I'm finally (FINALLY!) beginning to pull together a touring outline for our trip in a few weeks. I'm notorious for planning early, but this year with drama camps and birthdays and starting our homeschooling adventure, I haven't had time to do much. But getting in touring mode has led me to a simple tip that can save you a LOT of time in the parks: Always have a FastPass in hand. Always.
It's not even hugely important as to what attractions said FP is for (although I use a complex matrix to decide for our trip...OK, that may be an exaggeration). Hold on to the FP until it's convenient for you to use it, but as soon as the time window on it arrives, get another FP. You can have a whole fist full of FP's, as long as their time windows don't overlap. The point is, for every FP you use, that's time you're saving in line!
Here's my strategy: As soon as you arrive at the park of choice, go immediately to a FP machine and get one. The one you choose depends on the park, which attractions your family can't miss, and which attractions are most popular. If you're in the Magic Kingdom, for example, I'd recommend one of the mountains. If you pick up a FP first thing in the morning, your time window for returning is going to be pretty early. That's great, because you can get another FP as soon as that window arrives, meaning you'll get more FP's per day, which means you'll spend less time overall waiting in line!
Guests need not return to the FP attraction at the time stated on the FP. In fact, you can go anytime after the window opens. So, your touring doesn't have to hop, skip, and jump all over the parks in order to use up your FP's. But if you always have one in hand, you'll always have a backup plan if your favorite attractions get really backed up!
And don't forget to give away any unused FastPasses if you're leaving a park early! (Pay it forward, people!) There are so many more specific, intricate FP tips I could offer, but that would take pages. To put it simply, if the question is To FastPass or not to FastPass? the answer is always YES!!!
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Thank you for a great tip. We are going third week of Sept. and I wasn't sure how much the lower crowds would require us to fastpass. Now I know, thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteCertain rides will always be crowded, even with lower crowds. My motto is, why wait if you don't have to? Get the FP for the popular attractions and use the standby line for less busy ones while you're waiting for your FP times! Oh, and in the Studios, RUN, don't walk to the FP line for Toy Story Mania. They often run out before lunch, and the standby line can get to 2 hours easily! Have a great trip!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading your touring outline!! I hope you share!!:) Thank you for this post re: Fastpasses. We're going in February and we're going with another family who have not been to WDW in 20+ years so I'm trying to get as much info. as possible to prepare and plan. Your blog is quite valuable!! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Leatha, for your kind words! I'm always humbled to see that so many people that I've never met are willing to read my posts. :-) As far as sharing my touring plan, I'm happy to do it. I actually don't do a hard-core plan-every-minute itinerary. As structured as I tend to be, I have most of my "rules" for touring in my head, and tend to follow them instinctually, without actually putting them on paper. However, I may do a recap after my trip to let readers see how we tour. Thanks for the idea!
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