FP+ and wait times later in the day

[Dsnygirl]

Hi all!

So, I get to make our FP+ choices tonight at midnight.

Planning them last night with my family brought up a LOT of questions, and many I was unable to answer.

But the biggest -- how did those of you who have used FP+ already, with the new "choose more FP rides after your 1st 3 are used up", find the system?

We really liked the regular FPs and found they worked great for us... we could use 5 or 6 FPs easily in a day, and standby for some of our favorites once FPs were gone. It was rare that something was completely unavailable to us, except maybe Soarin' late in the day, and RnRC. (and even for RnRC, we got used to going "single rider" if we really wanted a 3rd or 4th time on)

So many who have been recently seem to have posted here or on FB that getting on anything after their first 3 FP+ rides were ridden was a nightmare, if not impossible, and this really concerns us.

If we choose the new Mine Train ride, Space Mtn and Splash at MK between 9:30 and noon, are we going to be completely out of luck to re-ride any of these for the rest of the day, and will BTMRR, Buzz & HM now be standby lines of over an hour w/o any hope of a FP left for them to sign up for??

This whole system has me discouraged and honestly thankful that this is only a 2-day park trip for us... I can't imagine being at Disney for 8 or 9 days, which is our norm, and spending 80% of our time being frustrated by not getting on anything.

And our excitement about being future Floridians, able to pop over to Disney for a "fix" whenever needed, is dwindling, as well... if Florida Annual Passholders become second-class citizens to those planning from home and all the rides become a "no go" because of the new FP+ system, I'm thinking we will be RE-thinking our thoughts of living closer to the parks!

Anyway... not to go off-topic from my question... any input/advice on how the current system is working for those who have been recently would be appreciated greatly.

[princessgirls]

I am also very interested in this question....

I have a feeling, that my family is going to like the new system at all, and we will actually do less.

Considering a November trip.

We tour a lot like your family Blythe, and it worked for us.

Julie

[kbean]

The fp lines move fast when I go. I live an hour away and im an AP holder. Space Mtn has been longest wait at 15. Walked right on to Seven Dwarfs on a packed Saturday afternoon. Actually felt bad for the people waiting 2 hrs.

However, the stand by lines are baaad. Since disney is promoting this new fp system, they keep the fp moving and the stand by is what it is..... alot of standing. And waiting.

As an AP holder, I cant complain much. Before if I wanted a fp for TSM for example, id have to get there at opening for a descent return time. Now i book at home for late afternoons and nighttime. I have my mornings to myself. Then take a cruise to the parks. I feel AP holders have the best experience with this new system. The people booking actual vacations and all that seem to be having the most problems. And im a last minute booker too and havent had trouble with getting what i want with exception to the new Mine Train. I couldnt imagine trying to book a disney vacation in advance.

[CanadianWDWFan]

We have planned all of our FP+ for our August trip, we are there for two weeks and having FP's for all the rides we really want to go on right now is a huge plus for us. I was able to get all of the times we wanted and was able to edit times that didn't really work for us. I have found that changing times was so easy and I was able to move times so that we can use all of our passes within two hours. Then we will be able to get the additional FP's. When we went in December the additional passes weren't available so the add on ones are new to us.

All I can say is that when we went during one of the busiest times, Christmas, we had FP's in hand and didn't have to run around the parks being disappointed at the FP times we got with the old system.

[Dsnygirl]

Thanks, everybody, for all the positive notes... I have to admit I was VERY discouraged when I booked our FP+ choices.

To have to choose between RnRc & TSM just b/c they're both popular... BAD choice, Disney. I want to ride both, and not do standby for either. I've always ridden TSM 2-3 times with the old FP system (stood in line for standby at opening while my DH got us FP's... then back another set of FP's for later in the day. And we've ridden RnRc 3-4 times in a day with FP's/single rider/standby... now? Seems we won't get on TSM at all, and RnRc maybe once.

Our choices for MK were more open, but the Mine Ride STARTED with times at 2:30 PM... thought I'd be able to choose earlier afterwards, but nope... everything was already booked for any time prior to 2:30pm. Seriously??

All I can say is... if we end up getting on our top 3 favorites once... and not a second time... and end up wandering, doing the things we'd really rather NOT be doing... it will be very discouraging. We go during slow times for the very reason of NOT waiting... now it is more than obvious that even in August, we will be. Truly not happy with Disney right now, but trying to stay positive and hope we are wrong.

[yankeesfan123]

Thanks, everybody, for all the positive notes... I have to admit I was VERY discouraged when I booked our FP+ choices.

To have to choose between RnRc & TSM just b/c they're both popular... BAD choice, Disney. I want to ride both, and not do standby for either. I've always ridden TSM 2-3 times with the old FP system (stood in line for standby at opening while my DH got us FP's... then back another set of FP's for later in the day. And we've ridden RnRc 3-4 times in a day with FP's/single rider/standby... now? Seems we won't get on TSM at all, and RnRc maybe once.

Our choices for MK were more open, but the Mine Ride STARTED with times at 2:30 PM... thought I'd be able to choose earlier afterwards, but nope... everything was already booked for any time prior to 2:30pm. Seriously??

All I can say is... if we end up getting on our top 3 favorites once... and not a second time... and end up wandering, doing the things we'd really rather NOT be doing... it will be very discouraging. We go during slow times for the very reason of NOT waiting... now it is more than obvious that even in August, we will be. Truly not happy with Disney right now, but trying to stay positive and hope we are wrong.

I really mean absolutely no offense to this, but your kind of "fast pass hoarding" is more than likely one of the reasons for this new system.

Seeing a family ride TSM three times, twice by using fast passes, while seeing another family show up at noon and be forced to wait in a two hour long line or choose not to ride was an issue.


By the way, while you never know what will be available when you get there, you miiiight want to use your first tier FP option for TSM instead of RNRR.

First, RNRR has single rider. Second, RNRR does not typically appeal to families the way TSM does. Therefore, it may be more likely that you'd be able to get a 4th FP for RNRR while it's extremely unlikely that you'd be able to use your 4th FP for TSM.

On another note, if you're a RD person, which you seem to be, you can still do both TSM and RNRR.

[MrPeetrie]

I have a slightly different related question:

After we use our first three FastPass+ selections, can just my DD and I select a 4th instead of all four of us?

Since we'll be forced to choose between TSM and RnRR, we'll choose TSM because DS4 can ride it. Plus, my DW can't stand the launch! (I LOVE IT!!!) But, my DD11 and I would like to ride it later in the day if FP+s are still available. So can only two of four select another FP? I don't want to select them for my wife and son if I know they have no intention to use them. (Save that time slot for someone else to use.)

[Babe the Blue Ox]

One thing that is always constant at WDW is that lines get shorter later in the evening. We were there during the first week of June and did all of the following in a 4 hour period (8 pm - midnight) without any fast passes:

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

On a different evening we did the following in a 2 hour period (8 - 10 pm) at DHS, again with no Fast Passes:

Midway Mania 2x
RnR 2x
Tower of Terror 3x

I wouldn't worry too much about Fast Pass availability and tiers. Multiple re-rides are always available if you are patient.

[rjmdds]

One thing that is always constant at WDW is that lines get shorter later in the evening. We were there during the first week of June and did all of the following in a 4 hour period (8 pm - midnight) without any fast passes:

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

On a different evening we did the following in a 2 hour period (8 - 10 pm) at DHS, again with no Fast Passes:

Midway Mania 2x
RnR 2x
Tower of Terror 3x

I wouldn't worry too much about Fast Pass availability and tiers. Multiple re-rides are always available if you are patient.

RD and park close are the best. No doubt about it.

[Dsnygirl]

I really mean absolutely no offense to this, but your kind of "fast pass hoarding" is more than likely one of the reasons for this new system.

Seeing a family ride TSM three times, twice by using fast passes, while seeing another family show up at noon and be forced to wait in a two hour long line or choose not to ride was an issue.

By the way, while you never know what will be available when you get there, you miiiight want to use your first tier FP option for TSM instead of RNRR.

First, RNRR has single rider. Second, RNRR does not typically appeal to families the way TSM does. Therefore, it may be more likely that you'd be able to get a 4th FP for RNRR while it's extremely unlikely that you'd be able to use your 4th FP for TSM.

On another note, if you're a RD person, which you seem to be, you can still do both TSM and RNRR.

No worries, I didn't take offense... ... mostly b/c we really weren't "hoarders". We just got in line like everyone else when we arrived, my DH got FP's and then after we rode RnRc and HM, if there were still FP's to be had for TSM, we rode again. Not really my issue if others choose to arrive late and take their chances... most knew if they wanted to ride TSM, they had to arrive early. Even in other parks, we got FP's for what we loved, and as we used them, got more... we were never ones that held on to a fistful and then rode everything late. We just never had a problem getting on the rides we loved, so the necessity for this system has us in a bit of a quandary. We watched a ridiculous number of people waiting in standby lines while FP's were wide open for the next few hours... Splash, Space, BTMRR, HM... it never made sense to me. So, we'll see if this works in the long run... seems standby lines are even LONGER now, from what people are saying. Very confusing.

And b/c of that, I do agree that the system helps those that don't want to be there for rope drop... and honestly, that's our preference... we'd like a leisurely start rather than a race for a line, so in that regard, I like what the new system does for us.

And thx for the advice re: TSM.... might just switch our FP to do just that!

Question - what is an "RD" person? I might be... but I don't know what it is...

Last thought... from what I've been reading, there are really two schools of thought on the new system. Either you like scheduling everything and being assured you'll get on your favorites at least once, or you miss the spontaneity and didn't mind taking your chances, even though there was a chance at missing a ride/being frustrated.

I think we, as a family, are a mix of both.... I'm a planner, so I can appreciate and almost enjoy knowing I've got a few things guaranteed... but I'm also a lover of spontaneous fun, and am not really liking having my rides pre-scheduled... I'm on vacation, I want to come and go as I wish, change my mind, mix it up and if I lose out, so be it. So we'll see what we think... hoping we love it, still thankful our trial of the system is only for 2 days!

[CanadianWDWFan]

I am guessing that "RD" is Rope Drop.

Since we all have made dining plans at 180 days out figuring out where we are going to be on a certain day is pretty well a forgone conclusion.

What we like to do is plan our FP's around the park where we have dining planned. For instance on our first night we are doing two FP's before dinner at BOG followed by a ride after dinner. FP's have worked out well for us.

[yankeesfan123]

I am guessing that "RD" is Rope Drop.

Since we all have made dining plans at 180 days out figuring out where we are going to be on a certain day is pretty well a forgone conclusion.

What we like to do is plan our FP's around the park where we have dining planned. For instance on our first night we are doing two FP's before dinner at BOG followed by a ride after dinner. FP's have worked out well for us.

Same thing I'm doing.

Pretty simple if you are an ADR type family, especially for dinner.