Strategies for FP+ Changes

[BenKling]

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.

This is exactly what I'm hoping to avoid, and why I think this "extra" FP isn't really going to be all that magical.

I did move 2 of my FP to the lunch time for my MK day. I think Splash would be better when it's hot out anyway. We also won't feel quite so rushed after our Crystal Place dinner. Hopefully rides like Jungle Cruise and Pirates will be free enough to enjoy during these periods.

 

[linskypens]

I can see both sides, but right now im leaving things the way I have them planned

for info purposes..

Mon - arrival day - in the park by 1PM

Space Mountain®
1:35 - 2:35 pm
Splash Mountain®
3:15 - 4:15 pm
HDDR at 6:15
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad®
8:10 - 9:10 pm

The thought here is two before dinner, one after..wishes out

Tuesday is HS Rope drop..tour till 1, break...AK for Dinosaur only 4-6PM
Back to HS for night park and EMH

Toy Story Midway Mania!
6:20 - 7:20 pm
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
7:25 - 8:25 pm
Star Tours® - The Adventures Continue
9:00 - 10:00 pm
With EMH maybe score a RnR or Tower or not

Wednesday is MK Rope Drop, Break, MK

Splash Mountain®
5:55 - 6:55 pm
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad®
7:10 - 8:10 pm
Space Mountain®
8:15 - 9:15 pm


Thursday Epcot RD
Right to Soarin then FP the following

Test Track® Presented by Chevrolet®
9:35 - 10:35 am
Spaceship Earth
10:40 - 11:40 am
Mission: SPACE®
11:50 - 12:50 pm
Out of there by 1...break then MK evening so whatever is left for 4 5 and 6
Probably BUZZ as thats all we used them for in the past at night.

Friday is last day, MK rope Drop

Space Mountain®
9:05 - 10:05 am
Splash Mountain®
10:05 - 11:05 am
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad®
11:05 - 12:05 pm
BOG lunch FP at 1150-12:20
FP 4 5 and 6 whatever is left

SDMT availability before we go means all BTMR FP immediatley changed to SDMT

I cant see changing anything we have except maybe on Wednesday since its an all MK day. But we would usually hoard in the morning for the evening anyway before enforcement of FP times.

If you think Im crazy feel free to weigh in..Im looking for guidance but in the absence of real info at this point im sticking to my guns.

 

[skateshome]

Keep them coming....will be back later to see if anyone had "cracked the code".

 

[BenKling]

If you think Im crazy feel free to weigh in..Im looking for guidance but in the absence of real info at this point im sticking to my guns.

Looks like a good plan! Seems that you'll get to try both methods to see what works.

If I was staying for more nights I'd try to experiment... but I'll leave that to folks with APs

 

[MaryKatesMom]

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.

No panic, because I know that there won't be any decent FP+ available after 11 AM. Thanks for nothing.

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.

I am keeping my FP+ times. Standby's at RD have gone up, at 9:22 last week Soarin' had a 65 minute wait. If I wanted to ride it twice I would have been cutting it close for my 10 AM. Plus, the posted does not mean actual wait time. Too, stressful.

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+.

I found a lot of hurry up and wait.

We passed on AK last trip but that was our plan. I just didn't feel like traipsing over to AK, doing two rides, than rushing to TS lunch.

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!



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

Not as many. My Epcot day wasn't that great.

This is exactly what I'm hoping to avoid, and why I think this "extra" FP isn't really going to be all that magical.

I did move 2 of my FP to the lunch time for my MK day. I think Splash would be better when it's hot out anyway. We also won't feel quite so rushed after our Crystal Place dinner. Hopefully rides like Jungle Cruise and Pirates will be free enough to enjoy during these periods.

I think the only park it will make a difference is MK. There is enough we would want to do that an extra FP+ would be nice. FP+ on tier 1 rides elsewhere will be gone by Noon just like FP- were.

 

[wallskm]

We will be there next week and had all our FP+'s exactly how we wanted them in a way that worked for us. So when the new info came out we looked day by day and there were very few we were willing to change. Most of our FP's are used between 11 and 6. We have lots of ADRs so there wasn't much tweaking we could really do. I think we changed 1. We may end up moving some around as the week progresses, but for now we are sticking with what we have. I'm just happy that some days we will be able to book a FP+ for SOMETHING after dinner instead of just hoping to find a ride with a short standby wait- especially at MK when there should be something we like with FP+ available knowing we already have FP+ for the things that are the most important to us. Crowd levels are pretty good next week (3's and 4's) so I am optimistic that things will be good.

 

[ashleymrush]

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 feel the same way. When news broke yesterday I literally stared at my itinerary for an hour before I realized I liked it the way it was and didn't really want to change it. I tell my family that it is my masterpiece! A possibility of a 4th FP is too risky to mess up what I've already got.

From what I can figure, it doesn't seem to cause too many changes for people that RD, take a midday break, and then come back in the evening like we plan on doing. We are going with our DS5 and DS2 in June. The midday break is essential for us and evening FPs make more sense.

 

[cavepig]

I get there Tuesday and am leaving our Fastpasses the way they are.

Some days are for mid-morning and some for late afternoon/evening. We do rope drop but don't want to waste the 3 we have, just to use up in 'hopes' of getting good ones later. If we get a 4th or 5th later that's fine, nothing to stress about.