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

[ScrapYap]

I successfully managed an extra set of bands for my trip last year. I kept the second set in a ziplock bag in my purse and handed them out before the ride. We only had one mishap of having the wrong band, but it was not a big deal. How much harder is going to two extra sets, so three sets total?

Personally, I think two extra sets, on top of prebooked FP, is too many. Even a total of two sets can rob the day of any opportunity for possible spontaneity. Three total sets adds a layer of constraint, complexity, and stress. Particularly since you can't alter SDFP online, you'll probably end up not using a number of the SDFP - which is a waste to the general pool. Two sets is pretty perfect.

 

[ScrapYap]

Our extra bands will not be linked to our account since they belong to other people. Please tell me your strategy for keeping track of SDFP. Do you write it down, take a picture of the kiosk screen? Also, will Touring Plans app let you add them into their lines app?

Definitely take a photo of the screen. I also like to go "old school" and have a piece of paper on which I've written my prebooked FP with space between the entries to write in the SDFP. Then I write in the SDFP I book at the kiosk to "collate" the two sets. I don't have to go back and forth between two screens or a screen and a photo. I do take a photo of my magical piece of paper with the collated sets in case I lose the paper!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Personally, I think two extra sets, on top of prebooked FP, is too many. Even a total of two sets can rob the day of any opportunity for possible spontaneity. Three total sets adds a layer of constraint, complexity, and stress. Particularly since you can't alter SDFP online, you'll probably end up not using a number of the SDFP - which is a waste to the general pool. Two sets is pretty perfect.

^This is great advice^

We used two total sets (1 for prebooked + 1 for SDFP) and it was perfect. Like @ScrapYap said, spontaneity is a good thing.

As for what times to make FP's for. We pretty much followed the same template every day and it worked well for us.

We would:
-start the day with a PPO ADR
-after breakfast go to whichever "tier 1" attraction was nearest to our ADR and ride standby several times before the crowds showed up.
-our prebooked FPs were usually for late morning
-then follow up with SDFP late morning/early afternoon

This worked really well for us because it allowed us to start booking additional FP on BOTH sets of bands before lunchtime so there would still be availability for some of the more desirable attractions.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

There are many others on here


^This is great advice^

We used two total sets (1 for prebooked + 1 for SDFP) and it was perfect. Like @ScrapYap said, spontaneity is a good thing.

As for what times to make FP's for. We pretty much followed the same template every day and it worked well for us.

We would:
-start the day with a PPO ADR
-after breakfast go to whichever "tier 1" attraction was nearest to our ADR and ride standby several times before the crowds showed up.
-our prebooked FPs were usually for late morning
-then follow up with SDFP late morning/early afternoon

This worked really well for us because it allowed us to start booking additional FP on BOTH sets of bands before lunchtime so there would still be availability for some of the more desirable attractions.

Did you have luck with kiosks being open at pre park ADRs?

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Did you have luck with kiosks being open at pre park ADRs?

-Yes at Magic Kingdom the one in City Hall was operational at 7:45am (MK opened at 9am that day)

-No at HS. Had a PPO @H&V and the kiosks at corner of Hollywood and Sunset were still covered so I went to those after breakfast.

-Didn't try at Epcot because our ADR was at Garden Grill and we wanted to get there ASAP. Rode Soarin' 3 times standby after breakfast with no wait before the rope drop crowd showed up then went to kiosks after that.

-Busses were screwed up on our one-and-only AK day so we arrived there after park opened. We stopped at the kiosk at Guest Relations right at the entrance and there was no line. Was able to snag FP for Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

-Yes at Magic Kingdom the one in City Hall was operational at 7:45am (MK opened at 9am that day)

-No at HS. Had a PPO @H&V and the kiosks at corner of Hollywood and Sunset were still covered so I went to those after breakfast.

-Didn't try at Epcot because our ADR was at Garden Grill and we wanted to get there ASAP. Rode Soarin' 3 times standby after breakfast with no wait before the rope drop crowd showed up then went to kiosks after that.

-Busses were screwed up on our one-and-only AK day so we arrived there after park opened. We stopped at the kiosk at Guest Relations right at the entrance and there was no line. Was able to snag FP for Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur.

Awesome very helpful. Thanks!!!

 

[anomamatt]

Wow, three sets on your first trip. I think I could do it. Did you stop at a kiosk first thing in the parks? What was your strategy for you original linked bands? I usually set my fps up for the afternoon when it is more crowded. With three sets, maybe I should go for later?

I have young kids, so we took a 2-3 hour nap each day. On this trip, we exclusively did MK. Our main bands were used for the more popular rides (e.g. Peter Pan) that could be harder to get day of -- and they were spread across morning and early evening. In the morning, I took both sets of extra bands to the kiosks and did one set for the morning and one set for the afternoon.

I felt we still had time to smell the roses, but 3 sets of bands is probably pushing the limits of that statement. And I should add... We didn't always have 9 FPs each day, but we never missed a single FP+. And we used several where it was not needed at all -- for example, magic carpets when the standby was essentially non-existant. We had touring plans ahead of time and I added whatever FPs were available for the right time.

I have very limited experience, but I assume that SDFPs used in the morning are often going to be ones where the standby lines are low. Otherwise, they would not be available the morning of.

 

[Dashcomplete]

just wanted to give our experience. Went during very busy new years and worked well in certain circumstances.
day 1 (12/29) MK, 7am EMH, 8am park opening: checked kiosks around 7:45AM and got decent early evening rides (jungle cruise, buzz lightyear, dumbo).
day 2 (12/30) HS, afternoon arrival into park (~3pm): got Muppets, star tours, great movie ride. In this case, I had to keep rechecking whenever I passed a kiosk to find better options, since initial options weren't great
day 3 (12/31) AK, 7AM EMH, 8am park opening. kiosk by everest was open at 7am and I got 8AM everest, 9:30AM Lion king, 10:30AM Dinosaur). Park was not that busy this day. We then went to Epcot in afternoon and tried to use our second set of phantoms and found nothing. Crowd levels were very high at this point.

Overall worked great except at Epcot on new years eve when we arrived into the park at mid day. On days when I was checking in early AM, worked excellently.

 

[ArielSRL]

I just realized that the value of SDFP at AK has gone up considerably for me if indeed Pandora opens before we arrive. I was starting to preemptively freak out about my AK plans. I almost forgot I have this option, as long nothing changes with access between now and June.

 

[Araminta18]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question--I read the first page and I think I understand it, but I'm being paranoid and want confirmation. I'm staying onsite 3/15 to 3/19. My husband and I went last year, so we have magic bands from that trip, but my husband isn't coming for the trip in March. My husband was part of my "friends and family" list on MDE, but his magic band is not linked to my account under the "Magic Bands and Cards" section, so I should be able to use it as a "rogue band" to make SDFP at the kiosks, correct?

 

[marciemi]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question--I read the first page and I think I understand it, but I'm being paranoid and want confirmation. I'm staying onsite 3/15 to 3/19. My husband and I went last year, so we have magic bands from that trip, but my husband isn't coming for the trip in March. My husband was part of my "friends and family" list on MDE, but his magic band is not linked to my account under the "Magic Bands and Cards" section, so I should be able to use it as a "rogue band" to make SDFP at the kiosks, correct?

Correct. Plus you'll be able to view and cancel (but not change) them in your MDE once you book them at a kiosk assuming you're still "friends".

 

[ArielSRL]

Wondering if the FP kiosks in/near (?) MK City Hall will be open during the pre-rope drop hour now that Main Street is open. That would work out really well to get the SDFP scheduled without taking away any touring time.

 

[marciemi]

Wondering if the FP kiosks in/near (?) MK City Hall will be open during the pre-rope drop hour now that Main Street is open. That would work out really well to get the SDFP scheduled without taking away any touring time.

I was thinking the same thing - they used to have more kiosks on Main Street but closed those. Wonder if now with all the people on Main St. either the City Hall kiosks will get way backed up (from all the folks who didn't know about FPP at all) or if they'll stay a nice secret for SDFP. They've always been open even during pre-RD breakfast times, etc. so I'm sure they'd be open - congestion would just now be my concern.

 

[ArielSRL]

I was thinking the same thing - they used to have more kiosks on Main Street but closed those. Wonder if now with all the people on Main St. either the City Hall kiosks will get way backed up (from all the folks who didn't know about FPP at all) or if they'll stay a nice secret for SDFP. They've always been open even during pre-RD breakfast times, etc. so I'm sure they'd be open - congestion would just now be my concern.

Hmmm...oh I hope not! Will have to keep an eye on it.

 

[Andy S]

One of my first thoughts when I heard about the new Park Open/Welcome Show timing: "Hopefully I can get my SDFP's right away before the park opens!!!" Would love to hear reports from someone on whether the City Hall Kiosks are open right away at 8am!

 

[ArielSRL]

One of my first thoughts when I heard about the new Park Open/Welcome Show timing: "Hopefully I can get my SDFP's right away before the park opens!!!" Would love to hear reports from someone on whether the City Hall Kiosks are open right away at 8am!

Yeh, I was thinking for our first day, I would have to send DH on Aladdin with our two boys so I could run over and book ours but if I can do it before the rope drops, it will work out really well. Hope it works out that way.

 

[travelingmom4]

Let us know what happens! Chances are, they'll work. Most bands on eBay are leftover from guests' vacations. Though there is a risk!

OK I wanted to update ScrapYap and share a word of warning to everyone. But honestly this was only a really dumb mistake on my part but just in case anyone does what I did.....

I bought the bands on eBay, went online to make sure they were linked. But (dumb dumb me) I didn't even think about the fact that the bands I purchased, which was 6 bands, would have the same owners!! They did have their names on them and between the 6 bands there was only 2 names. So I could only get 2 sdfp instead of the 6 I was planning on. Does that make sense? I decided to just forget the entire idea because trying to make it fair with only 2 extra fastpasses and 4 competitive boys to divide them evenly wasn't worth it to me.
Then to add to the sadness, someone took those bands right off our stroller at some point in the day, although we weren't going to use them I was sad about that.
The good news is, I was going with the intent that SDFP was just gravy and indeed we still enjoyed immensely the parks without sdfp. We had early morning fastpass selections and after our initial 3 we were able to keep adding more throughout the day. It was great. I may try SDFP again but for now I'm still licking my wounds.

 

[ScrapYap]

OK I wanted to update ScrapYap and share a word of warning to everyone. But honestly this was only a really dumb mistake on my part but just in case anyone does what I did.....

I bought the bands on eBay, went online to make sure they were linked. But (dumb dumb me) I didn't even think about the fact that the bands I purchased, which was 6 bands, would have the same owners!! They did have their names on them and between the 6 bands there was only 2 names. So I could only get 2 sdfp instead of the 6 I was planning on. Does that make sense? I decided to just forget the entire idea because trying to make it fair with only 2 extra fastpasses and 4 competitive boys to divide them evenly wasn't worth it to me.
Then to add to the sadness, someone took those bands right off our stroller at some point in the day, although we weren't going to use them I was sad about that.
The good news is, I was going with the intent that SDFP was just gravy and indeed we still enjoyed immensely the parks without sdfp. We had early morning fastpass selections and after our initial 3 we were able to keep adding more throughout the day. It was great. I may try SDFP again but for now I'm still licking my wounds.

Oh, that is a shame! That's something there was no way to guard against - unless possibly asking the seller before bidding. And to have them stolen, too. So sorry!!

When is your next trip? Hopefully it will work out much better next time - if you try again!

 

[travelingmom4]

Oh, that is a shame! That's something there was no way to guard against - unless possibly asking the seller before bidding. And to have them stolen, too. So sorry!!

When is your next trip? Hopefully it will work out much better next time - if you try again!

Thanks for the empathy. It's always nice to know someone understands. Hahaha. We probably won't go for another 2 years so we shall see what changes happen by then. But I already have a few friends and family trained and ready for sdfp extras and plan to share my bands with them so I'm happy to help them add some extra magic. Thank you!!

 

[anomamatt]

Then to add to the sadness, someone took those bands right off our stroller at some point in the day, although we weren't going to use them I was sad about that.

That adds misery to your already unfortunate purchase of only two distinct bands. I hope you didn't pay much... I really wonder why someone would steal them? Maybe they think there is value, but most people are not going to steal them for SDFP and I have no idea what else they could be useful for...