Trial Club Level Fastpass+ Purchase Program Planning & Discussion

[stephk1981]

BTW, depending on your plans, how complicated they are, how many days you’re booking, etc, the call can take a bit of time. Grab a cup of coffee and carve off some quiet time.

Good luck!

Oh yay, that should be fun while entertaining DD 11 months lol. I think we'll only do 3 days of extra fp's. Do they schedule all of my 9 days of fp's then or only the 3 days we want to buy extra? What was your experience with hold time for DSS? Any time we've ever stayed CL they have never contacted us, and we've never reached out to them.....so I have no experience. Will 30 or 45 minutes be enough for the hold time and planning the 3 days? Or do I need more time than that? Thank you!!!

 

[ninafeliz]

Oh yay, that should be fun while entertaining DD 11 months lol. I think we'll only do 3 days of extra fp's. Do they schedule all of my 9 days of fp's then or only the 3 days we want to buy extra? What was your experience with hold time for DSS? Any time we've ever stayed CL they have never contacted us, and we've never reached out to them.....so I have no experience. Will 30 or 45 minutes be enough for the hold time and planning the 3 days? Or do I need more time than that? Thank you!!!

They will only schedule your regular FPs for the days you purchase the extra CL FPs. You have to wait until your 60 day mark for the rest.

I did 3 days, had my plan all written down on paper before hand, and the call took 30-40 min. They were able to get everything within 5-10 min of the times I had written down, and oddly enough once I hung up I was able to then move some of the regular ones to the exact times I had wanted instead of the times they had gotten that were close. Like I wanted 9:00 and they could get 9:10. But then after we hung up I went on and modified to 9:00. I don't know what was up with that, not a big deal but seemed weird to me. I called at probably 70-72 days out, not right at 90, and no issues getting anything (except the odd 5-10 min differences I noted, which I didn't consider an issue, just odd). I did this back in June, so must have called in April (ETA now doing math, might have been march), so we had the nighttime viewing and didn't have to stress over whether we would get the 4th FP instead of the viewing or not which seems to be the case currently.

 

[stephk1981]

They will only schedule your regular FPs for the days you purchase the extra CL FPs. You have to wait until your 60 day mark for the rest.

I did 3 days, had my plan all written down on paper before hand, and the call took 30-40 min. They were able to get everything within 5-10 min of the times I had written down, and oddly enough once I hung up I was able to then move some of the regular ones to the exact times I had wanted instead of the times they had gotten that were close. Like I wanted 9:00 and they could get 9:10. But then after we hung up I went on and modified to 9:00. I don't know what was up with that, not a big deal but seemed weird to me. I called at probably 70-72 days out, not right at 90, and no issues getting anything (except the odd 5-10 min differences I noted, which I didn't consider an issue, just odd). I did this back in June, so must have called in April (ETA now doing math, might have been march), so we had the nighttime viewing and didn't have to stress over whether we would get the 4th FP instead of the viewing or not which seems to be the case currently.

That answered all my questions exactly! Thank you so much for the information, glad it worked so well for you

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Oh yay, that should be fun while entertaining DD 11 months lol. I think we'll only do 3 days of extra fp's. Do they schedule all of my 9 days of fp's then or only the 3 days we want to buy extra? What was your experience with hold time for DSS? Any time we've ever stayed CL they have never contacted us, and we've never reached out to them.....so I have no experience. Will 30 or 45 minutes be enough for the hold time and planning the 3 days? Or do I need more time than that? Thank you!!!

Yeah, I was going to say 20-30 mins. We did three days and I did all of mine in the same park in exact hour increments, 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, for each day - so that made it a bit easier.

I’ve booked this twice (although cancelled one, have only done it once), one CM was all over it and knew exactly what she was doing. One was a little more green and you could tell was taking a bit longer between screens, menus, etc. It’s a fair amount of manual entry on the CM’s part.

Good luck!

 

[texas200]

Oh yay, that should be fun while entertaining DD 11 months lol. I think we'll only do 3 days of extra fp's. Do they schedule all of my 9 days of fp's then or only the 3 days we want to buy extra? What was your experience with hold time for DSS? Any time we've ever stayed CL they have never contacted us, and we've never reached out to them.....so I have no experience. Will 30 or 45 minutes be enough for the hold time and planning the 3 days? Or do I need more time than that? Thank you!!!

Other people have posted about emailing their requests to DSS ahead of time and not waiting on the phone. May be helpful with a baby. You could call DSS and ask about doing this and when you should email them.

 

[tjmw2727]

For HEA it is in the plaza garden area on the side of Casey's. There is a grassy area fenced off, and the most lateral part of that area is roped off with a CM standing at the gate with a list of names. You tell them who you are, they check the list and let you in. It's a fairly small area, but by most reports not many people are utilizing it for some reason so there is always plenty of room. The night we were there I think there were 3-4 families, there was room for the early ones to sprawl out while they waited. We were rushing and late, and had no problem getting through the crowd or getting in at 10 min before the show.

For Fantasmic it was a little more difficult. You enter through the FP/Dining package entrance. There are quite a few CMs along the long entryway, and it wasn't until maybe the 3rd one we hit someone who knew what we were talking about - the previous ones just let us go through and told us to ask up ahead. You check in with a CM in the very back middle of the theater, the same CM who lets dining package people in. Our night she had a blue baton (?light saber type thing), we were told to watch for the person with the blue light. The seating for the program is the last 3 or 4 rows in the middle of the theater, it's separate from the dining package area but you enter down into the seating area through the same row. She checked our names on a piece of paper in our pocket and let us through the rope that was blocking those particular rows off. It wasn't even half full, and they did not open the rest of the seating for others, it stayed sparse. The view was far away, but central.

We didn't do Illuminations, so I can't help you there.

Somewhere back on the thread there are pictures with circled areas, at least for the HEA viewing location.

Thanks so much - and yes I know I saw more info on this including a map with the viewing area but I can not find it - so thanks for the description.

If anyone can chime in with where Illuminations viewing I would appreciate this- I have read about two different locations.

 

[stephk1981]

Other people have posted about emailing their requests to DSS ahead of time and not waiting on the phone. May be helpful with a baby. You could call DSS and ask about doing this and when you should email them.

This is a great idea, I might just have to do this! Thank you

 

[stephk1981]

Yeah, I was going to say 20-30 mins. We did three days and I did all of mine in the same park in exact hour increments, 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, for each day - so that made it a bit easier.

I’ve booked this twice (although cancelled one, have only done it once), one CM was all over it and knew exactly what she was doing. One was a little more green and you could tell was taking a bit longer between screens, menus, etc. It’s a fair amount of manual entry on the CM’s part.

Thank you!!

 

[bpx2]

Oh yay, that should be fun while entertaining DD 11 months lol. I think we'll only do 3 days of extra fp's. Do they schedule all of my 9 days of fp's then or only the 3 days we want to buy extra? What was your experience with hold time for DSS? Any time we've ever stayed CL they have never contacted us, and we've never reached out to them.....so I have no experience. Will 30 or 45 minutes be enough for the hold time and planning the 3 days? Or do I need more time than that? Thank you!!!

I just booked mine this past Friday for 3 days. There was no hold time for DSS when I called - they answered the phone right away. I had my days planned, and even with moving a few things around the total time for the call was 24 minutes. At the end of the call I double-checked that they were no longer doing the reserved seating, and she said "since you know about that" we are offering an extra FP on each day you're booking to make up for it.

 

[JJ2017]

I just booked mine this past Friday for 3 days. There was no hold time for DSS when I called - they answered the phone right away. I had my days planned, and even with moving a few things around the total time for the call was 24 minutes. At the end of the call I double-checked that they were no longer doing the reserved seating, and she said "since you know about that" we are offering an extra FP on each day you're booking to make up for it.

We must be going around the same time. I booked on Friday as well. I had a scheduled time that my CM called me. Mine took an hour though - seemed like the system kept going down. We booked 4 days.

 

[dbb727]

Looking for advice on times to schedule the below FPs for HS

Park says for now it's opening at 9:00 am and Fantasmic is at 8:00 pm. I'd like to get back to the resort before heading back to ride SDD at night (will be a duplicate - hope that works), maybe at at Sci-Fi at 6:15, then watch Fantasmic.

What time would you order these Fast Passes?

PPO Breakfast at H&V - hope to sign up for Jedi Training beforehand in order to pick a show time for when all our morning/afternoon FPs end.

These are the rides we want - not sure what time to start the FPs - again, want to be able to take our break as early as possible

We get 7 FPs

SDD - all
Aliens - all
TSMM - all
RnR for Dad/Son
ToT for Dad/Son
Frozen for Mom/Daughter
Beauty and Beast for Mom/Daughter
Jedi Training
Break at Resort (Dolphin)
Evening:
Star Tours regular FP which I will duplicate to SDD
6:15 dinner at Sci-Fi (should I keep? never been, but not sure it will time constrict us)
8:00 Fantasmic FP

Not sure if you are still looking for advice, but here is my suggestions. I’d actually mix the CL and regular FP order to minimize downtime. I’m not exactly sure of times/length for Jedi training, and the showtime do change so that may need some extra tweaking.

9am TOT (regular FP) for husband/son, 9:30 Frozen Ever after for wife/daughter (husband/son can probably do 1-2 rides on RNR or TOT before using FP if arriving right at RD)
-do character meets, shops, or explore toy story land then hit next FP near end of window)
10am SDD (CL)
11am TSMM (CL)
11:40 Jedi training, alternate time 12:20
12:00 RNR or Beauty and Beast (regular FP)
Break (lunch on way out or back at resort)
4pm AS2 (CL) - can arrive by 4:30
5pm Star tours (regular FP)
6:15 dinner
8pm Fantasmic

 

[gottalovepluto]

Oh yay, that should be fun while entertaining DD 11 months lol. I think we'll only do 3 days of extra fp's. Do they schedule all of my 9 days of fp's then or only the 3 days we want to buy extra? What was your experience with hold time for DSS? Any time we've ever stayed CL they have never contacted us, and we've never reached out to them.....so I have no experience. Will 30 or 45 minutes be enough for the hold time and planning the 3 days? Or do I need more time than that? Thank you!!!

I'm going to suggest you do 1 of 2 things:
1) back up about 20 pages here and start reading. You'll get a feel for the program and it's offerings and what you can expect
2) call DSS and ask them to explain the program. Alot 20 minutes for this phone call.

Some people have been able to call DSS and then they email their requests and DSS books and calls them for payment at a pre-arranged time but YMMV.

Hold times in my experience are about 0-10 mins with DSS. They will only schedule FPs on days you purchase the program. You are required to purchase a minimum of 3 days. You will need your reservation number whenever you call (or they can look up your reservation number) to verify you are a club level guest.

Planning your days will take time, looking up park hours and park maps and dining schedules and trying to fit it which 6 FPs you want sounds great in theory but it took me a couple hours (I've only been to WDW twice though so I needed park maps and lists of FP rides).

 

[gottalovepluto]

Booked 4 days worth today. My window just opened, called a few minutes after they opened and had no wait. Chipper and friendly CM. I had everything I wanted and times listed out in front of me- but I forgot that normal FPs play by normal FP rules (no extra Tiers) so I had to scramble a bit to decide which were normal and which were CL on my HS/MK day. All that planning and I didn't catch that! The phone call took 40 mins. It takes so long because Disney IT is crap and the CM spends half the call fighting Disney IT (in a very happy and chipper way because Disney, lol). I would alot an hour for this if I were to do it again just to be on the safe side if you have meetings or appointments or something to get to after.

Got everything I wanted at all the times I wanted except for a tier 2 in AK that gave my CM total fits and he had to adjust the time by 5 mins. I was like "that's totally fine!" he really did try to get everything exactly as I requested.

I didn't even inquire about the nighttime shows. The best that would come of that for me was an extra FP and each day is full of all the FPs I want tbh. The CM mentioned a few times I can modify the normal FPs and DSS can modify the CL ones. He said we can pretty much modify anything over the next couple weeks but once general FP booking opens up it will be harder. Never told me to not duplicate anything, but I didn't try. (I do intend to grab a couple duplicates in a few days.)

 

[stephk1981]

I'm going to suggest you do 1 of 2 things:
1) back up about 20 pages here and start reading. You'll get a feel for the program and it's offerings and what you can expect
2) call DSS and ask them to explain the program. Alot 20 minutes for this phone call.

Some people have been able to call DSS and then they email their requests and DSS books and calls them for payment at a pre-arranged time but YMMV.

Hold times in my experience are about 0-10 mins with DSS. They will only schedule FPs on days you purchase the program. You are required to purchase a minimum of 3 days. You will need your reservation number whenever you call (or they can look up your reservation number) to verify you are a club level guest.

Planning your days will take time, looking up park hours and park maps and dining schedules and trying to fit it which 6 FPs you want sounds great in theory but it took me a couple hours (I've only been to WDW twice though so I needed park maps and lists of FP rides).

Thanks for the info !

 

[DisneyMagicM]

You shouldn’t go do it immediately as attentive CMs will review their FP+ bookings to make sure they didn’t make a mistake later that day / week when they have downtime, that’s why you got a call - if you wait a few days you’ll be in the clear

90 days until we check out of our CL stay in July, and I was just able to book our CL FP! So excited!! Thanks to this thread I was able to immediately go in and modify the non-CL FP to duplicate some of the attractions (FOP, which we’ve never been able to get FP for...the disadvantage to traveling to Disney at the busiest times of the year. We are very excited to finally do this one!).

Ran into a slight issue with our annual passes expiring on day 2 of our trip. It was telling the CM that we weren’t able to book past our first day (due to the expiring AP). She had to put me on hold and get tech support on the line to override that (we intend to renew the APs but can’t for at least another month). It was solved fairly easily, but I was on the phone for almost an hour getting the issue resolved. All in all, very happy we were able to take advantage of this opportunity! Can’t wait for July!!!

 

[DisneyMagicM]

Has anyone changed hotel plans or cancelled their CL room?

Do they call you to rebook another room or do the CL passes immediately disappear? Or can you use them as long as you check-in to a eligible room type before park day?

We haven’t finalized hotel choice yet

 

[Tessaf]

Has anyone changed hotel plans or cancelled their CL room?

Do they call you to rebook another room or do the CL passes immediately disappear? Or can you use them as long as you check-in to a eligible room type before park day?

We haven’t finalized hotel choice yet

I have 2 rooms booked, one club and one theme park. The first time I called DSS for a question I told them I had both room types and I explained that I had one of each in case the CL FP+ program ended before our trip. I would want the theme park view instead. He totally understood but informed me that the day I cancel the TPV (if after I booked the CL FP) to make sure I don’t cancel the wrong room. He explained once you cancel the CL room the CL FP+ will be cancelled and you will be refunded the cost.

So if you’re looking at changing your room to a different hotel during that time, I would finalize it all before canceling or changing the CL room you have booked. And maybe have DSS help modify after you booked your CL FP+ so you don’t lose any.

 

[JJ2017]

What would be your advice? I most likely will be cancelling the 4th day of CL FPs that we booked, but I won't know until a couple of weeks before the trip b/c that day is booked around our friends going and what their plan is for that day. I have two duplicate rides booked. Forgot that I might have to reach out to a CM to cancel and that they might see those rides. WWYD?

 

[gottalovepluto]

What would be your advice? I most likely will be cancelling the 4th day of CL FPs that we booked, but I won't know until a couple of weeks before the trip b/c that day is booked around our friends going and what their plan is for that day. I have two duplicate rides booked. Forgot that I might have to reach out to a CM to cancel and that they might see those rides. WWYD?

You will definitely have to call DSS to cancel. It's really just your gamble on if the cm will care, they may change it to some other ride, they might say your FP will be cancelled if you don't change it (this is common and while it's turned out to be false they say it a lot, just acknowledge and try to move on) or they may not care at all. The only thing that is certain is if you need to cancel you will need to talk to them and they will see your MDE account.

 

[twinklebug]

I'm curious as to why folk are not taking advantage of the ability to book multiple parks with these CL FP+.

Everyone is unique, I got that, but why duplicate a ride when there are SO many others out there available to book?