What is the best FP strategy between Christmas and NYE

[DrFacilier]

This will be our first time going during the insane crowds. Our typical FP strategy is to book them as early as possible in the morning, and try to see how many we can get by moving up times and modifying. Based on the crowds, I'm assuming that rolling FPs are much more difficult to acquire this time of year. I know many folks like to RD and get what they can done in the morning then schedule FPs for the afternoon. Is this a better option or is it still possible to find some kind of 4th FP availability throughout the day? We do plan to RD either way.

 

[Klayfish]

We don't rope drop, even during that week (we were there for Xmas to NYE just this past year). It's just not for us. We show up closer to 9:30am. Our strategy is just like yours. FP+ as early as possible, move them up and then start grabbing more. Yes, during this week grabbing more FP+ is harder, but not at all impossible. We usually still got 6-8 in a 5 or 6 hour period, including "big" rides. Definitely took more refreshing, but we were still able to get most things we wanted. One time, we literally got Space Mountain back to back. Got it maybe 10 minutes in advance. Sent the kids to go ride, while DW and I rode Pooh (which was pretty easy to get). We got off and were still waiting for the kids, so I started messing around on MDE. Space Mountain popped up for 5 minutes in the future. So the kids got off and turned right around and went back on. That was definitely luck, and I wouldn't count on that happening a lot, but my point is that your strategy will work fine.

 

[DrFacilier]

We don't rope drop, even during that week (we were there for Xmas to NYE just this past year). It's just not for us. We show up closer to 9:30am. Our strategy is just like yours. FP+ as early as possible, move them up and then start grabbing more. Yes, during this week grabbing more FP+ is harder, but not at all impossible. We usually still got 6-8 in a 5 or 6 hour period, including "big" rides. Definitely took more refreshing, but we were still able to get most things we wanted. One time, we literally got Space Mountain back to back. Got it maybe 10 minutes in advance. Sent the kids to go ride, while DW and I rode Pooh (which was pretty easy to get). We got off and were still waiting for the kids, so I started messing around on MDE. Space Mountain popped up for 5 minutes in the future. So the kids got off and turned right around and went back on. That was definitely luck, and I wouldn't count on that happening a lot, but my point is that your strategy will work fine.

Thanks @Klayfish ! That's exactly the kind of information I need. Getting the headliners of course would be amazing but just knowing there should be some kind of availability is good news.

 

[FSU Girl]

My plan is to do them in the afternoon. We aren't planning to rope-drop, but if you are maybe try and get on the rides without fast passes in the morning, then schedule a lunch and then have your fast passes 1pm, 2pm and 3pm? You could focus on the headliners first thing and then could ride the less popular rides or ones without fast pass like the People Mover. I feel like the afternoon will have a lot of people so it would be a good time to have a fast pass

 

[Figment&Piglet]

Subscribing to this. We are newbies to going this time of year as well and honestly think we will probably only ride what we have FPs for so are hoping to get some headliners. Planning on primarily soaking up atmosphere and decorations etc. but good to know that some FPs can be had later in the day same-day. Anyone have other thoughts on strategies?

 

[anomamatt]

No matter when we go, we do FPs early and often. Refreshing works amazingly well, even during Christmas week. Aside from FOP, you can pull pretty much anything if you try enough (continual refreshing for 5-10 mins for most “hard to get” FPs (like 7DMT will do it).

 

[emmababy]

We are also thinking of going this time of year, we’ve been once and it was manageable. But I’ve never heard of this refreshing or moving up, can you also bring that to me?

 

[anomamatt]

We are also thinking of going this time of year, we’ve been once and it was manageable. But I’ve never heard of this refreshing or moving up, can you also bring that to me?

The FP FAQ addendum, and specifically post #2 has information on refreshing (and written better than I would): https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...ng-cl-fp-trial-program.3538258/#post-56320825

And this is also a good youtube video on the subject:

 

[DrFacilier]

Thanks for sharing the links @anomamatt . These are some of the strategies we use to maximize our FPs. My question was more about how well these tactics would work between Christmas and NYE. The feedback I've gotten so far seems promising.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

If you aren't getting package tickets, I would try to make some practice day of FPs on a similarly busy day (maybe Fourth of July or Columbus Day weekend) to get an idea how easy or hard it will be for you. You should see similar availability when you're in the park.

Edited:. I will also say that if you're typical rolling FPs, having to wait until the afternoon to do that can be a bit torturous. On one day of our trip I had 7DMT scheduled for 1:30 so I couldn't roll until then. I didn't even try to move it up (I do not have good luck with headliners - I can bank on half an hour of constant refreshing to get the likes of 7DMT, FEA). But later that morning, waiting in 25 min lines for things like Buzz were driving me nuts only because I knew that if I didn't have that 7DMT, I'd be able to pop on and snag a Buzz no problem. So going to the afternoon schedule now would be painful for me (we did it quite happily in the past though on our spring break trip when you had to use the kiosks for 4th+).