Not doing any fp until the day. July

[disneyLisa]

My friend is going to florida for the 1st 2 weeks of July, her dh refuses to plan an itinerary and just trying for whatever fp are available on the day or on the day before visiting. They are 2adults and 2 dc 4 and 9. I think it's mad not to plan even just a little bit, I told them the adrs where open for booking but they're not that bothered about eating at Disney,I know they'll want to eat at trex but when we looked there was only availability for mid afternoon on each day, so they'll probably go for that at least. Any tips for my friends doing it this way? They've been before but not since the new system was introduced.

[loldis]

They will struggle to get the popular rides. But if they're happy to FP whatever's available they might get lucky at some attractions. Otherwise they're going to be in some pretty long, hot queues going at that time of year.

My DH refuses to plan as well. I just plan and don't tell him until the day what we're doing.

[missdopey]

We pre plan fastpasses and book them in advance but more than half our days out Park choice changes so we have to change our fastpasses, never had a problem getting the popular rides, just means we have to be abit more flexible. We have an annual pass this year so can only book 7 days of our fastpasses in advance, I’m not too bothered as I’ll just see what I can get on the day for the others, with abit of refreshing the app there’s always availability for something decent and I often modify fastpasses throughout the day, it’s like a game to me 😂 sad I know.
In terms of T. rex if they order and sign up for a Landry card they can show that to get priority seating without a reservation at any time.

[tracey1302]

They will really struggle to get the more popular rides done. It's not nuts the first two weeks in July but it is still busy. I wouldn't dream of doing it on the day... but I am a crazy planner and we do stay on site.

[Mortimer Mouse]

I have friends (2A and 2C) going in August who are the same. They've been once before in the Nineties, so think they know what they're doing.

I've let them know that a Disney trip does now require an element of planning in order to get FP's or reservations for the popular meals/rides booked, but they seem happy to wait until they get there.
I've directed them to a couple of you tube channels too, as I thought that might get the kids more involved and also let them see what is all like now.

That's all you can do really, as it's their holiday and their choice.

[macadoo]

No tips really about fastpasses as we always book them in advance (but I do hate planning what time we want to do rides 2 months in advance so can see where they’re coming from). You could perhaps recommend they try and book 2 days of fastpasses...1 at AK for fop and 1 at HS for the new story then go with the flow the rest of the holiday.

For T. rex you could recommend that they get a landrys card so that they don’t need a reservation. We much prefer this than booking an adr there as we aren’t really fans of Disney springs and will just go when we’re at a loose end rather than being tied to a set time to visit.

[Gill H]

Even during quiet months you won't get things like Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarves Mine Train on the day. You'd struggle even 60 days out.

If they are happy to queue for hours on the day, or miss out on all the new rides altogether, then fine. I wouldn't be.

[johnandmaz]

Originally Posted by Gill H

If they are happy to queue for hours on the day, or miss out on all the new rides altogether, then fine. I wouldn't be.

See more...

That's the key thing to accept for the "go with the flow on the day". If they accept and fully understand that, then they'll be just fine.

Same as Gill though. Personally, it's along way to go, a lot of money to spend, to not go on the best rides. Or stand in line in a red hot day for hours, watching all the people who booked a FP walking straight past you in the other line. Book a FP and spend the hours saved chilling out elsewhere.

I've just never understood it - especially when they cost nothing. Zero. Disney give them you free with your ticket which you've paid a fortune for.

But hey - the more people who refuse to do FP, the more it leaves for the rest of us.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by disneyLisa

My friend is going to florida for the 1st 2 weeks of July, her dh refuses to plan an itinerary and just trying for whatever fp are available on the day or on the day before visiting. They are 2adults and 2 dc 4 and 9. I think it's mad not to plan even just a little bit, I told them the adrs where open for booking but they're not that bothered about eating at Disney,I know they'll want to eat at trex but when we looked there was only availability for mid afternoon on each day, so they'll probably go for that at least. Any tips for my friends doing it this way? They've been before but not since the new system was introduced.

See more...

Make sure they realise and accept that they probably won't get fastpasses for the most popular rides in each park. They'll still get fastpasses for some rides, just not everything.

As for tips, tell them to keep retrying when looking for fastpasses using the app on the day. Getting fastpasses on the day can be hit'n'miss and so they need to refresh the fastpass availability page multiple times in order to see what's available. Also, try splitting their group into two smaller groups and try to get overlapping fastpasses - it can be more difficult to get fastpasses for a larger groups all at exactly the same time.

Originally Posted by Gill H

Even during quiet months you won't get things like Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarves Mine Train on the day. You'd struggle even 60 days out.

See more...

The thing is, if staying offsite, they'll almost be as likely to get fastpasses for the really popular rides on the day as they will be at 30 days out. As Gill says above, getting fastpasses for these at 60 days (let alone 30 days) can be difficult.

[Conno]

Originally Posted by disneyLisa

My friend is going to florida for the 1st 2 weeks of July, her dh refuses to plan an itinerary and just trying for whatever fp are available on the day or on the day before visiting. They've been before but not since the new system was introduced.

See more...

Awkward people like this annoy me! Let them go and struggle. It's an awful lot of money to spend with no advanced planning.

I understand some people want to relax and enjoy their time; but they are going to end up spending over 75% of their days standing in lines - that could be dramatically reduced with some advanced planning.