Trial Club Level Fastpass+ Purchase Program Planning & Discussion

[Hope Soda]

You’re welcome! I’m really hoping they keep it till the end of the year. Every time I have a question for DSS I verify the paid fast pass option is still available . I am probably like you, deep in the planning.

Me too! I have a back up plan, but I really like the other one better. With FP 90 days out, I can do AK and HS much earlier in my trip and still be able to fastpass the good stuff.

 

[Tessaf]

Me too! I have a back up plan, but I really like the other one better. With FP 90 days out, I can do AK and HS much earlier in my trip and still be able to fastpass the good stuff.

That’s my hope too! I have HS the Saturday after thanksgiving and I worry the only way I’m going to get and toy story fp is this way.

 

[Hope Soda]

That’s my hope too! I have HS the Saturday after thanksgiving and I worry the only way I’m going to get and toy story fp is this way.

I'll be there the same week, with HS and AK planned for Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Originally (and in our back up plan), we were going to do AK and HS Wed-Thurs, and doing a hop to HS on Friday, too. But then we decided to stay CL. Then we (I) decided to do the 90 day extra FP.

On a slightly different topic... while I think the 6 FP with no overlap thing would not normally benefit us, especially in MK, Epcot, and AK, where there are usually plenty of 4th FP options that we just string back to back, I think it makes a lot of sense when you have to do rider swap and wait twice for each FP with a height requirement (we're going to have a 2 month old, which means rider swapping a lot). In general, we wouldn't be able to finish our FP and rider swap, and make sure the kids are satisfied hunger/thirst/rest/bathroom-wise before our next FP. This is especially true for rides like Soarin', Test Track, and FOP, which could very well take over an hour for everyone but the baby to ride with FP. Our plan is to alternate long FP rides with short ones (eg FOP and Navi, then Safari and Everest, Dinosaur and Primeval), which should give us just enough down time for the older kids (8 and 5) to snack and pee, but not so much that we're trying to find something to fill the gap.

 

[KateMW]

Ok it's me again with time questions...more of a general one this time. How in the world do I plan the timing of FPs? We haven't been since FP+ became a thing, so I'm never prebooked them. We will be eating a quick breakfast in the park around 7 or 7:30 most days, except Chef Mickey on his birthday, hoping for 7:30 there. What time is reasonable to plan our first fast pass window? Then I guess I just do every hour from there? Trying to plan rides close to each other to minimize backtracking? Oh and a break for lunch for my 5 year old because food is king and a hangry boy is a unfun boy!

Anyway is there a post about this anywhere? Any wisdom/advice? I feel like I'm worrying so much, but it's his first AND 5th birthday trip so I'm trying for all the MAGIC I can get!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Ok it's me again with time questions...more of a general one this time. How in the world do I plan the timing of FPs? We haven't been since FP+ became a thing, so I'm never prebooked them. We will be eating a quick breakfast in the park around 7 or 7:30 most days, except Chef Mickey on his birthday, hoping for 7:30 there. What time is reasonable to plan our first fast pass window? Then I guess I just do every hour from there? Trying to plan rides close to each other to minimize backtracking? Oh and a break for lunch for my 5 year old because food is king and a hangry boy is a unfun boy!

Anyway is there a post about this anywhere? Any wisdom/advice? I feel like I'm worrying so much, but it's his first AND 5th birthday trip so I'm trying for all the MAGIC I can get!

For our style, planning 6 FPs is difficult. I actually kind of prefer just having 3, or maybe that’s just what I’m so used to. 6 is almost a chore (a chore I’m paying for, which makes tons of sense!).

But FWIW, we’re mostly rope drop kind of folks, so I started mine at or shortly after park opening and just did back to back to back.

I thought about splitting up days and nights...rope drop a park in the AM, hop somewhere else in the evenings. But our evenings are typically more unplanned so I didn’t necessarily want feel tied to FPs at that point.

But LOTS of options to suit different styles, for sure.

 

[KateMW]

For our style, planning 6 FPs is difficult. I actually kind of prefer just having 3, or maybe that’s just what I’m so used to. 6 is almost a chore (a chore I’m paying for, which makes tons of sense!).

But FWIW, we’re mostly rope drop kind of folks, so I started mine at or shortly after park opening and just did back to back to back.

I thought about splitting up days and nights...rope drop a park in the AM, hop somewhere else in the evenings. But our evenings are typically more unplanned so I didn’t necessarily want feel tied to FPs at that point.

But LOTS of options to suit different styles, for sure.

It's just too much for my tiny brain. LOL I am so confused from all the overthinking.

 

[JJ2017]

So I have been working on my itinerary a lot lately. I've been proctoring state tests and have had a lot of free time on my hands. It's a little overwhelming to plan it, for me, because we are also hopping for the first time and I'm just not sure how to make the best of it. Here are some of our days (battling Xmas parties).

MK Day (but slow start b/c we want to enjoy the resort in the morning since we land late the night before)

All 6 FPs will be from 3:00 - 9:00. Probably Splash, Big Thunder and Pirates and PP, 7D and Space (doesn't matter which are CL vs FP)
HEA Viewing

AK/EP Day:

AK
Regular FP

FoP/Navi (split b/w me/DD and DH/DS)
EE/Meet Mickey and Minnie (again split)
Safari

EP
CL
TT
Soarin
Frozen

Illuminations Viewing

HS Day

CL
TSMM
Slinky
Saucers

Regular FP
RnR
ToT
Star Tours

Now - my issue here is that only DS/DH will go on those regular rides - no idea what I will FP for me and DD - guessing Frozen, Beauty and Mermaid - seems like too many shows though. Still thinking through.

Fantasmic Viewing

We will have another MK day on a party day where we will won't purchase CL, but the park should open at 7, so we will get a lot done. We will eat at Epcot that night.

 

[PPFlight75]

Ok it's me again with time questions...more of a general one this time. How in the world do I plan the timing of FPs? We haven't been since FP+ became a thing, so I'm never prebooked them. We will be eating a quick breakfast in the park around 7 or 7:30 most days, except Chef Mickey on his birthday, hoping for 7:30 there. What time is reasonable to plan our first fast pass window? Then I guess I just do every hour from there? Trying to plan rides close to each other to minimize backtracking? Oh and a break for lunch for my 5 year old because food is king and a hangry boy is a unfun boy!

Anyway is there a post about this anywhere? Any wisdom/advice? I feel like I'm worrying so much, but it's his first AND 5th birthday trip so I'm trying for all the MAGIC I can get!

I agree with @GADisneyDad14. I thought it was sort of a chore but I just planned mine every hour from around 9-10(8 on my HS day) until around 2-3. That's my max time in a park usually. We RD so I will do a few rides early and then start my FPs in the flow of the park I want to follow. We will add in other rides as time permits between FPs. Splitting mine up each day would have been risky bc we usually don't go to a park at night except for maybe dinner or fireworks but like to hang at the resort most nights. I did the CL FPs first then the others but you could easily do it the other way. However, we were wanting our Tier 1st earlier in the morning. Hope that's helpful.

 

[Tessaf]

Ok it's me again with time questions...more of a general one this time. How in the world do I plan the timing of FPs? We haven't been since FP+ became a thing, so I'm never prebooked them. We will be eating a quick breakfast in the park around 7 or 7:30 most days, except Chef Mickey on his birthday, hoping for 7:30 there. What time is reasonable to plan our first fast pass window? Then I guess I just do every hour from there? Trying to plan rides close to each other to minimize backtracking? Oh and a break for lunch for my 5 year old because food is king and a hangry boy is a unfun boy!

Anyway is there a post about this anywhere? Any wisdom/advice? I feel like I'm worrying so much, but it's his first AND 5th birthday trip so I'm trying for all the MAGIC I can get!

I usually plan my fp in a row working around our dining too.
Most of our breakfast dining reservations are at 8-8:15am so I start my first FP at 9 and try and go back to back until our lunch reservation. For example, if we were at the MK and 8am crystal palace, I would book FP in frontier or adventure land and if we have a lunch at the Plaza or BOG our final FP would be a ride on that side of the park. My kids enjoy going back to the hotel for a few hours in the afternoon before we go back to the park at night so we try to have our FP done by 2-3
With the option for CL FP, we may divide it up so we can still leave around 2-3 and have the rest of the FP around our dining time.

 

[yaya74]

I booked CL trial FP+ today. My trip is 56 days away from my check out date. CL FP+ for FOP is completely gone. (luckily I got one last week when my FP+ booking window opened). CL FP+ for Slinky was only available in the evening.

 

[yaya74]

Couple Questions about CL FP+
- Do I need to use up all 6 FP+ first before I can book more FP+?
- Did anyone get to call DSS while you were at the park to modify CL FP+? How efficient was the CM at DSS?
Back in 2016, I was modifying my FP+ on MDE constantly. Now with CL FP+, I hope I won't waste much time on the phone to modify my FP+

 

[lvloopingbag]

Does anyone have any photos of the views from the reserved viewing locations? or know where any pictures are? Thanks!

 

[hiroMYhero]

- Do I need to use up all 6 FP+ first before I can book more FP+?

You will need to use your 3 regular FPs before booking regular FP#4. #4 cannot overlap a CL Extra FP.

 

[Tessaf]

Does anyone have any photos of the views from the reserved viewing locations? or know where any pictures are? Thanks!

When I spoke to DSS this week they said the magic kingdom viewing location was the fenced off west lawn (crystal palace side). If you’ve ever done the garden view fireworks party it would be basically the same view but on the left side instead of the right.
They said currently in Epcot, Germany is where the reserved viewing is and at HS it is a reserved spot like you would get if you did the dining or dessert fantasmic package.

 

[KateMW]

Do we know if there will be a reserved viewing area during the parties? Meaning if I paid for FP+ on our party day, could I reserve viewing during the party for Wishes?

 

[Tessaf]

Do we know if there will be a reserved viewing area during the parties? Meaning if I paid for FP+ on our party day, could I reserve viewing during the party for Wishes?

There is a reserved viewing area if you pay for the CL FP. According to DSS last week- At the MK it’s the west fenced lawn (Crystal palace side), Epcot currently is doing it in Germany and HS is part of the reserved seating section like the dessert or dining fantasmic package. I didn’t ask about AK since we weren’t planning on going to that park on our next trip.

 

[mesaboy2]

There is a reserved viewing area if you pay for the CL FP. According to DSS last week- At the MK it’s the west fenced lawn (Crystal palace side), Epcot currently is doing it in Germany and HS is part of the reserved seating section like the dessert or dining fantasmic package. I didn’t ask about AK since we weren’t planning on going to that park on our next trip.

The previous question I think relates to reserved areas at parties (MNSSHP or MVMCP at MK) specifically.

 

[Tessaf]

There is a reserved viewing area if you pay for the CL FP. According to DSS last week- At the MK it’s the west fenced lawn (Crystal palace side), Epcot currently is doing it in Germany and HS is part of the reserved seating section like the dessert or dining fantasmic package. I didn’t ask about AK since we weren’t planning on going to that park on our next trip.

Sorry! Didn’t see the word parties. I asked about that too, and DSS stated during MNSSHP and MVMCP there is no reserved spot for fireworks at this time.

 

[hiroMYhero]

I believe the CL Viewing for Illuminations has changed from Germany to the area between the Twin Shops: World Showcase Plaza. @GADisneyDad14 has updated the change.

 

[KateMW]

Sorry! Didn’t see the word parties. I asked about that too, and DSS stated during MNSSHP and MVMCP there is no reserved spot for fireworks at this time.

Thanks! Yes I meant parties. Of course they wouldn't want me to only have to pay $150 for the three of us to have a reserved spot for viewing when they can get me to pay $300 for a dessert party! ; )