Magical Day in MK Using 10 Fastpasses

[decoy7375]

While I am sure there could be nay-sayers even with this post...this is a vastly different scenario than what we were able to do in Feb./March on my vacation with a limit of 3 in 1 park. A fair amount of the previous concerns were accurate on my visit. This post does give me hope for the future. Thank you.

 

[johde]

I agree totally with this. The more I have analyzed it, I think the play is to schedule FPs for MK and AK in the 11-2 pm range and then book extras as the day progresses. For HS and Epcot, I would book the FPs as early as possible in order to open up the gates to the other Tier 1 as soon as you can. Being locked out before the fact changes the strategy dramtically.

In my mind, I don't even think you're initial FP+ setup was that far off. Looking at Josh's Cheat Sheet's on EasyWDW if the crowds had been much heavier and you had been a little bit slower getting through the first few attractions a 30 minute wait for Space Mountain at 10:30-11:00 is not unheard of.

I've never used FP+ so this is based strictly on trip reports. But looking at the first couple "Super User" FP+ reports so far, the key is going to be those "game day decisions". For example, based on the crowd level that day, is the return time your given one your "throw away" or keep. For example, if at 1:49 that Rapunzel had been available for 9:20-10:20 would you have grabbed it or thrown it back. It's a question we all need to ask. If one of our "A" list rides pop up, how far out is too far out to grab. And for me, at least, that depends on the crowd level.

 

[SuperRob]

In my mind, I don't even think you're initial FP+ setup was that far off. Looking at Josh's Cheat Sheet's on EasyWDW if the crowds had been much heavier and you had been a little bit slower getting through the first few attractions a 30 minute wait for Space Mountain at 10:30-11:00 is not unheard of.

I've never used FP+ so this is based strictly on trip reports. But looking at the first couple "Super User" FP+ reports so far, the key is going to be those "game day decisions". For example, based on the crowd level that day, is the return time your given one your "throw away" or keep. For example, if at 1:49 that Rapunzel had been available for 9:20-10:20 would you have grabbed it or thrown it back. It's a question we all need to ask. If one of our "A" list rides pop up, how far out is too far out to grab. And for me, at least, that depends on the crowd level.

Remember, the goal isn't ride everything as many times as possible (for most people, anyway). The goal is optimal use of fastpasses and standby in order to maximize enjoyment of the parks.

If you haven't ridden an E-Ticket early the in the day, and the FastPass times are in the future, the question will always be, "Do I grab the FP+ (and what do I do while I wait) or do I ride something else".

This is where the MDE app (or a third-party wait times app) in conjunction with the kiosk becomes a powerful tool. If you know that standby times for something you want to ride are short, you can grab a FP for something a bit later, effectively multitasking the time. Or maybe that's a good chance to grab a meal, see a show, or even just get off your feet and out of the sun.

For anyone who wants to be a Ride Commando, rope drop is now and always will be essential to the strategy. FP then basically helps smooth out waits during the busy periods so you're not killing an hour or more in line. All of the recent posts from people have proven that out.

For just about everyone else, FP is really a way to avoid standing in a slow moving line for the majority of the day, giving you the opportunity to do just about anything else instead. That's going to be very valuable to most guests, and yes, it may mean that you don't get to ride Space Mountain three times in one day, but you'll get to experience just as much of the park, certainly. I think it's safe to say that anyone really could do just about any E-Ticket at least once, plus quite a few of the other rides. But the big bonus is that they'll know for certain that they have three activities they have priority access to. You simply couldn't guarantee anyone that before.

...

I think the biggest thing for ride commandos that is being overlooked is that legacy FastPass was really luck of the draw. You didn't know what your return time was going to be until you got to the ride to find out. While you could leverage a touring plan and FP pretty well, there was a LOT of slack time in those systems.

When you can schedule three FP in advance, you can effectively eliminate slack time for a large portion of the day, taking a lot of variability out of them. I expect as people like Josh at EasyWDW, TouringPlans, and RideMax start learning these systems better, you'll find that their offerings become even more optimal, because you've effectively eliminated a significant portion of the algorithmic guesswork that was necessary. TouringPlans already allows you to put your pre-scheduled FP in customized touring plans, but their suggestions for what to FP before you've booked could be better. But once you have stuff scheduled, it is really great at figuring out how to move you around the park.

What they haven't done is factored the 4+ passes in yet (nor the location of the kiosks), and when that happens, it's going to be pretty amazing to see what kind of value can be squeezed from FP+.

 

[laura428]

Guess I've always been caught by the time conscious CMs who stare at the clock and don't let anyone move until the Mickey hand strikes the same time. I'll try it in a couple of weeks.

I'll be curious to hear how it goes for you. When we were there back in November, we were turned away just a few minutes before our Test Track FP+ window kicked in. Not sure if it's because it was early in the process, but we had to wait until our official time. I'm liking the 5/15 minute window...

 

[SuperRob]

I'll be curious to hear how it goes for you. When we were there back in November, we were turned away just a few minutes before our Test Track FP+ window kicked in. Not sure if it's because it was early in the process, but we had to wait until our official time. I'm liking the 5/15 minute window...

I've always been able to convince a CM to let me in if I was within five minutes of a FP return time. And there's always been a little grace with the end of the return window (just not the "any time the rest of the day" that it once was). All they did with FP+ is systematize the grace periods. It's possible that they might change them (either reduce, eliminate, or even extend the windows), but I think it's unlikely. 5 minutes before and 15 minutes after is pretty reasonable.

What I do like though it that it's no longer the decision of a capricious CM. You scan your band, and you get a green light if you're in in your return window AND if you're in the grace period. The CM doesn't know if you're early or late. The only time it's an issue is if you're completely outside of the grace period ... you get a blue light and they'll be told why.

 

[PEC]

Next day we did the Princess Tea Party at 10:30 at the Grand Floridian. Then afternoon at the pool, time at Downtown Disney, and went to an indoor trampoline place near Universal. If we were going to a park on that day, we would've rope dropped somewhere (despite our tiredness), but we would have come back a few hours later to rest.

I am not asking these as gotcha questions, but for my furture planning with Grandchildren age 5-8 (close to yours). Were you there other days at other parks? IF so how did those days go? Where they all long days at say DHS, EPCOT and/or AK?
I did go last year with 5 y/o GD. She was OK at MK but at other parks slowed down some. Probably the biggest thing was she was scared of anything scary or loud. This included Fireworks. I think in the last year she has grown up out of some of those fears.

 

[dowchick]

WOW! Thanks so much for sharing your day! Sounds like you had a wonderful time and really used FP+ in an efficient way. Great post!

 

[ciera321]

Very impressive!!!!

 

[Daddy Mack]

Off topic, but how was that Princess Tea Party? It looks cute.

It was really fun. It is expensive -- $291 for daughter and me, but we were there about 2 hours overall.

For the money, we received a nice selection of sandwiches and cheese, tea, an American Girl-like little Aurora, a necklace my daughter just loves, a birth certificate for the new doll, a drawstring pack to put everything in.

There is a master of ceremonies named Rose Petal who tells the story of how she became a person. She tells stories and leads sing-a-longs and teaches everyone how to greet Sleeping Beauty in sign language. Sleeping Beauty then comes out, goes around and meets everyone individually, signs autographs, take pictures, and gives each girl a rose. There is significant one on one attention here. Rose Petal goes around individually, too.

Then the girls line up, go on a parade around the Grand Floridian, up the staircase, get their picture made, and receive the birth certificates.

So, even though, it is on the pricey side, there was a lot provided during the experience. I decided, however, to skip Blizzard Beach that afternoon in favor of the pool, which was fine.

 

[Daddy Mack]

In my mind, I don't even think you're initial FP+ setup was that far off. Looking at Josh's Cheat Sheet's on EasyWDW if the crowds had been much heavier and you had been a little bit slower getting through the first few attractions a 30 minute wait for Space Mountain at 10:30-11:00 is not unheard of.

I've never used FP+ so this is based strictly on trip reports. But looking at the first couple "Super User" FP+ reports so far, the key is going to be those "game day decisions". For example, based on the crowd level that day, is the return time your given one your "throw away" or keep. For example, if at 1:49 that Rapunzel had been available for 9:20-10:20 would you have grabbed it or thrown it back. It's a question we all need to ask. If one of our "A" list rides pop up, how far out is too far out to grab. And for me, at least, that depends on the crowd level.

Choices certainly matter. The system was only a week old on Monday, so I had no idea what to expect what my options would be. I also knew Rapzunel was the hardest "get" out there that we had yet do by this point that we wanted to do (daughter thinks the Belle thing is boring, also hates Tomorrowland Raceway). If Rapzunel had been available for 9:20-10:20 at 1:49, I would have snapped it up and we would've left the park after seeing the standby lines before coming back later. Even worse would've been if Ariel's Grotto had been available, given how they subsequently played out. So were definitely lucky.

What happened when Rapzunel was not available was that my daughter wanted to do a Barnstormer and we were able to get a FP for 1:50 (I know it was 1:49 because I looked at my watch when that option was presented to us), walk on while others were waiting 35 minutes, and my mind started to imagine the possibilities. Once I realized it was possible to get FPs for almost immediate boarding, it was off to the races.

Waiting for Mickey Mouse was a drag, so if Rapzunel was not available at 5:25, I probably would've picked Mickey because we were running out of things we had yet to do.

 

[Daddy Mack]

I am not asking these as gotcha questions, but for my furture planning with Grandchildren age 5-8 (close to yours). Were you there other days at other parks? IF so how did those days go? Where they all long days at say DHS, EPCOT and/or AK?
I did go last year with 5 y/o GD. She was OK at MK but at other parks slowed down some. Probably the biggest thing was she was scared of anything scary or loud. This included Fireworks. I think in the last year she has grown up out of some of those fears.

On Wednesday, we did all 4 parks, beginning at AK at 8 am and ending up at MK at 11 p.m. I'm going to write a report about that day, too, when I get a chance.

On Thursday, we did indoor sky driving and drove home to Georgia. My daughter is fearless and to provide a little insight, she thinks Soarin is boring because the seats don't move during the ride.

 

[ArwenMarie]

It was really fun. It is expensive -- $291 for daughter and me, but we were there about 2 hours overall.

For the money, we received a nice selection of sandwiches and cheese, tea, an American Girl-like little Aurora, a necklace my daughter just loves, a birth certificate for the new doll, a drawstring pack to put everything in.

There is a master of ceremonies named Rose Petal who tells the story of how she became a person. She tells stories and leads sing-a-longs and teaches everyone how to greet Sleeping Beauty in sign language. Sleeping Beauty then comes out, goes around and meets everyone individually, signs autographs, take pictures, and gives each girl a rose. There is significant one on one attention here. Rose Petal goes around individually, too.

Then the girls line up, go on a parade around the Grand Floridian, up the staircase, get their picture made, and receive the birth certificates.

So, even though, it is on the pricey side, there was a lot provided during the experience. I decided, however, to skip Blizzard Beach that afternoon in favor of the pool, which was fine.

Sounds so cute!

Yes, it's definitely pricey Sounds like a nice event though! Thanks for the review

 

[johde]

Remember, the goal isn't ride everything as many times as possible (for most people, anyway). The goal is optimal use of fastpasses and standby in order to maximize enjoyment of the parks.
If you haven't ridden an E-Ticket early the in the day, and the FastPass times are in the future, the question will always be, "Do I grab the FP+ (and what do I do while I wait) or do I ride something else".
This is where the MDE app (or a third-party wait times app) in conjunction with the kiosk becomes a powerful tool. If you know that standby times for something you want to ride are short, you can grab a FP for something a bit later, effectively multitasking the time. Or maybe that's a good chance to grab a meal, see a show, or even just get off your feet and out of the sun.
For anyone who wants to be a Ride Commando, rope drop is now and always will be essential to the strategy. FP then basically helps smooth out waits during the busy periods so you're not killing an hour or more in line. All of the recent posts from people have proven that out.
For just about everyone else, FP is really a way to avoid standing in a slow moving line for the majority of the day, giving you the opportunity to do just about anything else instead. That's going to be very valuable to most guests, and yes, it may mean that you don't get to ride Space Mountain three times in one day, but you'll get to experience just as much of the park, certainly. I think it's safe to say that anyone really could do just about any E-Ticket at least once, plus quite a few of the other rides. But the big bonus is that they'll know for certain that they have three activities they have priority access to. You simply couldn't guarantee anyone that before.
...
I think the biggest thing for ride commandos that is being overlooked is that legacy FastPass was really luck of the draw. You didn't know what your return time was going to be until you got to the ride to find out. While you could leverage a touring plan and FP pretty well, there was a LOT of slack time in those systems.
When you can schedule three FP in advance, you can effectively eliminate slack time for a large portion of the day, taking a lot of variability out of them. I expect as people like Josh at EasyWDW, TouringPlans, and RideMax start learning these systems better, you'll find that their offerings become even more optimal, because you've effectively eliminated a significant portion of the algorithmic guesswork that was necessary. TouringPlans already allows you to put your pre-scheduled FP in customized touring plans, but their suggestions for what to FP before you've booked could be better. But once you have stuff scheduled, it is really great at figuring out how to move you around the park.
What they haven't done is factored the 4+ passes in yet (nor the location of the kiosks), and when that happens, it's going to be pretty amazing to see what kind of value can be squeezed from FP+.

Rob, believe it or not, I think we're basically saying the same thing but looking at it from opposite sides of the fence. Under FP- you physically had to go to the ride and take whatever time was available. Under FP+ you're basically walking up to a giant board one of anything you want but only one item at a time.

So, at 2:00 you walk up to the Kiosk and see there's a Little Mermaid at 2:30, Pirates of the Caribbean at at 3:15, and Space Mountain at 8:00 for the earliest times available for rides you haven't ridden, that you'd like to ride (along with a bunch of others but we're keeping it simple here). Different people might pick each of these FP+, and I could see where under different situations I might pick each of these.

1)If it's extremely busy in the parks, I'd probably pull Space Mountain because that line is probably going to stay long until right before closing. If it's extremely Busy, the park is hopefully open late and I can hit the Fantasyland and Adventureland rides I missed earlier in the day, after the Fireworks.

2) In most cases, especially if I hadn't had lunch yet, I'd go for Pirates of the Caribbean. Grab some lunch and maybe do Country Bears or Tiki Room Both of which I enjoy for nostalgia reasons while I'm waiting for the Pirates.

3) If it's a fairly quiet day, I've already eaten, I probably pull Little Mermaid figuring nearly everything else will still be there when I get off. And if Space Mountain disappears, I'll ride it late evening.

4) If it's absolutely dead, I probably go back to Space Mountain. At that point. Everything else is essentially a Walk-On. But Space Mountain (and of course a few others) almost always seems to have some wait.

At, EPCOT and DHS it's easy. If Soarin, TT, TSMM, or RnR (and maybe ToT) is available. Pick it up no matter what time it is (unless it's on top of something like Fantasmic). If more than one is available, than you'll need to decide between your desire to ride again vs. FP+ the one you didn't do already.

 

[smellyia]

Strong work! I'm looking over my touring plans for Memorial Day tonight after reading this!

 

[JennyMP03]

Wow! Your daughter is a more resilient lady than I am. It sounds like you had a wonderful day together.

I'll definitely keep your tips in mind for my trip in a few weeks. Thank you for giving us such a detailed report!

 

[Wendybird55]

Great Day...Great 6 year old!

So it looks like booking your 3 early FP+ should be late morning - early afternoon if you want to make use of additional FP+..

After using your 3 FP+ can you Park Hop and use additional FP+ in different park, or do all you FPs still need to be in same park each day?

 

[Aloop]

After using your 3 FP+ can you Park Hop and use additional FP+ in different park, or do all you FPs still need to be in same park each day?

The additional FPs can be in another park, however they can only be booked at kiosks in that park, so you would have to go to the other park before making selections. Some have reported that CMs on iPads made selections in another park for them, but not all CMs will do that.

 

[IZHAYMAMA]

So glad to have stumbled across your report of your magical day in MK! I've been somewhat discouraged reading all the negative reports about FP+ but you have restored hope to me and my family for our upcoming trip. Your day sounds exactly like what we are used to doing using the legacy FP. One question, though, is Gaston's Tavern directly behind the castle? We've yet to experience New Fantasyland ( been 3 long years since we've been to WDW )!

 

[Belleandtinker]

What does the following mean?

Arrive 5 minutes early to maximize .....

Arrive where?

 

[dizzydrop]

Awesome report of your day! You totally maximized riding!!! My question that I don't fully understand is, you used ur M&G for A&E but u rode the mountains before ur initial 2 FP times so does that wash them out and u don't have to use them just as long as u use the third one you're good?? I got confused with this part, I thought all 3 had to he used before u could get more. Thanks