No Fastpasses!...what do I do?

[PrinceOfPeace]

We were hoping to get FPs at the 30 day mark because we are staying off-site. Unfortunately due to a family emergency we might not be able to make it and I didn't want to buy tickets ahead of time. We are staying 9/5-9/12 (if we go). What do I do if I can't pre buy tix? It will be our first time using the system...and it makes me so nervous for some reason. Can anyone help me think this through? I wish I was able to plan better but to the emergency it threw us waaay off course.

 

[Westcoastwild]

The answer is hilariously simple. Just go to WDW like you would go to any other park and wait in line. Choose rides based on the fps you CAN get and posted wait times.

Sure, the fp system is nice. But most lines are 30-60 minutes and I wait in that kind of line at the amusement park near my home all the time.

Also, a lot of the time, I was able to only get a late fast pass and by the time my slot rolled around, I'd already ridden the ride a time or two because I actually like riding things like haunted mansion or thunder mountain multiple times.

 

[quikah]

Don't worry about it so much. The only real issue will be Frozen and mine train. I have been able to get next day (or 2 day ahead) FP for nearly everything else a few weeks ago. Plan to go to AK first since there are not huge demands on FP there, then try to book for epcot/MK later in your stay.

There is a trick for getting last minute FP. Book 1 person at a time. Day of FP can be gotten for ANY ride doing this. I was able to get Mine train FP several times by booking 1 person at a time in the morning. Just keep changing the time until a FP shows up and book it. It can take a while to get them all to line up.

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

The answer is hilariously simple. Just go to WDW like you would go to any other park and wait in line. Choose rides based on the fps you CAN get and posted wait times.

Sure, the fp system is nice. But most lines are 30-60 minutes and I wait in that kind of line at the amusement park near my home all the time.

Also, a lot of the time, I was able to only get a late fast pass and by the time my slot rolled around, I'd already ridden the ride a time or two because I actually like riding things like haunted mansion or thunder mountain multiple times.

Are the wait times that much in September? I thought it was much less.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Haven't been in September- I've heard it's slow season as well- but I'd still guess that the popular rides have a stand by wait time of at least 30 just because fast passes seem to take up such a big quota. Stand by does not seem to move fast.

 

[otten]

My first trip to WDW was a last minute one day trip at the end of a cruise last year because I finally talked my husband into it. We were able to get fast passes the night before for Peter Pan and some other things. Mind you we weren't doing the mountains because our kids were both too small and we wanted to focus the day on things the three year old would like.

Granted it was early May and crowds were pretty reasonable but the only things we couldn't do were Mine Train ( the wait got down to 40 minutes but we didn't want to risk our oldest hating it.) I even got a sdfp for Space Mountain at the end of the night but unfortunately the ride broke down.

 

[DonJ123]

If you get there first thing in the morning, you should be able to do 3 to 4 headliner rides before it gets busy and knock out a couple more before lines get too long. You might have to do some crisscrossing depending on which rides are most important to you.