Is this still true? I wonder if there will be changes come 2/19 or 3/4?
Yes it’s still true.
I am trying to wade through all this information to figure out the best way to get on FOP. We unfortunately only have 3 days and I have FPs for AK day 1, MK day 2 and HS day 3 (3/13-16). I made those before I really understood how difficult it was to plan. We won’t arrive to AK until noon at the earliest. Currently we (5 of us) have FP for KS at 12:30, Dinosaur at 1:40 and EE at 2:40. If I am hoping to try for FOP, what is the best strategy? Should I drop one of these so I only have 2? Should I have a Na’vi because its a tier 1? Is it a better strategy to try to change an existing FP or not to have a third to start with? Should I look for a group of 2 and have someone else in my party look for a group of 3? I am so disappointed that I didn’t get FOP at 60 days and just want to increase my chances of not having a 3 hour wait. If we don’t get FP, what is the best time to shoot for given that we won’t get to the park till noon? Any help is appreciated
I would use all 3 that you have, but try to tap in at EE 5 mins early to be on the safe side. The you can look for FOP at the 3.01 drop, and again at 5.01. I wouldn’t split your group.
You can also try to modify one of your existing FPs to FOP during the drop times since you don’t have a Tier 1. You can try for the 11:01 before you get to the park and the 1:01 after you arrive. If you don’t get one during the drop times I would try to get in line right before closing for the shortest wait.
Thank you so much for this post! We were able to use same day drops at both Hollywood Studios (Slinky Dog and Toy Story) and at Animal Kingdom (FOP). We struck out the one time we tried at Epcot.
Type A+ Planner type here…
So how should I think about these drops when planning?
Is the success rate 2 out of 3 (Like @Eastcoastgirl above - nice job!!) or will I be lucky to get even one in 7 days at the park?
We got them at all parks almost every time we tried. There was one day we were back at the hotel and I tried for FOP at 3.01 and 5.01 and there were no drops so it was no big deal, but it does happen.
We got them everywhere but Epcot in November, but couldn’t get SDD. Got FOP and TSM.
I think it works well if you plan to hit a park in the morning, take a break and hop someone else in the evening. That’s what we did, so we could use our original 3 FP’s plus any others we got at our morning park, and then we checked the afternoon drop times while we were resting at the hotel in the afternoon, for the park we were planning to hit in the evening.
In mid-December, we DID NOT get any SDD for AK. That was so sad. 
But we did get them for Epcot and HS.
For Epcot, we did pick up Soarin at the 1:30 drop on one day for a couple of hours later. On another day, we picked up TT but they were for 7:20 PM. There was so much to do in Epcot for us, we didn’t use the 3:31 drop so I don’t know if there were any at that time.
On our HS day, we picked up ToT at the 12:01 and the 2:31 drop. There were RNR and SDD at 12:01 but they were for later in the afternoon or evening, preventing us from picking up at the 2:31 drop. We were literally getting on ToT at the 2:31 drop when we picked up another ToT. There was nothing else to pick up at that drop.
Thanks for the responses - sounds like they’re real and they’re spectacular!
OMG–I’m dying laughing now.
We were there on 1-29 and no FOP drops at those times either. We kept checking, but no luck.
My BFF was at AK on Monday 1/27 and I agreed to log in her app and try to get FOP. I had success with the 3:01 drop 
So if we get to the park early should could I try for the 1:01 or even 11:01 (if we are really early) drop? I would change any of my existing FPs to get on FOP. Do you have to be in the park to get the same day drops?
You don’t need to be in the parks to get the drops, but I thought I read somewhere that your first 3 FP of the day all need to be in the same park? Or is that just for advance FP? @missoverexcited?
You don’t have to be in the park to try for SDD. If I look at your list of FPP you currently have, none is a Tier 1. Therefore, you could modify any of those FPP at any of the drops to try for FOP. If I were you and want FOP badly, I would decide which FPP I’m willing to give up and try to modify with the earliest drop at 11:01. I see that @miss disagrees with that. But SDD is not a guarantee, so it is best to try at every drop.
As I stated above, we RDed FOP and loved it so much we wanted another ride. There weren’t any SDD that day. We ended up getting in SB at about 6 PM and we waited about 55 minutes. Our CL was 6.
That’s just for advance FPs. On the day, if you just had 2 booked, as soon as you tapped for the first one you could book another in a different park - any tier. Or if you just had 1 booked, as soon as you tapped in you could either book two at a different park of which one could be tier 1, or if really getting use of park hoppers, two at two different parks, both could be tier 1. But that’s getting complicated.
I don’t necessarily disagree, it’s just what I would do personally.