Interesting observations about FP

[yaya74]

We were at WDW during the past week. Our last trip was in August 2016. I have made a few interesting observations about FP and would like to share with you:

1. Early FP check in: back in Aug 2016, I was unable to check in early for my FP+, not a second earlier. But, during the past week, the FP check in tap point (the Mickey head) would turn green 5 minutes prior to the FP time. If we were more than 5 minutes early, CMs would say “no worries, just go”. Is it because the crowd level was lower last week or has it been like that for awhile?

2. Expired FP won’t go away: My third FP at Epcot was for Character Spot and my family didn’t want to go. So I just let it expire. An hour after it had expired, that FP was still in the system and I was unable to book my 4th FP.
So I went to Character Spot to use that FP. (The FP was expired but the Cm let us in) after that I was able to get more FP. I just find it interesting that expired FP won’t automatically go away.

 

[disneygirlsng]

As to number 1, it's been 5 minutes before and 15 minutes after for a while, at least as long as Dec 2015. I can't remember if it did or not during my 2014 trip.

Number 2 was likely a glitch in the system, as those have become more frequent lately.

 

[mesaboy2]

The 5-minutes early allowance has been there since I first started writing the FP FAQs in 2013. I have no idea why you had issues with it 2 years ago.

 

[softball chick]

We were at WDW during the past week. Our last trip was in August 2016. I have made a few interesting observations about FP and would like to share with you:

1. Early FP check in: back in Aug 2016, I was unable to check in early for my FP+, not a second earlier. But, during the past week, the FP check in tap point (the Mickey head) would turn green 5 minutes prior to the FP time. If we were more than 5 minutes early, CMs would say “no worries, just go”. Is it because the crowd level was lower last week or has it been like that for awhile?

2. Expired FP won’t go away: My third FP at Epcot was for Character Spot and my family didn’t want to go. So I just let it expire. An hour after it had expired, that FP was still in the system and I was unable to book my 4th FP.
So I went to Character Spot to use that FP. (The FP was expired but the Cm let us in) after that I was able to get more FP. I just find it interesting that expired FP won’t automatically go away.

I've had that happen on occasion - I usually just cancel the unused FP and then I can go ahead and get my next FP that I want.

 

[gillep]

I've had that happen on occasion - I usually just cancel the unused FP and then I can go ahead and get my next FP that I want.

Yes, I usually either cancel or modify the expired FP to change it to something I want if it won't go away and is causing issues.

 

[intertile]

One thing of note regarding point 2. If you are at a park with tierd FP, you must use the original 3 to be able to get a 4th in the first tier. If you don't use your third the system won't let you get a first tier again. At parks like epcot that doesn't really have enough tier 2s that we are interested in, we would book imagination or Nemo tap the bands and then not ride the ride. Then we were able to book whatever ride became available.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We’ve been using the grace periods, both 5 minutes before and 15 minutes after, since 2014. Not once have I seen Mickey not turn green within those times.

This summer, we arrived outside of the return window on 3 or 4 occasions and were never denied entry. We’re just getting old and slow I guess.

 

[donnishobson]

One thing of note regarding point 2. If you are at a park with tierd FP, you must use the original 3 to be able to get a 4th in the first tier. If you don't use your third the system won't let you get a first tier again. At parks like epcot that doesn't really have enough tier 2s that we are interested in, we would book imagination or Nemo tap the bands and then not ride the ride. Then we were able to book whatever ride became available.

If the fast pass has expired, can you still go to the ride and tap it to make it disappear?

 

[Robo]

We’ve been using the grace periods, both 5 minutes before and 15 minutes after, since 2014. Not once have I seen Mickey not turn green within those times.

Yup.

 

[donnishobson]

Yup.

Thanks. Now will adjust fastpasses for the nth time for my upcoming trip.

 

[intertile]

If the fast pass has expired, can you still go to the ride and tap it to make it disappear?

I don't believe you can, but you can modify it for a new fp...just has to be a tier 2