I am staying off site and debating strategy on my FPP. I currently have three booked (that I am interested in) per day, but didn’t get SDD or FOP, and have a very late 7dmt. Trying to determine 1. If I should keep such a late FPP and 2. If having FPP times booked for lower priority rides will limit my options for getting a better FPP option for my higher priority ones.
I have a 7DMT for 7pm on our MK day. I have Peter Pan at 3pm and Cinderella at 9:30. We really want to do all these as we didn’t on last trip, and my DD4 is excited to try roller coasters now. I am not letting go of that 7dmt but nervous I won’t be able to move it up to earlier in the day, and not be able to get any more throughout the day… it used to be beneficial to have a booking - any booking - and anecdotal evidence suggested it was easier to get a new time. Do you still have a better chance at moving times for the hard rides if you have a later FPP?
Also, we didn’t get a FOP and I am wondering if having my tier 2s already scheduled is hurting me from being able to find one that pops up randomly, since there are two hours basically blocked off. Can anyone confirm that is true- it won’t offer you FPP times during time frames when you have a different FPP (I am trying to modify my Navi, but believe I may be limiting self from my tier 2 bookings). Thanks!
Rope dropping the hard to get FPs is the way to go if you are able. You should only keep a late day high priority FP if you don’t RD or are unable to snag an earlier FP Drop(modify current FP at a specific drop time) on the day of. Your lower priority FPs will usually not interfere with trying to modify times on the high priority ones as they are very hard to change ahead of time.
In my experience, the available FP+ will show but indicate you have another planned. I think you can select it and it will ask which you want to keep. I have not booked any since late July though and left those pretty much alone so I’m not 100% sure on that.
You won’t be able to see any that overlap with what you already have. That said, your best shot at modifying to FOP is on the day at one of the drop times (11.01, 1.01, 3.01, 5.01).
It has listed the overlapping ones but has them greyed out and indicating that I have something else scheduled. Or maybe that is just when I am making them initially…
I think it depends when you go, but I was there last week with lower crowds (4-5 for MK, lower for the others). I was regularly on MDE trying to get extra fastpasses or modify existing ones. I only saw Seven Dwarfs once for 2 people and it was late (i.e. 7 p.m. or later). I’d keep that one and try to modify it.
For other rides, I saw almost all of them with same day availability when I was checking before noon, even Frozen, Test Track, Big Thunder, and Space all came up several times. I was able to modify almost all of ours to earlier times. Overall, it seemed easier to get better times when I already had one and was trying to modify the time as opposed to picking it up or modifying from another ride.
I also found it much easier to get them when I split our group of six into 2 groups of 3 or 3 groups of 2. I was able to pick up same day for Soarin’ for a group of 6 by splitting it into two smaller groups. We were able to ride about 15 minutes later.
thanks for this. I have a 10:55am Navi FPP, so sounds like we should wait until the 11:01 drop before we use it… would you actually recommend we move it to later to give me chance to replace it with an FOP drop if I don’t get that one? Currently I have a noon KS and then our final one is not until 2:45 at EE… because otherwise I miss all the other drops because I won’t be able to get another tier 1 yet, right? We plan to leave the park for a nap between 12:30-3ish.
I can’t currently move the EE earlier, and I thought it was too far to walk to go there before our nap time… just for reference in case I am thinking about something wrong!
Hmm that’s difficult timing because the drops are usually within the next 2 hours. So at 11.01 you couldn’t get an 11.05-12.05 because of your KS FP at 12, and that blocks you out till 1. You might be able to get one some time between 1-1.45 but those are moe likely to be dropped at 1.01.
You could also try at 3.01 if you’ve already done your 3rd FP and hope to get one that starts almost immediately, if leaving a little later is possible. But again no guarantees.
This was the issue for me last July- when making initial FPP it showed overlapping but when modifying it wouldn’t. I had FP4Me at the time and it would flag available FPP that were not showing for me. I had a ticket in a different account so I was able to go in and verify that those FPP times were there, I just wasn’t seeing them in my main account.
Your MK day looks good for modifying or at worst, being able to ride what you want at some point that day with FPP. While the late 7DMT keeps you from picking up extras as you go, you can RD BTMRR and Splash and you have cleared a lot of top rides.
For AK, I would try to move that KS to the morning. That will clear it from blocking FOP times at the drop. Also if you decide you want to RD FOP you can do that, ride KS, later use your Navi and then move your EE up. Then you are free to book more.
Regardless, watch EE availability that day. If there is a ton, you can drop it and then pick it back up if you think it is keeping you from seeing other FPP.
That’s what I was thinking, about moving EE up day of, or cancelling it and picking back up. We will have to RS it anyhow for my 2yo and probably my 4yo I think. I currently have a FP for her for it, which seems silly, but it’s not like she can do another ride without us so I am not sure what else to do. I could drop hers and use that one to look for availability I guess. But she has to use her third to get to a fourth so I figured I should keep her booked with us.
I figure I will try to move KS first thing that day (not available now), and that will free me up for best chances for Navi. Will make a couple TP options. We don’t plan to RD, I just can’t handle that stress of elbowing people first thing with a double stroller, and we will be at MK late the night before… although, I saw a pic posted recently that looked like RD at AK might not be as stressful since RoR at HS is open. So may play be ear.
Re my MK plan, thanks. Yeah the TP actually looks decent even only using the three FP. Last time we were at MK I don’t know if I rode even one ride without FP, I was rebooking all day. But we didn’t get PP or 7DMT. My 4yo has never done a roller coaster so I thought we would start day with Barnstormer and thought I shouldn’t do BMTRR until after 7DMT. Any thoughts on that?
Two thoughts - EE single rider is awesome and may be as fast as rider switch with FP. In fact, back when I was doing rider switch, I did once with FP and then did SR right after while my DH was at the Boneyard with my DD.
My DD loveeed Barnstormer and wanted to ride it over and over again. Hard to know if they will be an adrenaline junky without giving it a try. My DD also decided she was afraid of the dark on our first trip. So while she liked the roller coaster part of 7DMT she did not like the dark ride. So many things are unpredictable! But looks like you have great plans!
I just re-read this and understand it better now, I think… So even if I wait for the 11:01 drop before I go into Navi (to try to change it to a FOP before I use it), you are saying that I likely won’t even be able to get a FOP because my Navi and KS take up the 11-1pm time frame, which is what will likely be available in the drop. Is that right? I mentioned I have a ‘noon’ KS, but it’s actually 12:05. So theoretically I could grab a FOP for 11:05 if I am the luckiest duck.
Right now, I could move the KS for 3:30/45pm, but can’t move it earlier. Also, I just checked and can actually get an EE at 9:15, 9:30am for the whole party… I was leaving myself open to RD FOP originally but just not sure we’ll do it - and my TP isn’t showing me that as the best option anyhow. I wonder if I am doing something wrong - I was surprised it didn’t recommend that since that’s what everything I read says to do! (is there a trick I am missing?)
Now I am thinking I should move the EE to the morning slot while it’s still available… ARGH! And maybe move the KS to the later slot at 2:45?
What you’re missing is that the software assumes you literally arrive at the park at opening time, while any liner worth their salt knows that you need to arrive at least an hour early and your wait (after official opening) will be minimal. It’s by far the best option if you can commit to getting there that early.
You won’t need a FP for EE at 9.30, but it would clear it earlier. And yes I think moving KS later would be a good move. But remember it’s a long ride so you’d be leaving the park later. But those 2 moves would open up a slot for FOP at the drop time, if there is a drop. I would try to RD it regardless because you are never guaranteed to get it at a drop time.
Thanks, that makes sense. Is there a way to force it to consider a RD scenario where you get there earlier like you mention? I tried putting in a coffee break so it knows I am there, but even if I say 7am (2 hours before park opens at 9am), the earliest it will load FOP for me is at 8:11am with a 128 minute wait. So when I optimize, it is moving my FOP to 7:45pm with a 90 minute wait… and evaluate doesn’t work because it assumes this 128 minute wait that I am hopefully avoiding.
If I move both EE and KS, I would have a better chance with the FOP 11:01 drop since I would be modifying my 11:05am Navi anyhow, basically leaving open the next two hours for options to show up. And then I would tap into the KS by 3pm so I could try for the 3:01 drop as a 4th FP (would be leaving and returning from nap before that). And then could try for the 5:01 drop too. I could check at 1:01 but likely wouldn’t be able to get anything if just in next two hours because nap.
Can I ask your advice again on moving my Animal Kingdom FP to help position me for FOP at drop times?
I moved our EE to 9:25-10:25am, but when I tried to move my KS back but the 2:45pm is gone now which killed my plan. Now I can get 3:35pm for 3 of us, or 4:20pm for all 4 of our party. But either of these will mean I will miss the 3:01pm drop, since my third FP won’t be used up yet.
So I am thinking I will just keep our KS at 12:05 even though it limits my chances at the 11:01am drop before swiping for my Navi. That day, I can always look to move my KS up earlier if possible, especially after we use the EE first thing.
I’m not sure which day you are going but if you RDed, you can probably take care of FOP.
Last month, we RDed for an 8 AM EMH day. We were off of FOP and Navi by 8:20. We tried at ever drop to get FPP for another FOP ride. But there were not any SDD that day! As @missoverexcited said, SDD are not a guarantee. If FOP is a priority and you want minimal wait, RD it. I know RDing may sound overwhelming if you haven’t done it before, but we didn’t find it terrible.
If I were you, I would RD FOP and then do SB for KS. Animals are more active in the mornings and at dusk. You can probably make your EE FPP still. Then, you can hike back across the park for Navi. AK isn’t as big as Epcot!
We may try to RD but just not sure it will work out with a 2 & 4 yo and two other adults who already think my planning is nuts and that we should go with the flow. We may be able to get there by 8:30 for the 9am open but I really doubt I can get them out the door before 8am. We plan to stay at MK for fireworks the night before, so will be way past bedtime.
I figure i should position us to have best chances possible to grab them if they become available…if we end up RD then we can go twice! And if we don’t get one maybe my mom will take the kids home and let my DH and I wait in the crazy line end of night.
Thanks for mentioning it’s smaller than Epcot, I had read how large AK was and am trying to get a sense for how important it is not to cross back and forth. My mom can’t handle tooooo much walking so need to balance that.
Totally understand that! I compromised with my family on that. We would finish our TPs for the mornings and flow the afternoons. You are at Disney! Relax…
We really wanted another ride on FOP. We got in line around 6 PM in SB and waited about 50 minutes. Park closed at 8 PM. We think a 50 minute wait is reasonable for a headliner and we only had to wait that long once the day we were in AK.
With fireworks the night before in MK, it will be hard to RD the next day! We arrived at AK at 7:10 AM and they were letting us through the taps around 7:35 AM. There were lots of people ahead of us.
