What times should I select for Fast Passes to best fit Touring Plan?

I’ve created touring plan and used the Advanced link under the Fast Pass section to get a prioritized list of recommended Fast Passes. But how do I know which are the best times to select in the My Disney Experience app? I spread the 3 out over the day, but I’m wondering if I should’ve selected the earliest ones available.

I think it depends on your touring style. We tend to spread them out based on when we will be near said ride as we make our way around the park. We have 3 small children, so zigzagging across the park doesn’t make sense for us. We start at one side of the park and circle around. I was able to put together plans that never had us waiting more than 20 minutes for anything doing it this way. But others like to get those FPs out of the way so they can schedule more. I don’t like not knowing which direction I’m going next. I’m too much of a control freak!!!

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Those are the two general schools of thought: get them done early to schedule more or get the hardest to get ones at the most beneficial times and just be happy with the 3.

I think the former works better on lower crowded days (if they exist any more) and the latter works better on super crowded days. In December, we had trouble finding any FP’s of use anywhere except MK after about 1pm. That said, I wasn’t willing to stick my head in my phone the whole time, so maybe the former strategy would’ve worked better if I had?

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I try not to go if the CL is 7+, but that’s just how I am… I do realize a lot of people have to go during school breaks / holidays, but I don’t. (Really… if I can go at CL 5 or less that’s my preference)

I get there for Rope Drop and hop on a couple rides with no wait between 9am - 10am. I have my first FP selected at 10am. Then the next FPs back-to-back at 11am and then 12pm. I then just grab FassPasses for about every other ride / meet & greet the rest of the day. Getting 5+ FastPasses isn’t unusual.

If you are going on a heavy crowd days prioritize just getting passes for the most popular rides as early as possible (7DMT, FOP, Toy Story attractions and of course anything in Star Wars GE if you are going when it debuts.) If they can’t all be back-to-back / early at least you won’t wait 2 - 3 + hours in line.

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Here is a link to my method of scheduling FPP reservations when using optimized TPs:

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I haven’t been to WDW recently so I’m glad to see you mention this since this idea figured fairly heavily into my TP. I’ve been watching the CL gradually rise for our dates over the past few months, and finally threw in the towel and bought club FP. Which was good because the CL have gone up since then.

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I understand everything in your link down to 2a). What does this mean exactly? “enter an FPP reservation that covers the arrival time for that attraction (I usually have the TP arrival time in the exact middle of the return time).” Do I choose an FPP time that was suggested in the optimized plan? For example, I’m currently working on Hollywood Studios plan so I can make FPP reservations in the morning. The recommended FPP for group A is Slinky Dog Dash. With no FPP entered, the optimized personalized plan lists Slinky Dog at 3:02. Do I choose a time around then or do I try to do it earlier in the morning?

You choose an FPP reservation that covers the listed arrival time, in your case 3:02. I would select a 2:30 FPP time to cover that.

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FYI - The attendant is allowed to let FastPass riders on 5 minutes before their scheduled time & up to 15 minutes late. So never fear if you get there a bit early or even behind.

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It’s not even up to the attendant’s discression - the system is programmed to allow it.

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Yes. That is the more precise way of saying what I meant. Thank you for clarifying / correcting. I’ll be more careful with my wording going forward.

(I’m still a bit old school - I have grabbed / used many paper FastPasses back in my day. When the attendants, literally, checked the times on the tickets before Magic Bands & Apps were the norm.) :wink:

Personally we are stuck with summer break so high crowd levels and midday heat. Our plans usually consist of FPP 10am, 11am, and 12pm. We try to RD but even if we get to the parks at 10am we have 3 attractions to go on minimum. Eat lunch then either decide to keep doing rides or take a break and go back to the parks around 5 or 6 pm. The only day we have planned late FPP is days we plan to hit the waterparks and arrival day. I should note our stay is longer so MK and EP is divided into 2 days a piece so we only have half a park to cover each time.

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I remember those days - at one attraction you would have the casual CM who would barely glance at the FP while waving you in, and at another there was the Nazi CM who would carefully inspect each FP and not let anyone in until the exact time.

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