Help - Disney Fastpass confusion

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by markiemark90

As you can see I am no stranger to the Dibb, but not been to Florida since 2015 so, have hardy been on!

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I've not been to Florida since 2016, but I still come on here quite a bit. Probably more than I should.

Originally Posted by markiemark90

Disney seem intent on spending money on everthing that is about money making and visitor data and nothing on attractions and experiences.

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Disney is a business and, like most businesses, their aim is to make increased profits from one year to the next. That aim has perhaps become more transparent in recent years but it's always been there. I agree that previously their PR and marketing has usually been good enough to hide that side of things.

Not sure on your comment about Disney spending nothing on attractions though. They've just built Pandora at AK, Toy Story Land is opening soon at HS, they are also part way through building Star Wars Land and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Train ride at HS, there's the new Guardians of the Galaxy and Ratatouille rides coming to Epcot (maybe more), the new Tron Coaster coming to MK, and the new Skyliner gondola system between Epcot and HS. And there's a bunch of other stuff that has been added - and removed - since you were last in Florida and visited Disney (see the DIBB's Theme Park Timeline for info).

I would say Disney is probably adding more new stuff than any other theme park business out there.

Originally Posted by markiemark90

I can see a night looking for apps and websites coming on - it will be like an extension to my working day

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I enjoy that sort of thing. I find it interesting looking into information about the Florida theme parks and planning things (not that I have anything to plan Florida-wise at the moment). I realise that others may not feel the same.

TBH, you don't have to plan. Planning can help to get the most out of the holiday and, as I mentioned above, some of us actually enjoy a bit of planning. But I've known people who have visited Florida without doing much planning and have just gone with the flow. However, a little bit of research will help.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by markiemark90

Is there anyone who can give me any positives about all the effort to actually get on a ride or eat a meal you have booked months in advance?

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You don't have to do lots of effort beforehand. Assuming you already have your flights, hotel/villa, car hire, and theme park tickets sorted, the only things you now have to potentially book beforehand are Fastpasses and Dining Reservations (and, even then, you don't have to if you don't want to).

Booking a fastpass for a popular ride can mean the difference between, say, a 2 hour queue without a fastpass and a 10 minute queue with a fastpass. Spending less time standing in queues is the positive benefit you get from doing the work beforehand. Booking a fastpass takes only a few minutes, although beforehand you have to set up a Disney account (if you haven't already), link your tickets to that account, do a bit of research on what rides you want to go on and which rides are most popular, and then go onto the Disney website or app to actually book the fastpasses.

For many attractions, fastpasses will probably be available the day beforehand or even on the day you are there. However, fastpasses for the popular rides do get booked up weeks (sometimes months) in advance. It's a bit like booking anything - if you wait until the day beforehand availability of times will be very limited, whereas if you book really far in advance then there will be more availability.

Again, you don't have to book fastpasses. You can just use the normal queue like you would at most other theme parks. But it's a free perk so you may as well use it and save yourself some time queuing.

Dining reservations only apply to sit-down table service restaurants and only those on-site at Disney. You can still eat at "fast food" quick service restaurants or off-site. If you want to eat at some popular Disney table service restaurants then you need to book well in advance. If you're happy to just go with what's available on the day then you can just leave it until you get there. I've only ever made 3 or 4 ADRs at Disneyworld; we tend not to want sit down meals there (partly because they are so expensive).

You can book fastpasses 30 days beforehand if staying off-site, 60 days beforehand is staying on-site at a Disney hotel. See the following for more info about fastpasses:

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/Dis...s--p-1042.html

You can book advance dining reservations (ADRs) 180 days beforehand. See the following for more info about ADRs:

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/Adv...ADR--p-74.html

Note that ADRs and booking Disney restaurants has been around for decades. That's not new. The main difference now is that you can book them online rather than over the phone, which makes it easier.

The rest is just about gaining more knowledge regarding the resort and area so that you know what to expect and have a vague idea what to do when you get there.

[JellyEllieBean]

I love a bit of planning, the vacation planner at the top of the page becomes my best friend before our Florida holidays.

We were a bit worried before we went in 2016, I did organise quite a bit beforehand, but we also found that if we changed our minds or decided to do an unplanned Park day the next day, we could go on MDE the night before and book some fast passes and we managed to change some TS meals too. I also love the fact that you don’t have to zig zag across parks to get paper fast passes and you don’t have to get there for rope drop at HS to run and get a TSM fast pass for the day.

[markiemark90]

Thank you so much grinner and nimbus, your time is much appreciated

I do understand the system now thanks. The bit that troubles me is now having to decide months n advance what day to visit, which rides to on, and if we want a sit down meal, where that will be.

I can't interest my DS who will be 19 and is never in and my DW just tells me to get on with it. I don't want to end up like some crazed taskmaster rushing us round the parks to get to rides. But if we don't we won't get on?

I think I am just gong to have to bite the bullet and get on with it. Excel here we come