New Florida resident!! - general questions

Hey all, been a long time. Due to life changes, I'm moving to Florida in a month. I'll be about 2 hours from the magic. I plan on getting APs (gold) but have a few basic questions.

- Are FP any different when using a Florida resident AP?
- I plan on being spontaneous, so for a last minute weekend trip, will I be totally shut out of rides?
- Along the same line, since it's been 10 years since my last visit, what are the most popular attractions now? (big question, I know)

I used to have WDW pretty much figured out, but now I'm kind of behind the curve. I'm trying to study up on this new FP system. But, in general I'm just looking for pointers. Thanks for anything you can give me.

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Originally Posted by ryca1dreams

- Are FP any different when using a Florida resident AP?

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For AP holders the FP booking window opens up at 30 days, so you can make Fast Pass reservations ahead of time if you know when you'll be there. For most rides that gives you plenty of availability, but for for crazy popular things like Avatar Flight of Passage for example, currently if I try to book a FP for 30 days from now which is the first day I can possibly do that (October 25th) it's showing zero availability.

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- I plan on being spontaneous, so for a last minute weekend trip, will I be totally shut out of rides?

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Not completely shut out, but see above for things like Avatar. For another example, it's currently Tuesday morning. If I look for a FP for Soarin' on Saturday (4 days from now) there are openings starting at around 2 PM. If I wanted to make a FP for 7 Dwarves Mine train at the Magic Kingdom on Saturday there are none available. Obviously the more 'last minute' your plans become the fewer FP options you'll have unless you happen to log into it just after someone has cancelled one. Of course you can always wait in standby lines and that's usually fine for the less popular attractions.

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- Along the same line, since it's been 10 years since my last visit, what are the most popular attractions now? (big question, I know)

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Most popular are probably the new Avatar Stuff (Avatar Flight of Passage, Navi River Journey) at AK. Mine Train is the most popular at MK along with the traditional busy / popular ones like Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan. Epcot is basically Soarin' / Test Track and the Frozen ride, and Hollywood Studios most popular is probably still Toy Story Mania.

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Originally Posted by dnickels

Not completely shut out, but see above for things like Avatar. For another example, it's currently Tuesday morning. If I look for a FP for Soarin' on Saturday (4 days from now) there are openings starting at around 2 PM. If I wanted to make a FP for 7 Dwarves Mine train at the Magic Kingdom on Saturday there are none available. Obviously the more 'last minute' your plans become the fewer FP options you'll have unless you happen to log into it just after someone has cancelled one. Of course you can always wait in standby lines and that's usually fine for the less popular attractions.

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But don't let this completely discourage you. If you are someone who likes last minute trips to WDW, the FP+ system will still work to your advantage. Keep checking for available FP times throughout the day and you will most likely get the rides you want at some point. Of all the rides at WDW, only Avatar FOP and Mine Train at MK may not work out for you.