Which Park for FP when Park Hopping?

[tn disney gal]

Hi all! We are planning a trip 12/16-23 - Mom, Dad and 2 children (high school and college age). We usually don't use park hoppers but will this time since we had to buy them with our package. We plan on doing the AM EMH each day it is available and then park hopping to another park after lunch. In the past, we've always started our FP fairly early and then just added others as we were in the same park all day. That has always worked very well for us coupled with the refresh strategy. Now I wonder, is it better to use the FP+ in the morning park starting mid morning so you can do more in that first park and hit some of the big attractions more than 1 time possibly and then just take what is available in your afternoon park or should we save our FP for the second park we visit each day? Thanks for any and all opinions!

 

[mesaboy2]

From the FP FAQ:

- If staying in a single park for most of the day and arriving at park open, the best time of day to schedule FPs is often late morning to mid-afternoon. This approach balances the competing desires to have useful FPs (when lines are longest) with the ability to get additional FPs (when they may still be available).

- If a guest is interested in getting as many FPs as possible, then they should be scheduled as early in the day as possible. Wait times are usually shorter in the first 2 hours after park open however, making these early FPs not as beneficial as they would be later in the morning or afternoon. The advantage to this approach is that more FPs for headliners may be available after these early FPs are used.

- When park-hopping, the best strategy is often to make FP selections in the second park each day. However, there is no right answer and it is up to each individual to determine which approach fits their touring style best.

 

[SJSloan]

I agree with mesaboy2 (I wouldn't dare not too, he is FP+ god). Especially since you are doing AM EMH. Hit the headliners during AM EMH, then head to the others you want to do while others are heading to the headliners once the park opens. If you do FP+ then I think they will be wasted.
Have lunch.
Hop to other park and use your FP+

 

[FastPass Dad]

We always schedule our FP for 10, 11 and 12 regardless of our schedule for the day and then stick around the park we are in and take advantage of the FP system. That allows us to rope drop some stuff and still use our FPs early enough to take full advantage of the FP system. I don't see a point in scheduling your FP for later in the day. You are just wasting time that you could be spending using additional FPs. When we take a break for dinner or decide that we are done at the current park, I'll jump on the app and let FP availability determine where we go.

 

[chris benton]

It depends what you'd like to do at each park. I do a mixed bag.

If I'm ok with staying at the am emh park, and not doing too much in the pm park to hop to, then I schedule the fp's for the am emh park at times that make sense - usually starting with that hour after official opening window. and then, when I'm done at the am emh park, I'll look for a fp at the pm hop to park. In this situation, I'd only be planning for shows or quick loading attractions and night fireworks at the pm hop to park.

Example: Am EMH at AK - do rides with fastpasses and leave before lunch. Find a FP at DHS for something good. After whatever break, head to dhs, do easy attractions like Star Tours, Indy, watch a lil of a jedi training, work in the fastpass, maybe the frozen show - then catch fantasmic. - The Pm park is an easy tour.

Or
Go to EP am emh, and crush FW. Leave early - go to whatever park you have your 3 fp's for set up afterwards. I usually do this for an easy night-time tour and end it with the fireworks show.

I set it up like puzzle pieces, but I always do am emh, swim when it's hot out, and lines are long, and do something easy at night.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I usually do the FP in the PM park. Our usual plan is RD, midday break by the pool and FP at PM park.

Next trip we are mixing it up a bit. Some days we have our FP at our PM park. I have some days where we have AM FP+ since we have a dinner ADR and with the park hours and our midday break we don't want to try and fit in 3 FP+ in the PM park. We would rather just stroll and take it easy. For example our second day we are doing AK AM EMH, midday break by the pool and then HDDR at 6:15 pm. We plan on going to MK after HDDR but MK closes at 10 pm so far. We did our FP+ for AK. If we didn't have HDDR scheduled I would have done the FP at MK. Another day I have our FP+ at DHS in the morning since our plan is to hop to Epcot and explore WS and hit whatever we can in FW. I will try for a same day FP at Epcot after we use our third one at DHS. Some days we are starting at noon and staying until park close so we have FP starting around noon.

I will see how this works for us.

 

[tlcdoula]

I am trying to figure out the same things... We haven't been since Pandora opened so I keep second guessing myself. Our fast pass window opens Monday and I am not sure if we should just plan on Rope Dropping Slinky, Flight of Passage and na'vi river journey because Fast passes will prob be hard to get for these....

We will rope drop most mornings on non EMH hours anyways.... so maybe I am better to do that for DHS & AK and have our fast passes for later in the day or in the park we are park hopping too.

I am feeling so overwhelmed trying to get my plans together which isn't like me

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I'm struggling with this, too. I initially booked PM FPs in Epcot because I couldn't get SDD. I changed my mind and booked Saucers, RnR and ToT and figured I'd try my luck in Epcot for the PM. I'm thinking of switching again. Our HS day has EMH and is a predicted level 1 day, so I'm thinking if we get there early enough, we can get through the attractions in the morning without too much wait (other than for SDD, which we would have had anyway). TT will be tough to get same day, so that might save me the most time. And Epcot will get busier as the day goes on. I'm very torn.

 

[tn disney gal]

Thanks all! These are good things to think about and I think we will end up doing some of each. When we are in AK, it would be nice to get a RD ride on FOP and maybe a FP ride too if we are lucky. I think the later in the week we go and as crowds pick up we will want the FPs in the afternoon.

 

[gharter]

As others have said, I would do the FPs at the park you plan to hop to. If you were to RD and spend all morning at the first park and not go to the second till afternoon, it could be worthwhile doing the FPs at the first park.
But, if you plan to hop early, definintely FP the second park.

 

[toonaspie]

I think it's dependent on the park. I would put MK on the lowest priority since it is the easiest park to get same day FPs and the standby lines aren't too bad in comparison to the other parks that have fewer attractions and higher wait times.

 

[FFMickey]

If you go to AM EMH, go to all the headliners you want to go on, but make your FPs to the other park you are headed to in the late afternoon. Try not to book FP at the first park as most wait times are extremely low the first hour or two of park open.

 

[ClapYourHands]

After the recent MDE snafu, I'm not putting much stock in refresh for additional fast passes. I'll certainly bring my phone and try for them, but I'm making my plans with the assumption that anything extra I get is just, well, extra.

For me, I'm pretty confident I will be able to get up and get to rope drop early enough to get quite a bit done during EMH (or regular park opening RD). If lines get long an hour or two after park opening, there are always attractions with shorter lines, shows to see, etc. So, to my way of thinking, I probably don't really need fast passes to have a good morning.

Once afternoon hits, the lines will swell, so I want my fast passes for then. If I'm going to be in a different park, I'll make my FP for that park. I have one or two days this upcoming trip where I plan to stay at the first park until at least early to mid afternoon, so I'm making my FP for the first park, and I'll take my chances with additional FP for the second park (or else I'll do easy non-ride attractions there).

 

[ThomFoolery]

I think it depends, at least for me, on WHEN you plan to hop. We don't usually hop until dinnertime and so plan our fast passes for the first park since we're there the majority of the day.

 

[TJA]

Hi all! We are planning a trip 12/16-23 - Mom, Dad and 2 children (high school and college age). We usually don't use park hoppers but will this time since we had to buy them with our package. We plan on doing the AM EMH each day it is available and then park hopping to another park after lunch. In the past, we've always started our FP fairly early and then just added others as we were in the same park all day. That has always worked very well for us coupled with the refresh strategy. Now I wonder, is it better to use the FP+ in the morning park starting mid morning so you can do more in that first park and hit some of the big attractions more than 1 time possibly and then just take what is available in your afternoon park or should we save our FP for the second park we visit each day? Thanks for any and all opinions!

For me, it would depend on the park having the AM EMH. We've found that rides at MK are easier to get on than other parks because MK doesn't have the tiers. One exception is SDMT which always seems to have long waits, so I'd go to that ride first, and then have your FPs in your 2nd park.

It's hard for me to risk AM EMH at the other tiered parks because we haven't had good luck; however, that is just our family and we are NOT good at early mornings on vacation.

If you have must-do rides, I'd for sure make FPs for them no matter what time you hit those parks. For us personally, I book Slinky Dog and FoP since those happen to be our 2 most important rides at the moment.

 

[StacyStrong]

I always do morning. Not park opening, but an hour or two after.