Plan of Attack without FP

[amym2]

My 13yo DD and a few friends (and a coach) will be at MK next week, and we don't have a way to get the tickets ahead of time (already purchased) so no FP. Unfortunately the day they're going has EMH in the morning, so the MK will already be crowded at park opening. My DD is a WDW pro and has been checking wait times, and she knows they are going to have to wait in long lines. Their priority is to hit all of the mountains and 7 Dwarfs. Anyone have any suggestions for a plan of attack? Is it worth even attempting to get FP once in the park, or will that just be wasting precious time?

 

[loves to dive]

I'd do 7 Dwarfs at rope drop, then maybe Big Thunder Mountain and move over to Space after that. They could probably know those three out pretty early in the morning if they are there right at rope drop. I never FPs at MK but we don't mind waiting in SB lines, SDMT is most likely going to be their longest wait.

 

[BrianL]

Have them get there early and as soon as they have their tickets in hand, link to MDE and try to schedule some FPs. They can do this while waiting for entry or while in line for another ride, so they're not really wasting any time at all.

 

[Carrie Lynn]

Some of the best FPs I've even gotten has been the day of when people change plans or decide they might not go to the park that day. So I would check once you get your tickets and have them added to you account. Use the app to find fast pass times! I would start with 7 Dwarfs mine train at rope drop and then do the three mountains. Then fill in the rest of the day with attractions that you can get FPs for or just wait in the que

 

[wdw&sonny]

Why cant' they get the tickets in advance? Why not buy them on-line and have other pay you back?

But, if no advanced tickets, since there are morning EMH, 7DMT will already be a long wait. I would skip that and head straight to Space, then over to Splash then BTMRR, then Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, Haunted...those are the ones that will build the longest waits (if you exclude Peter Pan and SDMT).

 

[lynzi2004]

Since it will be an EMH morning, I would start at BTMRR and then do Splash. Those aren't open for EMH so there won't be any crowd ahead of them as long as they are there at rope drop for non-resort guests. I would probably then do either Adventureland (Pirates/Jungle Cruise) and head across to Tomorrowland for Space and Buzz. Have your daughter link their tickets while waiting in one or the lines and try to secure some same-day FP for either the mountains again or some of the stuff in Fantasyland. I would either try to ride 7DMT right at close if they were willing to wait that long or just get in line during the day when all the other lines are long elsewhere!

 

[amym2]

Have them get there early and as soon as they have their tickets in hand, link to MDE and try to schedule some FPs. They can do this while waiting for entry or while in line for another ride, so they're not really wasting any time at all.

Hadn't thought about this- thanks! Hopefully she can figure out how to link the tickets. Probably should set up her own MDE account so she doesn't accidentally mess up future ADRs on my account. Can people be on more than one account?

 

[amym2]

Why cant' they get the tickets in advance? Why not buy them on-line and have other pay you back?

But, if no advanced tickets, since there are morning EMH, 7DMT will already be a long wait. I would skip that and head straight to Space, then over to Splash then BTMRR, then Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, Haunted...those are the ones that will build the longest waits (if you exclude Peter Pan and SDMT).

They purchased the tickets through the competition they are attending.

This was my thinking- with EMH they need a different plan of attack than if it wasn't an EMH day. DD was thinking something along the lines you suggested. If Space isn't too long already I think they'll do it first.

 

[amym2]

Since it will be an EMH morning, I would start at BTMRR and then do Splash. Those aren't open for EMH so there won't be any crowd ahead of them as long as they are there at rope drop for non-resort guests. I would probably then do either Adventureland (Pirates/Jungle Cruise) and head across to Tomorrowland for Space and Buzz. Have your daughter link their tickets while waiting in one or the lines and try to secure some same-day FP for either the mountains again or some of the stuff in Fantasyland. I would either try to ride 7DMT right at close if they were willing to wait that long or just get in line during the day when all the other lines are long elsewhere!

Didn't realize Splash and BTMRR aren't open for EMH. That might work well! Hopefully they'll arrive before

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Hadn't thought about this- thanks! Hopefully she can figure out how to link the tickets. Probably should set up her own MDE account so she doesn't accidentally mess up future ADRs on my account. Can people be on more than one account?

Send her an invite from her profile in your mde. Use the "Invite to Connect" button at the bottom of the profile.

 

[ChristineOH]

I like lynzi's plan above.

She absolutely should get on MDE and link her tickets the second she gets them. It is easy to get day of FP for any attraction at MK, with the exception of 7DMT. (You can get 7DMT, but there's more luck involved in that.) People are running late in the morning, and cancel morning FP and move them later. People decide to leave the park early. Stuff changes constantly. If you refresh 10 times, you will get completely different choices each time.

Have her schedule FP in groups of two or three and look for overlapping times. I'd just plan to do 7DMT standby toward the end of the night.

 

[hvanes]

My ds was in a similar situation with his hs band in May. We were able to get the ticket numbers from the touring company the week before the trip. It may be worth asking for the numbers - this was suggested to me by another Dis-er and so our director asked for them and was able to get a number for each of the 100+ kids. Like your dd, our kids were touring MK on an EMH day (and staying off-site).

As others have mentioned, each kid made his/her own MDE account. Rather than linking profiles, they just tried to look for overlapping times when making their FP. This worked out great. The only major attraction they had to do SB was 7DMT. No FP were available when they booked their initial 3, and they didn't want to keep hitting "refresh" all day. The plan that Lynzi details above is basically what our ds was planning on prior to getting his ticket number. It was not as organized as our typical family trips, but the kids had a blast and were able to do a lot of attractions that day.

ETA: I did not link my son's MDE to mine. I had set up FP for our upcoming trip and didn't want him messing something up!

 

[ChristineOH]

My ds was in a similar situation with his hs band in May. We were able to get the ticket numbers from the touring company the week before the trip. It may be worth asking for the numbers - this was suggested to me by another Dis-er and so our director asked for them and was able to get a number for each of the 100+ kids. Like your dd, our kids were touring MK on an EMH day (and staying off-site).

As others have mentioned, each kid made his/her own MDE account. Rather than linking profiles, they just tried to look for overlapping times when making their FP. This worked out great. The only major attraction they had to do SB was 7DMT. No FP were available when they booked their initial 3, and they didn't want to keep hitting "refresh" all day. The plan that Lynzi details above is basically what our ds was planning on prior to getting his ticket number. It was not as organized as our typical family trips, but the kids had a blast and were able to do a lot of attractions that day.

ETA: I did not link my son's MDE to mine. I had set up FP for our upcoming trip and didn't want him messing something up!

We have a band trip this year. Thanks for sharing what worked for your kids!

 

[amym2]

My ds was in a similar situation with his hs band in May. We were able to get the ticket numbers from the touring company the week before the trip. It may be worth asking for the numbers - this was suggested to me by another Dis-er and so our director asked for them and was able to get a number for each of the 100+ kids. Like your dd, our kids were touring MK on an EMH day (and staying off-site).

As others have mentioned, each kid made his/her own MDE account. Rather than linking profiles, they just tried to look for overlapping times when making their FP. This worked out great. The only major attraction they had to do SB was 7DMT. No FP were available when they booked their initial 3, and they didn't want to keep hitting "refresh" all day. The plan that Lynzi details above is basically what our ds was planning on prior to getting his ticket number. It was not as organized as our typical family trips, but the kids had a blast and were able to do a lot of attractions that day.

ETA: I did not link my son's MDE to mine. I had set up FP for our upcoming trip and didn't want him messing something up!

Thanks for this input! When we arrive at the competition, I'll ask about getting the tickets. Worse case scenario, they'll add them in while waiting in line. We set up a MDE account for DD, and she can help the others. She's a little nervous because the other girls haven't been to WDW since they were tiny, so they're relying on DD. She's really wanting to show them the magic of Disney, but we usually travel in Oct not July! And we're DVC, so we're always on property. They're smart kids, so they'll figure it out. And there's always Mickey pretzels and ice cream when the lines get long!

 

[DisneyOma]

My 13yo DD and a few friends (and a coach) will be at MK next week, and we don't have a way to get the tickets ahead of time (already purchased) so no FP. Unfortunately the day they're going has EMH in the morning, so the MK will already be crowded at park opening. My DD is a WDW pro and has been checking wait times, and she knows they are going to have to wait in long lines. Their priority is to hit all of the mountains and 7 Dwarfs. Anyone have any suggestions for a plan of attack? Is it worth even attempting to get FP once in the park, or will that just be wasting precious time?

They purchased the tickets through the competition they are attending.

This was my thinking- with EMH they need a different plan of attack than if it wasn't an EMH day. DD was thinking something along the lines you suggested. If Space isn't too long already I think they'll do it first.

Thanks for this input! When we arrive at the competition, I'll ask about getting the tickets. Worse case scenario, they'll add them in while waiting in line. We set up a MDE account for DD, and she can help the others. She's a little nervous because the other girls haven't been to WDW since they were tiny, so they're relying on DD. She's really wanting to show them the magic of Disney, but we usually travel in Oct not July! And we're DVC, so we're always on property. They're smart kids, so they'll figure it out. And there's always Mickey pretzels and ice cream when the lines get long!

Why can't you contact the event and get the ticket numbers now?

 

[VillainFavs]

May sons went in April on a band trip. Even though they didn't have tickets in hand until on property, they were each given their ticket numbers about a month ahead of time. As you mentioned, I didn't want them messing with my MDE setup, so they each created their own specifically for this trip. They had their friends all do the same. Then they sent their friends invitations and got them all linked together. Worked amazingly well!

In fact, my oldest DS became known as the "Kind of Fast Pass" while down there because he was setting up FP after FP for his group of 8-10 people. He knew enough that if he couldn't get them all together, he broke into smaller groups and overlapped. He was able to get everyone on pretty much all they wanted to ride--and in some cases several times over!

 

[totallytigger]

We were just there 2 wks ago and didn't buy our tickets until our 1st day there. (We needed to buy them at SOG & it was a last minute trip). We linked the tickets right away and started picking FPs on our way to MK. We were able to ride everything--including FOP at AK--by using FPs and rope drop. I was worried about a last min trip--but it actually was great!!!

 

[amym2]

Why can't you contact the event and get the ticket numbers now?

They are discount group tickets, so I don't know if they have actually been purchased yet. Our coach is one of the event directors, so she said she'll ask, but for some reason Disney tickets is just not high on their priority list (organizing 750 kids flying in from all over the world is a little more important). I will follow up with her once the event is underway. They're not going to the MK until late next week, so we still have some time.

 

[kkbrig]

My daughter went with another family last week. The other family was there for their son's baseball tournament. I bought WDW and Universal tix for my daughter and her friend to have in hand before they left. However, they did not know their schedule and so we couldn't do FP. In fact, my daughter would often go to bed thinking they were doing one thing the next day (like going to the baseball game or going to Universal) only to wake up and find out that instead she was going to AK/HS that day! So she would quickly try to set up FP for the two of them but it was tough trying to get ready and once there be the navigator while meanwhile setting up FP. So I logged into her account at home and set them up from here. When she was in line, she could also manage the FP.

Oh, I forgot the other part of it. We had set up her MDE beforehand so she was all ready to go but once she started trying to use it, it wasn't working right!! I had to call Disney and they had to work on it. 2 CM's and the second at least got some FP set up for her to start, but the glitch was such that she had to send it off to IT who apparently worked on it later that day because it worked the second day. Anyway, because of this, DD was not able to add her friend's ticket in to link them and make the group. I just had her take a picture of the back of the card, and I did it from home. (For some reason some parts were working on my desktop, some were working on her app, some were not working for either). Complicated story that I am sure won't be your case, but the point is that as soon as the get the tickets, they could send you the pictures of the numbers and you could set them up, because they may be trying to walk very quickly to Space or something and not able to put them in quickly. But waiting in line to get in or for rides is an awesome time to enter them and find FP!

 

[Shanti]

I'd do 7 Dwarfs at rope drop, then maybe Big Thunder Mountain and move over to Space after that. They could probably know those three out pretty early in the morning if they are there right at rope drop.

Not after EMH. 7DMT will already have a very long line, & Space will already have a considerable wait, as well. No point in going there first.

Anyone have any suggestions for a plan of attack?

After getting their tickets scanned at the gate, they should immediately try to get 3 FPs for anything available they find appealing. Then, for standby I recommend starting with Big Thunder & Splash Mountain, which will have the shortest lines out of the major coasters as they are tucked away in Adventureland & not open during morning EMH. Then go on to Pirates, which will also be manageable. Haunted Mansion will be not too bad. Beyond that, it's a matter of what they're willing to wait in line for & what FPs they can get.