**November 2019***

[SaintsManiac]

I made my CL FP about two weeks ago and I just made a tiny tweak. I’m giving up Pirates to get a SDD evening ride in before F! Do you think Pirates would be a hard to get 4th FP right around the parade time? It will also be the last possible ride of our afternoon so we could also wait. How long would you think the wait would be immediately following the 2:00 parade? We’d be watching as close to Splash Mountain as possible. We maybe would even skip the parade and ride Pirates then.

Pirates really doesn't ever get too bad of a wait. It moves quickly. I pick up 4th or 5th FPs for it or we just wait stand by. Even on July 4th we waited less than 30 minutes in the stand by line (during the parade).

 

[Sjm9911]

Ugh-that isn't good! I know Star Tours is probably going to be the hardest ride to get with this new tiering system, but I'm having trouble believing that there are so many people with 12+ day trips that they're already gone. I wonder if Disney is holding them back and many haven't been released yet. I've been following real time FP availability on the Dibb in preparation for our FP day, and I thought it was looking pretty good. They don't show Star Tours, but all the tier 1 HS rides except SDD show as being available at 60 days and less. I wonder why your experience was so different.

What's your last day? Our HS day is 11/5, our 60+3 (last day of our trip). Just wondering what I'm in for when I make FPs on Tuesday!

I arrive on october 29th , hs on nov 9th. Even the shows were a no go.

 

[Sjm9911]

I think people are grabing anything so they can get a 4th pass for an actual ride.

 

[Rach3975]

I think people are grabing anything so they can get a 4th pass for an actual ride.

This is the site I mentioned where I've been tracking FP availability. It's strange that it's so different from what you found. I think people taking trips that long are a small minority, so how in the world is everything already full? (Not doubting that was what you found, only wondering why you're finding it.) I wonder if MDE was especially glitchy during your FP time? If show times haven't been finalized? If FPs haven't all been released yet? It will be interesting to see what happens if you try to modify over the next few days.

 

[Deb286]

What's your last day? Our HS day is 11/5, our 60+3 (last day of our trip). Just wondering what I'm in for when I make FPs on Tuesday!

I've just been looking at HS FP for 11/5 (we're at universal that day but looked out of curiosity) and as of now there's availability for everything morning and afternoon. Obviously that will change between now and your FP day, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I arrive on october 29th , hs on nov 9th. Even the shows were a no go.

I see plenty of availability. Not sure why you were having issues?

 

[Sjm9911]

I see plenty of availability. Not sure why you were having issues?

Just checked, there is more open now. But still no availability for any of the bigger rides, and star tours. Some of the shows opened up , but later

 

[SaintsManiac]

Just checked, there is more open now. But still no availability for any of the bigger rides, and star tours. Some of the shows opened up , but later

Log out and log back in. Try the computer. Something is wrong.

 

[Sjm9911]

Nm , working on the other site now. I think it got buggy. Im switching stuff around now!

 

[Sjm9911]

I think they may be releasing the fp in a controlled way. I had some avilibility and moved some stuff around( on my first day), then went the the further day out and it went back to no avalibility.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I think they may be releasing the fp in a controlled way. I had some avilibility and moved some stuff around( on my first day), then went the the further day out and it went back to no avalibility.

They don’t do that. On the site referenced above you can see all FP availability 90 days out. It’s a very reliable source.

 

[Rach3975]

Just checked, there is more open now. But still no availability for any of the bigger rides, and star tours. Some of the shows opened up , but later

You said you already have SDD on your 60+12, right? If so, that's probably why it's not displaying any Tier 1's. You should be able to see them if you click modify, but since you're not eligible to book a second tier 1 MDE shows them as unavailable.

 

[Sjm9911]

Forgot they switched the tiers, that could be part of it apso.

 

[Suejacken]

Everybody says that, but can you elaborate a bit.... my concern is with little kids and feeling like having to wait in line for everything, when kids get cranky even 5 minutes isn't tolerable sometimes.
If we go with the attitude that we will do as much we can and then take breaks come back to the hotel for the afternoon and go back in the evening it should be fine.

Some people have said that even the week before is crowded, its just thanksgiving is a bit more, others have said it not that bad and tolerable. For 5 nights we are spending so much and want to make sure we get to enjoy it.

We went to the magic kingdom for early morning hours at 8am because we had an almost 2 year old, a five and a seven year old. We got several characters done plus a couple rides before it got crowded

 

[Suejacken]

We booked for $285 per person round trip from Buffalo right when Southwest released the schedule in May, and I’m really glad we did. They moved our flight times since then but it was easy to adjust our park plans around the changes. I checked the prices yesterday and the same flights now cost $495 per person. The last dozen or so times we’ve traveled we’ve found that when booking right when the schedules are released we get the cheapest rate.

We booked Southwest out of Philly for Nov. 5th to the 17th on the day the fares came out. The tix came to about $330 with early bird both ways. The same flight one way alone is now over $500

 

[Cynner]

I just did my FP planning so I know my priorities ahead of time. My fastpass availability starts Sept 17. Since we'll be doing Disney a ton this year (7 trips!) I'm not super stressed about getting everything in one trip at all. But as it's been 4 years since we've been there, Pandora, Toy Story Land and of course Star Wars are all new to us. I put Animal Kingdom on the last day on purpose, and have a 2ned Hollywood studios day on the next to last day of the trip. We'll also be rope dropping like crazy.
MK Priorities for us: Space Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion; (I hate 7 dwarves, the seats hurt my knees and triggers my claustrophobia, so really don't care to do it every trip). We'll rope drop Thunder Mountain and the rides on that side of the park.
Epcot Priorities for us: Soarin' (because this is the first year DS agreed to do it), Test Track; Turtle Talk (because I love it), as we're coming in from the International gateway, we're going to rope drop Frozen Ever after. We're doing 2 days here; so we can pick a FP for the one we don't get hopefully.
Hollywood studios: Slinky Dog Dash, Rock n Roll Coaster, (doing 2 days here), Star Tours; rope dropping Millennium Falcon and late nighting it as well.
AK: Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey, Safaris, Everest - if we get FOP FP, we'll be rope dropping Everest. Otherwise, we'll be doing a very early rope drop for FOP.

 

[nancy155]

My FP day is on Monday. With the time difference (visiting parents in Arizona) I will be waking at 3:45am to be logged on by 4am to begin my selections. I have a plan and here’s hoping it all works out! Especially getting up that early on Labor Day! Guess at least I can go back to sleep instead of having to get up and go to work. .

 

[Cynner]

Hi all,
This will be our first trip and we are booked for nov 23 - nov 28. Will be staying at the swan and dolphin. Family with 2 kids under 5. Anyone else staying there?

A bit nervous of crowds but have heard that if we do FP and 2- 3 days at MK we should be ok.

If we do FP, do we still need to do rope drop?

Let’s say we get the 9-10am FP for one of the rides at MK. Do we just show up in that time slot and no waiting?

I would definitely rope drop - even with Fastpasses; I generally aim for FPs a couple hours after RD. My strategy for super crowded days is (and I've been here for New Years Eve and Spring break): Get to park 1.5 hrs before announced opening - can be hard, that's very early, but they often open the park 30m earlier than announced when it's that crowded. Get Fastpasses a couple hours after park opening, plan to rope drop rides you didn't get FPs for and get them early. Then get your FPs, and then have a lunch ADR - either in park or at a resort - and then leave the park if it's wall to wall people. Go swim, nap, relax, putt-putt, something else. Find an offsite place to watch fireworks; or do an in park ADR that gives you fireworks viewing areas and go back into the park for them.

 

[wvasweetness]

My FP day is on Monday. With the time difference (visiting parents in Arizona) I will be waking at 3:45am to be logged on by 4am to begin my selections. I have a plan and here’s hoping it all works out! Especially getting up that early on Labor Day! Guess at least I can go back to sleep instead of having to get up and go to work. .

Oh good luck! Let us know what you get!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Joining this roll call too since we're traveling 10/24-11/9!

Anxiously waiting for the JBJB dessert parties to drop because we'd love to do it before we leave on 11/9.