More likely to get day of FEA or Soarin FP?

[ClapYourHands]

I was at Epcot tonight, and it was a zoo. Touring plans predicted a 5, and just updated to say today’s actual crowds were a 9. It was ridiculously hard to move in the walkways.

I was still able to snag a Soarin FP for three while my kids played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom before we park hopped. Then I got another Soarin while waiting in the delayed-for-technical-difficulties FP line, and got a third to pop up after that (which I released when I was able to get the Mission Space my 10-year-old was begging for). I never saw TT or FEA even once, and I spent a lot of time refreshing today.

 

[ClapYourHands]

On one of my posts, it was suggested that I FP Soarin for around 9:30/10:00, rope drop TT, then walk over to FEA as it should only be about 20 minutes then. After leaving FEA then go do my Soarin FP

TT goes down a lot, much more than the other rides. It is especially sensitive to bad weather. If it’s not running at rope drop, you have no recourse. If you have a FP, and it goes down, your FP will convert to an anytime FP so you can ride later.

I’d get the TT fast pass, rope drop FEA, then walk over to Soarin. The line should not be too bad, and even if it is, it won’t be as bad as TT will be if you have to do standby because RD doesn’t work. Plus, you’ll have a better chance of a same-day FP with Soarin than the others.

 

[NinjaCat]

We were at Epcot on Friday. Soarin was by far the easiest to snag additional fast passes for. We got 4 fastpasses throughout the day for it. We also got an additional for Frozen, but I only saw it pop up one time. Test Track never showed up as a possible additional fast pass, but it was down for a while, so that may have been a factor.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

TT goes down a lot, much more than the other rides. It is especially sensitive to bad weather. If it’s not running at rope drop, you have no recourse. If you have a FP, and it goes down, your FP will convert to an anytime FP so you can ride later.

I’d get the TT fast pass, rope drop FEA, then walk over to Soarin. The line should not be too bad, and even if it is, it won’t be as bad as TT will be if you have to do standby because RD doesn’t work. Plus, you’ll have a better chance of a same-day FP with Soarin than the others.

Now that you say this, I remember having a FP for TT back in 2015....it went down twice that day we were there. Once we arrived for our FP time though...it was all good. The line was ridiculous in SB...was very thankful for the FP. Once you use a Tier 1 you have to use ALL FPs before getting the next Tier 1 correct? So I can't get the Soarin FP till after ALL three are used, correct. But I've also heard Soarin has a bigger ride capacity, so the lines aren't that bad on SB...30 at the most....maybe 45?

 

[M SH]

On one of my posts, it was suggested that I FP Soarin for around 9:30/10:00, rope drop TT, then walk over to FEA as it should only be about 20 minutes then. After leaving FEA then go do my Soarin FP

if you want to rope drop TT, you have to be ahead of the rope drop crowd, which means you have to get there early (30-60 min before park opening).
rope drop for FEA does not require that as 80% of rope drop crowd head to TT and so you can get there right at park open and head to FEA. we did that last August and waited ~10 mins for FEA.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

if you want to rope drop TT, you have to be ahead of the rope drop crowd, which means you have to get there early (30-60 min before park opening).
rope drop for FEA does not require that as 80% of rope drop crowd head to TT and so you can get there right at park open and head to FEA. we did that last August and waited ~10 mins for FEA.

Agreed. We ran into this where we arrived 10 mins before park open in May which was after they started letting people in. TT was up to 40 mins even though it was a low crowd day. TT seems to be the most consistently long wait time of the Tier 1s even though FEA (for us anyway) is the harder to get same day FP.

 

[ClapYourHands]

if you want to rope drop TT, you have to be ahead of the rope drop crowd, which means you have to get there early (30-60 min before park opening).
rope drop for FEA does not require that as 80% of rope drop crowd head to TT and so you can get there right at park open and head to FEA. we did that last August and waited ~10 mins for FEA.

We ran into this today for EMH. As we were coming from the IG, we were pretty far back at the TT entrance just because we had so much farther to walk than those who came through the front. We were towards the head of the IG crowd, but it was posted 30 minutes by the time we got there. It was maybe a little less for us, but only because we were first out of the design room. My app is showing a 15 minute wait for Soarin, but 45 for TT now. I’m typing this at 8:59 near the front of the single rider line 15 minutes so far, posted 5 minutes when we entered for a second ride)

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We were there this past Saturday which was a zoo also (F&W, marathon, Jersey week) and I was really glad we got the frozen fp. We waffled between soarin, TT and Frozen and frozen won. Snagged a TT fp for later and soarin was not bad at all. However we had a PPO breakfast for Garden Grill the next day which we opted to keep (had to eat somewhere plus you get characters) with a short walk downstairs to get on Soarin (got on before the park opened so we rode twice) then walked over to TT around 9:15. Little wait time.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Now that you say this, I remember having a FP for TT back in 2015....it went down twice that day we were there. Once we arrived for our FP time though...it was all good. The line was ridiculous in SB...was very thankful for the FP. Once you use a Tier 1 you have to use ALL FPs before getting the next Tier 1 correct? So I can't get the Soarin FP till after ALL three are used, correct. But I've also heard Soarin has a bigger ride capacity, so the lines aren't that bad on SB...30 at the most....maybe 45?

yes we got 2 throwaway FPS for early times then had Frozen so we could go for another Tier 1 fp

 

[Tiggerlover91]

yes we got 2 throwaway FPS for early times then had Frozen so we could go for another Tier 1 fp

Ah...so do FP for rides we really don't want and then do TT. Tap in and then get one for Soarin? How do you "throw them away"? Don't you have to walk through a line to tap in? Won't it be difficult to leave the line?

 

[Klayfish]

Ah...so do FP for rides we really don't want and then do TT. Tap in and then get one for Soarin? How do you "throw them away"? Don't you have to walk through a line to tap in? Won't it be difficult to leave the line?

Yes, you can do that. Soarin' won't be hard to get.

"Throw away" FP+ are ones for rides that don't really need them. In Epcot, that's pretty much all the Tier 2 stuff. You don't have to walk through a line to tap in, the tap point is right at the entrance to the lines. So you can tap and walk away if you want, or proceed and get on the ride. In Epcot, we rarely walk away because many of the rides are short anyway. Nemo takes all of 10 minutes start to finish, same with Figment. You can go through 2 of your "throw away" FP+ in 10 minutes or less if you really want.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Ah...so do FP for rides we really don't want and then do TT. Tap in and then get one for Soarin? How do you "throw them away"? Don't you have to walk through a line to tap in? Won't it be difficult to leave the line?

Yes you can get one for say, spaceship earth at 9 am. Then get your tier 1 at 10:15 or after. Then get another later fp. After you tap the spaceship earth at 9, immediately move the other tier 2 up to before your tier 1. Then after you do your tier 1 you’re free to get your next fp. Refreshing works great as does going for smaller parties. Yesterday I was able to get SDMT by getting a 2:55 for 3 and a 3:40 for 2. Then kept refreshing to move the party of 2 earlier.
Edit to add that I didn’t spend that much time to try to move the 2nd fp up so when we got on the ride (5 minutes early) I was able to get another fp though by then it was slim pickings because MK closed at 4:30. Really didn’t need FPS for most attractions. Though the day before (we changed our plans from DHS to MK the day before) I was able to get Peter Pan, Pooh (day before) and SDMT same day. I was only able to get FPS for 5 for PP the day before and got up the next day at 7 am and got the 6th fp.

PS: I learned a lot in the FP thread stickied at the top of this forum. Lots of great advice.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Yes you can get one for say, spaceship earth at 9 am. Then get your tier 1 at 10:15 or after. Then get another later fp. After you tap the spaceship earth at 9, immediately move the other tier 2 up to before your tier 1. Then after you do your tier 1 you’re free to get your next fp. Refreshing works great as does going for smaller parties. Yesterday I was able to get SDMT by getting a 2:55 for 3 and a 3:40 for 2. Then kept refreshing to move the party of 2 earlier.
Edit to add that I didn’t spend that much time to try to move the 2nd fp up so when we got on the ride (5 minutes early) I was able to get another fp though by then it was slim pickings because MK closed at 4:30. Really didn’t need FPS for most attractions. Though the day before (we changed our plans from DHS to MK the day before) I was able to get Peter Pan, Pooh (day before) and SDMT same day. I was only able to get FPS for 5 for PP the day before and got up the next day at 7 am and got the 6th fp.

PS: I learned a lot in the FP thread stickied at the top of this forum. Lots of great advice.

You've given some great advice. I will screenshot this so when trip time comes I'll have it!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

You're welcome. Read the boards and ask questions. I feel our trip was made much easier due to the advice given in this forum. A wealth of information and people are happy to share. We are not super planners, we like to keep it loose, and tips and info shared here makes it so much easier, to get around and accomplish a lot, to make the most of your visit. Having a plan, no matter how rigid or solid, really helps to have a happy and successful Disney Vacation.

 

[Daisy1940]

I agree with the others, you are more likely to get Soarin' as a 4th FP+. I've done it a number of times. In August, I got all 3 Tier 1's back-to-back as 4th, 5th and 6th FP+ as well!

We were able to do the same for three people in mid-October with a few minutes of refreshing throughout the early evening.

I agree with everyone else, soarin’ is easier to get as a 4FP but we got several FEA as 4th (or more) FP on our trip last month.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

You're welcome. Read the boards and ask questions. I feel our trip was made much easier due to the advice given in this forum. A wealth of information and people are happy to share. We are not super planners, we like to keep it loose, and tips and info shared here makes it so much easier, to get around and accomplish a lot, to make the most of your visit. Having a plan, no matter how rigid or solid, really helps to have a happy and successful Disney Vacation.

Oh I do read and ask questions. Even though I've been to Disney numerous times.....things change and it's good to know from those who may know the system a bit better. I may phase out once our trip happens and you not hear from me for a LONG time, but I ALWAYS return usually the year before I take a trip! I HAVE to have a plan...something where I can go...this, then this, next this, and finally. BUT.....if I need to, I can and will change those plans to better accommodate what may or may not be going on the day we're in the parks. I don't do ADRs because of the kosher thing my family does....so that makes it easier to be a bit more free in our time. I visit the QS restaurants that serve kosher and/or visit the QS in the hotel we are at, and I plan our dinners offsite at the kosher restaurants available in Orlando!