Is it possible to have a good experience without booking FP in advance?

[Belia]

I have a hodgepodge of old park admission tickets left over from past trips that I'd like to use during our (potential) trip next March. They're probably from the 1990's through some Park Hoppers in the early 2000's. There might be some MYW tickets mixed in there, too, from some trips my sister took.

I'm not really asking how to best use these tickets... I've got to dig them out of my mom's safe and see exactly what I have and how many days are covered. That will be a post for another day.

My question is related to FastPasses. From all of my preliminary research, it seems as though I will NOT be allowed to convert these random admission tickets to MYW tickets in advance. Which means that I won't be able to make FP reservations when the window opens 60? 90? days out. Which means that the earliest I would be able to make any FP reservations would be the day we arrive at each park.

Sooooo..... will it still be possible to have a "good" trip if I can't take full and wise advantage of the FP system?

I haven't been to Disney in almost 20 years- I barely have a handle on the FP system as it is. And I don't know if we can afford this trip if I have to add the cost of tickets for our family of four to the budget. These free tickets are the only reason I have even begun to think about making a trip.

We're thinking about going the first week of March, 2019 if that affects your thoughts. After Presidents Day, but right before Spring Break season begins. Crowd levels for this time this year are projected to be in the 5-6 range.

Thank you so much for your thoughts!

 

[Meglen]

You make what you can outta it. Might not be able to grab the rides you want but I'm sure you can find many fp day of.

 

[Alpineslide]

It’s Disney World, you’ll still have a fantastic trip !!

 

[jaysmom4285]

You'll be able to get a lot of FP+. There may be some headliners that are hard to get -Soarin', 7DMT, FEA, FOP, etc. But there will be a lot available. Be sure you have the MDE app on your smartphone, and keep repeatedly checking for availability for the attractions you want. If the app says that there are no FP+ left for the attraction you're trying for, don't stop there. Keep refreshing the screen - if you're looking for 1:00, go back and choose 1:30, and then 1:00 again . A new screen will come up each time, and it's surprising what will turn up for FP+ times even when the app said there weren't any. If you aren't familiar with making FP+ on the app, do some experimenting before you get there. Try making a FP+ for tomorrow and get used to what that process looks like. You can get used to refreshing the screens and seeing how the available times can change.

 

[puffkins]

I have yet to use a FP+ since the new system has been implemented. My wife and I have a blast every time we go.

 

[fractalpotato]

I have yet to use a FP+ since the new system has been implemented. My wife and I have a blast every time we go.

Is that by design? Why not use them? Are you protesting the system?

Matt

 

[Tksolomom]

There are still lots of good fast passes available day of, especially in the evening. You may want to rope drop and book your fast passes as soon as you get in. Other than the Pandora rides, 7DMT, FEA, you should be able to get fast passes for most rides. You’ll have a great time!

 

[Crispymom]

We just had the same thing 2 weeks ago. Old Park Hoppers that needed to be verified onsite, and couldn't be loaded until that day. We were able to make some FPs once we got our tickets transferred to our Magic Bands. Then we would do more each night. We had zero issues, and it actually was nice to not have every minute planned. We were even able to make more thru out the day after we used our initial 3. I should also add that we went for President's Day weekend which was jam packed, and still had a good time.

 

[mom2rtk]

That very much depends on you. Will you be happy with a trip where you skip some headliners or wait in very long lines? I generally can't, but with "free" tickets and knowing ahead of time what to expect, I probably could in this situation.

 

[Klayfish]

Assuming you're not going during the busiest time of the year, such as Christmas week or Thanksgiving or Spring Break, you'll have zero trouble getting FP+ same day. With the exception of FoP...and who knows about Toy Story Land once it opens...you can even get headliners...FEA, 7DMT, the Mountains, RnR, etc... We do it all the time. In order to do this, you need to understand the FP+ system, so I'd suggest learning about it. Even that aside, you can still have a wonderful time.

 

[KenHutch]

While we do use fastpasses you could try our system if your kids are up to it. We do rope drop (you can get a lot done in the first 2 hours) and we close parks. In the last 2 hours parks tend to thin out a lot and some of the rides are a blast at night. For some reason my daughter particularly loves Jungle Cruise after dusk.

 

[Hopefully]

Just an FYI in your planning.
Tickets are non- transferable. If your “ free” tickets were used by someone (obviously they were) only that person can use that ticket. So your sisters tickets are out for sure.
I would hate to see you arrive at WDW to only be denied admission

 

[NH-to-FL]

Sooooo..... will it still be possible to have a "good" trip if I can't take full and wise advantage of the FP system?

Absolutely!
First, to DisBoards!

As others have noted, you might have to wait in the standby line for a few of the headliners.

Or you could be early for rope drop, be near the front of the crowd, and do the headliners before the late arrivers show up.

Once you are in the park you can also head to a FP+ kiosk and see what's available.

Since you haven't been there in a long time, I am sure you will be excited to just be there. And there are so many little things to do that can make your trip special.

Happy planning!

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Rides are just part of the trip, but they are not the whole trip.

I find that most of the memories my family members have of our trips over the years deal with non-ride related incidents. Someone doing a silly pose somewhere. A funny incident happening while people watching. An amazing piece of magic during a meal. Very rarely does someone say, "Man, that ride through Pirates really made my day."

Disney is so much more. So you can definitely make do without advanced FP.

 

[puffkins]

Is that by design? Why not use them? Are you protesting the system?

Matt

LOL. My wife and I prefer to not commit ourselves to being at any particular ride at any particular time. Maybe we are in Mouse Gear for longer than we expect or our lunch at Chefs de France takes two hours instead of one? Why make a FP for Soarin when we might not make the designated time? Why make a FP for Peter Pan when we might sleep in till noon? It forces us to become regimented and denies another person the FP that will probably be more diligent in conforming to Disney's schedule. We are on vacation. In our opinions, it's a time to relax, not run around. We are not protesting anything. We go to Disney World to have fun, not to make a political statement.

 

[sponica]

I have a hodgepodge of old park admission tickets left over from past trips that I'd like to use during our (potential) trip next March. They're probably from the 1990's through some Park Hoppers in the early 2000's. There might be some MYW tickets mixed in there, too, from some trips my sister took.

I wouldn't bring your sister's MYW. Those have some sort of biometric info on them.

As far as not planning FP until day of, the last trip I took was a spontaneous 2 day whirlwind tour of the parks and we didn't realize they had switched over to FP+. We still had a blast. (I would not recommend waiting in line for SDMT though, we waited an hour and it's just not worth it). The system is definitely better than in 2014. Back then you had to go to a kiosk to get extra FPs or FPs in a different park.

 

[cel_disney]

I think you would be able to get all of your tickets linked upon arrival. This should allow you to make some plans for future days after arrival with better than ‘day of’ availability. And the FP availability changes often - so really anything IS possible!

 

[fla4fun]

Just an FYI in your planning.
Tickets are non- transferable. If your “ free” tickets were used by someone (obviously they were) only that person can use that ticket. So your sisters tickets are out for sure.
I would hate to see you arrive at WDW to only be denied admission

It depends on how old the tickets are. If they were issued prior to biometrics then they aren’t assigned to anyone. I have an old ticket that meets this criteria (from 1986). If they were issued when biometrics were used for all tickets, then no, they would not work. The op thinks they are MYW which would not work, but also seems to be confused about exactly what she may have overall. She won’t know until she sees them.

Question-When did they start using biometrics for everyone? I’ve had an AP since the early 80’s, and I know APs went to it first (for obvious reasons) but I don’t recall when it went into effect for the other tickets. Was it when they changed the scanners from the two finger to one finger? Those two finger scanners were not the easiest to use, and really would have backed up the lines.

 

[jaysmom4285]

LOL. My wife and I prefer to not commit ourselves to being at any particular ride at any particular time. Maybe we are in Mouse Gear for longer than we expect or our lunch at Chefs de France takes two hours instead of one? Why make a FP for Soarin when we might not make the designated time? Why make a FP for Peter Pan when we might sleep in till noon? It forces us to become regimented and denies another person the FP that will probably be more diligent in conforming to Disney's schedule. We are on vacation. In our opinions, it's a time to relax, not run around. We are not protesting anything. We go to Disney World to have fun, not to make a political statement.

My husband and I are much like the two of you. We have been to WDW many times and will in all likelihood be back again, so we aren't too concerned about what attractions we get to experience. We do make FP+ for attractions that we like so we can do them without standing in line, but we don't let the FP+ schedule control us. If we miss one, we miss it, and we move on from there. I think they only regiment you if you let them. But if your touring style works for you, that's all that's important.

 

[sponica]

It depends on how old the tickets are. If they were issued prior to biometrics then they aren’t assigned to anyone. I have an old ticket that meets this criteria (from 1986). If they were issued when biometrics were used for all tickets, then no, they would not work. The op thinks they are MYW which would not work, but also seems to be confused about exactly what she may have overall. She won’t know until she sees them.

Question-When did they start using biometrics for everyone? I’ve had an AP since the early 80’s, and I know APs went to it first (for obvious reasons) but I don’t recall when it went into effect for the other tickets. Was it when they changed the scanners from the two finger to one finger? Those two finger scanners were not the easiest to use, and really would have backed up the lines.

I was trying to figure this out, it looks like when MYW was launched in 2005, all tickets sold were tagged with biometrics (at least according to what I found on allears) and then biometrics were applied to all tickets (regardless of sale date) after June 2005...again according to allears.