Our 60 day window for FPP opens next Thursday so the planning wheels are really spinning. First time travelling with a group ( 6 adults, 2 preschoolers) and doing MK first day. Was wondering if there is an advantage to breaking up the reservation request say 4 & 4 instead of trying for a group of 8? I ask this because I am under the assumption FPPs go like ADRs in a matter of seconds. Or does it really matter? Thanks!
You need to know what you want to do, and have a plan. If it’s going to be busy, some of the popular thing will be gone within a few minutes of the reservations opening up at 7 AM EDT. Or, because you can book for your whole vacation at 60 days, some things may be gone before you can book at all.
I have a party of 4, and we are going in October (3 weeks!!!). Our first day is a travel day, and we aren’t going to the parks. So, the first day I was grabbing FPP for was day 60+1. This was at Magic Kingdom (on a CL 10 day). I was logged in, and ready to book them at 6:55. As soon as reservations opened at 7, I started booking my MK day: Splash Mountain, Meet Mickey Mouse, and Pirates of the Caribbean. I knew that 7DMT was already gone from the Touring Plans FastPass+ Availability Tool: Walt Disney World , so I wasn’t even trying for that. As it was, I got Pirates in the window I wanted, but had to split my party into 2 groups of 2 and get overlapping FP’s for the other 2. (Since then, I’ve been able to modify them to get my whole party on one FastPass, so it pays to keep looking, but off the bat, that was a bit disheartening.)
Here’s what you need to do:
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Figure out your FP priorities. Your touring plans can guide you there. When you’re making plans, put things like Frozen Ever After and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train later in the trip, so you can maybe book those at 60+4 or 60+5 days. You will have less competition and more availability if they are later in the trip.
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Make a prioritized list of FPP to make. Frozen Ever After and 7DMT seem to run out fastest. Other heavy hitters are the Tier 1 attractions at HS and EPCOT. Some things you don’t have to worry so much about. Use the FP availability tool, and look out as far as you can, then work backwards to see how the availability drops as you get closer to 60 days out. That should give you an idea of what might be hard to schedule.
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Be up and ready to book early. Log in, go to the FPP reservation page, and click through like you are making a reservation. You should get to the calendar page, and your day will be greyed out. Make sure you can do that without issue, and you’ll be ready for go time.
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Work through your list in order, hardest to get to most available. I made a checklist and ticked them off as I got them, and noted the time window I actually got.
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Update your touring plans, and if you missed any FPP that you wanted, check back again a few days later. I got no joy for FEA at 60 days, but at about 43 days, I was able to modify my FPP plans and grab one. 45 days out is the last day to cancel if you have a package (I think), so around then is a good time to look. Keep working to get them where you want them, and you might get lucky.
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Thank you so much! I completely forgot about the FPP Availability Tool. Have fun on your trip. I’ll let you know how I make out next week.
If you have young children that will mot be able to ride an attraction you can use rider swap for some members of your party too.
Most fast passes are easy to get on all days. The only real exceptions would be the ones already noted: Frozen Ever After and 7DMT.
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Agreed. My initial thinking is to grab an 11AM FEA on Day 2 (EP) with a back up time of 7:30 PM, then go back to Day 1 (MK) for 7DMT and PP. The time for those two at the moment are flexible as except for a lunch ADR. Appreciate the help.