Is it better make FP for right when park opens or closer to mid day (10-2pm)? I’ve been reading the Undercover tourist book and the touring plans for MK and AK say to book first FP for 9 am. 9 am is when the park opens, so it seems wasteful to use a FP when the standby line might not be too bad.
My 60 day window opened today and here’s is what I booked. I am thinking about shifting things so the first FP is closer to 10am, and then 11am, 12/1 (last FP). This is my first time to WDW, so just wanted to get your thoughts.
If you truly plan to rope drop, or show up for EMH, then getting your first FP an hour after opening makes more sense then at opening itself. This way you can get several things done before first FP, particularly if you use your FP toward the end of the window.
But it also pays to get FP done early so that you start getting fourth, fifth, etc, as soon as possible.
Those 9:00 FPs do not need to be used until closer to 10. For example, you go to space or Peter Pan first, maybe WtP and Under the Sea, then head to 7DMT. After that, you head to your HM FP. You are good.
I’m going to be contrarian. Hit your 9:05 and 9:15 fast passes towards the end of their window. Hit other rides close by before (nominal waits) and you will be done with fast passes and on to number 4 early. Not a bad plan.
I also don’t get my first FP right at 9. You can ride quite a few rides in the first hour and a half, so I time the FPs for when crowds start coming in later in the morning. My next MK morning with 9 am opening has Jungle Cruise, POC, Splash with BTMRR as the first FP starting around 9:30, but I use it late in the window so I can get those other rides in. Then I have 7 DMT at 10:30 and Space at 11:30 which I hope to hit right on time or even earlier if they let me.
The general rule of thumb I use is to use the 1st FP late in its window so you can take advantage of early am short lines, but use that 3rd FP as early in its window as possible so you can start looking for FP # 4.
The first two hours a park is open are the best and you can get a lot done. I usually start my first fast pass somewhere between 10:30 and 11 (on a 9 am opening day) to be able to capture the low crowds and then start to use the fastpasses.
Also, remember that as soon as you tap into your first one, you can try to modify your second for an earlier time. Ditto the third. And as soon as you tap into the third, you can look for your fourth. And so on.
I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that at this point you should not try to change your FoP FP. There may be a drop later but most likely you have that FP, leave it alone!
Very much this. Over on another board, there was someone who thought she was modifying her FoP FP+ thinking she had found a better time, but instead she accidentally swapped it for NRJ because that, being a Tier 1, will show up at the top of the modify page if it’s available. The “not available” notice is not until the bottom of the page.
I always book our FPs for 9, 10 and 11 (or as near as possible). We use the first one shortly after 10, the second one just after 11 and the third one immediately after. We then have lunch and grab 4th Fastpasses while we eat. Works great for us.
I guess my response wasn’t as clear as I thought. Basically my response means to keep your FPs as they are. I was just stating a general rule, to which your FPs adhere.
Gotcha, yeah. We agree. I thought you were saying to get them after 10:00. Too much effort to change now and actually having those headliners early might be nice in the flow of the day.
Yeah, my apologies. Re-reading what I wrote, I can see it came off that way. I guess the principle I was trying to convey was to try for giving yourself that first hour to an hour and a half in the park BEFORE using your first FP. I notice that when I reply on my phone, since I hate TYPING on the phone, I tend to keep things a little too brief. I think I just need to give up trying to post from my phone on these forums!
good tip though. If available I’ll get mine at about the 10:00 start window when I try I a few weeks. I know I’ll pretty much have to take what I can get on FOP.
I was just confused. You posted after me but seemed to be saying your post was different than all other posts, when I thought you were agreeing with me.
I agree. 7DMT stand-by is still going to be pretty bad around 10:00, so having a FP+ at that time is not a bad thing. I’d use that first 50 minutes or so to knock out the rest of fantasy land. Then hit 7DMT and HM back to back. Or hit 7DMT at 10:00, then go to Tomorrowland for an hour, then go use HM and BTMR back to back.
I’m definitely in “the earlier, the better” crowd, so I can get more FP as early as possible.
