our first is 9:10, second is 10:15, third is 11:25. Plan is lunch after then back to resort for a break and back to MK in evening with hopefully a 4th fp and maybe more after if lucky. I figure that first fp still gives us that first hour to hit rides at rope drop.

Epcot I allowed more wiggle room and didn't start till 9:45 because I am hoping to rope drop test track and soarin and not sure how fast we will be able to get both done. And AK our first isn't till 10 because pandora is such a mystery. Hope to rope drop Na'vi and ideally will get on fast but who knows? If we do more power to us but didn't want to risk missing a fp time if there is a wait.

 

[melanielll]

9, 10, 11 - We ride the 9 one close to 10 am (usually mine train). The 10 and 11 we ride close to each other - 10:50 and 10:55 or 11. Then start looking for the 4th while grabbing a bite to eat.

 

[BigredNole]

I book mine after 11AM. But if I can get 7DMT, Space Mtn, and something else in those areas, I would book them. That lets me hit the smaller attractions early and multiple times. Then swing over to start using the FPs.

 

[Cinderella94]

For a 9 AM park opening, we do 9:30 - 10:30, 10:30 - 11:30 and 11:30 - 12:30. We don't use our first one until the very end of the window at 10:30, and it's always for something like 7DMT where a fastpass is actually necessary by then.

 

[CAS239]

If you're using a FP within 2 hours of a park being open then it's a waste of a FP.

We schedule our fast passes later in the day when we park hop. But if we happen to use them in the first park we'll start the FP's around 11 or 12 when crowds are picking up. I don't like using a FP if the wait is say 10 min or less

 

[melanielll]

I don't think it is a waste. The line for mine trains goes from zero to 50 minutes as soon as the park opens. And you can wait for a long time even if you are part of the first big rush. Skip that mess, do something else, then saunter over there at 9:50. It also opens up the 4th pass sooner if you start them sooner.

 

[quandrea]

We don't do full park days. I schedule 9, 10, 11 or close to it. Hit first fp at close to 10, next right at 10, next right at 11. Allows us first hour to rope drop other rides. After second fp we do rides with few lines. After third fp we grab lunch. Get lots done with no waits in just a few hours.

 

[Tonberry]

For us, it depends on the time of season.

Late Fall, Winter, or early Spring when the temperature isn't too hot, we'll do FPs for late morning and early afternoon. like 11:00-12:00, eat lunch, 1:00-2:00, 2:00 to 3:00, then pickup more as soon as our last is used.

In the Summer months, when the temperature is unbearable, we'll do something like 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-1:00, eat lunch, head back to resort to cool off, and come back later in the evening for more FPs. My kids don't tolerate the heat very well.

 

[seelyt2]

We usually do walkons at rope drop, or shortly thereafter; things like Pirates or Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, and we'll start our FP's for E-Ticket rides around 10:30/11 a.m. or so.

 

[scard192]

we RD and make the first FP+ for 10:30'ish

 

[Nick6300]

9, 10, 11 - We ride the 9 one close to 10 am (usually mine train). The 10 and 11 we ride close to each other - 10:50 and 10:55 or 11. Then start looking for the 4th while grabbing a bite to eat.

same here... didn't think many pp did this. We push it and RD until 10am or little after, sometimes getting on 1st FP near 10:15. But we've never missed a FP, just plan to work around where we need to be. We do the 3rd FP at 5 min before and get the 4th while in line for the 3rd FP. Exception is if staying at EP all day... no reason for 4th and less need to have FP's at 9-11, but we still don't want them spread out or much later because we like organizing to get through FW in the am so we can spend the rest of day at WS without walking back and forth. We've gotten 10+ at MK by scheduling early. Upcoming trip, we will use express trans. and split our FPs

 

[CAS239]

I don't think it is a waste. The line for mine trains goes from zero to 50 minutes as soon as the park opens. And you can wait for a long time even if you are part of the first big rush. Skip that mess, do something else, then saunter over there at 9:50. It also opens up the 4th pass sooner if you start them sooner.

7dmt and Peter Pan would be the only exception imo for a FP first thing in the morning.

And scheduling earlier to get more FP's just doesn't make sense to me if your first few FP's are essentially used for nothing. Say your first FP's are pirates, splash, buzz..I don't see the point in putting FP's immediately at park opening to get more FP's instead of pushing those FP's back for when lines are long. In this instance you could do all 3 of the rides mentioned above with little to no wait, then have 3 more guaranteed FP's for rides you know you want to do. I'd much rather have 3 later on instead of going for a 4th FP and hoping for Space mountain but having to settle for haunted mansion.

But everyone has their on way of touring. Neither is right or wrong.

 

[Meridagal]

At mk I like 1030/1130/1230 then I grab a 4th Fp. The time of that one depends on what looks good. We plan on heading back to our resort to take a break. I have a 2 yr who needs a nap after lunch or he is a real beast, pun intended.

 

[Ava]

For a 9am open, the earliest I'd book the first FP is 10:00, with plans to use it closer to 11:00. Use the first two back-to-back, eat lunch around 11:30, then use the 3rd.

If it's a party night and I know we'll be staying in the park through the afternoon, I'll book them a bit later so we have some good FPs to use after lunch when the park is the most crowded.

 

[ucfknight]

I'll usually make my first one for about 10:00 AM, but typically won't use it until the end of the window (often even in the 15 minute grace period after the window closes) if lines are short. Typical use case for us if doing rope drop would be:

Ride as many rides as possible in standby from open til 11:00 am.
10:00 - 11:00 FP (use at 11:00 to 11:15)
11:00 - 12:00 FP (use right after first one)
After using 2nd FP eat lunch at quick service restaurant before food lines get long
Noon - 1:00 FP (use as soon as done with lunch)
Try to grab 4th FP immediately after using 3rd.

If it is a more crowded day and lines are starting to get bad around 10:30 we'll use the first FP then so we can do the 2nd FP right at the start of its window. Then we'll grab lunch a few minutes early so we can hit the 3rd FP as close to the start of its window as possible.