Tiered Fastpasses... Why even bother?

[Hi Pluto]

I'm trying to map out what fastpasses to choose for our trip in October, and geez, what a bummer. Animal Kingdom is fine, because the tiered ones are only the two Avatar rides. I get it, pick one and then I have all of the other favorites to choose from. But EPCOT and Hollywood Studios... I get to choose only one good ride at each park, and then have to fill the other two choices with crappy rides that I have no interest in. I think my husband would divorce me one the spot if I booked a fastpass for Frozen Singalong and Disney Junior Playhouse.

We haven't been able to ride Test Track or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster in the last several Disney trips simply because they keep missing the cut. And the Great Movie Ride? Why is that a Tier 1?

I'm fine with tiers if I am at least left with decent tier 2 choices. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate?

 

[Robo]

I'm trying to map out what fastpasses to choose for our trip in October, and geez, what a bummer. Animal Kingdom is fine, because the tiered ones are only the two Avatar rides. I get it, pick one and then I have all of the other favorites to choose from. But EPCOT and Hollywood Studios... I get to choose only one good ride at each park, and then have to fill the other two choices with crappy rides that I have no interest in. I think my husband would divorce me one the spot if I booked a fastpass for Frozen Singalong and Disney Junior Playhouse.

We haven't been able to ride Test Track or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster in the last several Disney trips simply because they keep missing the cut. And the Great Movie Ride? Why is that a Tier 1?

I'm fine with tiers if I am at least left with decent tier 2 choices. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate?

First of all, Frozen Singalong is a TERRIFIC entertaining show (especially if you are tired of "Frozen.")

Otherwise, you are not alone, nobody likes FP+ tiering.
Something we must endure (along with the rest of the unpleasant aspects of FP+.)

 

[Lesverts]

Star Tours and Tower of Terror are Tier 2 at DHS. Both very popular attractions that can have very long waits.

 

[Amelia :)]

I think we get so into our rope drop/emh/fast pass planing we forget that even if all those things fail, it is not impossible to ride something (unless it is broken down or being rehabbed), sometimes you just have to do the old fashioned thing and queue. And if you don't want to wait, that is your decision.

 

[CAS239]

Tiers suck but they kind of are a must at HS and Epcot, and it's not that bad

If there were no tiers...Everyone at HS would book Toy Story, RnR, and something else. Everyone at Epcot would book Frozen, Soarin, and Test Track.

Until a park has enough rides (like MK) to spread out the fast passes, then the tiers are a must so all the headliners aren't completely gone at 60 days out.

And it's easy to ride rides without having to FP them. If you want to ride TSM and RnR then just get to the park at rope drop, ride standby on one then have a FP for the other. Same goes for Epcot, get there early and ride Test Track and have your FP for Frozen or Soarin. There's tons of people who do Test Track, Soarin, and Frozen all in the same day.

 

[mamamelody2]

Tiers suck but they kind of are a must at HS and Epcot, and it's not that bad

If there were no tiers...Everyone at HS would book Toy Story, RnR, and something else. Everyone at Epcot would book Frozen, Soarin, and Test Track.

Until a park has enough rides (like MK) to spread out the fast passes, then the tiers are a must so all the headliners aren't completely gone at 60 days out.

And it's easy to ride rides without having to FP them. If you want to ride TSM and RnR then just get to the park at rope drop, ride standby on one then have a FP for the other. Same goes for Epcot, get there early and ride Test Track and have your FP for Frozen or Soarin. There's tons of people who do Test Track, Soarin, and Frozen all in the same day.

I totally agree!

 

[LucyBC80]

Star Tours and Tower of Terror are Tier 2 at DHS. Both very popular attractions that can have very long waits.

Those are the exact two rides we pick over at HS. There's no way I'd waste a FP+ on Disney Jr. or Beauty and The Beast.

 

[Gophers]

I'm trying to map out what fastpasses to choose for our trip in October, and geez, what a bummer. Animal Kingdom is fine, because the tiered ones are only the two Avatar rides. I get it, pick one and then I have all of the other favorites to choose from. But EPCOT and Hollywood Studios... I get to choose only one good ride at each park, and then have to fill the other two choices with crappy rides that I have no interest in. I think my husband would divorce me one the spot if I booked a fastpass for Frozen Singalong and Disney Junior Playhouse.

We haven't been able to ride Test Track or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster in the last several Disney trips simply because they keep missing the cut. And the Great Movie Ride? Why is that a Tier 1?

I'm fine with tiers if I am at least left with decent tier 2 choices. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate?

At HS you can put a FP on Toy Story and TOT. Go to RNR at rope drop. We have always been able to do those three in the morning and then just pick another one after that. You might not get multiple rides on each on but you can get one each

 

[soniam]

We always do RNR at rope drop and FP+ Toy Story. Plus, RNR has a single rider line, but that's supposedly controversial. GMR is a tier 1 not necessarily due to popularity but due to it's low ride capacity. TOT is probably more popular but has a high ride capacity, so it gets tier 2.

At Epcot, we usually rope drop TT and FP+ Soarin', since Soarin' is our favorite. TT has a single rider line too. MS Orange and Spaceship Earth aren't really bad FP+ at Epcot; they can develop pretty long waits now. Our next trip will be harder, because DS will want to see Froway. DH and I did it once, but DS hasn't seen it yet. We are going to have to rope drop Epcot twice to hit everything.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

What I don't get is why people don't get it....

RD RNRC and TT.... Not that hard.

Also TOT is a tier 2 so.... there's that.

 

[wilkeliza]

With Epcot today (Easter Sunday) had I done our FP correctly (I booked only a tier 1 at noon forgot to book the "throw away" tier 2s for before) I would have been able to pull TT no problem as a 3rd FP. This is while the posted wait was 60 minutes.

DHS is a little trickier but we always do FP TSMM and then single rider Rockin. I've never been outside doint Single at Rockin so I don't mind waiting there since it is usually inside.

 

[barbliny]

With Epcot today (Easter Sunday) had I done our FP correctly (I booked only a tier 1 at noon forgot to book the "throw away" tier 2s for before) I would have been able to pull TT no problem as a 3rd FP. This is while the posted wait was 60 minutes.

The 'throw-away' FP+ is an important and powerful tool at the tiered parks. The faster you go through your first 3 FP+, the faster you can try to get a 4th fastpass while in the park. However, it still may not help with the really hard to get fastpasses like Frozen Ever After and Seven Dwarves, since those are often gone way in advance, but you never know when someone is going to cancel and a window pops up.

Book
Tower of Terror 9-10
Muppet Show 10-11
Toy Story 11-12

Rope drop RnR,
Ride TOT,
If you have no interest in Muppet Show, just let it expire and queue up on Little Mermaid or something else (for the throwaway pass, I usually pick something like Muppet Show that normally has short waits so that I'm not wasting a fastpass spot for a ride that can actually build a wait (like Star Tours)).
At 10:55, tap into Toy Story
While walking through the queue, try and get another FP - might get lucky and get another Tier 1

 

[KrazeeK120]

At Epcot, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Living With the Land are all tier 2, and all worth experiencing.

 

[wilkeliza]

The 'throw-away' FP+ is an important and powerful tool at the tiered parks. The faster you go through your first 3 FP+, the faster you can try to get a 4th fastpass while in the park. However, it still may not help with the really hard to get fastpasses like Frozen Ever After and Seven Dwarves, since those are often gone way in advance, but you never know when someone is going to cancel and a window pops up.

Book
Tower of Terror 9-10
Muppet Show 10-11
Toy Story 11-12

Rope drop Test Track,
Ride TOT,
If you have no interest in Muppet Show, just let it expire and queue up on Little Mermaid or something else (for the throwaway pass, I usually pick something like Muppet Show that normally has short waits so that I'm not wasting a fastpass spot for a ride that can actually build a wait (like Star Tours)).
At 10:55, tap into Toy Story
While walking through the queue, try and get another FP - might get lucky and get another Tier 1

Yep ours really only were throw away because we weren't entering epcot until noon. I would have used them on mission space and living with the land or spaceship earth.

 

[caliope]

Though a little trickier to navigate, I haven't found that the tiers at Epcot or HS have prevented us from doing what we want to do. We spent four days at only these 2 parks in early March and rode all our favorites several times each. It just takes planning on which to RD and which to FP.

 

[mshanson3121]

Has AK always been tiered, or is that new since Pandora?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Has AK always been tiered, or is that new since Pandora?

New for Pandora

 

[Hopefully]

Has AK always been tiered, or is that new since Pandora?

New since Pandora and only the 2 Pandora rides are tiered

 

[Little E]

Please forgive my ignorance. My FP window opens tomorrow, and so I'm trying to get everything pulled together today so I'm ready bright and early tomorrow am.

We have not ridden Frozen Ever After at Epcot yet (last family trip was before it opened), so I'm not sure how FPs work at Epcot? Am I understanding correctly that FEA, Soarin', and TT are all tier 1?

Thanks so much!

 

[Robo]

I'm not sure how FPs work at Epcot? Am I understanding correctly that FEA, Soarin', and TT are all tier 1?

Yes.

HERE ya go.