This is my fastpass plan

[debdebdebby13]

Our 60 day fastpass+ window opens on Thursday, the 29th, so I'm trying to finalize my plans. Critiques are requested and welcome. We are 2 adults with an 11 year old and a 4 year old who isn't quite tall enough to ride the 44" rides and likely won't be in two months (he's 42.5" right now).

Jan 28th: arrival day, going to MK from about 3-close.
FP for Meet Mickey, Haunted Mansion, Pirates

Jan 29th: MK
FP for Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan

Jan 30th: AK
FP for Flights of Passage, Kilamanjaro Safari, Lion King
I need some help here. I know FoP is 44" and we all want to ride it. I know we'll need a rider swap. Will our 4 year old just basically have a throw away FP here? How does rider swap even work? We've never used it.

Jan 31st: HS
FP for TSM, Star Tours 2 for Tower of Terror (DH and Molly) and 2 for Frozen sing along (Henry and me)

Feb 1st: EP
FP for Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space

Feb 2nd: AK
FP for Navi River Journey, Dinosaur, 2 for Expedition Everest, 2 for Finding Nemo Musical

Feb 3rd: EP half day, leaving at 3
FP for Frozen Ever After, Turtle Talk with Crush, Pixar Shorts Film Festival


Should I aim for all AM fast passes on our full days? How difficult is it to get the time you want? I imagine rides like FoP is kind of a "take what you can get" situation, but how about everything else?

After you use all 3 you can get another, I understand that. Can it be any ride (ie any tier?)

Thanks for the help!

 

[hiroMYhero]

There are many threads that describe Rider Swap. Here is a current one:
Rider Swap - does the short kid need a FP?

 

[hllb]

I would swap your Navi and FoP days. FoP is harder to get so doing that later in your trip is easier.

 

[dwheaton]

Don't use a FP for the Pixar Short Film Festival. Basically anything else is a better choice from that Tier - Living with the Land, Nemo, Imagination. I even wonder about Turtle Talk, though it is a little more popular. In a similar vein, I'd suggest Dinosaur if you're interested at DAK more than the live shows.

With that said, I think you've done a great job with these. You're hitting the most popular rides at each park for the most part. Enjoy the trip!

 

[g-dad66]

Do you plan to get to the parks at park opening? If so, have you planned what your first ride or two will be in each park? (I ask, because you won't need Fast Passes for those attractions at that time of day).

The three attractions that occur to me which you will either want FP for, or else do them at park opening, if you plan to do them are Soarin at Epcot, Space Mountain and MK, and Rock n Roller Coaster at DHS (4-year-old two short for the latter two, but maybe you will want to Rider Switch those?)

 

[srwarden1928]

The fastpasses that you NEED (if you want to ride them) are FOP, SDMT, and FEA. I wouldn't try to ride Peter Pan without one either. There are several other rides where fastpasses are useful, but they can be done standby without an insane wait. IMO you NEVER NEED a fastpass for a show. You may get a little better seat, but a "bad" seat still gets you the chance to see the show at the same time. There really aren't "bad" seats--some may be better than others, but not terrible.

 

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

Jan 30th: AK
FP for Flights of Passage, Kilamanjaro Safari, Lion King
I need some help here. I know FoP is 44" and we all want to ride it. I know we'll need a rider swap. Will our 4 year old just basically have a throw away FP here? How does rider swap even work? We've never used it.

I would suggest getting a FoP FP for 1 adult and Molly. Then a Na'vi FP for the other adult and Henry at the same time of day. All four of you approach the FoP FP line and ask for a Rider Swap pass. The one adult and Molly ride FoP while the remaining adult and Henry go off to FP for Na'vi. After both groups of two are finished with their respective rides, the adult that rode Na'vi now goes back to FoP with the Molly and enters the FP line via the use of the Rider Swap pass. Of course, this means one adult and Molly won't get to ride Na'vi via the FP line unless you can somehow snag one later in the day as a 4th FP. If Molly is anything like our 9yo she won't mind though, because she'll be riding many of the best rides twice. If this strategy appeals to you, you can use it for all rides with a height requirement that Henry does not meet. (7DMT/Pooh, Space Mtn./Buzz, etc., etc.)

Should I aim for all AM fast passes on our full days?

Just MHO, if your planning to arrive at rope drop I would not use any FPs for about the first hour or two as many attractions will have relatively short standby lines. Choose late morning FPs as this will give you a good chance to grab 4th, 5th, etc. FPs after you have used your first 3.

One thing I would avoid is booking, for example, 9:00, 10:00, and 5:00 FPs. This is because after using the 9:00 and 10:00 FPs you wouldn't be able to grab anymore until the 5:00 is used.

How difficult is it to get the time you want? I imagine rides like FoP is kind of a "take what you can get" situation, but how about everything else?

FoP on January 30th might be a "take what you can get" situation because it will be 60+3 days. You should see many times available for FoP on February 2nd as it will 60+6 days. As @hllb suggested, maybe consider swapping those two.

After you use all 3 you can get another, I understand that. Can it be any ride (ie any tier?)

Yep. After you use your first 3 FPs the 4th, 5th, etc. can be booked (one at a time) for any ride/any tier. As soon as you "tap in" to your third FP (while still in the FP line waiting to ride) you can book your 4th FP.

Have fun!