WDW is meant to be a HAPPY place, so why am I so stressed?

We have an upcoming trip and didn't get the Dining Plan and only scheduled one character dining meal during the whole trip so that made planning much easier. I scheduled it on a non-park day. Even on our visit pre FP+ we didn't get the dining plan because we didn't want to be tied to reservations.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here but it makes visiting the parks so much easier. It allows for more fluidity on park days. FP are a little time consuming but I scheduled our upcoming FP recently and wasn't as stressed as I thought I would be. Once the trip is done I can give my full review and opinion.

buzznwoodysmom;2499750 wrote: Then usually on the bus ride back to our resort I would see what might be available around the time we planned to head back to a park that evening.

I'm glad to see this. This is what I planned to do but have read conflicting reports that you have to be in the specific park to book additional FP. All our FP are early as well and when we take an afternoon break we will probably be looking to book one for our return later in the day. Thanks!

j2k;2499824 wrote: I'm glad to see this. This is what I planned to do but have read conflicting reports that you have to be in the specific park to book additional FP. All our FP are early as well and when we take an afternoon break we will probably be looking to book one for our return later in the day. Thanks!

It was our experience that once we used our initial FPs we were able to book in a different park from the park we were in, from the bus, or from our resort. We did not have to be inside the park in which we were booking a FP. This was end of Feb.\beginning of March. This method worked perfect for us.

Honestly, we did not need a spreadsheet and it didn't take much time to get additional FPs. If anything, it actually took less time than the old method of having to walk to each attraction to get FP. I did not feel like I was constantly looking at my phone, which is something I was afraid would happen with the new system. All in all I would say the new FP system and all the preplanning did not have any negative effect on our trip at all.

buzznwoodysmom;2499827 wrote: It was our experience that once we used our initial FPs we were able to book in a different park from the park we were in, from the bus, or from our resort. We did not have to be inside the park in which we were booking a FP. This was end of Feb.\beginning of March. This method worked perfect for us.

Honestly, we did not need a spreadsheet and it didn't take much time to get additional FPs. If anything, it actually took less time than the old method of having to walk to each attraction to get FP. I did not feel like I was constantly looking at my phone, which is something I was afraid would happen with the new system. All in all I would say the new FP system and all the preplanning did not have any negative effect on our trip at all.

Thanks so much for this info. We'll be there next month and have hoppers. On the days when we hop I'm planning to book something before we get to the next park. Thanks for sharing this info.

For those that book FPs for the morning and take breaks midday, do you park hop? We tend to do 1 park in the morning and than a different one mostly for an ADR and night shows. You can still only book FPs for 1 park at a time, right?

ANG;2499881 wrote: For those that book FPs for the morning and take breaks midday, do you park hop? We tend to do 1 park in the morning and than a different one mostly for an ADR and night shows. You can still only book FPs for 1 park at a time, right?

On our most recent trip, yes, we park hopped after our midday break. As far as I could tell your initial 3 FP must be in the same park. I don't believe you can make two for your morning park, then 1 for your evening park ahead of time. I didn't see the option to preselect from more than one park. However, once our initial/premade FPs were used we were able to make our additional FP for a different park.

For example, on one day I had 3 FPs pre-booked for the morning at AK. On the bus back to Poly from AK around 2ish I made a FP for Fantasmic at the studios for that evening. Then when leaving DHS after Fantasmic we decided last minute to hop a bus to MK since it was open till 11 that night. On that bus ride I was able to score a FP for Big Thunder Mountain with a time window opening in about 30 minutes. Once we used the BTM FP we were able to book about 2 more FPs before park closing.

We had great luck with the FP system on this trip, but again, I never saw the option to pre-book in more than one park. That would be a nice option tho! Especially for last days in the parks when you want to revisit some of your favorite attractions in different parks.