Using FP+ For MSEP/Wishes

[bhyer]

Hello,

For those of you experienced with the FP+ seating area for MSEP and Wishes can you tell me if it's any better than if you arrive an hour early and don't have a Fast Pass? I am not even tempted to use a Fast Pass for other entertainment type things (like Illuminations, afternoon parades, etc.) but am seriously considering for MSEP and Wishes. Only thing holding me back is that I know that effectively prevents me from getting any more than three on a given day. I would appreciate any thoughts or advice on the topic! Have to make my Fast Pass selections tomorrow!! Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Hello,

For those of you experienced with the FP+ seating area for MSEP and Wishes can you tell me if it's any better than if you arrive an hour early and don't have a Fast Pass? I am not even tempted to use a Fast Pass for other entertainment type things (like Illuminations, afternoon parades, etc.) but am seriously considering for MSEP and Wishes. Only thing holding me back is that I know that effectively prevents me from getting any more than three on a given day. I would appreciate any thoughts or advice on the topic! Have to make my Fast Pass selections tomorrow!! Thanks in advance!!!

I am using a fp for MSEP so I 1. don't have to sit for an hour to secure a good spot, 2. spend most of that hour trying to maintain that spot, and 3. I don't like people in my personal space. It is worth it to me. That said, I know there are great viewing areas in Frontierland, but then reread #s 1 and 2. For Wishes, I am doing the dessert party, as it is a MVMCP day and we're going to be tired and have 2 little ones. Plus, I've never done it before.

 

[Shaden]

I am using a fp for MSEP so I 1. don't have to sit for an hour to secure a good spot, 2. spend most of that hour trying to maintain that spot, and 3. I don't like people in my personal space. It is worth it to me. That said, I know there are great viewing areas in Frontierland, but then reread #s 1 and 2. For Wishes, I am doing the dessert party, as it is a MVMCP day and we're going to be tired and have 2 little ones. Plus, I've never done it before.

Mambo, generally I have really liked what you have posted on these boards, so I mean this with all sincerity .... just trying to give you some straight up experience.

Your booking of Wishes FP+ ... might not help you with personal space, it might, in fact, hurt you.

We had 3 bookings of FP for Wishes on our last trip over 14 nights, we also did 2 nights in the Hub, and 1 night in frontier land just outside the exit from BTMRR.

By Far, our Wish FPs were the worst. Why did we do 3 then? We had a semi split stay, first week was just my wife and I ... second week was a big group of people. So we tried it Once on our own and it was ok, another time on our own to see if it was going to be better and once with the group because they wanted to see what it was about.

In General - the angle, isn't very good. The Fireworks just don't give you the right impression from there, really. They are designed to be viewed from a direct view of the castle. You miss the impact of most of the castle effects to the left of the castle, and the big fireworks in general seem to be coming from behind the castle (which they do) instead of OVER the castle, the impression really is quite different.

Personal Space - Our 2 "solo" (two of us) times - First time, there weren't many people there, but CMs still INSISTED on making all of us cram forward toward the fencing, to make room for people that "might" show up. Well, they didn't frame it that way, but that was the end of the conversation I had with a CM. I explained to her that ... clearly there weren't many people here, no reason for us to cram in, we had just grabbed an ice cream and were sitting lounging and enjoying it ... but she insisted that we had to cram in with a subtle hint that if we didn't we might be ejected, because of people who "might" show up.

The Second time ... it was legitimately jacked. Its not a big piece of land they have reserved, and while we still go to sit, because everyone was sitting, there was no personal space. Peoples kids kept standing up in front of us, still had hands stepped on and people brushing up against us ... balloons in the way ...

Group time - The WORST ... it was jacked, and they had a section cordoned off for video recording equipment, we had an ECV with us .... it was terrible. I wont chalk this up as a general experience due to the recording ... BUT, that crowd, even if they weren't set up, would have still had a really hard time making much room for anyone.

Overall - depending on the number of people booked for FP+ Wishes, it might be much more crowded than the Hub. There is a VERY finite amount of space, and they have to put all the people who have booked wishes FPs in that space, regardless of how the rest of the park is etc. So the Hub might be super crowded, OR, it might only be semi crowded with people generally having a decent amount of room, but the FP wishes viewing, if fully booked ... is going to be pretty crowded.


Our experience in the Hub .... I wont include the super rainy day because ... that was awesome ... there was no one there !!!

But in general, I think we had a much better experience viewing the fireworks from the Hub, and we didn't have to show up an hour in advance or anything.

Generally we hang back at the bottom of the roundabout of the Hub. Where mainstreet breaks into the circle. Here they clear the actual circle, BUT, if you stick to the mouth of the road, where it would widen into the circle, you end up with a fantastic view of the fireworks, and no one in front of you for 15 feet or so .... to us, this is the perfect location.


Just my experience in May .... maybe they have decreased the number of people they allow in for the wishes FP, so its less crowded (though I would doubt that, there weren't many people there to be honest) ... but even if that is the case, the angle just isn't right anyway ...

 

[Gilrond]

I have a FP+ for MSEP and use an ECV. Is the ECV going to pose a problem in the the MSEP FP + viewing area?
The handicapped areas require arriving early also as they park ECVs and wheelchairs 3 deep sometimes and I am very short.
Would like suggestions for best plan.

 

[bhyer]

Thank you so much for the replies so far. Is the area for MSEP fast passes the same as the area for Wishes fast passes?

 

[Robo]

Information removed due to this being an old out-of-date thread.

 

[bhyer]

Hmmm. I'm thinking I will do a FastPass for at least one night for the MSEP. We are fortunate enough that we will be at the park on three nights for MSEP so I'm wondering - if you don't have a FastPass where is a good place to watch? and how early do you need to get there? And would the view be similar to what you get in the FastPass viewing area for MSEP?

Yes, I KNOW I ask a lot of questions and I really do appreciate the time people take to respond. THANK YOU!

 

[puffkin]

Just did a FP+ for MSEP last night. I would say it's worth it, and I don't particularly like MSEP (i miss Spectromagic!). We got to the viewing area right at 8:40 and they had already let people in. Even still there was plenty of room and even if you can't get curbside it's so relaxed compared to the general seating. There was room behind for the kinds to wander and stretch a bit. We stayed put for the Celebrate the magic show and Wishes then. It was only a short wait for each. They do open the area to everyone as soon as the parade is done though. The view for Celebrate the Magic was amazing. We were a bit close for Wishes but it wasn't terrible.

All in all I thought it was worth it. It made seeing the parade/wishes/celebrate the magic much less stressful and the timing worked really well. I kind of felt like I got 3 FP for the price of 1.

 

[chewytee]

If you choose FP+ for MSEP only, I've included red arrows to show where to MOVE for viewing Wishes (and Celebrate the Magic) right after the parade passes the parade FP+ reserved area.

Thanks for all the maps.

One question that I've yet to see answered over the past few weeks I've lurked when this topic has come up....how feasible is it to do the suggested move away from the castle ? I assume it's possible and I know (I know) it's going to be crazy crowded, but can you do such a reverse walk from the castle with say a 5 year old and find a good place to be stationary eventually? Or is it like crazy swimming up stream that should only be attempted by the brave and most fit/pushy?

 

[Duffy Lover]

Thanks for all the maps.

One question that I've yet to see answered over the past few weeks I've lurked when this topic has come up....how feasible is it to do the suggested move away from the castle ? I assume it's possible and I know (I know) it's going to be crazy crowded, but can you do such a reverse walk from the castle with say a 5 year old and find a good place to be stationary eventually? Or is it like crazy swimming up stream that should only be attempted by the brave and most fit/pushy?

We had MSEP FP+ for our trip in June and it was my intention to push our way to the more desirable viewing area for Wishes, but we found that it was just too crowded. We had a party of 9, including one stroller and four kids. Although the area where the MSEP FP+ is located does not provide a good view of the higher fireworks during wishes, it is a great location for the Castle show, Tinkerbell's flight and some of the lower fireworks. The convenience could not be beat either. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Mambo, generally I have really liked what you have posted on these boards, so I mean this with all sincerity .... just trying to give you some straight up experience.

Your booking of Wishes FP+ ... might not help you with personal space, it might, in fact, hurt you.

We had 3 bookings of FP for Wishes on our last trip over 14 nights, we also did 2 nights in the Hub, and 1 night in frontier land just outside the exit from BTMRR.

By Far, our Wish FPs were the worst. Why did we do 3 then? We had a semi split stay, first week was just my wife and I ... second week was a big group of people. So we tried it Once on our own and it was ok, another time on our own to see if it was going to be better and once with the group because they wanted to see what it was about.

In General - the angle, isn't very good. The Fireworks just don't give you the right impression from there, really. They are designed to be viewed from a direct view of the castle. You miss the impact of most of the castle effects to the left of the castle, and the big fireworks in general seem to be coming from behind the castle (which they do) instead of OVER the castle, the impression really is quite different.

Personal Space - Our 2 "solo" (two of us) times - First time, there weren't many people there, but CMs still INSISTED on making all of us cram forward toward the fencing, to make room for people that "might" show up. Well, they didn't frame it that way, but that was the end of the conversation I had with a CM. I explained to her that ... clearly there weren't many people here, no reason for us to cram in, we had just grabbed an ice cream and were sitting lounging and enjoying it ... but she insisted that we had to cram in with a subtle hint that if we didn't we might be ejected, because of people who "might" show up.

The Second time ... it was legitimately jacked. Its not a big piece of land they have reserved, and while we still go to sit, because everyone was sitting, there was no personal space. Peoples kids kept standing up in front of us, still had hands stepped on and people brushing up against us ... balloons in the way ...

Group time - The WORST ... it was jacked, and they had a section cordoned off for video recording equipment, we had an ECV with us .... it was terrible. I wont chalk this up as a general experience due to the recording ... BUT, that crowd, even if they weren't set up, would have still had a really hard time making much room for anyone.

Overall - depending on the number of people booked for FP+ Wishes, it might be much more crowded than the Hub. There is a VERY finite amount of space, and they have to put all the people who have booked wishes FPs in that space, regardless of how the rest of the park is etc. So the Hub might be super crowded, OR, it might only be semi crowded with people generally having a decent amount of room, but the FP wishes viewing, if fully booked ... is going to be pretty crowded.


Our experience in the Hub .... I wont include the super rainy day because ... that was awesome ... there was no one there !!!

But in general, I think we had a much better experience viewing the fireworks from the Hub, and we didn't have to show up an hour in advance or anything.

Generally we hang back at the bottom of the roundabout of the Hub. Where mainstreet breaks into the circle. Here they clear the actual circle, BUT, if you stick to the mouth of the road, where it would widen into the circle, you end up with a fantastic view of the fireworks, and no one in front of you for 15 feet or so .... to us, this is the perfect location.


Just my experience in May .... maybe they have decreased the number of people they allow in for the wishes FP, so its less crowded (though I would doubt that, there weren't many people there to be honest) ... but even if that is the case, the angle just isn't right anyway ...

Thank you for your insights! I am in the castle hub for FoF parade but in the Main Street park entrance hub for MSEP which sort of works for us because we plan to leave as soon as it's over. For wishes we are doing the dessert party but we're old g-mas with little ones. I know it's partly obscured and off center but you can rest, have some space and Tinkerbell flies overhead! I will take into account the personal space issues. After you were all crammed together and the other people who might come but didn't could you stretch back out? Ive got 4 days planned for MK so we should be lucky some times. Hopefully December 2, 3, and 4 won't be too bad. I think 4 th is a MVMCP day anyway.
I'm a positive thinker and try very hard to take the high road. (For instance I have backed out of quite a few threads when things get "spirited" around here though sometimes I just can't resist).

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We had MSEP FP+ for our trip in June and it was my intention to push our way to the more desirable viewing area for Wishes, but we found that it was just too crowded. We had a party of 9, including one stroller and four kids. Although the area where the MSEP FP+ is located does not provide a good view of the higher fireworks during wishes, it is a great location for the Castle show, Tinkerbell's flight and some of the lower fireworks. The convenience could not be beat either. Good luck with your decision!

We have been successful getting a little to the right of the castle right where you get ready to go across the bridge into Tomorrowland. Not a bad spot. Also the bridge going into frontier land is a great viewing spot for Wishes and Celebrate the magic as well. We were here at this time 2 years ago and it wasn't bad. I'm glad this time isn't a free dining time because it does help. I booked our room the beginning of the year then bit my nails until the free dining weeks were announced.

 

[chris1212]

We just used a FP+ on MSEP this past weekend and it was totally worth it to us! We have little kids that wouldn't be able to sit and secure a spot an hour before the parade or do well with people squished all around.

We arrived just after 8.40pm and parked our stroller behind one row of seated people. No one behind us, had room to move and weren't packed into a crowd like the people across the street. We found it a very enjoyable experience and would definitely FP+ again in the future.

Note we were at MK 3 days and the day of the MSEP we only arrived at 4.30pm. So we didn't feel like we were missing out booking this as a FP+ since we weren't at the park all day anyways.

 

[Shaden]

Thank you for your insights! I am in the castle hub for FoF parade but in the Main Street park entrance hub for MSEP which sort of works for us because we plan to leave as soon as it's over. For wishes we are doing the dessert party but we're old g-mas with little ones. I know it's partly obscured and off center but you can rest, have some space and Tinkerbell flies overhead! I will take into account the personal space issues. After you were all crammed together and the other people who might come but didn't could you stretch back out? Ive got 4 days planned for MK so we should be lucky some times. Hopefully December 2, 3, and 4 won't be too bad. I think 4 th is a MVMCP day anyway.
I'm a positive thinker and try very hard to take the high road. (For instance I have backed out of quite a few threads when things get "spirited" around here though sometimes I just can't resist).

No worries, I try not to get too "spirited" Though sometimes people impose a tone that I don't intend

The Desert party is across the way though isn't it, and set back quite a bit. I have thought about booking this a few times myself ... I mean, desert, wishes, and a little section of personal space .... sounds pretty awesome to me !

To answer your question, yes, I did stretch back out, even though I was getting dirty looks from the CM I was getting pretty annoyed because the situation was pretty ridiculous ...

The other night, it was the usual like, puff yourself up and stretch out your arms and legs and stuff to try to create a personal bubble ... but no one seemed to care.

It was a mixed experience ... but my overall verdict was that its just not worth it (the Wishes FP I mean). Though, maybe it still is just for the experience once, even if it means like me, you would not book it again

It just ...isn't as good of a show from there, even if the space was better (which it could have been if the CM didn't cram us the first night) ... everything just doesn't work as well as if you are in the Hub.

I hope you have an awesome time, and enjoy the wishes desert, and however else you decide to view the fireworks

 

[SeilerBird]

I used a FP+ for Wishes last night for the first time. I will never watch it again without a FP+. The viewing area is the Rose Garden Terrace. Perfect viewing spot, much better than standing in front of the castle. My photos all have the castle on the left and the fireworks on the right. Beautiful composition. The area was not crowded and everyone had space. Not packed like sardines. I arrived five minutes before the start of the show and got a beautiful spot. I also had a CM standing right behind me and he was able to answer a few questions for me.

 

[Shaden]

I used a FP+ for Wishes last night for the first time. I will never watch it again without a FP+. The viewing area is the Rose Garden Terrace. Perfect viewing spot, much better than standing in front of the castle. My photos all have the castle on the left and the fireworks on the right. Beautiful composition. The area was not crowded and everyone had space. Not packed like sardines. I arrived five minutes before the start of the show and got a beautiful spot. I also had a CM standing right behind me and he was able to answer a few questions for me.

That kind of was my point, and exactly why I don't enjoy the wishes spot.

Castle on the left, fireworks on the right.

That is not how the fireworks are designed to be seen. You lose the entire effect of the fireworks positioned over and framing the castle.

The effect is no where near as appealing as viewing the fireworks and castle straight on ...

 

[Cluelyss]

All of these reviews are wonderfully helpful, thank you!

Hoping someone can explain exactly how/where you check in for these fastpass? CMs with mobile MB readers? And if so, is the area pretty well marked and accessible? We attended the Sinister Soirée during MNSSHP and had a heck of a time getting through the crowds to the check in point on the hub, and this us what I'm envisioning for MSEP?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Robo]

All of these reviews are wonderfully helpful, thank you!

Sorry, but you have revived an old out-of-date thread.

The information on location of the FP+ viewing is no longer correct due to a massive rebuilding of the castle hub.

 

[Cluelyss]

Sorry, but you have revived an old out-of-date thread.

The information on location of the FP+ viewing is no longer correct due to a massive rebuilding of the castle hub.

Thanks for the response, yes I realize this thread is a bit old However we will not be there until May, so hoping the "old" FP viewing spots will be back??

 

[Robo]

Thanks for the response, yes I realize this thread is a bit old However we will not be there until May, so hoping the "old" FP viewing spots will be back??

I'd not expect that by May, but you can always hope.

The center of the Hub was just flattened within the last few weeks,
and the general Hub reconstruction is not supposed to be completed until toward the end of 2015.

But, you never know...