Refreshing for FPs??

[mamamelody2]

I can't wait to see how many FPs DH and I can get next week!

 

[JJ2017]

I can't wait to see how many FPs DH and I can get next week!

Sounds like a challenge, right!!??? My phone is going to die so quickly!

 

[Haley R]

I can't wait to see how many FPs DH and I can get next week!

I have to wait until December 29

 

[emmabelle]

During Labor Day weekend I had trouble one night trying to get Soarin or TT, and after like 30 refreshes I finally gave up.

It usually does work but if the FP’s are all gone for the day for a particular ride, I haven’t had much success picking up the FP.


As soon as I click in to a ride I immediately start trying to move my next FP up. It can be a little time consuming but I think of it as a game.

 

[mamamelody2]

During Labor Day weekend I had trouble one night trying to get Soarin or TT, and after like 30 refreshes I finally gave up.

It usually does work but if the FP’s are all gone for the day for a particular ride, I haven’t had much success picking up the FP.


As soon as I click in to a ride I immediately start trying to move my next FP up. It can be a little time consuming but I think of it as a game.

Last September it was our last night and I REALLY wanted to ride 7DMT in the dark. It probably took 150 refreshes, but I finally got it! LOL. I was determined.

 

[emmabelle]

Last September it was our last night and I REALLY wanted to ride 7DMT in the dark. It probably took 150 refreshes, but I finally got it! LOL. I was determined.

Hahaha that’s awesome.


I refreshed all the way from MK to Epcot on the monorail and then finally conceded and took Mission Space.

 

[HandsofReiki]

great thread! thx!

 

[Mopedmom1]

Sounds like a challenge, right!!??? My phone is going to die so quickly!

That's why I bought a Fuel Rod!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

One thing I've always wondered is:

When you refresh and a coveted FP shows up, how long do you have to book it? .

For as much trashing as Disney IT gets for its website (deservedly so IMO) the FP selection portion of MDE is really tight. I marvel at it every time I stand in line refreshing. There have to be thousands of people doing that at every given second and the system handles it. The A game developers at Disney are working FP selection.

I've read this from a lot of people. It's apparently easier to take any time you can get and keep modifying it to a more desirable time.

To me it’s easier because it puts that ride at the top of the screen so you don’t have to scroll to 7DMT. It might not be something with the system so much as you can refresh 2 or 3 times as fast, upping your chances that way.

 

[MorgannesMom]

This is a very interesting thread. Thanks to all who have shared their secrets! This very much appeals to my competitive, obsessive nature... I'm beginning to re-think my FP plans. We will be park hopping so I had planned to arrive early and just wait in lines first thing in the morning - leaving between 11 and noon, then have FP for the head liners in the afternoon/evening park. I like the idea of adjusting the afternoon/evening plans on the fly as FPs become available. Am I going to regret my plan not to have any FPs in the mornings? We will be in the parks Dec 17-21 and crowds will be high. We visit each park in an afternoon/evening during our visit and I do have FPs for the headliners in each park - except for FoP.

One final question - does this same process work for the elusive dinner ADR for BOG? Do I need to change the time to get a new search or can I just continue to push the "Search Times" button?

Looks like I will need multiple phone battery re-chargers!

Thanks for the help!

 

[Klayfish]

Am I going to regret my plan not to have any FPs in the mornings? We will be in the parks Dec 17-21 and crowds will be high. We visit each park in an afternoon/evening during our visit and I do have FPs for the headliners in each park - except for FoP.



Thanks for the help!

We would regret it. We never "save" our FP+ for late afternoon, unless we specifically have no plans to be in any park until late afternoon. We always use our FP+ back to back to back as soon as we arrive, then start getting more right away. We'll go through 7 or 8 FP+ in a 6 hour day, sometimes more.

 

[jaysmom4285]

One final question - does this same process work for the elusive dinner ADR for BOG? Do I need to change the time to get a new search or can I just continue to push the "Search Times" button?

Thanks for the help!

I've had great success at refreshing for FP+ but have never tried it for ADRs. I suppose it could work. I have much better luck using touring plans reservation finder. They continually search for the ADR you want and notify you by text or email when something is available for the date, time and party size you requested. You do have to jump on the notification almost instantly, as others are undoubtedly searching for the same thing, but if you can do that, the success rate is quite high. I've gotten just about every ADR I ever wanted by using that app, even on the same day.

 

[Haley R]

This is a very interesting thread. Thanks to all who have shared their secrets! This very much appeals to my competitive, obsessive nature... I'm beginning to re-think my FP plans. We will be park hopping so I had planned to arrive early and just wait in lines first thing in the morning - leaving between 11 and noon, then have FP for the head liners in the afternoon/evening park. I like the idea of adjusting the afternoon/evening plans on the fly as FPs become available. Am I going to regret my plan not to have any FPs in the mornings? We will be in the parks Dec 17-21 and crowds will be high. We visit each park in an afternoon/evening during our visit and I do have FPs for the headliners in each park - except for FoP.

One final question - does this same process work for the elusive dinner ADR for BOG? Do I need to change the time to get a new search or can I just continue to push the "Search Times" button?

Looks like I will need multiple phone battery re-chargers!

Thanks for the help!

We never schedule our FP for first thing in the morning. There is a lot you can get done in that first hour after rope drop. This is especially true with emh in the morning. We did MK this year with emh in the morning and did pretty much all of fantasyland, waited for Frontierland and did lots over there with no wait. We had ridden almost everything by noon and used 1 fast pass I believe. Just depends what your strategy is when you get to the park and where other people are going.

 

[Duck143]

So you just click between the tabs at the top (Morning, Afternoon, Evening and then the time slots) to see if different options appear and continue to click for say 100+ times?

 

[MorgannesMom]

I've had great success at refreshing for FP+ but have never tried it for ADRs. I suppose it could work. I have much better luck using touring plans reservation finder. They continually search for the ADR you want and notify you by text or email when something is available for the date, time and party size you requested. You do have to jump on the notification almost instantly, as others are undoubtedly searching for the same thing, but if you can do that, the success rate is quite high. I've gotten just about every ADR I ever wanted by using that app, even on the same day.

I am using the Touring Plans Reservation finder - and it has found it for me 3 times. Twice I wasn't fast enough and the third time I thought I had it but then my phone froze and I lost it. I keep resetting the search on Touring Plan, but no alerts since I lost the one.

I am also using the Touring Plans website to develop plans for each day. Playing with the Touring Plans website me the idea to not use morning FP+. We will have a few waits - but nothing more than 45 minutes according to Touring Plans. I also have the complicating factor that we are traveling with my 21 year old daughter and her boyfriend. While my DH and I will have no problem being at the park first thing - it is doubtful they will make it. I decided rather than stress over them not making a FP+ I just wouldn't make any morning FP+ for them to miss.

Another question for those who switch up FP+ as the day unfolds - do you start with a plan similar to Touring Plans or do you just wing it from the start based on what is available as you modify your current FP+ times? I'm putting a lot of trust in Touring Plans. All the reviews have said that they are pretty close on their estimates. I hope so!

 

[Haley R]

I am using the Touring Plans Reservation finder - and it has found it for me 3 times. Twice I wasn't fast enough and the third time I thought I had it but then my phone froze and I lost it. I keep resetting the search on Touring Plan, but no alerts since I lost the one.

I am also using the Touring Plans website to develop plans for each day. Playing with the Touring Plans website me the idea to not use morning FP+. We will have a few waits - but nothing more than 45 minutes according to Touring Plans. I also have the complicating factor that we are traveling with my 21 year old daughter and her boyfriend. While my DH and I will have no problem being at the park first thing - it is doubtful they will make it. I decided rather than stress over them not making a FP+ I just wouldn't make any morning FP+ for them to miss.

Another question for those who switch up FP+ as the day unfolds - do you start with a plan similar to Touring Plans or do you just wing it from the start based on what is available as you modify your current FP+ times? I'm putting a lot of trust in Touring Plans. All the reviews have said that they are pretty close on their estimates. I hope so!

I’ve never used touring plans and we always do just fine. We pick one headliner ride to go to first and have always been first or second on the ride. For toy story we were the first ones in line and for 7dmt we were behind one couple. If you get there early enough it’s easy to be first, but it was only DH and I. After the main ride, we try to do things that are close by, usually have long waits, and are short at that time. For example, we went straight to Peter Pan after 7dmt and walked right on. Then we pretty much finished fantasyland after that.

 

[Klayfish]

So you just click between the tabs at the top (Morning, Afternoon, Evening and then the time slots) to see if different options appear and continue to click for say 100+ times?

The tabs should be more than just Morning, Afternoon, Evening....scroll to the right, you'll see specific time slots. But yes, you can just click on them. However, whatever spot you click on, it will try to find a time as close to that match as it can. So don't click Morning if you want a 5pm FP+, click 4:00, 4:30 or 5:00pm

I am using the Touring Plans Reservation finder - and it has found it for me 3 times. Twice I wasn't fast enough and the third time I thought I had it but then my phone froze and I lost it. I keep resetting the search on Touring Plan, but no alerts since I lost the one.

I am also using the Touring Plans website to develop plans for each day. Playing with the Touring Plans website me the idea to not use morning FP+. We will have a few waits - but nothing more than 45 minutes according to Touring Plans. I also have the complicating factor that we are traveling with my 21 year old daughter and her boyfriend. While my DH and I will have no problem being at the park first thing - it is doubtful they will make it. I decided rather than stress over them not making a FP+ I just wouldn't make any morning FP+ for them to miss.

Another question for those who switch up FP+ as the day unfolds - do you start with a plan similar to Touring Plans or do you just wing it from the start based on what is available as you modify your current FP+ times? I'm putting a lot of trust in Touring Plans. All the reviews have said that they are pretty close on their estimates. I hope so!

We never, ever use TP (Touring Plans) to tell us what ride to go on when. In fact, in all honesty, I've never even looked at it. The one and only thing we use TP for is real live wait times. That info is helpful because it gives a pretty accurate picture...usually...of how long we'd wait in line for a ride if we did choose to do standby. It's a bit more accurate than MDE (though MDE isn't bad). Otherwise, yes, we completely wing it. When our window opens for FP+ (which is 30 days for us), I pick rides that the kids or DW and I want to go on. Don't look at crowd calendars, don't look at TP suggestions, don't factor anything else in other than "Gee, the kids would love Space Mountain, and DW and I want to go on Splash, etc..." Purely just pick what we want whenever we want. Then as needed, we'll make changes when that day comes. For example we may have a FP+ for Peter Pan we made 30 days ago, but when the day comes we just happened to ride it two days prior, so we'll swap it out and pick up Haunted Mansion. Just like the FP+ system, our plans are very fluid...because they can be.

We also never "rope drop". We'd rather sleep a little longer. We may show up right around park opening time, but never show up 30-60 minutes early. No thanks.

One other factor for us is that we pack all of our own food...both lunch and dinner...so we're not anchored down by having to be at a particular spot at a particular time to eat. We eat whenever we're ready, which gives us a lot of flexibility.

 

[Mopedmom1]

Just practiced at home for our trip in 13 days. Got a BTMRR for 10 pm and refreshed a few times and got it to 2:15, about 30 minutes from now. Awesome! Only problem...it was with my tablet. For some reason my phone won't work. ??? Going to try signing out of the app and back in again to see if that fixes it.

 

[scard192]

Just practiced at home for our trip in 13 days. Got a BTMRR for 10 pm and refreshed a few times and got it to 2:15, about 30 minutes from now. Awesome! Only problem...it was with my tablet. For some reason my phone won't work. ??? Going to try signing out of the app and back in again to see if that fixes it.

if that doesn't work try using the mobile website. MDE would not work on my older Android phone so last November I used the website and it worked fine.

 

[Mopedmom1]

if that doesn't work try using the mobile website. MDE would not work on my older Android phone so last November I used the website and it worked fine.

Yeah that's probably what I will have to do. I have a Samsung S7, the app is updated and I signed out and back in. If I just do one person it works. It's like my screen is too small and the continue button at the bottom of the screen doesn't show if I try to modify two people. How ridiculous! Too small is not an adjective I would use to describe my phone!