SDFP: CHANGES COMING!! Beware the 7th of June?!

[Mrspeaks]

It's working. Thank uo for your responses. I think it had not had evough time to load at the kiosk. In the heat of the moment I panicked.

 

[Mrspeaks]

My experience today was defiantly worth buying the second set of bands. We have two young girls and with the heat, even a 30 minute wait was hard today. We were able to get Pooh, jungle cruise, and speedway initially. There were multiple princess meets still available. Things that were gone at 930ish were mine train, enchanted tales with belle, Peter pan, splash mountain. I was very glad I had set up each name prior to arriving in the park. I wish I had already purchased the magic bands because that took time. Even though I had read this post through, I still had some hiccups and panic moments. Overall, worth it and will take advantage for the next two days.

 

[rznhal]

we borrowed bands from our sister in law...and i just kept them in a bag in my backpack until time to use then passed them out to everyone...but i have a six year old...im sure older kids would be able to handle the two different bands......

we scored passes for winnie the pooh one day and toy story mania one day! it was awesome!!!

@Koz we were shocked how many fast passes were available at the kiosks! we actually saw them for frozen at epcot around 10 AM! I had already put the toy story mania passes on my second set of bands and couldn't figure out how to get them off...it was killing me! lol i think that was probably because of the weather and the fact that the ride was down most of the day...but i would've loved to have ridden that.....oh well!!!next trip for sure!!!!!!

 

[jeremy1002]

Are the FP kiosks still at City Hall? They are not shown on the WDW site as existing there. Thanks!

 

[marciemi]

Are the FP kiosks still at City Hall? They are not shown on the WDW site as existing there. Thanks!

Yes. As of last Sunday at least. They are sometimes covered/closed but that seems to be due to technical issues, not them trying to phase them out as I'd originally feared.

 

[jeremy1002]

Yes. As of last Sunday at least. They are sometimes covered/closed but that seems to be due to technical issues, not them trying to phase them out as I'd originally feared.

Thanks...I couldn't remember if the site had ever shown them or not. Weird that they don't.

 

[marciemi]

Thanks...I couldn't remember if the site had ever shown them or not. Weird that they don't.

I think they don't want people coming in there just for that since there are frequently lines out the door for guest services help and it appears that you're "cutting" the line. Think they'd prefer to just have them for people who come in and wait in the line and ask how to make a FPP so they have somewhere to direct them. Easiest to do if there is a line is to come in from the right side (near the restrooms) since they're right by the door there.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

Okay, so I found old what I believe to be MNSSHP tix from 2013 that are not linked to MDE. They have the mickey head on them so I think I'm good to go at a Kiosk if I read everything correctly. I'll give it a try when we are there later this month. I'm hoping it works .

 

[Wondermouse]

We are going to do this. I have read the thread and just want to ask a question about numbers and MDE. We have 11 people going ( one infant and one 3 year old ). Staying on site. I am going to purchase 9 new magic bands in advance for the secondary FP. I will create phantom names in MDE prior to leaving for the parks. Once at the fp kiosk and you are choosing the passes, do you scan the passes one at a time, or is there a group that pops up? Also is there a max number you can enter on MDE? Any pitfalls here, or would we be better to create another MDE?

Thanks

Wondermouse.

 

[ScrapYap]

We are going to do this. I have read the thread and just want to ask a question about numbers and MDE. We have 11 people going ( one infant and one 3 year old ). Staying on site. I am going to purchase 9 new magic bands in advance for the secondary FP. I will create phantom names in MDE prior to leaving for the parks. Once at the fp kiosk and you are choosing the passes, do you scan the passes one at a time, or is there a group that pops up? Also is there a max number you can enter on MDE? Any pitfalls here, or would we be better to create another MDE?

Thanks

Wondermouse.

You left out the step of linking each MagicBand to a phantom before you arrive at Disney, but presumably you were planning to do that. There's no reason to create a second MDE. When you pull up your Family and Friends page on your MDE, you'll see a lot of names - with so many real profiles and the corresponding phantoms. To make it visually easier to use, you could consider giving all the phantoms a last name beginning with the letter Z. (The Family and Friends list is sorted alphabetically by last name.) Maybe use your own last name, just with the first letter replaced with Z. That way all the phantom names will appear together and all at the bottom of that page - you won't have to scroll through them when you're managing the real profiles. In your case, it will be a very long list. I would do this rather than setting up a separate MDE. But if you would just rather not see that many names on your Family and Friends list, you can always go ahead and set them up on a separate MDE.

You'll have to tap the bands at the kiosk one at a time. You'll see a button on the screen to tap to add a band to the group for FP. So you can book the whole group together. But looking for 11 people's worth of FP will reduce your choices. Dividing your group into smaller subsets would increase your choices of attractions, but that's no use if you all want to ride everything together.

 

[ScrapYap]

Okay, so I found old what I believe to be MNSSHP tix from 2013 that are not linked to MDE. They have the mickey head on them so I think I'm good to go at a Kiosk if I read everything correctly. I'll give it a try when we are there later this month. I'm hoping it works .

You did cross check the MagicBands and Cards page of your MDE to see if any cards pictured there have the same numbers as are printed on the back of the old cards you found? Hope it works!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

You did cross check the MagicBands and Cards page of your MDE to see if any cards pictured there have the same numbers as are printed on the back of the old cards you found? Hope it works!

Yep sure did. I have multiple sets of cards lol, one set was linked but I have one set that wasn't. I think it's from the Halloween party back in 2013.

 

[Moushe]

Just came back from our August trip where we successfully used SDFP. So I wanted to share my experience in case anyone is on the fence.

I came across this thread back in June and thought SDFP would be a great way to make our touring easier since it was going to be about 200 degrees during our trip and we have 2 impatient toddlers. I read the post over and over until I knew I understood the ins and outs of SDFP. (and I may or may not have read it one last time for entertainment purposes alone). I decided to go the card route. I found and purchased 3 RDIF enabled cards on ebay for $12 (for dh, ds, and myself - dd is 1 so she doesn't need FP). They were the green cards with the picture of a character on one side. I got a Mickey, Minnie and Donald so I made the new profiles using those names - Example: Minnie Smith, Donald Smith, and Mickey Smith. I was a bit concerned because once I linked the cards to the new "family members" the cards showed up as waterpark tickets. I was disappointed thinking they wouldn't work because you don't need FP at the water parks but I decided to hope for the best.

Once we arrived at our first park - Epcot - I went straight to the Kiosk to see if they would work. Behold - they did! I was so excited, I may have even done a little dance. I was able to pick 3 FP for each of the cards. Epcot was tricky because we already had FP for our "must do" rides, my kids aren't tall enough for the headliners, and the other rides didn't really have much of a line. But we used it to our benefit and booked FP on rides we knew our kids would like to ride again.

At MK they were priceless! We booked the SDFP for rides close to the location and time of our existing FPs. it was a bit tricky to figure out which times would work with our FPs and ADR but it ended up working out.

At AK we didn't need them because we had booked FPs for the rides we needed, the rest were shows, and we ended up leaving earlier than planned anyway because it was scorching hot and I seriously thought I was going to pass out.

At HS we only booked 1 SDFP because we were only there for an afternoon. We got one for TGMR while we waited for the next Little Mermaid Show to start.

All in all I think the trouble of getting the cards and linking them to new profiles was totally worth it. I loved using SDFP and will continue to use them until Disney closes the loophole (hopefully never!) Once at the parks I didn't hand out the cards to dh and ds, I just kept them in my bag and gave it to them when we needed to use them, then promptly collected them once we passed the 2nd tapstile. I had a scare at one point when I thought I lost one of the cards but it turned out two of them were just stuck together.

As far as how it affected our touring plan - we usually RD and get as much done in the first half of the day as we can (including FP). After lunch we book additional FPs until our kids start showing signs of being tired. SDFP helped in the sense that we were able to book the additional FP in the morning and by the time we'd used our original 3 plus the 3 SDFP we were basically done. Between both sets of FPs it ensured us "walk-on" status to a majority of the rides.


I hope this helps!

And thanks ScrapYap for starting the thread and compiling all this valuable information.

 

[Wondermouse]

You left out the step of linking each MagicBand to a phantom before you arrive at Disney, but presumably you were planning to do that. There's no reason to create a second MDE. When you pull up your Family and Friends page on your MDE, you'll see a lot of names - with so many real profiles and the corresponding phantoms. To make it visually easier to use, you could consider giving all the phantoms a last name beginning with the letter Z. (The Family and Friends list is sorted alphabetically by last name.) Maybe use your own last name, just with the first letter replaced with Z. That way all the phantom names will appear together and all at the bottom of that page - you won't have to scroll through them when you're managing the real profiles. In your case, it will be a very long list. I would do this rather than setting up a separate MDE. But if you would just rather not see that many names on your Family and Friends list, you can always go ahead and set them up on a separate MDE.

You'll have to tap the bands at the kiosk one at a time. You'll see a button on the screen to tap to add a band to the group for FP. So you can book the whole group together. But looking for 11 people's worth of FP will reduce your choices. Dividing your group into smaller subsets would increase your choices of attractions, but that's no use if you all want to ride everything together.

Great, Thanks I was going to link them just skipped that step. Thanks for the advice on possibly splitting the bookings for smaller groups. I will keep them on on the one MDE. Thanks for the confirmation that I can scan each MB and add to a group when booking, I was nervous that it would be one at a time, then the risks of getting different times would be greater.

Thanks again

Wondermouse.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Just came back from our August trip where we successfully used SDFP. So I wanted to share my experience in case anyone is on the fence.

I came across this thread back in June and thought SDFP would be a great way to make our touring easier since it was going to be about 200 degrees during our trip and we have 2 impatient toddlers. I read the post over and over until I knew I understood the ins and outs of SDFP. (and I may or may not have read it one last time for entertainment purposes alone). I decided to go the card route. I found and purchased 3 RDIF enabled cards on ebay for $12 (for dh, ds, and myself - dd is 1 so she doesn't need FP). They were the green cards with the picture of a character on one side. I got a Mickey, Minnie and Donald so I made the new profiles using those names - Example: Minnie Smith, Donald Smith, and Mickey Smith. I was a bit concerned because once I linked the cards to the new "family members" the cards showed up as waterpark tickets. I was disappointed thinking they wouldn't work because you don't need FP at the water parks but I decided to hope for the best.

Once we arrived at our first park - Epcot - I went straight to the Kiosk to see if they would work. Behold - they did! I was so excited, I may have even done a little dance. I was able to pick 3 FP for each of the cards. Epcot was tricky because we already had FP for our "must do" rides, my kids aren't tall enough for the headliners, and the other rides didn't really have much of a line. But we used it to our benefit and booked FP on rides we knew our kids would like to ride again.

At MK they were priceless! We booked the SDFP for rides close to the location and time of our existing FPs. it was a bit tricky to figure out which times would work with our FPs and ADR but it ended up working out.

At AK we didn't need them because we had booked FPs for the rides we needed, the rest were shows, and we ended up leaving earlier than planned anyway because it was scorching hot and I seriously thought I was going to pass out.

At HS we only booked 1 SDFP because we were only there for an afternoon. We got one for TGMR while we waited for the next Little Mermaid Show to start.

All in all I think the trouble of getting the cards and linking them to new profiles was totally worth it. I loved using SDFP and will continue to use them until Disney closes the loophole (hopefully never!) Once at the parks I didn't hand out the cards to dh and ds, I just kept them in my bag and gave it to them when we needed to use them, then promptly collected them once we passed the 2nd tapstile. I had a scare at one point when I thought I lost one of the cards but it turned out two of them were just stuck together.

As far as how it affected our touring plan - we usually RD and get as much done in the first half of the day as we can (including FP). After lunch we book additional FPs until our kids start showing signs of being tired. SDFP helped in the sense that we were able to book the additional FP in the morning and by the time we'd used our original 3 plus the 3 SDFP we were basically done. Between both sets of FPs it ensured us "walk-on" status to a majority of the rides.


I hope this helps!

And thanks ScrapYap for starting the thread and compiling all this valuable information.

Great report! I really appreciate you taking the time to add this to the thread!

 

[HatboxHaint]

just double checking this for my sanity... I have an MDE account with MB's attached that only has a party tickets linked. This ticket is to be used during my upcoming trip and I have booked FP+ for the party day. Can I use the bands for SDFP on the days of my trip prior to the party?

 

[hiroMYhero]

just double checking this for my sanity... I have an MDE account with MB's attached that only has a party tickets linked. This ticket is to be used during my upcoming trip and I have booked FP+ for the party day. Can I use the bands for SDFP on the days of my trip prior to the party?

Hi Hat, I merged you over.

Yes, you can use the MBs because they won't be linking up to pre-booked FPs for those specific pre-party days. You'll be able to obtain FPs from the kiosk.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Hi Hat, I merged you over.

Yes, you can use the MBs because they won't be linking up to pre-booked FPs for those specific pre-party days. You'll be able to obtain FPs from the kiosk.

Thanks!

 

[HatboxHaint]

Am I correct in remembering that at one time SDFP could be edited from a phone browser?

 

[jeremy1002]

Am I correct in remembering that at one time SDFP could be edited from a phone browser?

Correct. I think the change was 3 or 4 months ago.