tour groups and FP+

[Steve's Girl]

My two oldest kids will be going to Disney for Spring Break 2016 with their high school band. They will spend a week at Disney (staying offsite) and will perform in the parade at MK during their stay. How does FP+ work for these types of groups? The trip is arranged through a travel agency and includes a 5 day park hopper ticket to all parks including one day at a water park. I assume these are special tickets made available to groups such as this. This is the first trip the band has taken to Disney since the FP+ system was implemented and there are questions as to when FP+ can be booked. Will they have to wait until they are in the park to access FP+? I don't see how they can book ahead of time as the kids won't be able to set up MDE accounts with park passes attached.

 

[magicbob]

They will probably be constrained to getting what they can once they are in the park.

This is another example of unintended consequences of FP+ pre-booking. In the "good old days" the band kids would have had the same (dare I say "equal"?) opportunity to get FPs on the day they visited WDW. Now... not so much.

There might be exceptions, but group trips like this rarely afford individuals the opportunity to get their tickets ahead of time, which means they won't be able to pre-book FP+. If they get their tickets issued before the bus rolls out, they would at least be able to go online the day prior and book what they can. But don't be surprised if they are being handed their tickets that morning as they head to the park. Once they have tickets in hand, they could at least create an account and book their subsequent days.

There's also the question of MBs. Even if the group is staying onsite, will the TA provide MBs to the band director? How and when will they be distributed? There are a lot of new logistical considerations in taking a band/cheerleader/other group to WDW now.

 

[Steve's Girl]

That is my concern. My kids are Disney veterans and have used FP+. I'm afraid this trip will be very frustrating for them. They will have fun traveling with their friends, but I'm not sure they will be able to do much in the parks. Spring Break is a busy time. They are scheduled to leave their hotel at 9am every day so they won't be getting to the parks until closer to 10am. Arriving that late with no FP+ seems like a disaster especially once you factor in Spring Break. My youngest and I will be staying onsite and had hoped to meet up with the other kids every day but I'm not sure how this is all going to work out.