Flaw/Conflict in FP+ and AP Renewal if both in the same week

[JohnD]

Maybe this has already been discussed before but I just discovered a flaw in being able to make FP+ choices 60 days out if the renewal of an AP is in the same week as a planned trip.

My conflict is this: Today is 60 days out from my trip beginning on November 8. As we already know, the entire length of the trip should open up (November 8-13 for me). But I can only make FP+ through November 10, the date of the expiration of my AP. So, I tried to renew my AP only to find out I can't renew it until the AP is 60 days out from expiring, or September 11 in this case.

So, at any other time of the year, the entire week would open up and I would be able to make all of my FP+s. Not so, here. I can make my FP+s through November 10 as of today. But I have to wait until September 11 before I can make the remaining FP+s. In this situation, there should be an exception to the 60 day limit on renewing the AP so that the remaining FP+ choices can be made. The card holder should be granted an extension for the number of days between when the 60 day window for FP+ begins (in my case November 8) and the date the AP expires (in my case November 10).

I understand that the AP needs to be renewed first since ticket media is required to enter any park.

 

[WillCAD]

Seems like you're caught between a rock and a hard place, but it's not as bad as you think.

Your AP expires 2 days into your planned trip, so at T+60, you can only make FP selections for those first 2 days.

To make FP selections for the rest of your trip, you have to wait until T+58, when you can renew your AP. So in reality, it's only costing you 2 days.

You might be thinking, "But Anna and Else sell out immediately! Those two days will make it impossible to get any FPs for the princesses!"

Except, even at T+60, you're already getting sloppy seconds - all of the thousands of people whose trips started 1, 2, or 3 days earlier than yours already had their FP selections opened up and have taken a lot of the FPs.

"But what about the last days of my trip?" you might ask. "At T+60 I can get them, and the people whose trips started before mine will end before mine, so I'm getting first crack at those days - but only if I can make my selections right at T+60!"

Not exactly. If your trip is a week, as you mentioned, you're still not going to be the first to select on those days - anyone who is staying 8 days or more already had a go at them before you even hit T+60. Remember, some folks stay at WDW as much as two weeks, especially international Guests like those from the UK and Australia, where holidays are 4 weeks or more per year instead of the paltry 1-2 weeks that Americans are grudgingly given by our slavedriving bas... I mean generously granted by our benevolent employers.

So, don't sweat it. I do agree with you that the AP renewal period should be changed to 70 days instead of 60, for just this situation, but it's not going to kill your trip to make the bulk of your FP selections at T+58 instead of T+60.

 

[JohnD]

I agree it wouldn't kill the trip. Just a major inconvenience and a flaw in their setup (unintended I'm sure). Anyway, they made up for it by establishing 9 FP+ (3 in one park / day) for the remainder of the trip. Anyway, AP is now renewed.