What Would You Do? Late Arrival FP Strategy

[DrFacilier]

So we should be rolling into the world around 1pm on a Sunday August 19th. I feel like we have 2 choices for our MK arrival day.

1. Book FPs at 1pm 2pm and 3pm and have 3 guaranteed FPs with slim pickins of 4th 5th etc.
2. Book FPs at 11am 12pm (letting those lapse) and 1pm then start looking for the extras.

I'm leaning towards #2. What would you do?

 

[CAS239]

Why would you want to do option 2? That makes no sense to me. Schedule 3 good FP's set up for when you're there and then see what you can get as a 4th, 5th, etc.

Option1 would only be good for a park with tiers if you're trying to get say Soarin so you schedule Figment and say Nemo at park open, let them expire, then you get another tier 1

Option 2 would give you no benefit at mk

 

[pitpat]

agree with CAS, 2 doesn't make sense at MK.

 

[BigB0882]

Yes, 2 doesn't make sense because you are still trying to get whatever is left on the day of, which is not going to be much. I would much rather have 3 good ones then hope for a 4th or 5th. By the way, you CAN get a decent 4th or 5th if you aren't extremely picky. Ride what's available on FP, it is better than standing in line for an hour or more. Over Christmas break we probably got 7 or 8 fastpasses by just taking the best thing currently available. We avoided the kid rides but everything else was fair game. Just keep checking and refreshing the app while walking to the ride if you aren't thrilled with your choice, if nothing better pops up before you scan your MB then just ride that ride and as soon as you can begin looking for the next one.

 

[JETSDAD]

I agree with the others. Option 2 only makes sense for a tiered park.

 

[DrFacilier]

The way I'm thinking, Option 1 would give me a guaranteed 3 rides with less choice for extra fast passes. Option 2 is more of a gamble but I could start looking for rolling fast passes as soon as I tap in to that ride. I'm pretty good with finding extra FPs feel like I can squeeze way more FPs out of the second option. We also have another 2 days at MK later in the week so we can hit any big attractions that we might not be able to score an extra FP for on those days.

 

[JETSDAD]

But you don't need to waste FP 2 and 3 because there's no advantage to doing so. You could tap FP #1 and then start looking to move up or change FP #2 anyways. There's no stopping you from looking for a different, sooner, FP.

 

[DrFacilier]

But you don't need to waste FP 2 and 3 because there's no advantage to doing so. You could tap FP #1 and then start looking to move up or change FP #2 anyways. There's no stopping you from looking for a different, sooner, FP.

I did not know that! We don't usually do a park day on our arrival day so I only book full days with FPs. Let me get this straight. So if I only book 1 FP for the day, I can book the 2nd, 3rd, etc on a rolling basis without waiting?

 

[JETSDAD]

Exactly. The only time that it can make sense to have FP's expire is in tiered parks to get the tier 2 rides out of the way and allow you to get additional tier 1 rides as soon as you've used your one prebooked tier 1 ride. At MK there's no difference between FP's so you can add, drop, move around, etc. I'd book all 3 and then you have a back up in case you don't find different FP's that you prefer. You can always change or drop them if you want.

 

[DrFacilier]

I did not know that! We don't usually do a park day on our arrival day so I only book full days with FPs. Let me get this straight. So if I only book 1 FP for the day, I can book the 2nd, 3rd, etc on a rolling basis without waiting?

I'm a little confused. Are you also saying that you can change and move up 2nd and 3rd FPs all the time? I thought those first 3 had to be an hour apart and never thought of moving up the times.

 

[JETSDAD]

I'm a little confused. Are you also saying that you can change and move up 2nd and 3rd FPs all the time? I thought those first 3 had to be an hour apart.

You can always do that. For instance, we go to Epcot and use our tier 1 ride at 9AM. Once we tap that one we move up our 2nd FP to be able to be used immediately once we get off that ride. Once we tap in for FP 2 we do the same with FP 3. Within an hour of park opening we've used all 3 and are booking additional FP's for other tier 1 rides.

 

[DrFacilier]

You can always do that. For instance, we go to Epcot and use our tier 1 ride at 9AM. Once we tap that one we move up our 2nd FP to be able to be used immediately once we get off that ride. Once we tap in for FP 2 we do the same with FP 3. Within an hour of park opening we've used all 3 and are booking additional FP's for other tier 1 rides.

That sounds awesome. Thanks so much for helping me out!

 

[Melissa Perez]

OP, over the last 4 years or so we have never rolled into MK earlier than 11:45am/12:00pm (I am a big runner). I sometimes feel like it's an advantage to have FP when other people may be taking a break for lunch. We aim for 11:30 - 12:30, 1:30 - 2:30, 2:30 - 3:30. There was a day in November where we hit 8 FPs (including BTMR x 2, Space x 2 and even ending with a Test Track FP) all before 6:00pm!

 

[LuvAriel]

ok so please help me then....we are going on a family trip with 21 people and I have had MUCH success getting ALL our FP's including FoP BUT I'm struggling in Epcot as we want to do Test Track, Soarin and Frozen.

I doubt I will be able to get all 3 but looking for some advise on what is the best strategy .

First off you should know it's our arrival day which makes it even more difficult as we wont be there for rope drop--STRIKE #1

We most likely will not even enter the park until 3:00 -3:30 pm--STRIKE #2

We will be there the day before Easter--SRTIKE #3

So with all this said and having all the odds stacked against me, this is what I did but after reading this thread I think I TOTALLY messed up!!!

I figured I would waste a an early FP so that would open up a chances for a 4th FP and made a FP for Turtle Talk 1:30 - 2:30, should I have done that???

I then scheduled frozen since we will have some little princesses with us and wanted them to start the trip off right 2:45-3:55 (remember I am estimating we will enter the park between 3-3:30

I then did M&G with Mickey & Pals from 4-5

I just learned from this thread so thank you very much that as soon as we all scan in for FEA, I should Move up my time for the M&G with Mickey as this will allow us to hopefully schedule the 4th FP earlier!! Thanks for that tip!

Do you think I will be able to get at least a 4th FP or Soarin?? If not any suggestion on what do to do? Thinking the older kids could wait on standby for Test Track right before the park closes as a worst case scenario or do single rider....HELP!!!

Thanks!!

 

[DrFacilier]

OP, over the last 4 years or so we have never rolled into MK earlier than 11:45am/12:00pm (I am a big runner). I sometimes feel like it's an advantage to have FP when other people may be taking a break for lunch. We aim for 11:30 - 12:30, 1:30 - 2:30, 2:30 - 3:30. There was a day in November where we hit 8 FPs (including BTMR x 2, Space x 2 and even ending with a Test Track FP) all before 6:00pm!

Sounds like a great plan. Nice work!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Arrival day is around the same time for us. Last trip I did FP+ starting at 1 pm. Splash, BTRR and 7DMT. Will have the same plan next trip too.

 

[scrapquitler]

So we should be rolling into the world around 1pm on a Sunday August 19th. I feel like we have 2 choices for our MK arrival day.

1. Book FPs at 1pm 2pm and 3pm and have 3 guaranteed FPs with slim pickins of 4th 5th etc.
2. Book FPs at 11am 12pm (letting those lapse) and 1pm then start looking for the extras.

I'm leaning towards #2. What would you do?

Why would you not book 3 guaranteed ones that you know you will use? It seems like a waste to let two expire and go unused so that you can get extras (which may not be the ones you really want)

 

[AFwifelife]

I figured I would waste a an early FP so that would open up a chances for a 4th FP and made a FP for Turtle Talk 1:30 - 2:30, should I have done that???

I then scheduled frozen since we will have some little princesses with us and wanted them to start the trip off right 2:45-3:55 (remember I am estimating we will enter the park between 3-3:30

I then did M&G with Mickey & Pals from 4-5

I just learned from this thread so thank you very much that as soon as we all scan in for FEA, I should Move up my time for the M&G with Mickey as this will allow us to hopefully schedule the 4th FP earlier!! Thanks for that tip!

Do you think I will be able to get at least a 4th FP or Soarin?? If not any suggestion on what do to do? Thinking the older kids could wait on standby for Test Track right before the park closes as a worst case scenario or do single rider....HELP!!!

Thanks!!

Since it's going to be a really busy time and you are getting a late start, you may not have much flexibility with FPs. The M&G FPs are actually pretty popular so the chances of moving it up may not happen, but I would at least attempt to try. Soarin has been showing decent FP availability but it comes down to crowds. I do think you have the right idea getting a tier 2 FP to expire so you have a better chance of getting another tier 1 sooner but it all comes down to crowds, FP availability, and how much of the crowd understands getting more FPs.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm a little confused. Are you also saying that you can change and move up 2nd and 3rd FPs all the time? I thought those first 3 had to be an hour apart and never thought of moving up the times.

You can always move your second and third ones.

 

[brockash]

Why would you want to do option 2? That makes no sense to me. Schedule 3 good FP's set up for when you're there and then see what you can get as a 4th, 5th, etc.

Option1 would only be good for a park with tiers if you're trying to get say Soarin so you schedule Figment and say Nemo at park open, let them expire, then you get another tier 1

Option 2 would give you no benefit at mk

ITA! What would be the point of booking 2 you can't use? Just to say you got a 4th and 5th pass? Whatever you're wanting to ride will be harder to get day of as opposed to scheduling in advance. I'd schedule ur first 3 in advance as close together as possible starting for the time you think you'll be in the park.