Need for FP last week of January 2015?

[Scrap4me]

I am a Disney purist who loves to tour the parks at my leisure. I was unable to go since October 2012 , so I have not experienced the new FP+. I was never one who used Fast Pass previously.

I have convinced my sis in law to take a trip to the world from January 25 to March 1, 2015. She has not been to Disney since 1979, so she is in for a ton of fun!

We will be staying onsite and will take advantage of the Magic Hours.

My question: The week we are going has the lowest predicted crowds, do you think (for those who have used FP+) we will need to book fast passes for the headliners or should standby wait times be 20 minutes or less?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[stinkpickle]

I would book FP+ anyway. If you are picking parks with EMH and not hopping to or from recommended parks, you can still run into crowds even in January.

 

[KimBean]

There are rides and meet and greets that the waits will be 45-60 minutes no matter when you go (unless you are first group there at rope drop OR go during firewords/parade) so for those I would get FP.

In my opinion the most important are:

- Anna & Elsa
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Toy Story Mania
- Rock n Roller Coaster
- Soarin
- Test Track

I'm sure someone else will add others. If you weren't used to FP before, then you'll probably like this system. You can grab 3 for each day and then just ride standby for the others.

 

[rlovew]

It depends on what you really want to do and how you plan on touring. We were there this past week and had some FP+ that we used. I did have a child who was not willing to go on coasters so we never rode those (we have APs and just did things she would enjoy).

Tuesday we went to AK- it was freezing so Kali was out and EE and Dino were out for us do to our child. Everything was a very short wait early in the day and when I looked at the app I never saw a wait time of more than 30 min on anything and I think that was EE. It was freezing that day and we could have easily ridden all the rides by 11am if we had not gone to a show and walked quickly and that was about when people were coming in do to the cold.

On Wednesday we went to DHS- Toy Story always had a long wait- I would FP this, did not check on TOT or RnR but you could do these early and they would be good since you would have a FP for TSMM and you don't need Jedi Academy. Star Tours I have not seen a line over 25 minutes and that is only 1-2 times and it would drop if you waited a little while. Great Movie ride doesn't have a bad line either and at least it is inside. Everything else here is shows so it is a matter of planning out your day to see the ones you want to see.

We did not go to Epcot but I would say based on my experiences this summer and in the fall- FP for TT or Soarin are needed if you want to ride both- you can go to the other one at rope drop and hit Spaceship Earth late in the day to avoid a line. Everything else should have a line less thann 25 minutes long at their longest wait times (Turtle Talk would be another possibility to FP if you want to see it).

We went to the MK on both Thursday and Friday- Thursday was morning EMH and we were able to experience ETWB, Carrousel, Tea Party, Mermaid, and TTA without much of any waits by 9:15. The mine train had a long line starting when the park opened and through the whole time we were there. Lines of 30 min and more developed at Peter Pan, Dumbo, Space, and Thunder by around 10:30am (some like Pan earlier). Jungle Cruise had a 30 min wait listed at 11:30 and Pirates had a 20 min line at the same time. Splash was empty due to the weather, thunder had a wait of about 20 min when we got off the railroad to head to Pirates. On Friday the park opened at 8am to everyone. We rode Pan, Pooh, Tea Party, TTA, and Dumbo(one time as the only riders) twice by 9am. While on TTA at 8:55 the wait time for Space was 10 min, Buzz was 5 min, and Astro Orbitor had an empty que. At 9am we headed to Adventureland and noticed that Pirates was up to a listed wait of 10 min. If we had been fast walkers and wanted to we could have done quite a few more rides in the Fantasyland/Tomorrowland area but we let our niece chooe what we were doing.

 

[Scrap4me]

Meet and greets will be very low on our list of priorities.

If I do choose to book FP, for something like SDMT, but happen to be there (outside of my FP time) and the standby is just 10 min, can I cancel my reserved FP if I go ahead and ride standby. This way I could change the FP to a different ride?

I am purchasing park hoppers for our tickets. Something new for me also. I have always been a park commando previously , in at rope drop and leaving as the Castle kisses goodnight. But, alas , I discovered on my last trip I must have afternoon breaks.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

 

[KimBean]

Meet and greets will be very low on our list of priorities.

If I do choose to book FP, for something like SDMT, but happen to be there (outside of my FP time) and the standby is just 10 min, can I cancel my reserved FP if I go ahead and ride standby. This way I could change the FP to a different ride?

I am purchasing park hoppers for our tickets. Something new for me also. I have always been a park commando previously , in at rope drop and leaving as the Castle kisses goodnight. But, alas , I discovered on my last trip I must have afternoon breaks.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

You would need to use all 3 before you can get an additional FP. Then you can attempt to get one at a Kiosk - still can't do it from your phone but I hope that is coming soon. You also have to select the 3 FP's in the same park - wanted to make sure you knew that since you are getting hoppers.

Here is a chart of some wait times to give you an idea. http://www.easywdw.com/reports12/mkwaits1121.jpg This was a crowd level 3 day so should be pretty similar. Blue line is actual waits.

I've always been commando. We are going commando this time as well. But, just my plan is tiring me out. I think it might be my last one and even with that we are going to do early mornings and try to end earlier than we used to. We only have one night at MK that isn't a party night. It's open until midnight but we've decided to leave after Wishes since we have an 8:40 O'hana the next morning. Gettin' old!

 

[letsgoreds]

Yes, you can always ride standby and change your FP+ to something else, if you get to the line and see it is walk on.

You will definitely need FP for some rides, as other posters mentioned. Keep an eye out for the Wishes and parade FP (especially Electrical Parade). We aren't big firework and parade people (don't like just sitting or standing in big crowds), but these FP+ were the best, since you get to enjoy these parts of WDW without the crowds or waits.

FP+ is fun, don't be afraid of it. It is very flexible. Just use easywdw and pick what parks you want to do each day (using crowd predictors/park reccos), and pick your FP times...if you like rope drop + afternoon break, consider scheduling evening FP+ times to enjoy when you return to the park. It will prevent you from using the 4th+ FP+, but that might not be necessary anyways.

We changed our FP+ a lot during our trip, often on the fly (switched parks one day, rides were walk-on, etc.). Very easy. Have fun with it!

 

[rlovew]

Meet and greets will be very low on our list of priorities.

If I do choose to book FP, for something like SDMT, but happen to be there (outside of my FP time) and the standby is just 10 min, can I cancel my reserved FP if I go ahead and ride standby. This way I could change the FP to a different ride?

I am purchasing park hoppers for our tickets. Something new for me also. I have always been a park commando previously , in at rope drop and leaving as the Castle kisses goodnight. But, alas , I discovered on my last trip I must have afternoon breaks.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

You can either change the Fp to something else or keep it and ride again later when the FP is available. You can make changes to a FP until you use it. We had FP for Space 1 day and were late getting to the park- even though the FP time had expired we were able to change it and use it later when we arrived.

 

[DebbieB]

I would book the headliners. You are not going to see rides like 7DMT, Soarin or TSM with times 20 minutes or less no matter when you go. Crpwds have been up in general, there are really no dead times anymore.

I was there last month and was able to change times or rides on the app (except for headliners).

 

[PoohsFan1]

I would book the headliners. You are not going to see rides like 7DMT, Soarin or TSM with times 20 minutes or less no matter when you go. Crpwds have been up in general, there are really no dead times anymore.

I was there last month and was able to change times or rides on the app (except for headliners).

I agree, I would definitely make FP+ for the headliners. I am taking DD13 and DD11 at the end of January (1/23-1/30) and I too made FP+ just in case. I made them all early enough to where, after we use the third one, we could go ahead and get a 4th, 5th....Good luck and have fun.