I’ve been posting a LOT lately & i think the more i read the more nervous i get!!
High-level details: 6 adults, 2 kids, going thanksgiving week & staying offsite; our 1st FP selection day is in 2 days and we’re all a part of 1 MDE account.
Divide & Conquering: Is it possible for me & DH to make FP selections at the same time, right next to each other for the same account, same people, same park using 2 different devices? I call out what i see, he calls what he sees & we decide at that moment who will book what? Or will the both of us being in the same account reserving for the same people bump up against each other & completely negate the goal/progress we’re trying to achieve?
Park Capacity: Our hope is to RD every day and knock out the major rides first, use our prebooked FP’s, then return to our house for a break IF/WHEN POSSIBLE before returning to the park in the evening for the night time shows. However, because it is thanksgiving week is it possible that the parks will reach capacity and we won’t be able to return? Do we even chance it? Is there more of a chance a certain park(s) will reach capacity vs the others?
Linked Tix in MDE Account: To practice as much as the MDE account allows beforehand (i swear i don’t remember doing all this a few years ago), i went into MDE to, again, practice making FP selections. It took me to the screen asking who from my group was i making selections for; i chose ‘all’ and hit next, it then told me to link the tickets… Well everyone already has their tickets linked which i can confirm by going in the Ticket & Passes section of our MDE account. I’m assuming it’s throwing this error because our FP window has yet to open up… OR could this be a glitch in the matrix & i need to call disney b4 our window opens up?
I doubt the parks will reach capacity. However you need to make sure you allow enough time to leave the park, leave WDW and then return and get through security again. The parks will be crowded, so will parking lots. Realistically I would double the normal “commute time”.
That message is because your window has not opened yet. The date based tickets mean you cannot practice booking FPs because the system “knows” they are not yet valid.
#1 - If you are really worried about not getting the FPP you want for a group of 8 you can search for 4 FPP at a time getting overlapping time. (Group A = 10am - 11am / Group B = 10:15am - 11:15am)
Personally, I don’t think you’ll need to have two people doing double duty. My advice is to sit down with your plan outline and make a list of all the FPP you need. Then prioritize that list in order of hardest to get. I’ve gotten a whole weeks worth of FPP in about 5 minutes just because I knew exactly what I needed & when.
You won’t have to waste precious seconds guessing which FPP you should go after.
I think having 2 people searching for FPs at the same time makes the process more fun I would have each searching for 4 people on the party. So you can be:
“I see 10:15 available for BTMRR”
“I see 10:20, let’s grab those”
Of course, that is the sort of social interaction I enjoy, almost like a cooperative game. It doesn’t work for everyone.
This advance FPP business makes it stressful, I know because I just went through it but I had 60-day FPP. MDE will magically allow you to reserve FPP at 30 days. And the reservation process was rather seamless, though we didn’t get ideal times for all FPPs.
Make a list of FPPs you want each day. I used park maps and selected tentative FPP and times to minimize walking. Manage your expectations for the headliners. Try for the hardest to get ones first, you never know. Once you get past The Who you are reserving for screen, it will take you to a screen where you can search by time, morning, afternoon, or evening. This is where having 2 people could be helpful. Each can search for different times. And different attractions will show up with available times for you to select. Select, confirm, and move to the next FPP.
You can modify after you are all done to line things up better. And somehow, other times that weren’t available before, show up.
For your breaks, I stayed off property last year and my family did great with resort visits and/or long meals instead of full breaks off property. For example, as a break from MK, we left the park after the parade and took the boat to Wilderness Lodge where we had a leisurely dinner at Geyser Point. We relaxed and then returned for a few more rides and fireworks. At AK, we had a nice long lunch at Tiffins and then did shows in the afternoon - note leisurely than riding and walking around a lot.
My only trips were Thanksgiving weeks in 2014 and 15. Granted, there was no SWGE to contend with, so things might change, but it was fine. It gets considerably more crowded the later part of the week when everyone is out of school. I don’t think anything reached capacity while we were there. Good use of FP and ADRs allowed us to do everything we wanted despite the crowds. We were not trying to do it all, however, and never rope dropped b/c we had an older person with us who didn’t want to. We arrived usually around 9 or 10 am every day. My guess is that if anything reached capacity it would be HS, but no one really knows what will happen b/c it’s the first big holiday since SWGE opened.
I would have each searching for 4 people on the party. So you can be: