Strategies for FP+ Changes

[BenKling]

Hi all,
We arrive May 18, and I have all of my ADRs and FP+ reserved. I *thought* I was going to be good to go, but the revolving 4th FP goes live next Monday.

Our current plan is to get to the parks at RD, ride what we can in the first few hours, and then have lunch. We'll then hang around until the early afternoon before we go back to the resort to take a break. After taking it easy for a while, we'll come back for dinner and some late night FP+ reservations.

Is this still going to be a good strategy? Or, would it be better to schedule those 3 passes earlier in the day, and hope that there are still some available after the fact? We are going in the middle of May, so I think this might be an ok strategy, but I don't want to risk being stuck in long lines in the evenings because there are no FP available.

I appreciate the efforts to modify the current system, but this doesn't seem to really be a benefit for those who are using our FP later in the day. This also means we're not using passes for fireworks viewing, either.

Looking forward to hearing feedback from others. I imagine we'll have a better idea in the next couple of weeks, but we're about 20 days out and I wanted to make sure I shouldn't majorly revamp everything before we arrive.

 

[foohpah]

I can make our FP+ reservations tonight for a late June/early July trip. I was going to hit rope drop and ride standby, take an afternoon break then go to a second park and have my FP+ reservations there. With this change I am going to change it some. We will still hit rope drop but I will push my FP+ reservations to the 10-2 range. Hopefully still taking advantage of that first hour to 90 minutes at rope drop and our FP's will still save us time for the headliners this time of year. We will then take our break and go to the second park at night. When MK is our second park I would expect to be able to get at least 1-2 more FP reservations at a kiosk even if they are not super headliners. I think the number of attractions in the MK will allow for this. With the other parks we will just have to see what is available or do standby. We figure we can make evenings more about shows and some of the rides with shorter lines. This system is kind of what we did with legacy FP anyway. When we hopped to Epcot or HS in the past in the evenings the bigger rides were all out of FP's then too so that won't be anything new.

 

[wareagle57]

Are you park hopping or taking a break during the afternoon/busy times? If not, I'd probably keep your FP reservations in place. If you are planning to hop and take a 2-3 hour break in the afternoon I think I would take a shot at scheduling them early. Maybe 10, 11, and 12, going at the end of your first reservation and at the beginning of your last reservation. You'll be among the first to try this out, so I would imagine there will be more 4th fastpasses available than there will be in the future. Not many people will be trying out the morning FP strategy yet.

 

[BenKling]

Are you park hopping or taking a break during the afternoon/busy times? If not, I'd probably keep your FP reservations in place. If you are planning to hop and take a 2-3 hour break in the afternoon I think I would take a shot at scheduling them early. Maybe 10, 11, and 12, going at the end of your first reservation and at the beginning of your last reservation. You'll be among the first to try this out, so I would imagine there will be more 4th fastpasses available than there will be in the future. Not many people will be trying out the morning FP strategy yet.

The plan so far (though this could change once we're there) is to take a break after lunch, and then return to the same park. Using the original FP+ system, we scheduled our passes for after this break because I assumed that's when we would need them. It just didn't make sense to arrange for FPs in the morning when you typically don't need them... But I see your point how that could be helpful.

*sigh* so much advanced planning, so much advanced worrying.

 

[MrInfinity]

Nice to see ppl taking a casual approach to this change. It's one of the few FP+ changes that has not resulted in a panic! I'm leaving ours mostly in tact just as they were. On a few days we use them earlier, but not too early. Like 11-2. Then we'll get something after that for later. If there is good stuff available, great, if only moderate stuff that's fine too since it'd be better than nothing. Other days, we have FP+ booked for later that I'm not going to change cuz it's our plan for the day. One day we want to have dinner then see Rapunzel. That is exactly what we have booked, so no chance at a freebie will get us in to Rapunzel with short of a long wait in the 5pm range. Therefore since we already have exactly what we want, there is nothing to change.

This is one of the best parts about FP+. You can pre-book exactly what you want. You can use it different ways on different days to suit your plans for that day. There is no single right strategy that must be employed across the board.

 

[smbowtie]

This is one of the problems with the "get 1 more after you use 3". If you plan on using your 3 late then it really doesn't do you much good to get 1 more. What's going to be left to FP. I think Disney is going to have to revisit this one.

 

[chinarider]

Ok, so I'm not the only one NOT thinking of changing...... We have park hoppers, plan to be at RD and ride stand by,have lunch go to a different park and have our FP's planned for the afternoon. We are there for a total of 10 days so, we're not super pressed for time. I'm just concerned that FP kiosk lines are going to be long and people will himmm and hawwww about what to pick so, they might be slow moving. Also, with this option, I'm also afraid the FP's will be harder to get.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If you are definitely planning on going back to the park at night, I would leave them. And in the meantime, just watch here over the next week or two and see how this new 4th FP goes and what kinds of FPs are available.

 

[JD3ofthem]

I get that you have to be at the park you want to get additional FP for, but does your whole group? Does your whole group have to stand in line at Kiosk or can one person and then copy to your family? It would stink if we have to stand in long line with kids. But if we don't and only one person in your party has to do it what's to stop families from sending one person ahead to the park to get additional FP?

 

[Music City Mama]

We don't go until early June, so I will keep mine in place unless I hear reports that make me rethink my plan.

For the most part, our plan is RD, followed by a break, followed by evening FPs.

As far as people making their FP+ times earlier so they can then utilize more FPs, I look at it like this: You can't change human nature. The people who didn't like getting up early before, still won't like getting up early. RD is still the best choice (at least, I think). If I schedule FPs earlier and then I go to make my 4th FP selection, what is to say that there will be any availability for the attractions and/or times I want? What if there is availability for the attraction I want, but it's 2-3 hours from now? Now I've got to kill 2-3 hours -- I can try to ride a second/third tier attraction standby during my wait, but because they now have FP+, I'm waiting 45 minutes in line for it.

So, I think I will just keep my evening FPs for now unless I read reports that make me feel like I should make some changes.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Ok, so I'm not the only one NOT thinking of changing...... We have park hoppers, plan to be at RD and ride stand by,have lunch go to a different park and have our FP's planned for the afternoon. We are there for a total of 10 days so, we're not super pressed for time. I'm just concerned that FP kiosk lines are going to be long and people will himmm and hawwww about what to pick so, they might be slow moving. Also, with this option, I'm also afraid the FP's will be harder to get.

I'm with you. Same plan - I'm not going to change anything at this time. Our trip is the middle of May so at least I can watch the boards to see how things are playing out in advance.

My big concern would be we use the 3 FP then either there's nothing left or all of the times that are left are too late for us. I can see people getting to the kiosk and wanting say JC then the times are 7 pm or later but they want an earlier time so they try for another ride like POTC oops that is available at 8 pm so they ask about another one. It could be interesting if people are out to maximize their FP

 

[bastos]

My gut is to schedule the next FP+ as soon as possible - which means moving EXISTING FP+ to earlier hours.

Then, continuing to schedule FP+ as long as possible until I hit a LONG break time. Let's say the earliest next one is 7pm.

Then, break until FP+ - fill, and hit any others possible.

More than likely, they will fill like old FP-. TSMM will be out before noon. So will Fast Track. Soarin and RNR shortly thereafter.

But we'll see.

 

[MuddyTires]

I don't know, personally, until I see how it's actually effecting things, I'm not sure the strategy changes much. For me, personally, the goal is to maximize my family's enjoyment of the parks, not maximize the number of fastpasses I get. Fortunately I have a few months to see how it's going, but for now, I think RD with late morning/early afternoon FP+ (or in the case of AK, RD followed by FP+ at MK later in the day) is still the best plan for my family's enjoyment.

So until I see standby wait times in the morning increase to the point where it's no longer efficient to defer fastpasses to late morning/early afternoon, I'll stick to just going in with a solid advance touring strategy and avoid becoming a slave to FP+.

 

[BenKling]

This is one of the problems with the "get 1 more after you use 3". If you plan on using your 3 late then it really doesn't do you much good to get 1 more. What's going to be left to FP. I think Disney is going to have to revisit this one.

That's my biggest struggle right now. Knowing what I do about the way we tour, it just doesn't make sense to schedule those passes so early... but if I don't, then I can't get the extra ones.

To give everyone a better idea, here are my current plans:
Monday: Epcot
Mission: SPACE 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
(resort break)
Test Track 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Spaceship Earth 5:40 PM - 6:40 PM
Dinner ADR: Kouzzina 6:55 PM

Tuesday: Animal Kingdom
Kilimanjaro Safaris 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Expedition Everest 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
DINOSAUR 3:35 PM - 4:35 PM
(back to resort before dinner)
Dinner ADR: Ohana 7:55 PM

Wednesday: Magic Kingdom
(Arrive at RD)
FP+ BOG Lunch 11:30am
Space Mountain 12:30pm-1:30 PM
(Stay until parade, then resort break)
Dinner ADR: Crystal Palace 6:15 PM
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 7:50 PM - 8:50 PM
Splash Mountain 8:50 PM - 9:50 PM

Thursday: Hollywood Studios
Toy Story Midway Mania 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Tower of Terror 1:10 PM - 2:10 PM
Star Tours 2:10 PM - 3:10 PM
Dinner ADR: Mama Melrose (Fantastmic Package) 5:55 PM

Friday: WIDE OPEN
Take ME back to airport at 3:30pm

 

[MuddyTires]

That's my biggest struggle right now. Knowing what I do about the way we tour, it just doesn't make sense to schedule those passes so early... but if I don't, then I can't get the extra ones.

If the way you tour is right for you and your family/group, why do you care about not getting additional fastpasses? Is there a prize for having the most?

 

[BenKling]

Ok, so I'm not the only one NOT thinking of changing...... We have park hoppers, plan to be at RD and ride stand by,have lunch go to a different park and have our FP's planned for the afternoon. We are there for a total of 10 days so, we're not super pressed for time.

Yeah, we're taking a somewhat shorter trip this time around (5 nights vs 8) so we're trying to get as much done as we can!

As far as people making their FP+ times earlier so they can then utilize more FPs, I look at it like this: You can't change human nature. The people who didn't like getting up early before, still won't like getting up early. RD is still the best choice (at least, I think). If I schedule FPs earlier and then I go to make my 4th FP selection, what is to say that there will be any availability for the attractions and/or times I want? What if there is availability for the attraction I want, but it's 2-3 hours from now? Now I've got to kill 2-3 hours -- I can try to ride a second/third tier attraction standby during my wait, but because they now have FP+, I'm waiting 45 minutes in line for it.

So, I think I will just keep my evening FPs for now unless I read reports that make me feel like I should make some changes.

This is been exactly why I'm hesitant to change to earlier times... RD is still be best way to get in extra rides.

 

[BenKling]

If the way you tour is right for you and your family/group, why do you care about not getting additional fastpasses? Is there a prize for having the most?

I "care" because I used to be able to get 8, and now I get 3.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

If the way you tour is right for you and your family/group, why do you care about not getting additional fastpasses? Is there a prize for having the most?

Yes, the prize is less time standing in line and being able to ride/see more because of that.

We will be at Disney starting Tuesday and don't plan on changing our FP at this point. Currently plan on rope drop and morning EMH to do what we can in the mornings, then a resort break midday then we have FP+ scheduled for the evenings. The only day that isn't true is next Friday where we have our FP scheduled in the morning at Hollywood Studios. We only plan on going there once and that for a half day. That day we'll grab another FP+ when we go to AK in the evening.

Josh at Easywdw.com pointed out that FP for the most popular rides at Epcot and DHS are usually gone by early afternoon so even if you changed your FP selection to the morning it might not do you much good if you plan on going to Epcot or DHS in the afternoon, at least for the headliners.

 

[smbowtie]

I "care" because I used to be able to get 8, and now I get 3.

I would leave it the way you have it and go and have fun.

 

[smbowtie]

I'm sure anyone could hop to EPCOT in the afternoon and get a FP+ for Captain EO.