Increasing chance of 4th FP at Epcot....

[MrsTski]

Hi! I'm trying to decide between two Epcot plans, in order to increase my chances of getting a 4th FP (and 5th FP!) at Epcot. Traveling on Friday March 3 with a family of 5 (3 boys ages 4, 7 and 9). Trying my best to do FEA, Soarin' and Test Track in the same day Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Here are my two plans:

Plan #1 (less walking):
8:00 - 8:45am Garden Grill PPO ADR
9:00am - 9:25am Soarin'
9:30 - 9:45am Living with the Land
9:55 - 10:15am Nemo
10:20 - 11:05am Turtle Talk w/ FP (9:30-10:30)
11:10 - 11:25am Character Spot w/ FP (10:30-11:30)
11:35 - 12:05pm Frozen w/ FP (11:30 -12:30)
Try to get Test Track FP #4
Try to get Spaceship Earth FP #5
Tour World Showcase

Plan #2 (more walking, but trying for 4th FP earlier):
8:00 - 8:45am Garden Grill PPO ADR
9:00am - 9:25am Soarin'
9:30 - 9:45am Living with the Land
9:55 - 10:15am Nemo
10:25 - 10:45am Spaceship Earth w/ FP (9:30 - 10:30)
10:55- 11:10am Character Spot w/ FP (10:30-11:30)
11:25 - 11:55am Frozen w/ FP (11:30 -12:30)
Try to get Test Track FP #4
Try to get Turtle Talk FP #5
Tour World Showcase

Thank you!

 

[CAS239]

Plan 1 you don't need a FP for Turtle Talk so if you're going for extra FP's then I would make the Turtle Talk FP immediately when the park opens and just let it expire

 

[iujen94]

If you don’t mind the walking involved with going back for Turtle Talk in plan 2, I’d plan to do Nemo then as well. Nemo and Turtle Talk are both pretty easy to get FPs for, and you may not even need one for either. That way you can slide up your SE, character spot and FEA FPs and try to get TT even earlier. I’d move SE back to around 9:15-10:15.

 

[BradChristian]

At first I thought you would have zero luck with getting Test Track as a 4th FastPass... However - depending on time of year that you go it is technically possible. We are at a crowd level of 3 today, and the next Test Track fast pass is for 7pm. Family of 5 makes me think that a refresh strategy may not pan out if it is a busier day. The single rider option probably isn't viable for you guys with the younger kids.

The spaceship earth fastpass is possible, but most of the time you will have already had a walk on by the point in the afternoon.

Perhaps consider rope dropping Test Track because Soarin' with the three theaters makes that way easier to Standby than in the past.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hi! I'm trying to decide between two Epcot plans, in order to increase my chances of getting a 4th FP (and 5th FP!) at Epcot. Traveling on Friday March 3 with a family of 5 (3 boys ages 4, 7 and 9). Trying my best to do FEA, Soarin' and Test Track in the same day Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Here are my two plans:

Plan #1 (less walking):
8:00 - 8:45am Garden Grill PPO ADR
9:00am - 9:25am Soarin'
9:30 - 9:45am Living with the Land
9:55 - 10:15am Nemo
10:20 - 11:05am Turtle Talk w/ FP (9:30-10:30)
11:10 - 11:25am Character Spot w/ FP (10:30-11:30)
11:35 - 12:05pm Frozen w/ FP (11:30 -12:30)
Try to get Test Track FP #4
Try to get Spaceship Earth FP #5
Tour World Showcase

Plan #2 (more walking, but trying for 4th FP earlier):
8:00 - 8:45am Garden Grill PPO ADR
9:00am - 9:25am Soarin'
9:30 - 9:45am Living with the Land
9:55 - 10:15am Nemo
10:25 - 10:45am Spaceship Earth w/ FP (9:30 - 10:30)
10:55- 11:10am Character Spot w/ FP (10:30-11:30)
11:25 - 11:55am Frozen w/ FP (11:30 -12:30)
Try to get Test Track FP #4
Try to get Turtle Talk FP #5
Tour World Showcase

Thank you!

I would, personally, do a variation on Plan #2, but push everything up by 15 minutes. You don't need a FP+ for Turtle Talk and there is zero reason, IMHO, to go to Nemo, leave and then come back later in the day for Turtle Talk. The Spaceship Earth FP+ will be needed more than a Turtle Talk one. I would do this:

Garden Grill PPO
Soarin'
Living with the Land
Nemo
Turtle Talk
Character Spot with FP+ (9:45 am - 10:45 am)
Spaceship Earth with FP+ (10:45 am - 11:45 am) (you will be passing Character Spot on the way to Spaceship Earth, so you might as well go there first)
Frozen FP+ (11:45 am - 12:45 pm)
Try to get TT FP+

This pushes everything up by 15 minutes, but then you only have one FP+ that you are checking for and you don't have to go back to the Nemo pavilion later in the day to do Turtle Talk.

 

[Aela]

You really need to schedule your “tier 1” FP first thing. I would book it 9-10, then your second and third 10-11, 11-12.

Do Soarin, then head to your first Tier1. (You actually should be off Soarin before 9:00, we were when we ate at GG) Once you scan it, rebook FP2, to someplace close. Anywhere. Once you get off tier1, head to rebooked fp2. Once it is scanned, rebook FP3. You can opt to ride the FP2 if you want, it is entirely your call. I would scan and skip.. Then once you scan your FP3. When walking from the scan to the ride, book FP4, Tier1.

You should have your second Tier1 FP (#4) booked before 10am (with a 9am opening). During our trip we did this with DHS, and had our second T2 booked before 9:30am. (Was a second ride on Toy Story). My DD was so excited.

 

[Aela]

This year, we ate breakfast at Akerhaus, rode Frozen Ever After at 8:55. We were in the first boat of the day, first in line at FEA, then walked to our FP for Soarin. Our Soarin FP was 9-10, and we scanned in maybe 9:15?

Soarin was the best option for our FP because it is the quickest turn around time from “scan” to “exit”; imo. This allowing you to scan and burn FP2&3 quicker. Test Track takes forever due to the time to customize your car, I always keep that as my 4th FP.

 

[Aela]

Oh, also; if you don’t want to risk not getting the character spot (or some other FP you view at important) on a rebook, book it for your second FP at 10:15 or 10:30. That gives you a lag to scan your first FP (T1), and rebook FP3 onto the 9:30-10:30 timeslot. If you can’t rebook the third FP, then you can book your fp4 (t1) at 10:20 when you scan that FP (10 mins early).

 

[MrsTski]

This advice has been so helpful! Thank you all very much! I'm trying to adjust FPs right now!

 

[icc2515]

Aela has given some great advice. One thing that I would like to add is that when you go to rebook your fps for an earlier time, you may find that an earlier time for 5 is not available. The FP system is weird in that you may be able to book 5 individual fps for say 9:15, but not a group of 5. Or maybe you can book 2 for 9:15 and 3 for 9:20, which is better than booking all 5 for 10:00. Same thing goes for the 4th FP at a tier 1 attraction. You may not be able to get 5 at say 2:00, but you can 1 for 2:00 and then another for 2:00 and another for 2:00 and 2 for 2:05.

 

[MrsTski]

I was not successfully in moving my FEA FP for any earlier time (even when searching for a smaller party). I did swap out Turtle Talk for SE, so thank you all for that suggestion!

 

[HopperFan]

That is some intense planning ........... was at Epcot a week ago on a fairly busy day ....... we could have gotten FP+ for EVERYTHING in the park. We took the ones we wanted and ended up leaving early.

POP friends,

Can not press enough to work that FP+ system. We are rollers so our goal is to roll all day long and rarely get in a SB line.

At Epcot today in good sized crowds and came with no FP+. We are THREE. We have been able to get anything we want but passed on Illuminations as it kicks us down.

Been on TT, Living with Land, Nemo and Soarin’. Heading now to Frozen. First FP+ for it we got an hour ago at 7 pm, kept refreshing, changed a few times and just nabbed one 1:20, yes 10 minutes away.

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[Princess_Lisa]

You could schedule a Tier 1 FP (Test Track, Soarin, or FEA) first, then make your next two for less popular rides. You can move FP #2 up, followed by #3 once you tap into FP #1. It is exceedingly unlikely you'll be able to move up a Tier 1 FP, but you would probably have better luck with less popular FastPasses. Make your least popular FP last so it will be easiest to move up.

Garden Grill PPO ADR
Soarin'
Frozen Ever After (FP+)
Character Spot (FP+)
Spaceship Earth (FP+)
Try to get Test Track FP #4
Nemo
Turtle Talk
Living with the Land
Tour World Showcase

[EDIT] I see that you weren't able to move FEA up, so that will make things a little more difficult, but not impossible. I would complete the first 2 FastPasses and tap into FEA at 5 minutes before your window starts (it should turn green) and immediately try to get Test Track for #4.

 

[ChristineOH]

I would, personally, do a variation on Plan #2, but push everything up by 15 minutes. You don't need a FP+ for Turtle Talk and there is zero reason, IMHO, to go to Nemo, leave and then come back later in the day for Turtle Talk. The Spaceship Earth FP+ will be needed more than a Turtle Talk one. I would do this:

Garden Grill PPO
Soarin'
Living with the Land
Nemo
Turtle Talk
Character Spot with FP+ (9:45 am - 10:45 am)
Spaceship Earth with FP+ (10:45 am - 11:45 am) (you will be passing Character Spot on the way to Spaceship Earth, so you might as well go there first)
Frozen FP+ (11:45 am - 12:45 pm)
Try to get TT FP+

This pushes everything up by 15 minutes, but then you only have one FP+ that you are checking for and you don't have to go back to the Nemo pavilion later in the day to do Turtle Talk.

I like this plan. Epcot has so much walking, so there's no need to add to it unnecessarily.

It is important to understand that you are not necessarily snatching up the last few available FP for the day. You do NOT need to worry about looking for your 4th FP ten minutes earlier or even an hour earlier. People are canceling and rescheduling FP all day, every day. You'll just be grabbing up those FP as others drop them, and that is happening all the time, not just in the morning.

For tomorrow, all the FP for TT are already booked, except for a few in the 8:00 pm hour. That does not mean you won't find them when you look tomorrow. You will. I just refreshed eight times looking for FP for tonight, and Test Track for two came up twice, both within two hours of now.

 

[MrsTski]

Thanks for the encouragement! It's our only day at Epcot and I know the boys will love all FEA, Soarin' and TT; so would love to get to do all three!

 

[ChristineOH]

Thanks for the encouragement! It's our only day at Epcot and I know the boys will love all FEA, Soarin' and TT; so would love to get to do all three!

FEA is the hardest to get as a 4th, so I think your plan to use your prebooked FP there is a good one. Rope dropping Soarin' and then looking for a 4th for TT is a solid plan. I have five in my family also. When looking for a 4th, I may start out looking a few times for a party of five, just to see if I'm lucky, but I usually switch to looking for three people and grab the first one I see, regardless of time. Then I look till I find one for two. Then I work on refreshing using the "modify" feature until I get overlapping times that work for us.

Like I said, I like that plan from DisneyWishes suggested for minimized walking. If you want to do Garden Grill, and that's why you have the ADR, then great. (We've done it for dinner and had a great experience.) But if you're only reason for doing it is to have a touring advantage at Soarin', I think you'd be fine just rope dropping it. With little kids, though, spending that time eating breakfast rather than waiting at the rope is probably more pleasant, if you don't mind the cost.