FastPass+ Day: Real or Just an Exercise?

I was logged in before 7am and ready to go. I think I clicked as fast as Disney’s website will let anyone. Mixed results, you be the judge:

Day 1 - MK
9:10 Magic Carpets of Aladdin
11:00 Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square
12:20 Jungle Cruise

Day 2 - AK
10:00 Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
3:35 Kilimanjaro Safaris
7:40 Na’avi River Journey

Day 3 - HS (Couldn’t get ANYTHING I really wanted!)
10:00 For the First Time in Forever
12:30 MuppetVision 3D
6:45 Toy Story Mania

Day 4 - MK
10:30 Enchanted Tales with Belle
12:50 Peter Pan’s Flight
9:25 (PM!!) Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Day 5 - EP
9:20 The Seas with Nemo and Friends
10:55 Frozen Ever After
12:15 Living with the Land

So, how did I do for a first-timer? Even if Disney World is open, I don’t see how we’ll be able to go on this trip. And this FP reservation experience makes me worry that it’ll be even more difficult for my Do-Over trip. I expect the crowds to be unbearable and FPs to be impossible to get.

1 Like

I honestly don’t think it is a crowd issue. I believe they are limiting FPs. That is just my personal opinion.

7 Likes

FPs are super weird right now, so I don’t think you can judge the “normal” FP booking based on today. Now, the caveat is when will WDW be back to “normal”?

I got almost exactly what I wanted when I booked at 60 days for our (doomed) spring break trip. But when I booked our “probably not happening, but lets try to take advantage of free dining” June trip? absolute crap for options.

2 Likes

I agree 100%.

1 Like

I gotta tell you, I did a very similar thing for my rescheduled June trip.

I was ready at 650, hand on the refresh button, at 700 on the nose, refreshed, and could not get any Tier A attractions in Studios. None at all. I think that is an actual impossibility, unless Disney is limiting their reservations. There has to be another side to that story we are missing. I cannot believe demand is that high for a date (June 14th) that in all reality will most likely not happen.

2 Likes

HS was particularly rough. I’ve been watching and nabbed a couple of better FPs (RnRC instead of Star Tours), but no top tiers at all.

I think they suspected if they did re-open that it would be with limited capacity, so they either eliminated or drastically reduced FPs to the headliners. Easier to open more later than to take them away if you can’t operate at normal capacity. Or maybe they’ll go to the 100% virtual queues for the most popular rides?

1 Like

I’ve heard it’s possible that the FP system isn’t being fully maintained just now with very few times being loaded, until an opening date is announced.

There are also multiple insiders suggesting that they are looking at a BG system for many more of the more popular rides, which would explain why FPs for those rides are very few and far between until they work out details. Obviously it won’t run in the same way as the RotR system did, with huge crowds waiting for the park to officially open.

1 Like

Keep trying to modify, I believe the FP ‘s are being limited or like someone else said they are not maintaining it.

I am planning a “fantasy” (not going to happen) trip from 7/1 through 7/9. We have A/P’s and enough Southwest travel funds to pay for our flights, so we figured, why not? I have been following the Dibb, and the FP situation looks absolutely abysmal.

Does it matter how many days out you are or is this all for 60+5 and greater?

Don’t feel bad about HS. It’s the hardest place to get anything good right now. I’ve had good luck in the past with stalking the MDE site and just randomly looking for FP. Most of the time I’ve eventually gotten what I wanted, although I never got FOP. That was the one that got away (of 3 trips, each a week long).

I thought that with the new tiering HS would be easier to get something decent. But no.

It was easier with the new tiering (I saw slinky dogs at 60+4) … until the parks closed. Now it appears WDW has created much more limited FP availability.

2 Likes

I have read some of those same rumors about a BG system for most of the top rides. Just not sure how that would work unless you don’t have to be in the park at the time you grab your BG

1 Like

Again, I’ve heard maybe more like a MaxPass system.

Get one, use it, book another and so on. Or get another after 60/90/120 minutes. So really no different from FPs except that it’s all in the park and can be timed to match the number of people etc.

I imagine they’re looking at different options.

Also the % of capacity may well turn out to be more like % of “normal attendance. So if Mk can hold 80k but usually has 50k in the summer, then 25% would be 12,500 not 20k.

But again, all speculation just now.

If it is going to be a legally enforceable occupancy percentage, they will probably be using fire marshall occupancy or something along those lines.

And how do you think they would decide who gets to go and whose trips must be cancelled?

1 Like

Wild speculation? Sure, why not?

They could go with “first come, first served” at each park, but I think that would be wildly unpopular in practice.

They could set up virtual queues for entry to each park. If you have specific date tickets, you’d get first shot at reserving a park for each day of your stay. They might refund park hopper fees, or make them “space available” or something.

I have no idea what percentage of the parks capacity that would account for. If that is most of it, they could just continue the current payment hold or expiration extension for AP holders. Or open up to them next. And if that’s too much, only to resort guests.

They might give ADR reservations preference as well.

Or, they could do a soft opening with AP holders only.

It will be interesting.

1 Like

Tried to do fpps this morning. It was just an awful experience. I could not get Tier 1s until day 6 and 7 for HS. For MK I couldn’t get SDMT until day 5. I only had a couple of days to pick AK stuff and my earliest pick time for KS was at 3pm. No FOP. I am beyond frustrated. I have had maybe one ride be really hard to get but the entire trip no way.

Yes my experience last month was just as frustrating but now currently have all FP for the rides I wanted and at the times I wanted. I have just been modifying daily.