FP+ Booking Strategies

[HouCuseChickie]

We're almost at the 60 day mark and I'm starting to refine my plans. While we used FP+ last September, things weren't in full swing yet- so I wanted some thoughts on booking order strategies. Has it become like dining...i.e. where you need to rank things and book them in order of difficulty? Or is it enough to just start with day 1 and just go day by day? I just wasn't sure if a FP+ for SDMT was like an ADR at BOG- i.e. is there a good chance I'd miss out, regardless of day, if it's not the first FP+ I book?

Our FP+ are going to be late and strange as it is since DH is sleeping in most mornings- leaving me to hit the parks on my own. So, lots of early morning standby/single rider lines for me, but I still want to have a solid plan in place for our afternoon FP+s. Thanks guys!

 

[Clamman73]

Mine Train on day 60, otherwise you're either not going to get it, or be able to change the time later on.

 

[TheMouseFan]

We're almost at the 60 day mark and I'm starting to refine my plans. While we used FP+ last September, things weren't in full swing yet- so I wanted some thoughts on booking order strategies. Has it become like dining...i.e. where you need to rank things and book them in order of difficulty? Or is it enough to just start with day 1 and just go day by day? I just wasn't sure if a FP+ for SDMT was like an ADR at BOG- i.e. is there a good chance I'd miss out, regardless of day, if it's not the first FP+ I book?

Our FP+ are going to be late and strange as it is since DH is sleeping in most mornings- leaving me to hit the parks on my own. So, lots of early morning standby/single rider lines for me, but I still want to have a solid plan in place for our afternoon FP+s. Thanks guys!

You should be fine starting with day 1 and working your way through your trip. The only exception would be Anna and Elsa (which I'm guessing you don't necessarily want since the girls won't be with you!). I was able to schedule my SDMT on day 60 for our 1 day in MK after our cruise and have since then been able to switch the time.

 

[tor29c]

My experience this morning (60 day mark) was that I was not fast enough to get FP+ for our first day there for SDMT. And I was doing this at 5:00 AM. So, I recommend getting on line early and choosing the important ones first before filling in the others. Good luck!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Mine Train on day 60, otherwise you're either not going to get it, or be able to change the time later on.

Thanks! I guess that's not at least too bad if that has to be my only real priority at the 60 day mark.

You should be fine starting with day 1 and working your way through your trip. The only exception would be Anna and Elsa (which I'm guessing you don't necessarily want since the girls won't be with you!). I was able to schedule my SDMT on day 60 for our 1 day in MK after our cruise and have since then been able to switch the time.

Yeah- DH and I won't be lining up to see Anna and Elsa That's encouraging with you SDMT experiences.

My experience this morning (60 day mark) was that I was not fast enough to get FP+ for our first day there for SDMT. And I was doing this at 5:00 AM. So, I recommend getting on line early and choosing the important ones first before filling in the others. Good luck!

This raises an interesting ? - several other posts/threads in this section of the forum say that FP+ booking opens at midnight ET. So, I'm wondering if a few hours made the difference here...assuming the midnight info is correct.

 

[TheMouseFan]

@HouCuseChickie , the midnight info is correct, but it doesn't always work at midnight! I stayed up to do mine since we would only be there one day and I really wanted SDMT, and it wouldn't let me in at midnight. I tried again at 1am and it still wouldn't let me. I gave up and went to bed and tried again at 6am and was able to do it then. There was only one time slot available for SDMT, but later that day I was able to change it to early afternoon, and several times since then there have been evening time slots available when I have checked. So as long as you are looking for SDMT on one of the later days of your trip, you shouldn't have too much difficulty getting a time that you want.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

@HouCuseChickie , the midnight info is correct, but it doesn't always work at midnight! I stayed up to do mine since we would only be there one day and I really wanted SDMT, and it wouldn't let me in at midnight. I tried again at 1am and it still wouldn't let me. I gave up and went to bed and tried again at 6am and was able to do it then. There was only one time slot available for SDMT, but later that day I was able to change it to early afternoon, and several times since then there have been evening time slots available when I have checked. So as long as you are looking for SDMT on one of the later days of your trip, you shouldn't have too much difficulty getting a time that you want.

Why doesn't this shock me??? A booking portion of the Disney website not working when it should. It's at least good to know that this is an issue. I also kind of wonder if the openings you saw later in the day are similar to the dining issues...i.e. when they fail to immediately load all slots for restaurant ADRs. Either way- I'm now prepared for this. Thanks for the info!!!

 

[tdpolo26]

the site hasn't worked in days... just like when I was trying to book my adrs ....