Space Mountain & PhilharMagic FP questions

[magicbob]

If we don't get to ride Space Mountain this time, it's not a huge deal. But I was wondering if anyone knows how late the FP's for Space Mountain sell out?

In the past, we have just saved this ride for late in the evening and gone on if the line wasn't too long (which, of course is impossible to know from the outside, but if we see it's too long once we get inside, we just turn around and go back).

But with the peak crowds anticipated next week, I'm worried that it could stay packed until closing. So I want to be prudent and get a FP. But I'm not planning on being near that part of the park until after lunch. Will that be too late?

Should I make a mid-morning sprint over there while the family is moving from Adventureland/Frontierland area over to Fantasyland for PhilharMagic?

On a related note, does a FP for PhilharMagic pretty well guarantee you make it into the next showing once you enter the FP line? I know that there are a few attractions where the FP bypasses a sizeable portion of the queue, but can still result in a somewhat lengthy wait (at times... Space Mountain, for example).

 

[CanadianGuy]

Given that you're talking about Easter Week -- you're looking at FP's gone for headliner attractions anytime between 11am and 2pm..

Yes.. I would make an early or mid-morning sprint to get the FP's you absolutely want.

Knox

 

[magicbob]

Thanks. I will go ahead and plan on running over there just for the Space Mountain FP and then we will go through Tomorrowland later in the evening.

Anyone know about the PhilharMagic FP queue? Does it take you all the way to the pre-show area to wait for the next showing? Or does it re-join the standby line further back? Last time I was there, the standby line was very short so we just walked on and I wasn't paying attention to the FP line route because no one was using it.

 

[Disney Wanderer]

Ive acually never had to use the FP for Philharmagic, theres usually no need for it. the line only moves as fast as the shows end you have to wait to get in to the theatre anyway so doesnt seem worth it to waste a FP here .....

 

[magicbob]

Perhaps we don't need one, but I seem to recall that the time before last, we used the standby line and it was quite long.

Each time the show can only allow so many guests to fill the auditorium and then it stops completely. We waited through at least 2 showings (if not 3) before we finally got into the theater. It took a while.

Since it's going to be very crowded next week, I thought that a FP might be prudent if it means we can get into the very next showing instead of waiting through several. Of course, I will be able to assess the line when we get there. If the standby is short, we can just go in instead of getting the FP.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

When we did Disney last November, Thanksgiving week, Space Mountain's line was unbelievable at ALL hours... Even when we had EMHs until 3 am. We walked by Space Mountain at 1am the Sunday before Thanksgiving and the line was still 90 minutes long. We actually got FPs on that Sunday at 2pm that had a comeback time of 11:45pm, and when we came back, the standby line was 120 minutes long (but with our FPs, we got on in less than 5). The day after Thanksgiving at 12am the line was 120 minutes long.

What we did when we did MK on Monday, we hit Space Mountain's FP first thing, and by then the callback time was 12:30pm. We actually had to wait in line about 5 min to get our passes. So I'd highly suggest you hit Space Mountain Fast Pass early on.

As for Phillharmagic, we didn't get FPs for that. We walked in right during the lunch hour. I think that may have been a fluke, though.

When we went, we got our Space Mountain passes first thing, then went to FantasyLand, and walked on to Pooh twice, Snow White, and Peter Pan twice. For reasons passing understanding, the wait for Peter Pan was always an hour or more (except for first thing in the morning), and the Fast Passes for Peter actually were gone long before Space Mountains were. Then we went to Adventureland and walked onto Pirates, and by then we could get more FPs, so we FPed Thunder Mountain, walked onto Splash, walked on to Haunted Mansion, came back and rode Thunder Mountain, then did Space Mountain, (getting FPs for Stitch and Buzz on the way). By then most of the crowd in Tomorrowland had moved on to Fantasy Land (or was in line for Space Mountain), so we could walk onto the People Mover to wait for our FPs for Stitch and Buzz to become active.

I don't really get the FPs sometimes, though. There were times that in MK we could have 3 FPs at the same time, but other times in MGM where we couldn't have more than one at a time. It was hard to plan around the FPs sometimes. The nice thing was, though, it was so busy that the FPs didn't "expire." They were active at a certain time, but you could use them to come on at any point after they were active. I think it was because at some points, there was actually lines in the FP lanes, causing people to miss other FPs.