Thanks for all of the tips and tricks given on the forum here for reserving FP+. I was really worried about having a ton of problems, but things actually went really smoothly for me. I think 2 things contributed to that:
1) I have a party of 3, so no large party to cumber the system.
2) Disney has fixed 2 things about the system: they allowed me to book around my ADRs without a problem (only a warning that the times overlapped, even when choosing a specific time), and they now offer available times in half hour increments.
The first time through, I did as some suggested here and booked for just myself and then copied my itinerary to my party. Then I got brave and booked for my entire party at once. It saved a step and again went smoothly. I used the Firefox browser and had no slow screens, timeouts, or hateful Donalds giving a system error.
3 Tips that helped make booking easy:
1) Wishes and MSEP aren't available at 60 days out. Right now they are available the last day of the previous month, though this could change. That means that I won't be able to book MSEP for May 2nd until we are already in Disney World the end of April, so I just booked a placeholder FP+ as I wait and know to keep an eye on changes to when I can book it.
2) You CAN change things after you pick your first 3 times, so just pick times that don't interfere with the times you really want so you can more easily customize your plans. (If you already have a FP+ for a time, it won't give you a time that overlaps it). They have improved this a lot. The first page lets you pick your 3 experiences instead of having to go through the ones they picked for you. You can then order them by which is most important to you. Then they give you 4 time options. They also now allow you to book over ADR times instead of having that annoying time restriction!
3) If you want a specific FP+ time that is not on the half hour, then look to see if any of the Selections - A, B, C or Best Match - have times for a ride close to when you want. If they don't, then try again with that page until you get a time you like for 1, and then book your other FP+ around that.
Ex. I want to do Toy Story Mania right after Lights, Motor, Action! And then The Great Movie Ride after that. Ideal for me would be a FP+ window 1:15-2:15 for Toy Story Mania and 2:15-3:15 for the Great Movie Ride. It's not on the half hour, so I played a bit. Right now I have 1:05-2:05 and then moved my other FP+ to 2:05-3:05. I think this might be too tight, as a lot of people will be leaving the theater at once, so I might try to change it later or just go with 1:30-2:30 and 2:30-3:30 to make things more relaxing.
FP+ picking was enjoyable for me, much to my surprise. I was prepared for a morning of frustration. I still don't like the limitations of tiering or holding just 1 FP+ per ride, but this system is a big improvement over other frustrating iterations of the system. My DS4 currently hold a FP+ for Everest, which he is too short to ride, and I don't know if what I selected is what we will actually want to do when we get there. Hey, if standby is short, I am not wasting a FP+. But it's a start. We will see how changes in the park go the end of April/beginning of May. Hopefully Spring Break crowds will help them get more bugs fixed before my vacation.
1) I have a party of 3, so no large party to cumber the system.
2) Disney has fixed 2 things about the system: they allowed me to book around my ADRs without a problem (only a warning that the times overlapped, even when choosing a specific time), and they now offer available times in half hour increments.
The first time through, I did as some suggested here and booked for just myself and then copied my itinerary to my party. Then I got brave and booked for my entire party at once. It saved a step and again went smoothly. I used the Firefox browser and had no slow screens, timeouts, or hateful Donalds giving a system error.
3 Tips that helped make booking easy:
1) Wishes and MSEP aren't available at 60 days out. Right now they are available the last day of the previous month, though this could change. That means that I won't be able to book MSEP for May 2nd until we are already in Disney World the end of April, so I just booked a placeholder FP+ as I wait and know to keep an eye on changes to when I can book it.
2) You CAN change things after you pick your first 3 times, so just pick times that don't interfere with the times you really want so you can more easily customize your plans. (If you already have a FP+ for a time, it won't give you a time that overlaps it). They have improved this a lot. The first page lets you pick your 3 experiences instead of having to go through the ones they picked for you. You can then order them by which is most important to you. Then they give you 4 time options. They also now allow you to book over ADR times instead of having that annoying time restriction!
3) If you want a specific FP+ time that is not on the half hour, then look to see if any of the Selections - A, B, C or Best Match - have times for a ride close to when you want. If they don't, then try again with that page until you get a time you like for 1, and then book your other FP+ around that.
Ex. I want to do Toy Story Mania right after Lights, Motor, Action! And then The Great Movie Ride after that. Ideal for me would be a FP+ window 1:15-2:15 for Toy Story Mania and 2:15-3:15 for the Great Movie Ride. It's not on the half hour, so I played a bit. Right now I have 1:05-2:05 and then moved my other FP+ to 2:05-3:05. I think this might be too tight, as a lot of people will be leaving the theater at once, so I might try to change it later or just go with 1:30-2:30 and 2:30-3:30 to make things more relaxing.
FP+ picking was enjoyable for me, much to my surprise. I was prepared for a morning of frustration. I still don't like the limitations of tiering or holding just 1 FP+ per ride, but this system is a big improvement over other frustrating iterations of the system. My DS4 currently hold a FP+ for Everest, which he is too short to ride, and I don't know if what I selected is what we will actually want to do when we get there. Hey, if standby is short, I am not wasting a FP+. But it's a start. We will see how changes in the park go the end of April/beginning of May. Hopefully Spring Break crowds will help them get more bugs fixed before my vacation.
