SDFP: CHANGES COMING!! Beware the 7th of June?!

[ArielSRL]

I just wanted to write a very quick report on my first day using SDFP in the parks. We flew in early this morning and were at the MK by 11:30am. Between 11:30am and 5:30pm we used 10 FPs and had a sit down meal. It was awesome

Booked in advance:
1:55-2:55 7DMT
2:55-3:55 Peter Pan
3:55-4:55 Space Mountain

the park was crowded-ish and waits were long-ish (ie it wasn't totally ridiculous but more crowded than I'd like). There were many things done for the day including what you'd expect but also things like Jungle Cruise (which in my experience generally has some availability day of).

we had a second set of phantoms that were linked to my account and I booked the following with those:
1:30-2:30 magic carpets
2:30-3:30 winnie the pooh
4:05-5:05 small world

we also had a set of used up ticket cards that I used to book the following:
12:10-1:10 buzz
2:30-3:30 pirates
4:05-5:05 tomorrowland speedway

the only thing that was really too tight was getting from 2:30 pirates to 7DMT ending 25 minutes later. We got out of pirates at 2:47 and hauled butt to 7DMT and got there exactly at 2:55... but hey I like to live dangerously (and was hoping for the grace period really).

we did
buzz
peoplemover
skipper canteen for a 12:45 lunch
magic carpets
pirates
7dmt
pooh
peter pan
15 minute sit/frozen strawberry lemonade break
small world
space mountain
tomorrowland speedway
buzz

from about noon til a bit after 5pm


it was a great day and we avoided long waits everywhere. then while on tomorrowland speedway after space mountain I decided to see if anything was left on the app for my primary account and i got the 5:10pm buzz.

It was awesome and it filled the time beautifully. I can't believe how much we got done today!

I will tell you that if your mind works like mine... in that you don't know your own name half the time, but can retain info like fp+ for 3 accounts at once without much effort, it will work well for you. This is the first time doing it and I was able to formulate a plan pretty quickly on the fly while figuring out the kiosks. I think it will only get a bit easier next time I do it.

thanks to everyone who made it possible!

Thanks for your report! I've read a lot about this (since winter last year and never got a chance to really use it this past June) so I pretty much get how it works and I'll have a second set for my family along with 1 extra (I am the only "thrill rider" so I'll probably pre-book me for space, 7DMT, etc but try to use the 1 extra to match up with the rest of the fam on the 2nd tier type MK rides). But I'm so worried that I'll get so confused trying to keep it straight. It's worth a try though as long as it's still active in June.

 

[emonade8]

Ok, I tried asking about this elsewhere, but came up empty. Not specifically a SDFP question, but it involves SDFP.

Here goes:
My family has APs that expire in a few days. I wasn't originally planning to renew because we don't have enough trips planned to make it worth it. Recently a friend invited my DDs and I for a girls' trip in April/May. The trip is set up on a different MDE than my AP, and we've already bought tickets.

I think I can use the ticket I bought toward an AP renewal, which I'm considering just for myself, for the Photopass and dining discounts. Here is my question:

Does the renewal have to remain attached to the same MDE as the AP I already have? Or is it possible to attach it to the new one. I don't want to have it on the original MDE because we plan to use those bands for SDFP. Am I out of luck on the renewal?

 

[ScrapYap]

The renewal discount is only going to be possible via the MDE where the AP is now. The only thing you can do is call guest services to ask if it can be transferred to another MDE.

 

[hodad]

My brother made a reservation for my child and I called Disney and had them switch her profile to the one on my MDE easily. You might consider doing the same, if that would solve your problem another way.

 

[emonade8]

The renewal discount is only going to be possible via the MDE where the AP is now. The only thing you can do is call guest services to ask if it can be transferred to another MDE.

OK, that sounds like I could run the risk of my profiles being merged accidentally.

So let's say I switch my room reservation to my MDE that my AP is attached to. I already changed my family's names on that MDE before I made a new MDE. Since they still have APs, can I keep different names for them and make the room reservation with their real names and then attach the tickets to them? Obviously the APs are in their real names but the profile names on MDE are different. Would that cause a problem or raise any red flag within the system?

I know the tickets (attached to the new MDE) can be reassigned. Can they be reassigned to someone on a different MDE? I would then keep my name the same in the original MDE and just use the ticket toward my AP renewal. If all of that is possible, then those AP bands could be used for SDFP (except for mine, obviously, but my DH isn't going so we already have an extra band).

Is this a viable plan or am I overlooking/misunderstanding something? I would really like to be able to take advantage of the renewal discount if possible.

 

[Pennypinchin4disney]

Thank you thank you thank you. Just came back from a Black Friday and free dining trip. Thanks to this thread I had complete success with extra fast passes. I booked 2 under 3 guests on my reservation since it was just me and DS10. I loved not having to do any rides without FP except Test Track...single rider was fine. I was able to get Soarin on our 2nd bands (Got Frozen ride at 60 day mark). I really appreciate this post. You rock

 

[BDFmom]

We just returned from a 10 day trip. We used a set of MVMCP cards linked to phantoms and a set of MB that were linked as friends and family.
We are able to use 12-15 FP each day including our pre-booked 60 day FP.
It was a huge success!!
As the days went on we got better at scheduling the SDFP with regards to location of rides and overlapping times. One day we rode ToT 4 times in a row.

SDFP made our trip so enjoyable. They made us feel like VIPs. Thank you so.much for teaching us the ways of SDFP!

 

[BDFmom]

Just wanted to add....
The only glitch we ran I ti was in AK. I asked a CM where the kiosk was licated and she wanted to help me on her iPad. I kindly said no I'd like a kiosk and she almost insisted I scan my band on her tablet.

I politely said no thank you and found another CM that directed me to the kiosk.

 

[ajenks22]

I just wanted to write a very quick report on my first day using SDFP in the parks. We flew in early this morning and were at the MK by 11:30am. Between 11:30am and 5:30pm we used 10 FPs and had a sit down meal. It was awesome

Booked in advance:
1:55-2:55 7DMT
2:55-3:55 Peter Pan
3:55-4:55 Space Mountain

the park was crowded-ish and waits were long-ish (ie it wasn't totally ridiculous but more crowded than I'd like). There were many things done for the day including what you'd expect but also things like Jungle Cruise (which in my experience generally has some availability day of).

we had a second set of phantoms that were linked to my account and I booked the following with those:
1:30-2:30 magic carpets
2:30-3:30 winnie the pooh
4:05-5:05 small world

we also had a set of used up ticket cards that I used to book the following:
12:10-1:10 buzz
2:30-3:30 pirates
4:05-5:05 tomorrowland speedway

the only thing that was really too tight was getting from 2:30 pirates to 7DMT ending 25 minutes later. We got out of pirates at 2:47 and hauled butt to 7DMT and got there exactly at 2:55... but hey I like to live dangerously (and was hoping for the grace period really).

we did
buzz
peoplemover
skipper canteen for a 12:45 lunch
magic carpets
pirates
7dmt
pooh
peter pan
15 minute sit/frozen strawberry lemonade break
small world
space mountain
tomorrowland speedway
buzz

from about noon til a bit after 5pm


it was a great day and we avoided long waits everywhere. then while on tomorrowland speedway after space mountain I decided to see if anything was left on the app for my primary account and i got the 5:10pm buzz.

It was awesome and it filled the time beautifully. I can't believe how much we got done today!

I will tell you that if your mind works like mine... in that you don't know your own name half the time, but can retain info like fp+ for 3 accounts at once without much effort, it will work well for you. This is the first time doing it and I was able to formulate a plan pretty quickly on the fly while figuring out the kiosks. I think it will only get a bit easier next time I do it.

thanks to everyone who made it possible!

This is a great report! Did any CMs try to "help" you at the kiosks? I'm afraid I will look ridiculous with my bands and cards and that someone will insist on helping me. Ha!

 

[Lisa F]

This is a great report! Did any CMs try to "help" you at the kiosks? I'm afraid I will look ridiculous with my bands and cards and that someone will insist on helping me. Ha!

no one really tried to help me but I did have an incident with another guest standing pretty much up my butt while I was messing with my FPs. It was making me very anxious that she was standing over me so I just quit out and moved to a different kiosk. I'm not sure why she didn't just go to a different one but whatever!

I just said "no thank you" whenever someone tried to help but I think I had that "I'm on a mission" look on my face that makes me pretty unapproachable, lol.

 

[goofswife]

I have one day left on a very old park hopper that I will not be using this trip. How do I convert that ticket so that I can use it for SDFP? Also where is the best place at WDW to purchase Magic Bands for the rest of our party for SDFP? We already have Magic Bands that came with our package for earlier booking of rides.

 

[ScrapYap]

I have one day left on a very old park hopper that I will not be using this trip. How do I convert that ticket so that I can use it for SDFP? Also where is the best place at WDW to purchase Magic Bands for the rest of our party for SDFP? We already have Magic Bands that came with our package for earlier booking of rides.

Just trade in the old ticket for a plastic card at any guest services location. Since it's a partially used ticket, keep in mind that once you've linked it to a profile on your MDE, you won't be able to transfer it to anyone else (though of course you can change the name on the profile). If you do link the old hopper to a profile on your MDE (not the same profile as any of the guests on your upcoming trip), you'll be able to prebook FP for one day when you're ready to use the ticket. Of course, non-expiring tickets are no longer issued - so you might want to hang on to that one indefinitely. For SDFP, there's no need to link the ticket to your MDE - it might be easier if you don't link it - since you will then not see the prebooked FP for your primary profile on the same MDE when you tap the extra ticket at the kiosk.

The best place to purchase MagicBands is whatever the most convenient place may be. They're the same price everywhere. Get them at the gift shop at your resort or the first park you enter. Be sure to tell the CM you want to link them later. You will have to link them to your MDE before you can use them for SDFP -- so set up the phantom profiles for those bands before you leave home. Don't make a mistake and link them to the profiles of the actual guests!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Just want to pop in and say that we are here now and SDFP is working like a charm!!! We're only using one extra set of MBs and there has been very good availability on what I call the secondary attractions. Obviously no FEA, 7DMT, Soarin, EE so far but pretty much everything else is there when we hit the kiosk first thing in the morning. Thanks to all that contribute to this thread.

 

[Lisa F]

I'm home from my trip and although the park was packed, we used SDFP all week and it worked fantastically. Just a few observations I (and others in my DIS group who were traveling at the same time) made:

1) if at first you don't succeed, refresh. seriously people are dropping FP's all the time and availability seems to change second by second. this applies both for 4th FPs on your primary account as well as SDFPs at the kiosks (it is obviously easier to do from your phone). I picked up a lot of PRIMO FPs by refreshing a few times and grabbing it as it popped up.
2) SDFP availability is fantastic in the mornings. So good in fact I was half wondering if they don't hold some available for people to book day of. On my Epcot day I planned to RD test track then go to soarin' but TT was down when I got there and instead I went to the FP+ Kiosk and I managed to score both TT and Soarin' on two different sets of media. the awesome tier 1's early in the day were gone a few minutes after RD though.
3) if you are traveling with kids have an easily identifiable way to tell them what to scan. We had "regular" bands, "christmas" bands and cards that I kept for the third set. Only once did my kiddo scan the wrong band at peter pan and the CM freaked out a bit "WHO IS J???" (the name on the band) because it was super crowded and it was really backed up and people were pouring in. I just said "he is wearing a friend's band and scanned the wrong one, he is <name>" and we moved on. Poor kiddo got a little freaked though, lol.
4) I will say that this trip was somehow more exhausting than others. We did TONS of stuff. We did soarin x5, we did TT x 3, we did all of the mountains x2 and 7DMT x3 and TSMM x3 etc. I found that we had to work harder to fit in the minor stuff that we so enjoy because I kept scoring FPs for the 'good' stuff. So just something to keep in mind about your flow, you may need to dial it back a bit if you want to experience the parks in a more laid back way because it is so tempting to rush from primo FP to primo FP.
5) my kiddo is on the spectrum and the lack of waiting really really enhanced our trip a ton. we didn't end up having to use DAS as this worked much better for a kid who has a hard time waiting.
6) i liked having only one set of extra MBs and another set of cards (his grandparents' used up ticket cards), it made it very easy to keep track of what was where. the extra mbs showed up on my phone and were linked to my MDE, cards were not.
7) it was not bad at all keeping track of the various FPs in this way

 

[canyoncam]

no one really tried to help me but I did have an incident with another guest standing pretty much up my butt while I was messing with my FPs. It was making me very anxious that she was standing over me so I just quit out and moved to a different kiosk. I'm not sure why she didn't just go to a different one but whatever!

I just said "no thank you" whenever someone tried to help but I think I had that "I'm on a mission" look on my face that makes me pretty unapproachable, lol.

LOL!!!! I must have that look all the time. Never been bothered by anyone questioning me on anything at WDW. Even when I don't have a clue what I am doing.

 

[Lisa F]

LOL!!!! I must have that look all the time. Never been bothered by anyone questioning me on anything at WDW. Even when I don't have a clue what I am doing.

what's funny is most of the time I have a pathetic lost look on my face, so whenever I go into stores I have people all up in my business constantly. but at disney I'm on a mission and it shows, lol.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Not sure if this has been confirmed on here yet but we entered MK this morning at 7:45 for a PPO breakfast (park opens at 9am) and the FP kiosks at City Hall were operational.

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!

 

[areno79]

Just wanted to add....
The only glitch we ran I ti was in AK. I asked a CM where the kiosk was licated and she wanted to help me on her iPad. I kindly said no I'd like a kiosk and she almost insisted I scan my band on her tablet.

I politely said no thank you and found another CM that directed me to the kiosk.

Same thing happened to us at AK! Luckily we kept walking and found kiosks near Kali and took care of things ourselves.

We used SDFP for the first time this trip and it worked like a charm! It was only me and DH, and for ease of use we wore our regular bands on our left hand and our SDFP bands (decorated for Christmas) on our right hands. It really helped DH keep it straight when he asked if it was the left one or right one.
And I agree with @Lisa F that the availability was forever changing. People were changing plans so we were constantly refreshing and finding more convenient times. It was a total win in our book and really made the difference in making our vacation great!!

 

[travelingmom4]

Just finished up our week using SDFP and it worked great! Eas able to get things like pirates, buzz, Lil mermaid etc.

I had 4 bands from extended family members from previous trips. I made sure to unfriend them from MDE before the trip to make things easier. I also had a band from my infant. One time I scanned the infants band first and it showed me all my fastpasses for the day. I cancelled out and started with a different band so I wouldn't have that minor problem.

I also carried the band's on a big mommy hook carbine clipped to my cross body purse. I would take them off before the ride and pass out to my kids and DH. They would hold and scan them then after entering the queue they handed them back to me. Worked fine for us.

Also the ones on the infants band would show up in my MDE which was nice in case I forgot to take a photo of the kiosk for times. I never tried to modify though.

Very helpful info!! Thank you

 

[travelingmom4]

OP, this is a brilliant post and I have re-read it several times and laugh every time. What a funny post!! I'm taking a risk and I bought magic bands on ebay. The seller said they are already linked so I'm trusting they were not stolen. Wish me good luck that this will work out okay, I am a little worried since I'm not sure how old these bands are, but I'm reading on another post that the bands should work forever, at least for the intent of scanning them at a fastpass line.