Plan of Attack without FP

[hvanes]

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!

My ds was with a fairly large group of friends who'd never been to WDW before, so he was definitely the tour guide of the group. Because they were able to get FP for Splash, BTMR, and Space, he decided to hit Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Dumbo, it's a small world, the tea cups, etc ("must do" attractions) when they arrived. They got Buzz as a 4th FP later and did some shopping, etc in the afternoon. They even made a 10-person dinner reservation at Liberty Tree! (Which I would not have advised with such little park time, but they thought it was great.) They staked out a fireworks spot later in the evenings and just rested and took 100 selfies while they waited.

Definitely have them set up their MDE accounts before leaving (the sooner the better, in case you have issues). If you cannot get numbers in advance, show your daughter how to link their tickets as soon as they receive them. While they're waiting in their first standby line, they can start selecting and coordinating their FP. We hadn't gone since 2015, when we made additional FP at kiosks, so I made ds watch a YouTube tutorial on setting up and changing FPs ("refreshing"!) before they left. They spent standby time checking standby times on the app and tweaking their plans (and taking more selfies). I was pretty impressed. Though it didn't really resemble how we do Disney as a family, my ds had the absolute best time sharing his favorite place with some of his favorite people. Sweet memories!

 

[Hootch]

Once you arrive, continue to look for FP opportunities. We found a number of FP availability in the MK and a good amount at DAK and Hollywood Studio. These included Jungle Cruise, Rockin Roller Coaster, Splash, Big Thunder Space, Toy Story, etc on our recent trip.

 

[amym2]

Update- The coach was able to get the tickets today! My DD and one of her friends already have their accounts linked and are looking for FP. Tomorrow hopefully we can get the others linked, too! Yay! Gives them something to do!

 

[amym2]

Just wanted to update that my DD and her friends were able to get 3 fast passes a few days before going to the MK. They were able to ride everything except 7 Dwarfs with only 20-30 min waits. They had a great day!!