Help with FP+

[howaboutme]

Hello,

I'm trying to prioritize our FP+ list for our upcoming trip in August and need some help. We are more of a "play it by ear" family but understand that WDW is another beast and some planning and taking advantage of our resort perks needs to be taken into account. That said, can I have some help in determining which rides that are available for FP actually need FP's? I know the obvious rides like 7DMT, Soarin', FEA, etc but it's some of the other rides that are harder to determine if needed.

We are avoiding each park on the days that this lists has them in red and we are also going the week of the 21st so we assume crowds will be lower??:

http://www.easywdw.com/easy/calendars/august-2016-walt-disney-world-crowd-calendar/

Can someone quote this list below and put whether it's a Must, Helpful or Not Necessary (or something of that nature)? I really appreciate it. I took this list from: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/fastpass.htm so it will not reflect some recent changes like FEA and the Meet N Greets that I presume will move.

MK:

For MK, We will have a BOG PPO on one of those 2 days we will be there so we plan to hit 7DMT right after. Then..???

• it's a small world - closed for refurb
  
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - closed for refurb
  
• Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Haunted Mansion
• Jungle Cruise
• Mad Tea Party
• Meet Anna and Elsa and a Visiting Princess - Princess Fairytale Hall - I assume this is moved to Epcot
  
• Meet Ariel at her Grotto
• Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess - Princess Fairytale Hall
• Meet Mickey Mouse - Town Square Theater
• Meet Rapunzel and a Visiting Princess - Princess Fairytale Hall
• Mickey's PhilharMagic
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
• Peter Pan's Flight
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• The Barnstormer
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid

Epcot Tier A:

• IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
• Living with the Land
• Soarin'
• Test Track
• FEA
• Meet Ana and Else (assumed)

Epcot Tier B:

• Captain EO
• Character Spot
• Journey Into Imagination
• Mission: SPACE
• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Turtle Talk with Crush

AK

• DINOSAUR
• Expedition Everest
• Finding Nemo - The Musical
• Flights of Wonder
• It's Tough to be a Bug
• Kali River Rapids
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
• Primeval Whirl

One caveat. We have 2 young kids. Other than Frozen, they pretty much don't care what we ride and most likely won't miss a thing if we end up not riding something. Other than the BOG PPO ADR, we will not be militant on doing RD though we would get to the park at opening, just not the front of the line.

I know this is very open ended and takes some time but I really appreciate all the help I've gotten here!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, I'll give it a shot. You say your kids are "young"-- I'm going to assume that means too small for rides like Space Mountain??? You may want to check the height requirements.

• it's a small world - closed for refurb

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - closed for refurb

• Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin -- Great for all ages

• Dumbo- skip unless your kids insist

• Enchanted Tales with Belle - We haven't done it, maybe this trip

• Haunted Mansion- Great for all ages unless your kids are VERY young, not really scary to anyone over about 6.

• Jungle Cruise- fun, but not a FP priority for us

• Mad Tea Party- spins and spins and spins. My husband and kids love it; I can't watch. But I wouldn't spend a FP on this!

• Meet Anna and Elsa and a Visiting Princess - Princess Fairytale Hall - I assume this is moved to Epcot

• Meet Ariel at her Grotto

• Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess - Princess Fairytale Hall

• Meet Mickey Mouse - Town Square Theater

• Meet Rapunzel and a Visiting Princess - Princess Fairytale Hall

• Mickey's PhilharMagic-- great fun, but loads hundreds at a time. Don't waste a FP

• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor great fun, but loads hundreds at a time. Don't waste a FP

• Peter Pan's Flight-- well worth a FP for all ages

• Pirates of the Caribbean- well worth a FP for all ages

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train- well worth a FP for all ages

• Space Mountain- scary for some

• Splash Mountain- big drop- scary for some

• The Barnstormer-- little kids rollercoaster

• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin- Dumbo with different theming. My daughter loved it, but not worth a FP

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh- cute, but not worth a FP

• Tomorrowland Speedway- my son loved it. We have used a FP for this on occasion

• Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid- not worth a FP

Epcot Tier A:

• IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth- don't miss it, but you can see from a thousand places without a FP
• Living with the Land- not worth a FP
• Soarin'- ABSOLUTELY worth a FP
• Test Track- worth a FP
• FEA- We're assuming it's ABSOLUTELY worth a FP
• Meet Ana and Else (assumed)

Epcot Tier B:- mostly ehhh

• Captain EO
• Character Spot
• Journey Into Imagination
• Mission: SPACE
• Spaceship Earth- worth a FP
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Turtle Talk with Crush

AK

• DINOSAUR- probably too scary for young kids
• Expedition Everest-- too much for me, but my daughter loves it.
• Finding Nemo - The Musical-- a great show, but loads hundreds at a time. Don't waste a FP
• Flights of Wonder
• It's Tough to be a Bug
• Kali River Rapids--FP but KNOW that you'll get soaked. We love this ride!!!
• Kilimanjaro Safaris- worth a FP
• Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
• Primeval Whirl- spins and spins and spins. I can't watch it.

 

[howaboutme]

Thank you very much! This is helpful.

My daughters will be 7 and 2.5 years old. The 7 yr old would quality for most rides but the fear factor will probably be the limiting factor for rides like Space Mtn. But I'd like to go on it!

 

[Aliceacc]

Basically, here's the quick answer:
You don't want to waste a FP on a show, since hundreds of people can all get in at the same time. So Philharmagic, Monsters Inc, Tough to be a Bug, Finding Nemo, Festival of the Lion King-- do them, but not with a FP. (Possible exception: Fantasmic. But it SCARED my kids when they were little.)

Getting to the parks at rope drop means you can get onto a lot of rides that will have HUGE waits later in the day...like Peter Pan.

 

[howaboutme]

Basically, here's the quick answer:
You don't want to waste a FP on a show, since hundreds of people can all get in at the same time. So Philharmagic, Monsters Inc, Tough to be a Bug, Finding Nemo, Festival of the Lion King-- do them, but not with a FP. (Possible exception: Fantasmic. But it SCARED my kids when they were little.)

Getting to the parks at rope drop means you can get onto a lot of rides that will have HUGE waits later in the day...like Peter Pan.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful.

Another question. What happens if you schedule a FP+ for a particular ride later in the day but you end up already riding it prior for whatever reason. Can you cancel the later one and book another or do you loose one of the three you get as a result?

 

[jesses_disney_girl]

Hopefully you guys can make it to the park at rope drop, that way you can ride a lot of attractions in the stand by line and not waste booking your FP for the early morning hours. We typically don't book our FP for attractions until the afternoon.

 

[howaboutme]

Thank you...

And..I just realized the sticky on the first page..answered most of my questions. Sorry everyone.