FP+ Timing Strategy

[Raineman]

So, it has taken us a few trips to get our FP timing strategy down, but this is how we do it, and I'm curious as to how others plan.
We are usually at the parks by rope drop or shortly after. We book our FPs so that all of the initial 3 are done by 1:00-1:30 pm. That leaves some time to hop in the standby line for anything that is a shorter wait in between FPs, which is usually in the first 2 hours we are at the parks. With our first 3 FPs done by early afternoon, we can then check for any open FPs later in the day that are available. When we go to MK, we tweak the strategy slightly, as we almost always get an ADR between 8:00-8:30 am for BoG. As soon as we're done breakfast, we head closeby to the standby queue for 7DMT, then do the same for HM and BTMRR. We can usually get those in before our first FP after 10:00 (Splash), then our next 2 FPs at POTC and JC by 1:00. That does leave some time to burn in that corner of the park between Splash and POTC/JC (which could be around 3 hours), but we have the option of going to the nearest side of Fantasyland and hopping in standby for IASW or PPF to burn through some of that time, which is a shorter walk then heading over to Tomorrowland and back.
Do you book your FPs close together, or spread them out over the day?

 

[ppet]

Our strategy is dependent whether it is a peak time or not. During lower times we follow a similar theme. During peak times like Christmas or New years we tend to get our fast passes in the middle day when lines are longest.

 

[Raineman]

I didn't mention how the tiered system at Epcot and DHS affects our strategy. Now, we will still get through our 3 FPs by 1:00, but one of them will be the tier 1 attraction, and the other 2 will be "throwaways" that we may just scan and exit, so we can hopefully get more tier 1 FPs later. I am not a big fan of the tiered system, but that's what we're all faced with now.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We get in early, do at least 2 -3 attractions before crowding builds, have our initial 3 FP+ timed out close together between 10:30 - 12:00 then add on what we can get thats worth doing and is available. Sometimes the quality attraction pickings get pretty thin as the day goes on and we invariably end up standing in some long lines or do some less than decent things just to do them cause we arent leaving the park.

 

[Mickey5150]

My strategy is to move thru my fastpasses like I move thru the parks. I'll plan certain fastpasses near where I plan on having a meal. MK and Epcot I always like to have done quickly because there are always available fastpasses for rides I want to go on. AK and DHS don't matter as much since the available passes are usually for rides I can walk on anyways.

 

[KikoKea]

I usually try to plan them all together, making sure we don't have to run back and forth across the park, so we're able to get another FP early in the day.....if we are doing one of the 'half-day' parks such as HS, AK, or Epcot. Often, the 4th FP is at another park or MK. If we are at MK, I might spread them out to work around an afternoon break at the pool or snagging a 7DMT FP.

 

[westflower]

I try to book ours an hour apart, and usually near beginning of the day. Typically may be 10, 11, and 12 pm booking for example if the park opens at 9 am. We try to rope drop and pick a certain land, for instance Adventureland or Tomorrowland and get what we can get done in the first hour plus, and then hit the first fast pass, usually picking rides in one of the lands or two that we didn't rope drop. That's our MK strategy, anyway. We leave the park after the last fast pass no matter what park we are in, unless we can pick up another one while we are there on the app, and go back to the hotel. We usually go back later that night and try to see if we can grab a fastpass for something, and then see what rides don't have a terribly long wait.

 

[Rsj88]

We use to book ours for the afternoon when lines got longer but this last trip we changed it up and it worked really well. We book our fast passes starting around an hour after park open. Then as soon as we tap our band On the first FP we try and move the other two up. So let’s say I have passes for 9, 10, and 11. After I tap the 9:00 I try to move my 10:00 up to 9:15 and my 11:00 to 10:15. As soon as I tap my second FP at lets say 9:30, I move my third to 9:45. Then I continually look for fast passes the rest of the day as soon as I tap the band. I refresh a bunch and usually find plenty to choose from throughout the day. If all the good fast passes run out I look to see if I can hop to another park with shorter lines and better fast passes available. We do tend to go when it’s less crowded though.

 

[KikoKea]

We use to book ours for the afternoon when lines got longer but this last trip we changed it up and it worked really well. We book our fast passes starting around an hour after park open. Then as soon as we tap our band On the first FP we try and move the other two up. So let’s say I have passes for 9, 10, and 11. After I tap the 9:00 I try to move my 10:00 up to 9:15 and my 11:00 to 10:15. As soon as I tap my second FP at lets say 9:30, I move my third to 9:45. Then I continually look for fast passes the rest of the day as soon as I tap the band. I refresh a bunch and usually find plenty to choose from throughout the day. If all the good fast passes run out I look to see if I can hop to another park with shorter lines and better fast passes available. We do tend to go when it’s less crowded though.

You can do that? I never knew!

 

[Rsj88]

You can do that? I never knew!

Yep! It works great! It’s especially helpful if you want to hop to another park.

 

[KikoKea]

Yep! It works great! It’s especially helpful if you want to hop to another park.

Thanks for posting that tip! I always snag a new FP after the 3rd one, but never knew you could move one into the 'FP hour' of another FP. That will certainly help at our 'half day' parks.

 

[westflower]

We use to book ours for the afternoon when lines got longer but this last trip we changed it up and it worked really well. We book our fast passes starting around an hour after park open. Then as soon as we tap our band On the first FP we try and move the other two up. So let’s say I have passes for 9, 10, and 11. After I tap the 9:00 I try to move my 10:00 up to 9:15 and my 11:00 to 10:15. As soon as I tap my second FP at lets say 9:30, I move my third to 9:45. Then I continually look for fast passes the rest of the day as soon as I tap the band. I refresh a bunch and usually find plenty to choose from throughout the day. If all the good fast passes run out I look to see if I can hop to another park with shorter lines and better fast passes available. We do tend to go when it’s less crowded though.

I do this too, if we can. Typically what I have reserved on FPs are rides I don't see movement in, like for instance Avatar, or Test Track, and HS I don't see earlier changes I can make for instance RnR. If they are rides that are not quite as popular, I can usually move as soon as tap our magic band. For AK, HS, and Epcot, rides that we really don't care about having a fastpass for are rides we can move up, parks with tier system. I look over at the other parks, too, just in case, as we do park hopper tickets. We have better luck with it in MK as far as being able to shift rides sooner. Last time we went during Easter week, though, crowds were pretty thick.