Going for 1 day fastpass question.

Clowd Nyne

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We are going for 1 day in July. We are not staying on property. If I purchase our tickets through the app for a specific day will I be able to make fastpass+ reservations? If so how far in advance? Thanks
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
Honestly, if you're ONLY going for one day, you're probably better off doing an After Hours event than buying a single day ticket. You'll get 1-3 hours in the park before the event starts, but more importantly, you'll get three hours where the park is absolutely dead and everything is a walk-on. Way better than any FP+ you could get. About the same price as a a one day admission. They're considered expensive to people because most people are in the parks with multi-day tickets and APs which won't work for the After Hours events.
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
This. Forget about enjoying yourself. Donate the money to your favorite charity and just watch Disney videos on YouTube. That's about how much you'll get out of FP+.

I disagree. If you go on a day that's 8/10 or less you can get any FP+ you want 30 days out other than FoP, 7 Dwarfs, or Slinky Dog. Just get those by rope drop or hopping in line just before park close. I've been to Disney 15 times since November, and while I've never once seen those FP+'s available, after the first month where I was still learning the system -- since then I've never been blocked out of a FP+ other than those three.
 

CAV

Well-Known Member
I disagree. If you go on a day that's 8/10 or less you can get any FP+ you want 30 days out other than FoP, 7 Dwarfs, or Slinky Dog. Just get those by rope drop or hopping in line just before park close. I've been to Disney 15 times since November, and while I've never once seen those FP+'s available, after the first month where I was still learning the system -- since then I've never been blocked out of a FP+ other than those three.
Bull. Because you will be locked out of FPs because of tiers. Agree on FOP and 7DMT. Unless you get it on midnight of your 60th day, forget it.

Don't EVEN try to say a FP for a ride that doesn't even need a FP us really a FP. For Disney, it's not a way to get you on a ride, it's a way to lock you OUT of other rides.
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
Bull. Because you will be locked out of FPs because of tiers. Agree on FOP and 7DMT. Unless you get it on midnight of your 60th day, forget it.

Don't EVEN try to say a FP for a ride that doesn't even need a FP us really a FP. For Disney, it's not a way to get you on a ride, it's a way to lock you OUT of other rides.

I said they were available. I never said that I could magically break the system and ignore tier rules. And really, tiers only matter for EPCOT for me. I never have a prayer at FoP or Slinkly Dog anyway, and why would I waste a FP+ on the spinning flat ride in Toy Story? But with EPCOT, FP+ strategy actually gets pretty fun. The name of the game is to burn through your first three as early as possible (and tab back your next FP+ while in line for your last) so you can unlock the first tier again.

It would be nice if the other three parks were less crowded so that FP+ strategy could be fun at them too.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
This. Forget about enjoying yourself. Donate the money to your favorite charity and just watch Disney videos on YouTube. That's about how much you'll get out of FP+.

The bottom line is this: Get whatever three FPs you can get at 30 days out. Who knows? You could be lucky and get some really hard to get ones. But I wouldn't count on it. Then rope drop that park for the hard to get rides.
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
This. Forget about enjoying yourself. Donate the money to your favorite charity and just watch Disney videos on YouTube. That's about how much you'll get out of FP+.
I disagree as well. FP are only for three rides. If you plan well, you can still have a great day even without FPs, especially if you go early before the crowds build. Not to mention all the great shows that don’t require FP.
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
I disagree as well. FP are only for three rides. If you plan well, you can still have a great day even without FPs, especially if you go early before the crowds build. Not to mention all the great shows that don’t require FP.

I'm not so sure about this one. You can still be a great "planner" and still show up when the park is 9/10 when it was only supposed to be 4/10. That's the point that Disney is getting to these days. Yeah, everybody knows that you should avoid certain times of the year, but that will only take you so far. We're getting to the point that the safe haven times of the year are still getting crushed. And yes, rope drop periods are getting crushed now. You might get one free ride if you crush rope drop, but by the time you get off, there's a good chance that the park will already be crowded.

Personally, I think that you live and die by the FP+. It guarantees you a minimum of three rides with minimal wait, and if you play it right, you can run it up to 10 or more. Granted, you need to pick a day that's lightly crowded to be able to work this trick. I also think that FP+ inadvertently gives you the most reliable real time crowd saturation expectations. If you look at how many FP+ are left compared to how many days out you are, its beyond obvious how crowded the park will be. Its taking actual data from real people, and you can use that to decide whether to go or not. Unfortunately, this really only works if you're a local, or are comfortable traveling relatively last minute. If this is planned months out, you're a little SOL if the time that you picked happens to be more crowded than expected.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
We are going for 1 day in July. We are not staying on property. If I purchase our tickets through the app for a specific day will I be able to make fastpass+ reservations? If so how far in advance? Thanks

Let's cut through the clutter:
  1. You get 30 days advance reservations.
  2. Pick what you can. They may not necessarily be the best selections.
  3. Schedule those for the three earliest hours you can get so that you can schedule your additional extra FPs the rest of the day.
  4. Balance that with showing up at rope drop and make a beeline for the attraction(s) you couldn't get.
  5. Have fun!
 
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aliceismad

Well-Known Member
I'm not so sure about this one. You can still be a great "planner" and still show up when the park is 9/10 when it was only supposed to be 4/10. That's the point that Disney is getting to these days. Yeah, everybody knows that you should avoid certain times of the year, but that will only take you so far. We're getting to the point that the safe haven times of the year are still getting crushed. And yes, rope drop periods are getting crushed now. You might get one free ride if you crush rope drop, but by the time you get off, there's a good chance that the park will already be crowded.

Personally, I think that you live and die by the FP+. It guarantees you a minimum of three rides with minimal wait, and if you play it right, you can run it up to 10 or more. Granted, you need to pick a day that's lightly crowded to be able to work this trick. I also think that FP+ inadvertently gives you the most reliable real time crowd saturation expectations. If you look at how many FP+ are left compared to how many days out you are, its beyond obvious how crowded the park will be. Its taking actual data from real people, and you can use that to decide whether to go or not. Unfortunately, this really only works if you're a local, or are comfortable traveling relatively last minute. If this is planned months out, you're a little SOL if the time that you picked happens to be more crowded than expected.
I don't necessarily disagree with this. FPs can absolutely make a trip better. What I disagree with is the idea that you might as well skip Disney if you can't stay on site/DS and get FP at 60 days. Millions of people go every year with FPs at 30 days or less. I know some people are cynical about Disney but to tell a newbie to just give up is pretty extreme.

I absolutely think someone going to Disney should learn about the rides, learn about crowds, learn about FP and how it works, etc. But (and maybe this is just me) my trip isn't going to be ruined if I can't get FOP or SDD FPs.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
This. Forget about enjoying yourself. Donate the money to your favorite charity and just watch Disney videos on YouTube. That's about how much you'll get out of FP+.

Bull. Because you will be locked out of FPs because of tiers. Agree on FOP and 7DMT. Unless you get it on midnight of your 60th day, forget it.

Don't EVEN try to say a FP for a ride that doesn't even need a FP us really a FP. For Disney, it's not a way to get you on a ride, it's a way to lock you OUT of other rides.
You're either lying or trolling. Either way, it's not welcome here. Someone asked for help so people are trying to be helpful, but you decided to be a sarcastic and spread misinformation.

For TOMORROW, i.e. one day in advance on a Saturday during the extremely busy Presidents' Week, there are TWENTY attractions with FP+ availability at the Magic Kingdom, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and many others.
 
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Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
You're either lying or trolling. Either way, it's not welcome here. Someone asked for help so people are trying to be helpful, but you decided to be a sarcastic *** and spread misinformation.

For TOMORROW, i.e. one day in advance on a Saturday during the extremely busy Presidents' Week, there are TWENTY attractions with FP+ availability at the Magic Kingdom, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and many others.

And to follow up on that, 30 days from now (March 24, which is coincides with Spring Break and apparently a major Dance Competition weekend according to WDWPrep):
  • Magic Kingdom: Every attraction has FP+ availability except 7DMT
  • Epcot: Every attraction has FP+ availability, no exceptions
  • Hollywood Studios: Every attraction has FP+ availability except Slinky Dog
  • Animal Kingdom: Every attraction has FP+ availability except FoP
Given that FP+ only lets you preselect one park per day, no matter what park you pick on a non-9/10 crowd day, at 30 days out you may have difficulty finding a FP for one ride max (and you can always periodically try to modify one of the existing fast passes in case the hard to get ride has a slot open up, which happens a decent amount, particularly the day of). And as others have said, you can manage that by rope dropping an hour or so before opening or by getting a Be Our Guest early reservation (on days the park opens at 9) and pre-ordering a kid's meal for $15 (which includes drink and the whole plate of pastries).
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
I don't necessarily disagree with this. FPs can absolutely make a trip better. What I disagree with is the idea that you might as well skip Disney if you can't stay on site/DS and get FP at 60 days. Millions of people go every year with FPs at 30 days or less. I know some people are cynical about Disney but to tell a newbie to just give up is pretty extreme.

I absolutely think someone going to Disney should learn about the rides, learn about crowds, learn about FP and how it works, etc. But (and maybe this is just me) my trip isn't going to be ruined if I can't get FOP or SDD FPs.

Maybe you misunderstood me, or maybe I didn't type out my thoughts correctly. I wasn't talking about the 60 day window. I meant that you should plan your trip based on when you book for FP+. You can get a pretty accurate gauge of the crowds based on what the FP+ selections look like 7 days out. In fact, anything above 30 days won't even get that accurate of a look at the crowds to expect -- as 30 days out, I can always find FP+ for anything other than Slinky, FoP, and 7 Dwarfs.

Which brings me to another point -- the 60 days only really benefits you for Slinky, FoP, or 7 Dwarfs. Any other ride, you can comfortably reserve 30 days out. Maybe within a few days the pickings will be slim.
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Because we’ve never discussed this before 🙄 but I don’t want to see the OP unnecessarily or disproportionately discouraged:

Unless you get it on midnight of your 60th day, forget it.

That’s just incorrect.

For TOMORROW, i.e. one day in advance on a Saturday during the extremely busy Presidents' Week, there are TWENTY attractions with FP+ availability at the Magic Kingdom, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and many others.

And that illustrates your best chance after the 30 day window has passed: the day before/the morning of your visit.
 

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