Nervous about Easter Week FP+: Update Post #8

[Mrs. Ciz]

I leave for DD's High School Soft Ball Team trip on Sunday night. I am a bit nervous about the trip. I've been to WDW several times before, but this is my first visit since FP+. The coach does not believe in Fastpasses! In the 15 plus years he's been taking his teams to WDW he has never used them, and he won't give out our ticket numbers in advance. Many parents have asked, but its not going to happen. So, we will arrive on Monday at 10:00 AM with no FP+ scheduled for our 4 day trip (Mon-Thurs).

I will try to make some FP+ reservations when I get there and get my ticket. I tried to set up MDE, but I can't get very far because I don't have the WDW hotel reservation info. Also, I don't own a smart phone, so I won't be able to use the App in the parks. I figure I have two options.

1) wait in line at a park kiosk to make whatever reservations I can for Monday
2) go to the computer room at All Star Sports at some point after check in on Monday and set up what I can for the rest of the trip. Or maybe I should stop by my classroom and grab my school laptop to bring with me.

I will be setting up and looking for FP+ for just me - one person.

So FP+ experts, is there anything else I should do? What are my chances of getting a few decent FP+ for Easter Week at this point? Help!!!

 

[soniam]

Oh man, that sucks. Luckily, since it's technically the week after Easter/Good Friday, maybe the crowds will be lower than they were this week. Definitely get to a kiosk or computer/phone ASAP and see what you can get. You won't need to go to a kiosk, if you get the tickets before you enter a park. Once you tickets, you can make selections online via a computer or phone & app. Make selections for all the days that you can as soon as you can. You might have a chance that early in the day of getting some of the bigger ones, like the mountains at MK, but the times may be late. 7DMT may be harder. Also, if you are only getting FP+ for you, that helps a lot. You can also do single rider lines for some rides, so you won't need FP+ for those. If you don't get exactly the times or attractions that you want, you can use your phone or computer to modify them. Keep trying throughout the day too. We couldn't get Safari in the afternoon at AK, but after trying for a bit, it became available.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I took a chance and called Disney. Guess what! They gave me my reservation number! I was able to set up MDE and make my FP+ reservations. I got pretty good ones at good times - including one for 7DMT. It helped that I was looking for singles. Now I can breath a sigh of relief!

 

[subtchr]

So they had your ticket number as well?

 

[rwdavis2]

Was the coach paying for the trip himself?

 

[Angel Ariel]

I'm glad disney was able to help you!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

So they had your ticket number as well?

Yes, because it was a package, the ticket number was attached to the reservation number already. I am so happy to have MDE set up and the FP+s done, even if I end up changing some of them when I get there. Might happen if I want to tour with some of the other parents. At least I've played around with the system and know how it works.

Who am I kidding...I'm not giving up my 7DMT FP!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I just got back last night and the trip went really well! Crowd levels on my three park days were 10 out of 10 (MK), 10 out of 10 (EP/HS) and 9/8 out of 10 (AK/HS)! I used the Touringplans.com Crowd Calendar (which underestimated the crowds at 7, 7, 5/5) and TP's touring plans. I had 3 day park hoppers. I made my FP+ reservations on Saturday for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I got everything I wanted (including 7DMT) at close to the times I wanted. When we arrived on Monday, my roommate decided she wanted to tour with me, so I spent about 30 minutes getting FP+ for her too. I was able to get her FP+ for everything I had. I got overlapping times for all the rides except for 7DMT (she had to ride it a couple hours later than I rode it) and Mission Space (again I got her one for a couple hours later than mine).

ETA: I do not have a smart phone or ipad. I made all my selections 3 days ahead of my visit and my roommates selections 1 day before our first park on my computer. I did not attempt to change any FP+ in the parks. I did visit the FP+ kiosks to get a 4th FP+ in MK and to check 4th FP+ availability in Epcot.

Monday: After an overnight bus trip, we arrived, had a pool day, napped, and spent the evening at DTD. Had lunch at AS-S food court and dinner at the House of Blues inside bar.

Tuesday: We rope dropped MK at 6:55 AM. We walked on Space Mt, Buzz, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Small World, Haunted Mansion. Then I used my FP+ for 7DMT at 9:00, waited 30 minutes for Jungle Cruise at 9:15. Next we used FP+ for Splash, had a snack, then FP+ for Big Thunder. While my roommate used her FP+ for 7DMT, I went to Heritage House FP+ kiosk and got FP+ for 8:00 PM for Pirates of Caribbean. By this time it was 12:00 noon. We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House, left the park at 1:00 PM, went back to resort. It was so crowded by this time we could barely move!

We caught the bus from All Star Sports to ESPN complex for our daughters' 4:00 softball game. We had an hour long game delay due to rain. Once the game was over we booked it back to MK. The Hub was INSANE!!!! So many people! We rode Pirates, watched fireworks from the backside of the castle, had dinner at Pecos Bill's and staked out a planter box to sit on in Frontierland. We rested there and watched the Main Street Electrical Parade. Then we left. Didn't have to wait long for the bus and we got seats!

Wednesday: Daughters had an 8:00 AM softball game so rope drop was out. After the game and some shopping at the ESPN store, I ran over to Epcot for my 11:20 Mission Space FP+. My roommate was supposed to meet me over there but she fell asleep and missed all her FP times! Next, I used my FP+ for Test Track. **This was a critical strategy error on my part! In retrospect, I should have made my FP+ for Soarin' and done the Test Track single rider line. TT single rider line was a 20 minute wait. Soarin' was a 120 minute wait the entire time I was at Epcot. Needless to say, I did not ride Soarin' this trip.**

Then, I had a couple hours until my 2:00 FP+ for Spaceship Earth. I snacked and sipped my way around the World Showcase for lunch, enjoying all the special Flower & Garden topiaries, exhibits, food stands and entertainment. It was lovely! I saved all my Dining Plan snack credits just for the F&G food kiosks and it was worth it!!! Taco de Pastor & blueberry pomegranate margarita in Mexico, Kung Pao chicken bun in China, burnt ends brisket with hash in USA, seafood civiche in Morocco, La Vie en Rose Vodka slush in France, a Spa Water at Urban Farms...YUM!!! After I rode Spaceship Earth, I checked the FP+ kiosk for a random Soarin' opening. They didn't have Soarin', but they did have EO, Nemo, Turtle Talk and Imagination. I didn't feel like riding those. I went back to resort for a nap.

That evening I met the softball team at HS at 7:00 PM. While they waited for ToT, I went to One Man's Dream. I have never seen it and was glad I stopped in. Then we had dinner at Fairfax Faire (chicken & ribs) and watched the 10:00 Fantasmic. We had great seats in the middle section. The 8:30 show was standing room only at 7:45 and at capacity at 8:15. The 10:00 show still had one empty section when it started!

Thursday: We rope dropped AK; they opened the park at 7:45ish. We had no FP+ reservations at AK. We went straight to EE and rode twice, then we walked on Dinosaur. After that we walked on K. Safari. On our way there, we passed Kali River Rapids (a 10 minute wait), but we didn't want to get soaked so we skipped it. We took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch/Conservation Station (something I'd never done), then watched Festival of the Lion King at 11:00 AM. We had lunch at the Yak & Yeti counter service place (very good!), then saw Tough to Be a Bug after a 20 minute wait.

At 1:00 we headed over to HS to use our FP+ reservations. We rode Star Tours with FP+. My roommate was recently discharged from the hospital. She had no issue riding rides, but after the first day, the walking did her in so she used a scooter. I got to see all the ins and outs of the scooter loading procedures. At Star Tours they had a snafu, forgot about us and started loading other scooter folks. After about 30 minutes my roomie finally said something (nicely of course) and they gave us a guest recovery FP which we used to ride Toy Story Mania. Then we used our last two prescheduled FP+s to ride RnRC and ToT. We got seated for the 5:30 Beauty and the Beast Show at 5:00. We finished HS with a drink at the Tune In Lounge at 50s Prime Time Café. We thought about seeing a couple more shows or riding the Great Movie Ride, but she was ready to call it a day.

At 7:00 ish, I caught the bus to Epcot where I met some other team parents in the World Showcase for dinner, drinks and Illuminations. I had the barbacoa tacos and a Dos XX from Mexico. We staked out a spot in front of Italy and relaxed until the show started. Afterwards, they headed to MK, but I went back to the resort. I was pooped!

Friday: Our team bus left at 8:00 AM.

All in all, I got all the FP+ rides I wanted at the times I wanted. And I felt like I got to see and do everything I wanted to do (except Soarin') with very little wait during one of the most crowded weeks of the year. It was a very successful trip!

 

[twodogs]

Thanks for posting the follow up. Sounds like a great trip!!