What time of day to book FP+

[Gru]

We are rope drop people. I am trying to figure out what time of day to book Fp+. On our MK day I have our last FP+ from 12:15-1:15. I have been checking MDE daily at different times and it seems like we should be able to book additional FP+ without a problem.

For our DHS and Epcot I am not sure when to book FP+. Should we try to finish oiur FP+ early and hope to get a fourth FP, or should we take advantage of lower crowds in the am, and save of FP for the afternoon?

 

[DisneyKingpin]

I like to book FP+ midday, from about 10:30 - 1:30 pm. This way, you can ride any ride you want in the morning during low wait times and save those FP for when you'll really need them. In the early morning, FP is a waste unless you are getting ultra premium attractions like Anna and Elsa or the Mine Train.

Another benefit to the 10:30 p - 1:30 p window is that you can then book a 4th FP and then go have lunch comfortably while waiting for that 4th window. Plus you can take advantage of the parades and dance parties and such in the afternoon without FP.

To summarize, do the standby rides early, FP late morning till early afternoon. Then you will have wet your thirst for rides and can have a leisurely afternoon while still doing an occasional ride.

 

[CAS239]

^this.

I wouldn't book any FP's with an hour of the park opening. I like to book mine early so I can later select the 4th and so on. So I normally start my FP's about 1.5-2 hours after park open

 

[Gru]

So at Epcot and DHS do you still try for the 10:30-1:30 window? I am concerned that there won't be any FP+ left that late in the day. However, if all FP are gone by 11 am anyway, would it be better to save them for late afternoon....between 1 and 4?

 

[CAS239]

So at Epcot and DHS do you still try for the 10:30-1:30 window? I am concerned that there won't be any FP+ left that late in the day. However, if all FP are gone by 11 am anyway, would it be better to save them for late afternoon....between 1 and 4?

If you're waiting that late at HS, then more than likely there won't be anymore Toy Story FP's. At Epcot there probably won't be anymore Test Track or Soarin.

I try to get to the park at rope drop, ride the big rides that warrant a long wait. I go to Toy Story first thing every rope drop at HS. Then have FP's set up for whatever big rides we want to ride later. So I always select Toy Story as a FP.

For an upcoming trip earliest I could get a Toy Story FP was 4pm and later. So we'll do rope drop, ride what we can. Then leave the park for lunch, and come back later to do late FP's and catch Fantasmic.

 

[WillAustin]

I wouldn't count on the 4th FP being any good for any park other than MK.

I was able to get three relatively early rides on Soarin' using standby at rope drop, an early FP and then a second FP for Soarin' last week by canceling two of our three pre-booked FPs the night before, then immediately after using the Soarin' FP, headed to a kiosk and got our 2nd FP for our group of 5 for 1-2pm.

I specifically tried this to test the system and see what was available since we had another Epcot day as well.

 

[margaret07013]

the answer is not that simple and you need to take into consideration a few things:

a) when are you going to WDW?
b) who is your group?

I went to WDW in May of 2014 and went against crowd recommendations and always went to the park with morning EMH. Party of 4 with 2 little kids and 2 strollers. No running and breaks for pictures & bathroom time and goal of mini zing of walking and avoiding long lines.

With planning and understanding the ride locations we did pretty well - for example our Epcot day:

- 8am park arival
- 8:20am Soarin 10 min
- 8:40am Living with the Land walk on
- 8:55am Nemo
- 9:25 Crush
- 10:10am Test Track FP+
- 11:00 Maelstrom walk on - arrived at 10:55
- 11:30 Lunch

6 rides with 1 FP+ used. No running. 2 small kids. minimal walking if you track our steps on park map. additional 2 FP+ we used in the afternoon before dinner.

AK & HS were similar to Epcot day and good planning.

MK day - we did over 11-12 rides. no mystery, just simply knowing where to go and what to do when. Another secret is to have an understanding of fast or slow loading rides. an example of fast loading - Little Mermaid in MK. even if it says 20 min --- in my experience its really 5-10min walk on. on the other hand - Petter Pan - very slow loading ride. also understanding that in MK during morning EMH only NFL and Tomorrowland are open so you technically have 2 RD for the price of one if you plan right.

and my final advice - if you have smaller kids, I would save FP+ for the afternoon and try advantage of smaller crowds and good planning in the morning and not be afraid to "gamble" a little bit with your FP+ and go against the popular thinking.

Example --- assuming you want to watch the Electrical Parade - would you save final FP+ for it OR use it on a ride? Our experience showed us that its better time wise to save one FP+ for a parade and take advantage of literally no wait lines between 7:30pm and 8:45am for numerous rides and still have perfect spot for a parade. this way we did 3 rides in NFL and walked towards the castle for the parade.

We are rope drop people. I am trying to figure out what time of day to book Fp+. On our MK day I have our last FP+ from 12:15-1:15. I have been checking MDE daily at different times and it seems like we should be able to book additional FP+ without a problem.

For our DHS and Epcot I am not sure when to book FP+. Should we try to finish oiur FP+ early and hope to get a fourth FP, or should we take advantage of lower crowds in the am, and save of FP for the afternoon?