If it is very important to them that they have good (close) seats then about 1 hour should still be fine. They could try to get a same-day FP+ as they are usually pretty available and let you have more choice in your seating section (i.e. you can choose either side of the theater, not just the Standby side) so they may get better seats. It does not really allow them to show up later though as both sections will be pretty full.
Yup.
What a FP+ for F! offers is more CHOICE in seating.
If you DO get a F! FP+, you can choose to sit in either the FP section (virtually the entire left half of the theater)
or the Standby section (virtually the entire right half of the theater.)
So, whatever section has the better seating at the time you arrive, you can go there.
Without a FP, you can only choose a seat in the Standby section.
There is a very good chance that you can get a FP+ for F! as a 4th or 5th FP of the day because they issue SO MANY of them (enough to cover nearly the entire left half of the seating.) On many nights, it is possible that you can gat a FP+ for F! as you are walking to the theater.
As to when to arrive at the theater, I'd get to there 45-60 minutes before the show-time.
Even with a FP or Dining Pkg. reservation, don't wait too late.
On
busy nights, the CMs can stop holding the reserved sections within 20-30 minutes before show-time, and turn over any available seats to waiting walk-in guests.
There is sometimes a "pre-show" (such as it is) that can help pass the last 30 minutes before show time.
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Map Below-
Arrows indicate the center of the seating.
Shaded areas:
(First or Only F! performance of the evening)
Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating
Red= Dining Package Reserved
Blue= FP+ Reserved
Purple= Can be either FP+ or Dining Plan Reserved, depending on needs.
(Second or Third F! performance of the evening)
Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating
Red, Purple, Blue= FP+ Reserved
(Although much of the outer Blue will likely be used for Standby.)
