Timing Fast Passes

[k2kten]

Hey there....how do you plan your fast pass times? For example, in Epcot, is it a good idea to have back to back fast pass times an hour after each other for Soarin, Spaceship Earth, and Mission Space? Do i even need to space them out for an hour apart? Thanks!

 

[Wubar]

You will have to span them at least an hour apart, since you can't have fastpasses with overlapping times. For example, you could have FP+ 1 for 1pm-2pm and FP+ 2 for 2pm-3pm. But you couldn't have FP+1 for 1-2pm and FP+2 for 1:30-2:30pm.

BUT...depending on availability, you could try and move up your later Fastpasses after you scan in for your first fastpass. If you scanned in at 1:01pm for your first fastpass, you could try and move up your second fastpass, originally scheduled for 2-3pm, depending on availability. If there is a timeslot for like 1:15pm, you could modify FP+ 2 to take that new timeslot, and then repeat for subsequent fastpasses if needed and available...

 

[k2kten]

Thank you! Do you think that they need to be spaced out for more than an hour apart or would i be safe scheduling them back to back?

 

[Wubar]

You should probably be fine spacing them out an hour apart, but it is all going to depend on timing, crowds, ride locations, any technical malfunctions and delays, etc. If your first FP+ is located on one side of the park and the second FP+ is on the other side of the park, combined with a slow-loading ride and crowds...you just never know. I believe the rule of thumb is you actually have an hour and 20 minutes to use your FP+ (5 minutes early up to 15 minutes late), but that is at the discretion of the CMs working the ride that day. I think most FP+ lines usually don't take longer than 15-20 minutes, although with the newer popular attractions (like FoP), there can obviously be longer waits....

 

[cluvsdisney]

In general, we don’t spend the whole day in a park so we try to make our FP back to vpback or close to it if we have a dining reservation in the park. If we were to plan to spend the day there, I might spread them out by park section to keep from having to hustle from one area to another.

 

[sharonabe]

I would definitely put them in the morning and as soon in the morning as you can, so you can get 4th, 5th, or more FP for later in the day. The parks with Tiers will let you get more Tier 1s after your first 3 are used, so even if you have to get a throwaway Tier 2 in the morning, do it.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Hey there....how do you plan your fast pass times? For example, in Epcot, is it a good idea to have back to back fast pass times an hour after each other for Soarin, Spaceship Earth, and Mission Space? Do i even need to space them out for an hour apart? Thanks!

We park hop so it depends what park we plan to use them in.

If we plan to use them in our second park our day usually looks something like this:

• park 1 is all standby
• lunch either at park 1, a nearby resort or our resort
• mid day break
• then we schedule out 3 FP+ leading into the night time entertainment. (Mission Space 6-7, Character Spot 7-8, Frozen Ever After 8-9 for example)

If we plan to use the in our first park we usually hit rope drop and start them about 10 am and do two back to back, then lunch and then our third.

I hole heartedly agree to a "quantity over quality" approach when using FP+. Schedule them when you think you will need them the most rather than scheduling them when you won't need them just to try and get a 4th FP+.

It does you no good to schedule a FP+ for something at 9 am just so you can turn around and try to book your 4th at 12:30 pm when you can schedule it like that in the first place. Sure, there are SOME FP+ that you can grab same day FP+ as a 4th if you get to it early enough but by in large they are not worth the hassle (IMO) and better off doing standby, at rope drop or when you luck into a FP+ somewhere along the way by casually (not frantically) checking the MDE app from time to time.

If you're in a park that tiers their FP and you want to do Soarin twice (for example)...you don' need two FP+. Get there close to rope drop, ride it once standby in the morning before say 9:30 and use a FP+ for it later in the day. If you want to do FEA, Test Track and Soarin, make your FP+ for FEA, do Test Track AT rode drop and then walk over to Soarin.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

You will definitely be fine scheduling them back to back. If we are staying in the same park all day, our typical strategy is to arrive at rope drop and do as much as we can (which is a lot!) in the first 2-3 hours without FP. Then we schedule our 3 FP back to back usually 10-11, 11-12, 12-1. As soon as the last one is scanned, go onto MDE and pick up the 4th....and so on.

 

[PSUGuy]

Our strategy is to hit a park at RD and do one or more rides as walk-ons then space our FP+ choices 1 hr apart starting at 9:00 (for a 9 am opening). For instance, in MK we can do Space Mtn, Buzz and People mover by 9:30 or so, then we head over to 7DMR. By the time we finish that ride our 2nd FP window is open and we'll either go straight there or sneak in something else before that depending on crowds. As soon as our 3rd window opens we hit that after which we can get another for Epcot, we hit there every afternoon during F&W. Each park is a little different as to what can be done at RD without undue waiting but this is out basic plan.

Bill From PA

 

[kwdw]

My FP strategy depends on the park, my dining plans, my anticipated arrival/departure times, etc.

But yes - you can schedule them exactly an hour apart. I've done that. But - if I plan mine that way then I am hitting the first one close to the END of its time - that way the second one is open to me when I am done with the first - and by the time I am done with the second - I don't have wait much for the third to open. Now - that's if the walking time isn't that far and if it's rides that don't tend to have long FP queues. Well planned - you can almost always hit three FP's in 2 real hours.

 

[DavidNYC]

I often try to have 2 in relatively close proximity back to back (for example Splash Mtn and Big Thunder) and then go to the first one right at the end of the window and ride the next one immediately after the prior one is over. I feel it opens up the day more. Conversely, if I find that the rides I want to schedule are far apart, I'll do the first one early in the block and the last one towards the end.

In any event, with the advent of add'l FP by phone, I try to schedule them early, back to back, and make sure that I do my 3rd FP right at the beginning of my window so I can start looking for add'l ones for later in the day.

If you've got a 9am opening, I'll recommend doing first FP 9:30 - 10:30 give or take since that first hour is usually pretty good to do a few things standby. Go on first ride around 10:15, have another FP starting at 10:30 which I ride, and the final one at about 11:30 and start looking for more FP by noon.

 

[Average Joes]

Like LSU said at Epcot we RD TT, and walk over to Soaring. We do a FP for Fozen in the mid/late afternoon when we think we would be in that area. We try and book the other FPs when we think we would be in the area for the rides we want to use a FP for. I have not been nearly as often as others but have done a few dozen Epcot Touring Plans. Trying to avoid walking seemed as important as getting a FP when it was a low-moderate day.

Ideally for the other parks we usually try and start FP 1.5-2 hours post-opening. Then schedule them as close as possible after that to get more FP.

 

[jpeterson]

There are different FP strategies that work for different touring styles. For us, we tend to have 3 back to back FPs starting at park opening. This gives us more opportunities to get more FPs or hop to a different park, take a break, etc. That's what we like to do.

 

[k2kten]

Thank you all so much!

 

[GPC0321]

This is for "lesser" FP options, I guess, but what I did for an MK day was book Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean the night before. I left space between them because I was trying to catch the Trolley show and Philharmonic (didn't catch either) in between them. Instead, we went to Haunted Mansion, rode that, and when we came out, I checked for an earlier Pirates, got one, and went directly there. Came out of Pirates and knew I wanted a third FP so that I could get a fourth for IllumiNations that night, so I just saw what was immediately available, chose Pooh, and went to that. Got off of that and made the IllumiNations FP, went back to the resort and got in the pool for the rest of that hot afternoon.