Lack of FP+ options

[sharonabe]

Anyone know any good tricks to get the fastpasses I want? A girl that worked for me used to stalk the things in some way and get whatever she wanted, I had no luck with that. Is there anything like the dining finder from touring plans for fast passes?

Just go on your MDE 2 or 3 times every day and try to modify what you have to what you want. That's what she means by stalking things.

 

[lluv3971]

June simply got over booked with all of the cancellations from March, April, and May. We had an 8 night June trip planned and we were able to snag all of the “ hot” FPs. I also think that if the parks do open by June a lot of the people booked will not actually go. I think it’s just a lot of wishful thinking and having fun just planning for some folks.

Out of curiosity, how long is/was your June stay? Did you have a FP strategy?

Like most here, I consider myself a WDW vet, but I am extremely worried (disappointed?) about the availability of FPs for my upcoming (fingers crossed) trip in mid-July.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Last Disney trip? If that's the case you could just call it quits now and save yourself the social distancing hassle surely to be in place down there in June should they be open. I mean if it was my last trip anywhere I guess it's probably not that important anyway, right?

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Just a fyi, no 90 day paid FPs are happening right now, so that isn't the reason for less fastpass availability.

A lot of people feel they limited the number of FPs, and with the rumors of BGs and FPs only at opening, (no standby lines) it makes sense.

Keep checking, people may cancel/more may release-good luck!

 

[Shellyred8]

I, personally, think Disney has reduced the number of FP's for June (for COVID-19 reasons). I ran into a similar situation when I was booking for my early June trip (60 days out). I was able to get FOP and SDMR, but there weren't may times to choose from. At HS, I was not able to get MMRR. I was able to grab a SDD about a week after making my first FP selections.

My approach is usually to book my last days first and, historically, there has been quite a bit of availability on the last 2-3 days. But not this time around.

But I'll just be happy if they are open by then and I'm actually able to go on this trip.

 

[robl45]

Yes I did last days first. I got the smugglers run on later dhs day and flight of passage on later ak day although not great time. The earlier days forget it. I never had a problem getting sdmt even on first day before and no luck this time.

 

[siren0119]

You had mentioned you hadn't been to Disney since 2017. I can tell you that at least from my experience, the ability to get FP between our trip in 2017 and our trip in 2019 were VERY different. 2017 I didn't have many issues getting stuff I wanted on the first couple of days of our trip - by 2019 we could only get the desirable stuff at the end of our trip. Couple that with what I also suspect is a reduced FP/changed management of lines strategy for when they reopen, and what you're seeing now makes sense.

 

[Grnl706]

My FP day is tomorrow. I know this trip isn't happening but I'm still going to do it anyway. I'm curious about the reduced availability of FP though. Does anyone know if this happened to those who did FP for May before they stopped accepting reservations and removing them?

 

[yulilin3]

Just booked my fast passes for June, looks like we probably aren't going to end up going with everything going on,but figured I would get it done. We haven't been to Disney since 2017 as we went to Universal the past couple of years and this is probably the last Disney trip. On my previous trips if I got on right at the start of the fast passes I could get just about anything I want. now I have multiple days where I didn't get the fast pass I wanted, most notably DHS where one day I didn't get any of the big 3 which is disconcerting. Even one day of AK we didn't get Flight of passage, that was never an issue before even going first day on our trip. This time I couldn't even get Mine Train on first day of trip. Clearly with Disney selling passes earlier it is not helping with this 90 day pay for play system. I think maybe it would be better if Disney just went to a day by day booking system rather than all at once. All at once heavily favors people on longer trips. If this was a two day trip, forget it, I'd have gotten nothing.

So rant done. Anyone know any good tricks to get the fastpasses I want? A girl that worked for me used to stalk the things in some way and get whatever she wanted, I had no luck with that. Is there anything like the dining finder from touring plans for fast passes?

to avoid having 2 threads open on the same subject I just merged your entire thread

 

[tlmadden73]

Is Disney planning on limiting park attendance for their re-opening and thus offering less fast passes?

My FP day is Thursday and while I feel we may not be going in June (either forcibly .. or voluntarily (because I feel the parks won't be back to normal and no sense wasting money on "half" an experience) .... this does not bode well for my SHORT trip. I'm still going to make my FPs .. and I am sure there are a ton of people too that will optimistically be making their FPs in hopes of the parks being open in June.

I have been worried that with the new tiering at DHS that I may not be able to get any Tier 1 FP during my trip.

The problem isn't people making fast passes at 90-days .. the problem is (as always) a huge advantage being given to people with LONG trips and the increasing number of rooms (including neighbor hotels) that get to take advantage of the 60+ day fast pass window. I am sure there are a TON of people taking advantage of the free dining offer and rebooking their cancelled trips in early to mid June.

That being said .. IF Disney is open in June .. I think a LOT of people will just cancel their trips depending on how "cut back" the park experiences inevitably will have to be due to COVID concerns. Some people may be fine with a reduced experience .and FPs will open up. Or .. FPs may just not be needed if the parks aren't going to be super crowded.

I guess we make our FPs and just wait and see.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I can’t speak to right at 60 days, but I can see through 6/7 right now (54 days from now) and other than DHS Tier 1s being pretty picked over, I would rate availability as pretty normal, or at least in the realm of normal. I could put together a reasonably solid plan, with some accommodations for times - which to me is a normal observation being several days past 60.

Not quite sure what’s up with the all the 60 day experiences, but it’s not all dire from my perspective for things past the major headliner level.

 

[whiporee]

Clearly with Disney selling passes earlier it is not helping with this 90 day pay for play system

That might often be the case, but the place that sells the 90 day passes -- Disney Signature Services -- has been shut down since mid March. I'm staying Club Level for that specific plan, and all I've gotten from them despite my pleading emails is a promise that they'll help me out when they reopen. That was supposed to be April 1, but no word yet.

 

[Brett Wyman]

They are DEFINITELY holding back FPs. No other explanation. Just try to book a hard to get restaurant for the same day and they are wide open. Prime example for Tuesday June 9th you can't get Figment until 1:40pm right now. But you can book PPO BOG, CRT, and even Chef Mickey without an issue. That just doesn't correlate.

 

[DisneyJade]

Thank you to the mods for merging these threads. This discussion is fascinating (albeit stressful for those with summer trips planned). I am following conversations about this, because I suspect there will be far-reaching implications. If the parks operate more virtual queues this summer, in lieu of FP+, and that is successful, it could become the norm. This could potentially eliminate the demand for club level FP+. For me, that would change our planned reservation for 2021 entirely.

Or the changes/impact could be something different altogether. The whole situation is causing me to want to sit back and watch how re-opening plays out before booking our resort. I definitely feel like WDW touring strategies one year from now are going to look very different from how they looked just one month ago.

 

[ryman471]

Since NO ONE knows for sure, my guess is IF they are able to open June 1st, it will be at 30-60% capacity limits. This means fast-pass availability is now half and will have standby line availability cut in half to spread out for social distancing. I definitely don't see it from overbooking. The busiest times of the year don't have this many limits for fast-passes and a ton of people have skipped June our of their plans.

 

[westie55]

I also do not think that the lack of FP is due to the number of reservations. Many, many people have already cancelled June trips, including myself. I had to cancel April. I initially rescheduled for June but it was too stressful so I made reservations for the end of July AND the last week in August. I hope I can go to one of those, but I have my doubts. I think it is certain that Disney has limited FP availability. I had no problem getting every FP I wanted for Easter week, one of the two busiest weeks of the year. There is no way demand is equally high for this June when we are in the midst of a pandemic with no real end in sight and so many people are out of work.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

They are DEFINITELY holding back FPs. No other explanation. Just try to book a hard to get restaurant for the same day and they are wide open. Prime example for Tuesday June 9th you can't get Figment until 1:40pm right now. But you can book PPO BOG, CRT, and even Chef Mickey without an issue. That just doesn't correlate.

Yet a couple of days before that, things "look" a bit better. (This was for a party of 4, FWIW)

Strange times.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Yet a couple of days before that, things "look" a bit better. (This was for a party of 4, FWIW)

Strange times.

View attachment 487941

Weird

 

[e_yerger]

If park capacity is at 30-60%, then tbh most people wont need FPs. Standby lines will be very short just due to lower crowd levels. But i can understand the nerves of not getting a 7DMT & SDD FP.

 

[ryman471]

If park capacity is at 30-60%, then tbh most people wont need FPs. Standby lines will be very short just due to lower crowd levels. But i can understand the nerves of not getting a 7DMT & SDD FP.

likely still will because of lack of staffing and standby lines will be maxed out since spaced out and less staffing possibly so slower ride rate turnarounds