How valuable is the 60-day fastpass+ window?

Dear all,

I am debating a trip to WDW in mid-August of 2016 for 4 people (2 adults, 11 year old boy, 9 year old girl). I love the parks, but time and money make it difficult to go regularly. My last trip was late December of 2012, with 8 people. Our family is almost all academics, so we can only go at times when class is out. Given the peak prices and large number of people, we got a vacation home in Kissimmee. It was great. We had plenty of space, a private pool to relax, etc, all for a great price. We had to rent two cars and pay for parking, but the on-site hotels were so astronomically, ridiculously expensive, we thought we had the better deal. By playing the "Disney nutzi" and forcing people to get to the parks early, we were able to see almost everything we wanted and by using Fastpass wisely, had to endure only two long standby lines (Test Track and Enchanted Tales with Belle) in 7 touring days.

Through careful planning, while being flexible to the rest of the party's endurance, there were very few complaints and we negotiated peak crowds. However, from reports, it seems that every day in the Magic Kingdom is now like New Years or July 4. AND there is now Fastpass+. So, I need new touring strategies.

A big advantage is that this is for a smaller group - 4 instead of 8. My question is whether it is worth paying the extra price for a relatively cramped Moderate resort room (Deluxe resorts are still 4 times more than a vacation home, that is ridiculous), or a comparable price for the crowded, distant (with no rental car), and very cramped All-Star resorts to get access to the extra 30 days of fastpass+ to get the best times OR whether there are still plenty of good times left for offsite guests. What I don't want to do is to waste my third fastpass on a late afternoon or evening attraction that prevents using kiosks for extra fastpasses. I'd also like to minimize wasting fastpasses on rides that don't need them as much as possible. Also, I find meet and greets cute but not essential, so moving heaven and earth to avoid a 4 hour wait to Anna and Elsa is not a high priority. Of course, if the net difference of wait time is less than an hour a day, that is is a factor, too.

I realize there are probably dozens of other threads on this issue, but I could not find them amid all the tips on syncing tickets, magic bands, apps, rooms, etc. Thanks a lot for your wisdom and experience.
 

iluvMainStMagic

Active Member
The website I find to be the most helpful, complete, and up-to-date (he regularly posts his "tests" of his own suggested plans) is Josh at easywdw.com (if this doesn't post since it's another site, you would be welcome to pm me). He has a very loyal following and really seems to study the wait-time charts so he can make the best recommendations, plus each month he gives a day-by-day rundown about what is going on and why he makes the recommendations. Another very popular site is TouringPlans.com, they also have suggested touring plans and strategies. I think there are some basics available for free, but the rest requires joining for a fee in order to access them.

I hope you have a Wonderful time!! Doing some planning for your park days at that time if year is a Very good idea!
 
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CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
There are a number of valuable benefits of staying on property. Fastpass+ is not one of them, in my opinion. I've had perfectly enjoyable WDW visits without using FP+ at all, let alone necessarily needing it at 60 days.
 
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CAPTAIN HOOK

Well-Known Member
Like @gregorynbaker we are limited to school break visits. We have stayed at WDW Resort Hotels, vacation villas and an offsite hotel. It doesn't matter where you stay (its what you can afford), the crowds are still there as are the lines for the popular attractions.
We have never used FP+ before (I have my bookings made for later this month) - we're used to running around getting the old paper versions.
Anyway, to my point. Stay where you can afford and where you want to be with a group of 4. You will have FP+ availability for a lot of the main attractions (7 Dwarves and the meet and greets may be hard to find) even in the busiest times.
 
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MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
Having the FP+ 60 days out is nice but should not be the only reason to stay on property. I know they originally said that FP+ availability would be released in waves to give people options at the 30 day mark. If this is still the case I do not know, but would makes sense.
 
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dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Kind of like ADR's, the extra time is really mostly beneficial for the real popular attractions. 7DMT and A&E are the biggies right now, most of the others you can usually find available on a reasonable time.
 
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