FP and EOD ride closure strategy

I can’t seem to find a discussion anywhere on this so if there is one can someone point me in the right direction? I think I heard this on Backside of Magic or maybe a throw away comment on disboards. Specifically it involves grabbing a last fast pass at the end of your park day for a ride that has a higher percentage of closure and hoping to get an anytime FP for the next day. TIA!

Yes, if a ride goes down in the last hour of park opening the anytime FPs converts to one you can use in any park the next day (with limitations).

1 Like

I wrote up some notes and stuck them here. Mostly for myself but in case anyone was wondering. It may help.

1 Like

Aha! thank you - it WAS the Backside of Magic podcast discussing this strategy. I’ll have to see if I downloaded that episode and find it.
So my strategy is to book a FP for the last time slot before we leave a park for the night on the chance the ride might be down in that last hour and we will get an anytime FP for the next day.
MK - Splash and 7DMT
Epcot - TT
AK - KRR
HS - doesn’t seem to have a high % of rides that go down in the last hour

This seems like a no-brainer - if you get one, great! If not, it took you 10 seconds to make the FP reservation. We have park hoppers so it seems my best strategy is to book TT as that has a much higher % than any of the others for closure in the last hour. Of course, it all depends on which rides have FP availability for the last hour when we finish using all of ours.

Also keep in mind, you don’t have to be in the park to book the FPP! You can do it from the comfort of your hotel room during the last hour before closing. You can also look on MDE to see what rides are down at that very moment, and then try to book one of those.

2 Likes

MK: Magic Carpet, Dumbo, Big Thunder, Barnstormer

1 Like

This is ALMOST brilliant. But you do have to be careful, because rides will frequently show up as being down in MDE when in reality they are just temporarily stopped for loading/unloading someone in a wheelchair, etc.

1 Like

Also works for inclement weather. So if you leave a park because of rain/lightning, book a fast pass in the last hour in hopes it converts. Not sure if someone already said that, so I apologize if repeating! We had crazy storms last night in Houston and I’m too tired to read. :sleeping:

1 Like

I am often accused of being almost brilliant. :smirk:

I wasn’t suggesting YOU weren’t brilliant, only that the idea itself was ALMOST brilliant. I don’t confuse the idea with the person giving the idea. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Episode 121 if you want to hear all this in tortuous monotone in addition to reading it.

5 Likes

Booking these rides in particular with likely require you to pre-book (i.e., these rides aren’t as likely to be available as same-day FPs) so you would essentially be limiting yourself to only being able to use two FPs on these days.

I can’t add anything directly to the conversation, but I got a chuckle out of the headline. I’ve never heard EOD be used with regards to WDW (it also took me a while to figure out what “PPO” was). In “my world” EOD stands for Explosive Ordinance Disposal (i.e. the “Bomb Squad”) So… “Fast Pass and Explosive Ordinance Disposal closure strategy” How to get a FPP when a ride is closed due a bomb threat…?

3 Likes

I’ve seen this strategy called the Late Night Lotto, so searching for that might find you some actual examples in trip reports.

2 Likes

aha - it has a name! thank you!

1 Like

Yes. From the show notes from Ep 121, here is the attraction downtime data.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15XcQSF_625UarUcwJ6SDwzP585mFjjJJ/view

Here is the description of the data:

We’ve never had much luck with late-night-lotto, but I know many other people have gotten it to work.

Also don’t forget that you can play late night lotto multiple times per night - once for each park closing.

4 Likes

According to the data:
MK: Splash, Space, 7DMT, Pirates, Pooh
Epcot: TT (15%!), FEA
AK: KRR, Dino, EE
DHS: ToT, TSM but both are 2% or less.

2 Likes

OOOOOH - i might have completely missed this little esoteric gem - thank you!

1 Like

We got it one night. I believe it was splash which I’m sure is an easier fp to get at night in January. :blush: