When we last went in 2012, we got FP for both times on TSM. We didn’t get to admire and enjoy the queues. We are going to have to find a balance between FPP and enjoying certain queues.
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I will echo what others have said and throw in our experience. I mostly spent the time walking through the FP queues to refresh and grab a SDFP. Or while waiting on the bus/Lyft. There were a couple of times when I needed my DD8 to check me - like when I was obsessively refreshing to move up a JC FP while on iasw. But otherwise, I didn’t find it terribly distracting from being in the moment with my family.
The only exceptions would be super headliners. For FOP, for example, I’d set a timer 5 minutes before, sit down and be glued to my phone until the drop. But like @terp05 said, I’d rather do that and miss 5 minutes than suffer in a 90 min SB line.
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Grrrrrr. You don’t participate, you don’t complain!!!
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So by lunch my family last time were pretty done. But once I did the third I’d look for a fourth. Usually able to get one. But then we were done. I have some hopping plans this trip so I’m hoping I can grab a FP in the next park. I don’t think it will consume much time. Young kids so the easy FPs are our jam.
Do you use the information from here at Touring Plans to make your educated guesses about the SDFP and FPP+ at 30 day availability?
Do you remember the old FP system? One parent would gather the family’s park tickets to hike across the park to go to the ride’s kiosk to get FP while the other parent would supervise a bathroom break, snack break, ride, show, character meet, or rest. That was time consuming, too.
We haven’t been since 2012 but I like the recommendations of spending 3-5 minutes looking for the next FPP while in line or finish a ride and then get on MDE. I want to leave room for enjoying the ambience, taking a power nap, and putting up my feet, especially later in the afternoon.
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I found that aside from SDD, 7DMT, FOP, and PP, most rides were available at 30 days out. The problem is that they’re not often at ideal times. For example, BTMRR may be available but not until 7:30 pm. That’s a problem if you’re trying to get more than 3 FP in a day if your 3rd FP isn’t until that late in the day.
Pretty much everything is available same day at MK except the 4 mountains and PP (though I’ve often found Splash and sometimes BTMRR and Space). PotC, JC, HM sometimes can take a few attempts of modifying to get. The rest of them are pretty easy to get. That pretty much is true at most CLs except 9-10 days. The higher the CL, the earlier in the day the SD FPs disappear. That’s why it’s advantageous to try to use your first 3 early in the day, especially on high CL days.
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hey!!! Dumbo is never a dud!
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No offense intended! Maybe dud was a poor choice of words! I meant ‘easy to get’ of course, but no less worthy of riding 
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I’ve tapped in and found my next FP in less than 30 seconds.
I like this. And when I think about my TPs I’ve made, I kind of subconsciously did this, it seems! So, sure, I may have the Little Mermaid ride in my plan…but if we replace it with something else on the fly, the plan is none the worse for the wear as a result. I’ll be more consciously aware of this going forward!
Seeing a pattern here. 5 minutes. Which leads me to wonder when the cut-off for the search should be. When is it reasonable to think that what you are hoping/looking for just isn’t going to happen and move on. 5 minutes of trying?
Yeah. I’m thinking other than at KNOWN drop times (which I’ll make sure to note in my TP ahead of time), I think I’m just going to forget that idea. As much as it might be nice to find one…with 7 people in our party, I think that would end up being a waste of my time!
This will be nice if it continues to be the case. It isn’t entirely unexpected with the current Tier system, which I’m overall glad about.
Thanks. Yeah. I’ve been doing that kind of thing when making my initial TPs so that I could get a feel for what FPs might still be available at various times of the day…although, I’ve been using the TouringPlans website tool rather than actually in MDE since the MDE app is rather flaky (frequently timing out, etc). Part of that is because I don’t get decent data service on my cell phone when I’m inside my building at work. 
You should have told him because it is a smart decision! Getting a FP for PPF is a good idea since the wait time for that is unusually long for the kind of ride it is! Saves you a lot of time. So I say, “Good job!”
Although…when it comes down to it, do we really WANT them to participate and risk losing control?
Ooh! I like that idea. Gotta remember that. Set a timer on the phone to remind me!
Yes! The one problem, however, is that it only shows results for looking at a single FP. We have a party of seven. So I use that guide, plus consider a little fudge factor in the fact that with 7 of us, we might not be so lucky. So if there were a TON of times available, I considered it a likely option. But if there were times available, but more sparse, I considered that a “possible, but not as likely”.
Hmm. While my kids have been on it, I don’t know that I’ve EVER actually ridden Dumbo. Never been interested, since Astro Orbiter and Aladdin both seem like more fun versions of the same concept!
Ah. We have a Jedi FP Master here!
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I think having a window of time where we accept suggestions and individual goals for the trip is a good place to start. Then the window closes and you are now a silent participant, yielding to the planning master.
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Don’t let @dumborunner see you say that! I got called out already!
Yes, as confirmed in my scientific case study . Exactly 5 minutes to find Space Mtn! I’d take more time if it warranted it, within reason. But that’s usually all it takes. If it takes much more than that, it’s probably not going to happen?!
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With seven in your party, could you trade off who searches for FPPs? That way each person is only “out of the moment” for a few minutes during the day. What I found most annoying on family trips was being the sole person responsible for finding FPPs. If my daughter and husband had shared that task, it would have made me feel a lot more “in the moment.”
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Yes. Good idea.
You know, when my kids are playing Minecraft, sometimes they stumble upon another character who is just seemingly standing there doing nothing. This, I have been informed, means they are “AFK”, which means, “Away From Keyboard” at the moment.
So, I imagine that whoever is responsible for obtaining the next SDFP is “AFF” or, “Away From Family,” while they are doing the searching.
I think it will be more fun for them if I tell them, “Okay. Your turn, son, to be AFK.” Figuratively speaking.
ALL OF THIS. ^
If we don’t want to walk that far I choose a different FPP. We tend to focus on one land at a time for the most part though, so a little walking later in the day isn’t too bad since we spend the morning focused in one or two lands.
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Maybe try having yourself and one other person looking for SDFP together and split the party up into two groups - a party of 3 and a party of 4. You may have better luck getting fast passes that way with overlapping times, still allowing you to ride together
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I plan to bring my sister up to speed and go this route.
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This!
It is much more likely to find a FP for a group of 3 at 4:05 and another for a group of 4 at 4:15 (for the same ride) than it is to find a FP for a group of 7. It also makes the process inherently more social “got one for 4:10, try for something close”.
Of course, there is a risk of only part of the group managing to get one (opposed to no one getting, if you don’t split the group before trying). Depending on the group it is better to have pre-determined rules when that happens. “We only go if everyone gets a FP” or “Whoever gets a FP goes, but has to help those left out to get FPs later”, or you can just decide at the time. My group never faced that issue, but most times only a subset of people wanted to do a ride.
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