The Animal Kingdom went Fastpass+ only just before the holidays, this happened at the Magic Kingdom in mid-January, and FastPass+ only is expected at Epcot January 23 and Hollywood Studios January 21.
All of my itineraries except this one (and this variant of it) are still framed around the old Fastpass system–sometimes called “Legacy Fastpass”–that is going, going, gone.
So over the next couple of days I’ll be publishing supplementary instructions for how to adapt my Autumn Winter Spring itinerary and its key variants to Fastpass+.
All dining stays the same–what changes is what you need to book ahead of time as Fastpass+ (or that day, if you are not a Disney resort hotel guest), and the sequence of things you do over the course of the day.
These Autumn Winter Spring itinerary variants cover now through the first full week of April. (See this.) By 60 days before April 12 (60 days ahead is when you can begin booking Fastpass+ if you are a Disney World hotel guest) I’ll also have out supplementary instructions for the Easter Week itineraries…
Plus there’s more all new itineraries, designed for Fastpass+ from the start, on the way! See this for an example aimed at the high-crowd summer 2014 weeks.
More to come tomorrow!! And for more on Fastpass+, see this.
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Update: Once again, Dave knows Disney better than Disney! I was able to make my FP+ reservations tonight, 60 days from my room only checkin. I am so thrilled!! Thank you for encouraging me to try just in case! I got every single one that we wanted for our 4 day trip. I may not be able to sleep now :o)
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Yay Andrea!!!!!!!
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Disney replied to an email I sent and said that since my package (which includes my tickets) begins on Oct. 26, my 60 days out is from there–not from 10/25 when we check in to our room. “…your check in date for your
package is October 26, 2014 and that is where your theme park tickets
are and that would be first date your theme park tickets are valid.” Do you think this is correct? I know the help center is notorious for giving bad advice. Do you even think it’s a big enough deal to pursue? Probably not
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Andrea, that could be…again my advice is to try the 26th…and no, it should not much matter.
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So, even though MDE says I can’t make reservations until August 27th, do you think it’ll open up on the 26th? That’s my main concern.
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Andrea, I guess the thing to do is try the 26th and see what happens!
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Follow-up question: I have 4 day tickets, but we will be upgrading to FL season passes when we arrive. Should I go ahead and change my tix to 5 day so that I can make fastpass+ reservations for our arrival night? Will that even be an option since it’s a split stay and a room room only on our first night?
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Andresa, while Disney’s systems have some double-booking issues, most are related to rooms, not tix. You should be able to make reservations for the number of days you have tix for, regardless of how many tix it’s divided into–and beginning the first arrival day. Room Only doesn’t matter….
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My 60 days is coming up next week. MDE online says that I can begin booking Fastpass+ on August 27, and the mailer I got from Disney says I can book August 26. We’re doing a split stay to take advantage of free dining, so I think this is happening b/c my first night is “room only”. Any suggestions on how to clear this up?
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Got it Dave, thanks!
Also I noticed you posted your itinerary for the later half of August. We are arriving Sunday, 8/10 and leaving Sunday 8/17. I know you mentioned to use one itinerary for my 1st half and another for the 2nd half.
As of right now this is the plan I have (I used a little bit of both of your itineraries):
Sun 8/10 – Hollywood Studios
Mon 8/11 – Epcot
Tues 8/12 -Legoland during the day/Magic Kingdom @ night
Wed 8/13 – Magic Kingdom
Thur 8/14 – Animal Kingdom
Fri 8/15 – Magic Kingdom
Sat 8/16 – Magic Kingdom
Sun 8/17 – Anything we missed, if we aren’t too exhausted!
We do have the Park hopper so we may hop a little bit. Can you tell me which parks to completely AVOID on my days.
Does my plan work?
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Rachel I like this! Here’s in general parks to avoid–but see below:
8/10: MK
8/11: AK
8/12: Epcot, HS
8/13: AK
8/14: MK
8/15: Epcot
8/16: HS
8/17: Mk
The note is that it’s OK to start at an am EMH park so long as you plan arrive before EMH starts and to leave it early afternoon. The time spend hopping to another park usually isn’t worth it, but if you’d planned to go back to your hotel for a nap/swim anyway, then it doesn’t matter as you would lose that transport time anyway. Morning EMH your dates are Ak the 11th, Epcot the 12th, Ak the 13th, MK the 14th, and HS the 16th… if you do this, consider putting yuor FP+ into the second park…
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Okay great , thanks. I’ll look for it then 🙂
No I know my 180 days isn’t until Feb 11, but when I go to mydisneyexperience to “practice making reservations” it’s not letting me go the 10 days past 180 days. Again I could be totally missing something….will that only work when your 180 days hits? Sorry if I’m being confusing…
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OK here’s what I think is going on: the +10 applies only after the arrival day of a booked WDW resort hotel visit. Since you don’t have a resort booked for arrival within today’s 180 days, you can’t get the plus 10…
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Dave,
Thanks for the updates! Being this is our 1st family trip I have really enjoyed the planning process. However mapping out which rides we are going to ride 60 days in advance is quite daunting…Then to have them coincide with our ADRs is down right nuts. Your site has been a go to and is definitely releaving some stress!
Do you expect the fastpast itinerary for summer crowds to work for August as well? I haven’t seen the August calander yet but believe it has been posted. I’m trying to firm up my schedule as I make my ADRs in a few weeks 🙂
Also, I’ve been fooling around with mydisneyexperience and it is not letting me make reservations for 10 days plus the 180 day window. I was under the impression that you were able to make reservations for your entire stay once your 180 mark hit. Is there something I’m missing??
As always, thanks so much for your help!
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Dave,
Thanks for the updates!
Any idea on if your fastpass itinerary for summer crowds will work for August? I haven’t seen the calendar released yet. I have to make my ADRS soon and am trying to tighten up my schedule.
Also, I’ve been fooling around with mydisneryexperience and it isn’t letting me make reservations 10 days plus the 180 day window. I was under the impression you could make reserves for your entire stay once your 180 day mark hits. Any idea on how I can fix this?
As always, thanks for your help!
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Rachel, I’ll be publishing recommended itineraries for August midweek. The short version is that the FP+ High Crowd will be best for the first half, and a new itinerary, coming out Tuesday, for the second half (beginning 8/16).
Um, Not to be a math nazi or anything, but 180 days form now is early July…see https://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/when-your-plans-need-to-be-firm/90-and-180-day-calendars/
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