Tiered Fastpasses... Why even bother?

[blemon]

For Epcot, we booked FEA and then the character meet. We rope dropped to Soarin, tapped off our bands at the character spot on the way to Soarin (you have to pass right by it). I think we got Spaceship Earth as tier 2 or Living with the Land -- we didn't need it for that attraction but we were going anyway (and I don't remember which one).

Then later in the day FP opened up for Test Track. It started pouring so it was closed but it would have worked out otherwise.

This worked really well.

"tapping off" means you tap your magic bands because the sensor is near the exit but you don't actually go in the attraction.

 

[Little E]

Thank you, Robo!

 

[ItsLayne]

It'll be interesting to see what the fastpass plus tiers look like at DHS once Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land are completed. I imagine tiers may still exist, but I have no idea if the current Tier 1 attractions will still be considered Tier 1.

 

[cmarsh31]

We did half-days to get in Epcot FPs. Rope-dropped MK, hit everything in Adventureland without a FP, then used the Express bus to hop to Epcot for FEA or Soarin', etc.

And as it was said before, don't skip the Frozen Singalong! It's hysterical! (especially for adults!)

 

[Little E]

We would love to purchase the Express bus...it seems like it would be very handy to park hop. I'm hoping it will still be available when we go in June?

I would also love to do the Frozen Singalong...however, I don't know if I can sell that to my DH and DSs...the Frozen ride will even be hard to sell, but at least my family will be interested to see the special effects/technology of the ride and experience the Maelstrom track. (Such is the life as a mother of teenage boys, eh?)

 

[KrazeeK120]

For Epcot, we booked FEA and then the character meet. We rope dropped to Soarin, tapped off our bands at the character spot on the way to Soarin (you have to pass right by it). I think we got Spaceship Earth as tier 2 or Living with the Land -- we didn't need it for that attraction but we were going anyway (and I don't remember which one).

Then later in the day FP opened up for Test Track. It started pouring so it was closed but it would have worked out otherwise.

This worked really well.

"tapping off" means you tap your magic bands because the sensor is near the exit but you don't actually go in the attraction.

Why did you book a FP for an attraction you weren't going to use it on?

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

We rarely do rope drop so it makes it tough for us to do more than the allowed tier 1 as well. We try right before closing and that is usually good.

 

[wilkeliza]

Why did you book a FP for an attraction you weren't going to use it on?

Because if you don't it won't let you get a 2nd tier 1. I did the "right" thing by not booking any others on Easter Sunday and it bit me in the butt. Had I chosen a 9am-10am and 10am-11am that I wasn't going to use I would have been able to pull at Test Track or Soarin at noon after checking in for my FEA fastpass. I was kicking myself in the butt for not pulling fastpasses that I know are "throw aways" like character spot, pixar shorts, and journey into imagination.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

We would love to purchase the Express bus...it seems like it would be very handy to park hop. I'm hoping it will still be available when we go in June?

I would also love to do the Frozen Singalong...however, I don't know if I can sell that to my DH and DSs...the Frozen ride will even be hard to sell, but at least my family will be interested to see the special effects/technology of the ride and experience the Maelstrom track. (Such is the life as a mother of teenage boys, eh?)

The Frozen Singalong is a great show and I'm a 45 year old "DH" with 2 boys myself.

 

[ArielSRL]

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?

It definitely makes planning more difficult, but try to look at it this way: If there were no tiers and all the guests who had booked FPs before you had booked all the headliners (because they would be able to without tiers) and there were no headliners left when you went to book, wouldn't you be even more annoyed/upset/disappointed?

 

[DisneyFive]

The single rider lines for Test Track and Rock'n Roller Coaster work great for standby. In our experience, we end up very close to each other anyway, and you don't need to waste a FP+ on them then.

Dan

 

[sharadoc]

Tiering is bad when you're on a short trip. Since we like to go 6 or 7 days minimum, we can usually handle the tiering because we go to parks multiple days, plus we don't like heavy duty coasters, so no real issue with the tiering for us lol.

 

[disneycraz]

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?

HS... We rope drop for TSM and have even be able to do it twice with no wait. We FP RRC, TOT and whatever else. For EP, we FP FEA and Rope Drop Soarin... Rope drop is the way you need to do it. We are morning people so it works for us. Good Luck!!

 

[Regan117]

Last trip to Epcot, we had FP+ for Soarin, Living with the Land and The Seas with Nemo. While we were on Nemo, I seriously lucked out - someone must have dropped a Frozen FP, and I was able to grab it. Then we rode the single-rider line on TT, used the Frozen FP, and were able to get 3 other FP while we were still in the park. It isn't impossible. Just keep checking that app.

 

[ryukage]

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.

I recommend the single rider line for Test Track. Last time I was there, it was a 20-30 minute wait compared to the 110 minute posted wait. I'd say you have a 50:50 chance of being in the same vehicle as your husband.

 

[Sparkly]

We don't generally have a problem at DHS- Toy Story, then TOT and whatever does nicely.

 

[Denise K W]

I guess we been lucky on fp at DS. We always do a character breakfast either at Chef Mickeys or Ohana and get the park about 11am. Do Toy Story Mania about 11-12, Star Tours 12-1 and then I think we usually pick another one that 3rd one always in the air since last 2 years my son dont like Tower of Terror. But this year he is older so he wants to ride it so probably do that one as our 3rd one than try to rock n roller coaster fp after that.

Now Epcot little tricky for us because the 3 we like are test track/mission space and soaring. Last year we went to Animal Kingdom right when it opened and got on rides with little or not wait. Went to Epcot did fp for soaring /mission space and the Nemo Ride. After Nemo put in for test track and so on. Frozen Ever after was not open yet it opened a week after we left. Just something you have to juggle with. When we do have breakfast that morning with characters we always try to get to the park early so we can go straight to attractions we want to ride. Like Magic Kingdom go straight to Peter Pan/Its a small world/Pirates/Jungle Cruise and Aladdin usually. FP usually are at first Seven Dwarfs Mine Train/Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. This really works for us but it all depends on you

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I echo what people have said about the Frozen show in HS - I was there with my sister last week. She is not a Disney fan and definitely had not seen Frozen and she loved it! My son and DH also really enjoyed it on our last trip! She is not a "ride person" so her only request was that I get an FP for IASW! Ack!

Anyway, it's definitely frustrating when you're planning and picking, but also keep in mind that people are constantly changing plans during their trip, so you don't know what might turn up while you're there, so keep checking.

In Epcot, we rode Soarin 3x - once near park close, once with a 6th FP in the afternoon (first 3 booked in MK, 2nd 2 picked up in HS), and once within the first hour of park opening. Never waited more than 15 minutes. We road Frozen during Illuminations, so we released the booked FP for the ride for the following day - Hopefully we made some little princess or prince happy! We also picked up an Illuminations FP really late in the day.

We only planned one afternoon in HS, so we FP'd Toy Story since one of my sisters didn't want to do RNRC. We ended up picking up RNRC two other times as 4th FPs, as well as Great Movie Ride.

In MK, not tiered, of course, but we released our planned 7DMT because we had already ridden it multiple times during the mornings and didn't want to wait for the FP window, released PP multiple times for the same reason, and definitely picked up some headliners over the course of the week.

I know it's just our experience and yours will be different depending on time of year/party size, but just to say that you may get on some headliners at off times and the benefit to checking when you have a little time on your hands...

ETA: I've been there 3x the same week in April with about the same crowd level according to TP historical crowds - moderate/high - and I have to say that I definitely had an easier time with getting Tier 1 and headliner fps later in the day - not sure why? Just seemed easier and about the same size party?

 

[HopperFan]

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?

Tiers are a necessity where they are, could the options be juggled better? maybe, but it is what it is.

THOUGHTS -
- The reason things like GMR are Tier 1 is Disney has MANY guests that don't do thrill rides
so this gives them an advantage on a FP+ option for things they do like.
- DHS has some good Tier 2 options: Tower of Terror and Star Tours plus shows
- While Tier 2 may not be of interest to you, it is of interest to many
- EPCOT has to hold out the two "newest" rides and at least the one other popular
- Why? Cause 60 day folks would clean out everything
- We must remember most park guests are staying offsite, you have to give them a chance
- There was a day that we all went prepared to stand in lots of lines
- Now that there is FP/FP+ folks seem to think they don't have to stand in a line
- FP+ gives us an advantage to a few to start but standing in line is still an option

Maybe time to re-evaluate? Do you mean not go to Disney at all?

I always say vacations are a luxury that are priceless. If your vacation is frustrating and you are not enjoying it, it's perfectly okay to try somewhere else for awhile. If something isn't working for me then I would be trying new rather than keep beating my head against a wall trying to make it work.