Major fastpasses already gone at 7 am, 60 days out...

LMO429 said:

I notice the lack of availability of big fastpasses for my 60 day window opening up last week as oppose to 6 months ago.

I truly think it now also has to do with all the good neighbor hotels, 4 seasons hotel, etc being part of the 60 day window. Where as six months ago it was just disney property hotels. also club level gets fp at 90 days if they $

While i got everything i wanted at 60 day I did have to wait till much further in my trip to get them (we are staying for ten nights) if I had a shorter trip I would have had no chance. Its disappointing at 60 days out to not get what you want esp when you log on exactly at 7am

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I really have no idea what the impact is of good neighbor hotels (though they were added at the beginning of this year from my understanding). However, the OP is trying to book the it attraction of this time period.

I have only been here on the Boards since Oct 2015 but I remember reading the awful FEA "I can't get a FP for it" threads, then last year it was FOP and to an extent NRJ "I can't get a FP for it" threads (I used the tactic of starting at the last day I'd be going to AK to look for my FOP FP and easily had my choice), and this year it's Slinky and to an extent Alien Saucers. I know that even though it's been several years 7DMT continues to be a hot hot hot commodity in MK. Sure the FP is easier to get but it still remains the hardest I believe (could be wrong) in MK to get.

So in a nutshell someone is going to be disappointed no matter who is added to the "who is eligible for a FP" simply because the attraction is very desirable.

Now yes length of stay does add an advantage since you don't have to book day by day and you could possibly have a better outcome using the tactic of starting the latter part of your trip.

danceintherain said:

We're planning JTA, so doing Rope Drop in Toy Story Land might not happen, but I have a Toy Story obsessed daughter.

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So, HUGE caveat that we were there in Feb before Toy Story Land opened. But we rope dropped at HS to do Jedi Training. They let us in about 14 minutes before park opening and we were able to sign up pretty quickly. We headed over to the crowd that was waiting for Toy Story Midway Mania and they were still being held at the rope. They let people head to the rest of the park right around park opening time. We were a bit far back but we technically were able to still rope drop for it. I don’t know if it still works this way since TSL opened but there might be a chance you could still do both JTA and still rope drop SDD, albeit not at the front of the crowd. Maybe others have more recent info.

Took a trip at the end of July, I really had no problem getting any of the FastPasses we wanted, other than a few minutes of grumbling at the phone on our booking morning while the initial crush subsided. It wasn't a particularly long trip and we got SDD and Saucers on 60+2 and 60+4 no problem, FoP we had our pick of times. My sister and cousin joined the trip 20-something days later and it only took a day or so of searching to lock them in for all the same except the Saucers of all things. I'm sorry people are having trouble, but I have to challenge the idea that it's very pervasive.

I think, personally, the current system is the best iteration so far, yes it has flaws, and yes it can be gamed a little, but I love not having to sprint all over. Sitting in Epcot munching on a croissant and skimming for passes for Soarin' is awesome, or even another park. With the exception of FoP, rope drop also solves basically all of these problems. If the ride is super important and you don't want to wait, be there when the park opens one day. It really is worth it. FoP is just sort of a mess, it has low capacity and very slow loading in a park that doesn't have a lot going for it so it's basically stuck. We aren't even going to AK on our next trip because it's not worth wasting a couple FastPasses and we can't even get up early for that ride.

To be fair, I don't view WDW as a vacation, I view it as a trip, as do most other people, I'm not sure it's fair to complain that us adventurer types get blamed for the more laid back types not getting everything they want. If I want to relax and sleep in, I go to a beach, or I use FPs, accept that FoP is a bit of a logistical disaster and just ride less.

Matt

dsanner106 said:

I am wondering what I am missing here regarding fastpass reservations. I have been trying all week at 7am to line up Slinky Dog, FOP and 7 Dwarfs mine train and all are taken. I have kept trying and filled in FOP and 7 Dwarfs but have not seen anything available for Slinky Dog. How is it that these are gone before the release time?
Drew in Ga

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Same thing happened to me. I think they should only be able to be booked 60 days out not 60days from the beginning of your trip for the whole duration. I am arriving on a Monday so anyone staying the same week as me that traveled on Sat or Sun got all of the good fastpasses before I even got the chance. I think they need to revise that for fairness or hold some back on a slow release so that everyone has a chance.

jenPSU said:

So, HUGE caveat that we were there in Feb before Toy Story Land opened. But we rope dropped at HS to do Jedi Training. They let us in about 14 minutes before park opening and we were able to sign up pretty quickly. We headed over to the crowd that was waiting for Toy Story Midway Mania and they were still being held at the rope. They let people head to the rest of the park right around park opening time. We were a bit far back but we technically were able to still rope drop for it. I don’t know if it still works this way since TSL opened but there might be a chance you could still do both JTA and still rope drop SDD, albeit not at the front of the crowd. Maybe others have more recent info.

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Thanks! I hope they do this during my trip. It's been 3 years since our last trip, and they rarely let anyone through the gates before 9am. I did end up snagging Slinky Dog, after switching our DHS day to closer to the end of the week. It's only a bummer, because we're staying at the Swan for the first half of the week, so it would be more convenient to do DHS then. Ah well...
Now I'm just trying to replace the BoG lunch ressie for that day. I almost snagged one, but didn't see it quickly enough.

I propose a lottery system.

You enter your request in MDE prior to your fastpass day, then the computer selects each morning at your 60 day mark. No more length of stay.

Most lottery systems (rivers, backpacking) have a first choice, second choice, etc. structure. Because the FPs cannot overlap, if you want to use the lottery for all three it would be all-or-none for each choice.

It should be possible to just select one (or two) FP for each all-or-none choice in the lottery, for example just FOP. Then you can select the other two day-of based on what you got.

This would eliminate a lot of the hassle we're having. It would be fair-er.