HS planning if staying off property 30/day FP

[Lisa Pesce]

We are staying off Disney property this April, so we will only have 30 day advance FP planning. I’m thinking it will be near impossible to get FP to any of the Star Wars rides and unless we go to park super early (if that’s still an option to go at like 5am) should I assume we are not going to get on these? Also, What are our chances of getting FP to Toy story rides or runaway railroad. Feeling a little worried this park might be overcrowded during this week and not a lot of options for FP for those off property. We do have a breakfast at 8:20 in park.. so any advice for us on how to do this park would be greatly appreciated!! I did book build a droid for my kids. No one in our group has interest in Aerosmith coaster or Tower of terror. TIA!!

 

[DGsAtBLT]

It's the evening right now so things probably looked better this morning, but from what I can see 30 days out (March 7) there are no tier 1 FP available (SDD, MMRR, MFSR), no AS2, and TSMM available late afternoon. ToT has full day availability and RnRC was afternoon. Star Tours is available but I'm not sure if you were including that in Star Wars rides, or if you meant SWGE rides. I'm thinking 30 days will be quite difficult for tier 1's, I have an onsite trip booked between 30 and 60 days away and the availability is pretty slim for modifying.

RotR is currently not on the FP system. If nothing changes you'll still need to get there before opening in order to join a boarding group so you can ride. As for the others, I would probably ditch the breakfast ADR to not waste rope drop time eating, and knock out one of the tier 1 attractions then.

 

[Leigh L]

If you're looking to ride Rise of the Resistance, everyone on or off property currently has an equal shot to get a boarding group. I'd recommend checking this thread for the latest details on how to improve your chances of riding. (Be sure to read the first 1-3 posts - you don't need to read all of the other posts, it's a long thread - but I'd also read the most recent posts to see what people are experiencing.) I followed the advice and we rode it 2x during our trip.

I second @DGsAtBLT's recommendation to ditch the ADR (unless it's someplace you really want to eat). That's valuable rope drop time you'll be wasting. Everyone is going to run to get on line for Slinky and Smuggler's Run. In the past, we've gotten on Toy Story Midway Mania in the morning with not so bad waits (that was pre-Galaxy's Edge). We've also gone towards Star Tours while everyone went for the more popular rides and ridden it 2x at rope drop.

Slinky is a tough FP to get, even at 60 days, but I think you'll possibly be able to get the other 2 Toy Story rides by checking day before or day of for fast passes. In January, there were slim pickings for 4th and beyond FPs on some days but I managed to snag a TSMM for DH while in the park. In previous trips, I've been successful with getting FPs for TSMM and Aliens on the fly.

Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run seemed to have shorter lines at night time (the longest we saw was 45 minutes) and I've read similar reports on these boards. Morning times seem to be fairly high!

 

[Darcy03231]

We've found the best strategy for doing the new/popular rides is to get in line at park closing. Wait times are usually exaggerated. We got in line for FOP about 5 minutes before park closing and the wait was post at about an hour and a half. We waited about half of that. Even if the times are correct you're not wasting park time standing in line.

 

[EMHDad]

Following this thread. We are in the same boat.

 

[Lisa Pesce]

As for the others, I would probably ditch the breakfast ADR to not waste rope drop time eating, and knock out one of the tier 1 attractions then.

So do I keep the ADR reservation to get in park early and just not go or is that not necessary because park seems to be open so early for the people going in to secure Boarding passes?

 

[GovieMom]

Sorry - wrong thread

 

[ClapYourHands]

So do I keep the ADR reservation to get in park early and just not go or is that not necessary because park seems to be open so early for the people going in to secure Boarding passes?

If you don't go, you will be charged a cancellation $10 for each person in your party.
If your primary motivation was to get into the park early, they will let others into the park early, too, but BG grab won't be activated until exactly opening time. Disney is trying to curtail the people showing up at 4am to get a BG by activating it at one time, so everyone who is IN the park by opening has an equal chance.

That said, being at the FRONT of the RD line will make a big difference between getting on a "big" ride at opening vs having a long wait. There will be thousands of people swarming towards just a few rides at RD. Waits will jump to an hour+ at SDD, MFSR, and MMRR within minutes of opening, so if you're at the back of the pack, you'll be waiting a while.

I think keeping the ADR vs pre-dawn line up is going to depend on what time you'll finish eating in regard to opening, and where you'll be held when you get out. Maybe someone can weigh in on this (possibly closer to your dates). If you can eat quickly, and get in front of the hoards, you should keep the ADR. If you can get in early, and get in front of the hoards, the ADR cancellation fee might be the price you pay to get that jump start on the day without sacrificing too much sleep. If people report that ADR people are not being allowed out in front of the RD crowd, you might need to ditch the ADR and just line up ridiculously early.

 

[Lisa Pesce]

Thank you this is super helpful to me!!! I am not a pro and it’s been a while since we have been to Disney so there is a lot I am kinda clueless on This helps me understand how it works!

 

[Leigh L]

Lisa, How old are your kids? Are they old enough to stay up later and head to a headliner ride before closing? If so, I think this strategy might help you spread out the headliners a bit. It's a big unknown with MMRR not yet in the mix (although, I'm wondering if that might lighten the morning Toy Story crowd and SDD a bit??)

Also, since it's been a while, have you used the MDE app at all? If not, I think getting really familiar with the app before you go will help too . (Prior to recently, we hadn't gone to Disney since 2011 and we showed up to MK when passing through Orlando on a Saturday in 2017 with no FPs at all. What a shock that was! LOL)

No matter what though (with crowds), you'll have a blast!! The droid sounds so much fun. There was a spot where people were playing with theirs by a speeder.

 

[Lisa Pesce]

Lisa, How old are your kids? Are they old enough to stay up later and head to a headliner ride before closing? If so, I think this strategy might help you spread out the headliners a bit. It's a big unknown with MMRR not yet in the mix (although, I'm wondering if that might lighten the morning Toy Story crowd and SDD a bit??)

Also, since it's been a while, have you used the MDE app at all? If not, I think getting really familiar with the app before you go will help too . (Prior to recently, we hadn't gone to Disney since 2011 and we showed up to MK when passing through Orlando on a Saturday in 2017 with no FPs at all. What a shock that was! LOL)

No matter what though (with crowds), you'll have a blast!! The droid sounds so much fun. There was a spot where people were playing with theirs by a speeder.

Our kids are 13 and 9 but we also have three grandparents with us.. although they are all pretty active. With a big group and not understanding all of these new strategies it’s becoming a bit overwhelming to try to figure out what will be best for our group. I do have the app and used it last trip for the first time a few years ago. I did not know about tab grab and go strategy last time and I didn’t realize how much availability can change day of and to even look to adjust FP plans.. so hopefully this time we will be more seasoned with App strategies. Any Tips will be greatly appreciated!!!! Worried we won’t get on anything in HS and thinking maybe I should rethink this day and split with waterpark pass we will have.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Our kids are 13 and 9 but we also have three grandparents with us.. although they are all pretty active. With a big group and not understanding all of these new strategies it’s becoming a bit overwhelming to try to figure out what will be best for our group. I do have the app and used it last trip for the first time a few years ago. I did not know about tab grab and go strategy last time and I didn’t realize how much availability can change day of and to even look to adjust FP plans.. so hopefully this time we will be more seasoned with App strategies. Any Tips will be greatly appreciated!!!! Worried we won’t get on anything in HS and thinking maybe I should rethink this day and split with waterpark pass we will have.

Something will always be available. Keep looking. Also, the smaller the group, the better chance of finding FP. You will have a harder time if you're looking for all 7 of you. Some people will break into groups of 2 or 3, and try to get the same ride at overlapping times so they can all ride together. So 4 people get 10:30-11:30, and 3 people get 11:15-12:15, and you all go on at 11:15. This can be tricky, so you might even split your groups so that one group goes on one ride, and another group goes on another ride. It's a small park, and most of you are adults, so splitting up now and again should be doable.

Another thought is that some people have better luck searching for a particular ride than a particular time. So say you want to ride ToT at around 12. You keep looking for 12 and not finding it. But then you find ToT pop up for 3pm. That's later than you want, but you grab it. Then you keep looking to "modify" your ToT FP. The modification will offer you different times for ToT as they become available. It's not guaranteed that something will come up, but people get better results this way than if they keep looking for ToT at 12 and not booking anything until they find it. You can always modify that 3pm ToT to another attraction at a closer time if you lose patience, and something else you'd like comes up first.

 

[Lisa Pesce]

Something will always be available. Keep looking. Also, the smaller the group, the better chance of finding FP. You will have a harder time if you're looking for all 7 of you. Some people will break into groups of 2 or 3, and try to get the same ride at overlapping times so they can all ride together. So 4 people get 10:30-11:30, and 3 people get 11:15-12:15, and you all go on at 11:15. This can be tricky, so you might even split your groups so that one group goes on one ride, and another group goes on another ride. It's a small park, and most of you are adults, so splitting up now and again should be doable.

Another thought is that some people have better luck searching for a particular ride than a particular time. So say you want to ride ToT at around 12. You keep looking for 12 and not finding it. But then you find ToT pop up for 3pm. That's later than you want, but you grab it. Then you keep looking to "modify" your ToT FP. The modification will offer you different times for ToT as they become available. It's not guaranteed that something will come up, but people get better results this way than if they keep looking for ToT at 12 and not booking anything until they find it. You can always modify that 3pm ToT to another attraction at a closer time if you lose patience, and something else you'd like comes up first.

Thank You Again!! Super helpful tips!!

 

[Leigh L]

Our kids are 13 and 9 but we also have three grandparents with us.. although they are all pretty active. With a big group and not understanding all of these new strategies it’s becoming a bit overwhelming to try to figure out what will be best for our group. I do have the app and used it last trip for the first time a few years ago. I did not know about tab grab and go strategy last time and I didn’t realize how much availability can change day of and to even look to adjust FP plans.. so hopefully this time we will be more seasoned with App strategies. Any Tips will be greatly appreciated!!!! Worried we won’t get on anything in HS and thinking maybe I should rethink this day and split with waterpark pass we will have.

I agree with ClapYourHands about trying to split up searches since you'll be in the park with a large group. Our 2018 trip, we had a large group and I had no idea I could search in smaller groups (I was the one doing the initial FPs with one of my friends on the phone as I chose them). We kind of figured out while in the park we could search for smaller groups, and it made a huge difference! We were able to get several additional FPs.

Availability really changes minute to minute and/or with each refresh. Even if we see a ride we want, but the time is not what we want, we'll grab it and keep refreshing (less scrolling through options and quicker to grab when something pops up).

What I also did different recently get DD13 and DD26 seasoned with the app too so more of us to search for extra FPs. DH can search, but he's not as quick. The kids have lightning fingers, lol! In January, DD13 used DH's phone, since she doesn't have email or apps on hers, and she got really good at grabbing additional FPs for the 4 in our group. She was loving the challenge and it was kind of fun for her.