Wait, weren't you just at Disney World? An August '14 Pre-Trip Report *updated 8/24*

[KatMark]

I think the plans you have sound great. My only concern is that you might not be able to get a FP for Mine Train at night unless you book it with one of your three for at night. After we used our 3 FP+ in the a.m. at another park and got to MK, there was nothing available for the Mine Train at all (in fact, the CM told us they were ALL gone by 10 a.m. for the entire day).

 

[MEK]

Subbing to your PTR. It appears that we frequent many of the same TRs.

Your kids are adorable and congrats on your new daughter! I have a lot of catching up to do!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think the plans you have sound great. My only concern is that you might not be able to get a FP for Mine Train at night unless you book it with one of your three for at night. After we used our 3 FP+ in the a.m. at another park and got to MK, there was nothing available for the Mine Train at all (in fact, the CM told us they were ALL gone by 10 a.m. for the entire day).

Thanks Kathy .... yeah, I am a bit concerned about that - thought with this information on how rider swap can work I am thinking that I can set up the FP+ for the morning and Judi and I each ride separately getting Rider Swaps that we can utilize later that evening

Key is definitely getting on at least once!

Subbing to your PTR. It appears that we frequent many of the same TRs.

Your kids are adorable and congrats on your new daughter! I have a lot of catching up to do!

Welcome Mary Ellen - thanks for joining! Yeah - we've covered a wide range of things in this Pre-Trip report ... some even pertaining to the associated upcoming trip!

 

[Arden01]

Hi there - we did our FPP on Sunday at 12:01. No problems, but just wanted you to know when I went in yesterday to fiddle around with times, I noticed all of e morning A&E and SDMT slots for Wed, 8/27 were gone. Only afternoon and evening were left. Just thought you should know, but hoping you still get the morning times you want!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hi there - we did our FPP on Sunday at 12:01. No problems, but just wanted you to know when I went in yesterday to fiddle around with times, I noticed all of e morning A&E and SDMT slots for Wed, 8/27 were gone. Only afternoon and evening were left. Just thought you should know, but hoping you still get the morning times you want!

oh gosh - thanks for the heads up ... definitely will have to be open to some flexibility. I know someone (Imagineer5 here) that went in early this morning and was able to get the times she wanted for both that morning (the 27th) ... so I have hope.

Good news is we do have that Friday as well so I would like to think between two days we can get in to see the princesses

 

[Arden01]

oh gosh - thanks for the heads up ... definitely will have to be open to some flexibility. I know someone (Imagineer5 here) that went in early this morning and was able to get the times she wanted for both that morning (the 27th) ... so I have hope.

Good news is we do have that Friday as well so I would like to think between two days we can get in to see the princesses

I just checked again and there were some morning SDMT available, but no A&E left for 4 people. Who knows, maybe a slot will open up the time you book or maybe you could split the party in two to get overlapping times?? I tried that on some of my "practice" FPP runs before our 60 day window opened and that seemed to work. Or maybe try Friday first. We got a morning slot that Wednesday, but it was the last day of our trip and it was the first set of fastpasses I booked. Again, hope to see you and your family there since some of our park days and adrs are the same!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I just checked again and there were some morning SDMT available, but no A&E left for 4 people. Who knows, maybe a slot will open up the time you book or maybe you could split the party in two to get overlapping times?? I tried that on some of my "practice" FPP runs before our 60 day window opened and that seemed to work. Or maybe try Friday first. We got a morning slot that Wednesday, but it was the last day of our trip and it was the first set of fastpasses I booked. Again, hope to see you and your family there since some of our park days and adrs are the same!

my understanding is that it is often very hard to find A&E for parties larger than 2 so what I plan to do is just plan the day for me and then copy the schedule to the rest of the party - and failing that try to find separate slots that overlap

I know, way too much work but better than standing in line for 5 hours

 

[Arden01]

my understanding is that it is often very hard to find A&E for parties larger than 2 so what I plan to do is just plan the day for me and then copy the schedule to the rest of the party - and failing that try to find separate slots that overlap I know, way too much work but better than standing in line for 5 hours

Crossing my fingers for you!

 

[Dugette]

my understanding is that it is often very hard to find A&E for parties larger than 2 so what I plan to do is just plan the day for me and then copy the schedule to the rest of the party - and failing that try to find separate slots that overlap

I know, way too much work but better than standing in line for 5 hours

For what it's worth, Lauren and I tried that (copying FP+) when just I had an A&E FP+. It would look like it was doing it, but when she looked afterwards, it would show that it substituted A&E with ETwB (I think), since A&E was unavailable. So, look closely when you copy to make sure it's giving you what you think it is. Good luck!!

(And, if it helps, we booked our trip like 3 weeks out and ended up meeting A&E twice. So, if you're willing to keep checking back, you'll more than likely catch something, even if not right away.)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Crossing my fingers for you!

Thanks - next update coming and things didn't work our quite like I hoped (though could have been worse)

For what it's worth, Lauren and I tried that (copying FP+) when just I had an A&E FP+. It would look like it was doing it, but when she looked afterwards, it would show that it substituted A&E with ETwB (I think), since A&E was unavailable. So, look closely when you copy to make sure it's giving you what you think it is. Good luck!!

(And, if it helps, we booked our trip like 3 weeks out and ended up meeting A&E twice. So, if you're willing to keep checking back, you'll more than likely catch something, even if not right away.)

Thanks - I did notice that so I avoided making that mistake as I did encounter the "here is the closest match as what you wanted to copy wasn't exactly available" message quite a bit

Glad to hear that you were able to fit things in closer to - as I will be hoping to make adjustments as some issues were encountered during the wee hours of today ......

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pre Trip Report: Part 20 - FastPass+ Scheduling ... uh oh, here comes a Pete rant​

​

​

Below is a more detailed report of my FastPass+ plans and how I got there but as a spoiler, the process did not go well for me - I mean, it could have been worse, but the amount of times that were unavailable for many attractions this far out really surprised me - plus it must be the clunkiest website active in 2014. I assume it was designed to make it simple for people but it results in having to make like 20 clicks to get anything accomplished, I still can't figure out how to do some things I want, and when you are dealing with this at 1:45 in the morning it is very easy to get frustrated .... ok, rant over.

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Ok, so today was the opening of my 60+ day window to make FastPass+ scheduling. So I had my plans, set my phone alarm to go off 10 mins before midnight got up and logged in and went to make plans at midnight and ... nothing. Fortunately I had seen posts on Facebook that others had similar experiences and to just try later.

So I reset my phone alarm for a bit before 1am and napped a bit on the couch. Got up and right at 1am I was able to get in!

So I go right to our first Magic Kingdom day and try to schedule out the day for me and then would copy to Judi and Olivia knowing that getting Anna & Elsa M&G for more than 1 or 2 people is nigh on impossible.

So I pick what I want (A&E, Mine Train, Peter Pan) and it gives me the options and I think one at A&E roughly where I wanted it so I took that and then went to make slight adjustments to match what I wanted (and ideally match what Lauren (Imagineer5) had as we were planning to meet up that morning).

And at this point I was pretty shocked to see the lack of options already - yes for A&E but even for Peter Pan and the Mine Train - very little in the morning if anything.

So did the best I could and got A&E at 10:50-11:50 (was shooting for 11-12 so really not bad), Mine Train for 9:30-10:30 (was shooting for 10-11, but not too far off, but getting worse), and then Peter Pan for (12-1) which is basically right on. Ok, I'll take it! I then got to copy to Judi and Olivia and .... it can't nothing - no more openings for A&E. I then tried to copy just to Olivia and it couldn't do it exactly, but it had A&E from 10:40-11:40 and the other two matching. Ok, little annoying but plenty of overlap, I'll take it. Then went to do the same for Judi and no dice. The best they had was A&E at 9:30-10:30 so I took it thinking maybe if we go right at 10:30 a kind hearted CM will let us all in so our family can stick together or Judi goes in at 10:30 and kinda just waits until the rest of us can go in.

Only issue is that time is when Olivia and I have Mine train so this moved Judi's Mine Train later, the next time that was available was starting at 4:20. Kinda sucks, but figure Olivia and I can ride at 9:30, get the rider swap for Judi to ride then and then we do the reverse later. Oh, and the best they could do Peter Pan for her is a 10 minute shift vs ours. Again, not terrible, but really? So many times are already gone we can't get 3 people together at noon for Peter Pan?

I figured I would go and do our second day in MK to see if I could get all three of us together for A&E as a back up. Good news is I could - bad news is the earliest they had for anything with A&E (even just for 1 person) was 5:50pm So we have that booked for now, along with Enchanted Tales with Belle from 9:10-10:10am and Mine Train again from 10:20 to 11:20am

So now on to the other parks ....

Then went to our first day there with is August 25th at DHS getting there in the afternoon.

Was able to get what I wanted, basically - but even here exact times I was thinking were not available basically for anything. Then did Animal Kingdom which was our 2nd day - the 26th - and basically the same situation. Plus I was surprised to see that this far out, even when making the initial plans for just me to be copied, so for one person, nothing for Everest before 11:55.

Then had our EPCOT day which is day 4 for us, Thursday , August 28th. Rather limited options for Soarin' and even things like Spaceship Earth had quite a few times not available.

And here is where I then was getting annoyed with the system - after getting the family set I wanted to change my FP+ for Soarin' to Test Track .. thinking we would then do rider swap for each. Well, for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get just Soarin' to change for just me. I try to change the FP+ for Soarin and it will only let me change for everyone. I try to re-plan the day for just me and now there aren't times offered for the other rides that are even close to what the rest of the family has and I am just hesitant to change things for one ride and wind up messing everything else up. Why is this system so clunky?!?!? At this point it was like 1:45am and I was getting frustrated, figured I got what I was going to get at this point and went to bed as I basically felt like this

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

So plans currently look as follows:

Monday, August 25th - Arrival day and DHS in late afternoon/evening:
2:50-3:50 - Star Tours
3:50-4:50 - Toy Story Mania
5:10 ADR at Hollywood Brown Derby
7:05-8:05 - Tower of Terror
8:30 Fantasmic! as part of dining package

Tuesday, August 26th - Animal Kingdom day
8:20 ADR at Tusker House
9:35-10:35 - Safari
10:40-11:40 - Kali River Rapids
<plan to walk around and dry off, may fit in Lion King here if can>
11:55-12:55 - Expidition Everest

Wednesday, August 27th - 1st Magic Kingdom Day
8:30 - CRT ADR
9:30-10:30: Mine Train (Phil - Judi & Olivia ride using rider swap)
9:30-10:30: Anna & Elsa (Judi)
10:40-11:40: Anna & Elsa (Olivia)
10:50-11:50: Anna & Elsa (Phil)
12:00-1:00: Peter Pan (Phil)
12:10-1:10: Peter Pan (Judi & Olivia)
1:10-2:10: Mine Train (was just able to change this time to be earlier Judi & Olivia ... will get rider swap to ride at night)
8:05 - Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party

Thursday, August 28th - EPCOT Day
11:10-12:10 - Spaceship Earth
12:20-1:20 - Character Spot
1:50-2:50 - Soarin' (will try to change mine for TT and then use rider swap)
6:35 - Garden Gril ADR

Friday, August 29th - 2nd Magic Kingdom Day
9:10-10:10 - Enchanted Tales with Belle
10:20-11:20 - Mine Train
5:50-6:50 - Anna & Elsa M&G




So that is where we stand. I think if I can just get Judi' moved up so that there is some overlap with Olivia and I for A&E and then I figure out how to get just me moved to TT everything will be ok - just really shocked how many times for so many things were already gone. Very hopeful that as we get closer people will move/cancel and things will become available ... but at least I have an initial booking for things

TTFN

 

[Arden01]

How aggravating!! I was surprised that I didn't have problems, but I think I was just very, very lucky. I couldn't get the exact times I wanted for my first MK day on 8/21, but they were okay. We overlap on some days with you:

Mon, 8/25: HBD Fantasmic Package at 5:30. Spending the day in Epcot. Hoping to get a 4th FPP for HS for that evening.

Tues, 8/26: Tusker House at 8:10. Hoping to jump on Safari right after breakfast by 9 or 9:15.
10-11: Expedition Everest
12-1: FOTLK
1:30: Safari (want to do this twice!)

Wed, 8/27:
CP 8:25 ADR
A&E: 9-10
ETWB: 11:10-12:10
SDMT: 12:10-1:10
Going back to NJ that night

 

[Imagineer5]

Pre Trip Report: Part 20 - FastPass+ Scheduling ... uh oh, here comes a Pete rant​

​

​

Below is a more detailed report of my FastPass+ plans and how I got there but as a spoiler, the process did not go well for me - I mean, it could have been worse, but the amount of times that were unavailable for many attractions this far out really surprised me - plus it must be the clunkiest website active in 2014. I assume it was designed to make it simple for people but it results in having to make like 20 clicks to get anything accomplished, I still can't figure out how to do some things I want, and when you are dealing with this at 1:45 in the morning it is very easy to get frustrated .... ok, rant over.

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Ok, so today was the opening of my 60+ day window to make FastPass+ scheduling. So I had my plans, set my phone alarm to go off 10 mins before midnight got up and logged in and went to make plans at midnight and ... nothing. Fortunately I had seen posts on Facebook that others had similar experiences and to just try later.

So I reset my phone alarm for a bit before 1am and napped a bit on the couch. Got up and right at 1am I was able to get in!

So I go right to our first Magic Kingdom day and try to schedule out the day for me and then would copy to Judi and Olivia knowing that getting Anna & Elsa M&G for more than 1 or 2 people is nigh on impossible.

So I pick what I want (A&E, Mine Train, Peter Pan) and it gives me the options and I think one at A&E roughly where I wanted it so I took that and then went to make slight adjustments to match what I wanted (and ideally match what Lauren (Imagineer5) had as we were planning to meet up that morning).

And at this point I was pretty shocked to see the lack of options already - yes for A&E but even for Peter Pan and the Mine Train - very little in the morning if anything.

So did the best I could and got A&E at 10:50-11:50 (was shooting for 11-12 so really not bad), Mine Train for 9:30-10:30 (was shooting for 10-11, but not too far off, but getting worse), and then Peter Pan for (12-1) which is basically right on. Ok, I'll take it! I then got to copy to Judi and Olivia and .... it can't nothing - no more openings for A&E. I then tried to copy just to Olivia and it couldn't do it exactly, but it had A&E from 10:40-11:40 and the other two matching. Ok, little annoying but plenty of overlap, I'll take it. Then went to do the same for Judi and no dice. The best they had was A&E at 9:30-10:30 so I took it thinking maybe if we go right at 10:30 a kind hearted CM will let us all in so our family can stick together or Judi goes in at 10:30 and kinda just waits until the rest of us can go in.

Only issue is that time is when Olivia and I have Mine train so this moved Judi's Mine Train later, the next time that was available was starting at 4:20. Kinda sucks, but figure Olivia and I can ride at 9:30, get the rider swap for Judi to ride then and then we do the reverse later. Oh, and the best they could do Peter Pan for her is a 10 minute shift vs ours. Again, not terrible, but really? So many times are already gone we can't get 3 people together at noon for Peter Pan?

I figured I would go and do our second day in MK to see if I could get all three of us together for A&E as a back up. Good news is I could - bad news is the earliest they had for anything with A&E (even just for 1 person) was 5:50pm So we have that booked for now, along with Enchanted Tales with Belle from 9:10-10:10am and Mine Train again from 10:20 to 11:20am

So now on to the other parks ....

Then went to our first day there with is August 25th at DHS getting there in the afternoon.

Was able to get what I wanted, basically - but even here exact times I was thinking were not available basically for anything. Then did Animal Kingdom which was our 2nd day - the 26th - and basically the same situation. Plus I was surprised to see that this far out, even when making the initial plans for just me to be copied, so for one person, nothing for Everest before 11:55.

Then had our EPCOT day which is day 4 for us, Thursday , August 28th. Rather limited options for Soarin' and even things like Spaceship Earth had quite a few times not available.

And here is where I then was getting annoyed with the system - after getting the family set I wanted to change my FP+ for Soarin' to Test Track .. thinking we would then do rider swap for each. Well, for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get just Soarin' to change for just me. I try to change the FP+ for Soarin and it will only let me change for everyone. I try to re-plan the day for just me and now there aren't times offered for the other rides that are even close to what the rest of the family has and I am just hesitant to change things for one ride and wind up messing everything else up. Why is this system so clunky?!?!? At this point it was like 1:45am and I was getting frustrated, figured I got what I was going to get at this point and went to bed as I basically felt like this

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

So plans currently look as follows:

Monday, August 25th - Arrival day and DHS in late afternoon/evening:
2:50-3:50 - Star Tours
3:50-4:50 - Toy Story Mania
5:10 ADR at Hollywood Brown Derby
7:05-8:05 - Tower of Terror
8:30 Fantasmic! as part of dining package

Tuesday, August 26th - Animal Kingdom day
8:20 ADR at Tusker House
9:35-10:35 - Safari
10:40-11:40 - Kali River Rapids
<plan to walk around and dry off, may fit in Lion King here if can>
11:55-12:55 - Expidition Everest

Wednesday, August 27th - 1st Magic Kingdom Day
8:30 - CRT ADR
9:30-10:30: Mine Train (Phil - Judi & Olivia ride using rider swap)
9:30-10:30: Anna & Elsa (Judi)
10:40-11:40: Anna & Elsa (Olivia)
10:50-11:50: Anna & Elsa (Phil)
12:00-1:00: Peter Pan (Phil)
12:10-1:10: Peter Pan (Judi & Olivia)
1:10-2:10: Mine Train (was just able to change this time to be earlier Judi & Olivia ... will get rider swap to ride at night)
8:05 - Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party

Thursday, August 28th - EPCOT Day
11:10-12:10 - Spaceship Earth
12:20-1:20 - Character Spot
1:50-2:50 - Soarin' (will try to change mine for TT and then use rider swap)
6:35 - Garden Gril ADR

Friday, August 29th - 2nd Magic Kingdom Day
9:10-10:10 - Enchanted Tales with Belle
10:20-11:20 - Mine Train
5:50-6:50 - Anna & Elsa M&G




So that is where we stand. I think if I can just get Judi' moved up so that there is some overlap with Olivia and I for A&E and then I figure out how to get just me moved to TT everything will be ok - just really shocked how many times for so many things were already gone. Very hopeful that as we get closer people will move/cancel and things will become available ... but at least I have an initial booking for things

TTFN

I'm so sorry for all your FP troubles. That is SO aggrivating. Why don't you swap out your A&E on wednesday to something you'll all enjoy (ariel, pooh, pirates or something) and then just do it on the Friday since you have it all together then? IDK might just be less aggrivating than worrying they will not let you be together. I went in just to see if I could change my A&E and there were no times at all for that day. Very surprising to me how many FP's disappeared between yesterday and today - especially as I didn't feel like I had any issues at all getting the times I want (though, again for a party of "1" that is different, I guess).

The rest of the days look great!! As for your EPCOT TT change - have you attempted to use the App? When I try to make a change, I first choose what I want to change, then it lets me choose who to change it for, then pick the new attraction and voila, it is done. I honestly haven't used the website much because it is SO SLOW at my office so I find it a lot faster to do from my phone. I did all my FP selections yesterday morning via my phone too.

Hope you can get that Soarin & Test Track sorted out!

We can still plan to try and get BoG lunch together and then all go ride Peter Pan, that sounds like a good plan! And at 10 my 7DMT FP opens up so if that offer is still open I might leave Aria with whoever is staying behind so I can go ride...

 

[KatMark]

I'm exhausted just reading all of that.

Mary made our FP+ selections for our girls trip earlier this month. I am NOT looking forward to getting up and trying to make them for our September trip (and I have to coordinate with a DIS friend and his family for two of our mornings).

I hope you get it figured out with Soarin' and Test Track.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm so sorry for all your FP troubles. That is SO aggrivating. Why don't you swap out your A&E on wednesday to something you'll all enjoy (ariel, pooh, pirates or something) and then just do it on the Friday since you have it all together then? IDK might just be less aggrivating than worrying they will not let you be together. I went in just to see if I could change my A&E and there were no times at all for that day. Very surprising to me how many FP's disappeared between yesterday and today - especially as I didn't feel like I had any issues at all getting the times I want (though, again for a party of "1" that is different, I guess).

It was aggravating and just frustrating - especially that early in the morning ... just annoying to have to deal with this for "vacation"

I think if I can get Judi's moved I will otherwise we might switch out for something else. Just hesitant to leave the only time to Friday evening - who knows how we will be feeling by then

The rest of the days look great!! As for your EPCOT TT change - have you attempted to use the App? When I try to make a change, I first choose what I want to change, then it lets me choose who to change it for, then pick the new attraction and voila, it is done. I honestly haven't used the website much because it is SO SLOW at my office so I find it a lot faster to do from my phone. I did all my FP selections yesterday morning via my phone too.

Hope you can get that Soarin & Test Track sorted out!

Thanks for the suggestion - I will try the app again. I remember trying it once at like 1:30 but was afraid other things were getting canceled ... I'll try it again when I have a clearer head (the fact that online and the app function differently is another thing that annoyed me - but that is for another rant). Hopefully I can get it set. Oh well.

We can still plan to try and get BoG lunch together and then all go ride Peter Pan, that sounds like a good plan! And at 10 my 7DMT FP opens up so if that offer is still open I might leave Aria with whoever is staying behind so I can go ride...

Sounds good! I am sure we can figure it out so you can leave Aria with us ... I mean, after 3 kids what one more

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm exhausted just reading all of that.

Mary made our FP+ selections for our girls trip earlier this month. I am NOT looking forward to getting up and trying to make them for our September trip (and I have to coordinate with a DIS friend and his family for two of our mornings).

I hope you get it figured out with Soarin' and Test Track.

Thanks - the rest of it wasn't too bad - just that first day was annoying and so much back and forth and steps to do for each attempt. If that day had gone smoothly I don't think the entire thing would have seemed so bad but after that - the whole thing was getting to me.

Best of luck! Hopefully September won't be as crowded and will be an easier process for you!

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow that's extremely frustrating I'm glad you were able to get most of it, and hopefully will be able to alter the others as the time gets closer.

 

[Leshaface]

I'm really not looking forward to making FP+ if this was your experience I thought it was fairly straight and easy when I did it for our October trip, but clearly they have made the experience harder.

So what time can you officially log onto make FP+ reservations? It was supposed to be midnight (officially) but there were issues right? Or were you supposed to log on at 1am? Even though i'm months away from the 60 day mark, I figure I should get my time right.

Hopefully you'll be able to get things moved for A&E at TT.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow that's extremely frustrating I'm glad you were able to get most of it, and hopefully will be able to alter the others as the time gets closer.

Yeah, I am probably making it out worse than it really was given that I did get basically everything I wanted - if not the exact times. Just was very frustrating at the time. I do hope things work out and if they don't perfectly - oh well, nothing is perfect and we will survive ... I mean, if this is our biggest problem we are a very fortunate family

I'm really not looking forward to making FP+ if this was your experience I thought it was fairly straight and easy when I did it for our October trip, but clearly they have made the experience harder.

So what time can you officially log onto make FP+ reservations? It was supposed to be midnight (officially) but there were issues right? Or were you supposed to log on at 1am? Even though i'm months away from the 60 day mark, I figure I should get my time right.

Hopefully you'll be able to get things moved for A&E at TT.

It very well be that I am just not good at it. Also might be that my background is in IT consulting/development so poor website design really bugs me

So, my understanding is the "official" word is midnight but there have been reports of it recently not opening until 1am and I saw one report that said on one day it wasn't until 4:15am or something. Very frustrating for it not to be consistent.

 

[Dugette]

Sorry you had such a rough time with the FP+ reservations. Glad you ended up in at least a near-acceptable place though, I guess.

I was going to suggest the app too, but Lauren beat me to it. It did seem much less clunky to make changes to FP+. I also think, if you keep checking back between now and your trip, you'll be able to adjust everything to what you want. It may just take some patience. But people will change plans and you'll be able to snap up better times, most likely. I am really surprised that this is what it's like 60 days out, though. For us, with short notice, I would expect that - but not being able to book your family together for things seems ridiculous.

Oh, and if you need any more rides on the Mine Train, maybe you can grab a Rider Swap off of Lauren's ride while you're watching Aria.