“Refresh” is my new favorite strategy

Status
Not open for further replies.
Idk, I never seem to get additional FP's when they are gone for the day for a headliner ride. I refresh like crazy too. On the 4th we just tried to get extra fp's for Epcot, couldn't get TT, Soarin or FEA. I did get Mission Space and was glad because I wanted my son to see the refresh and his gf had never been on it.
FEA actually gave me more trouble that day than any other ride (though I did eventually find a FP for 3 for a couple hours later). I had found FOP, SDD, & 7DMT prior to coming across a FEA. Soarin' and TT I was able to find fairly close to the time I was looking. I was looking around 3:00-4:00 as I figured that would be a good representation of availability at a busy time on a busy day.
 
I did a test run last night for this morning. I was able to get soaring for 11am before not trying any longer. Got test track from 6pm all the way down to 1030 and then did frozen from 6 pm to 1pm before giving up. I was surprised how easy it really is. I've always refreshed to check but never more than a few times when im in the park. this thread and the test i did last night has me very confident that this will work well when we go next week. The only thing for us is we are a party of 10 so we will have to split it up into 2 of us trying for 5 each.
Also i didnt spend more than 10 to 15 min total doing all 3.
I will also be with a party of 10. Would love to know how this works for you, please respond back! Thanks
 
DS and I went to MK yesterday, a busy Sunday. I had gotten FPs for 9:10, 10:10 and 11:10 and an 11:35 ADR at Skipper’s Canteen. We didn’t arrive as early as I wanted to (we never do) so we weren’t in line for our first FP (Splash) until 9:30. Using the Refresh technique, we did Splash, PotC, JC (with a hike up SFRTH to kill a few extra minutes before that FP) and BTMRR before lunch. Then, after a delicious meal (I highly recommend the Canteen), we got on HM, Buzz and during our ride on the PM I got Space moved up to 2:35. Out of the park by 3:00 to go see DH’s band playing in Tampa. Great day! A busy summer Sunday - 9 attractions with no waiting plus a table-service lunch in less than 6 hours.
 


This is my experience after two days at MK (08/12) and Epcot (08/13) for a party of 4.
Refresh worked so good that I felt bad for people at the end. But thanks for everyone who commented here and shared their experience. I don’t think many people will catch on to this, because it does require some tech saviness, good planning, and patience in many cases. It’s easy to abandon that strategy and giving up after a few minutes of refreshing and not getting what you want. But for me, as you will see, standby line is much worse than digging in your phone after tapping in, to get your next FP before your current ride starts. I will never touch my phone when I’m on the ride since you want to enjoy the rides so make sure you don’t get carried away with this as it’s easy to do so. Make that a rule. In queues where there is no service, turn your WiFi on and use the Disney free WiFi. Also bring a power bank charger if you have one, as your phone battery will run out.

At MK, I only stood in standby for pirates. I had EMM (which I highly recommend) so didn’t have to worry about 7DMT, PP, and Winnie the Pooh. But for everything else, FP was always easy to 1) grab first time available 2) refresh to move it up to the current time. We rode space mountain twice, Splash mountain twice, BTMR twice, JC, buzz, tommoroland speedway, dumbo, barnstormer, tea cups, under the sea twice, it’s a small world, HM, meet Mickey, both princess fairy tail halls, meet ariel, all with that strategy. We started at 10 am after our EMM breakfast, and were done with everything listed above before 7 pm. On the splash mountain ride my 6 year old was skipping and singing/whistling through the fast pass line and getting these looks from the people in standby line that I just felt bad for them.

At Epcot, the only thing we waited in standby for was FEA a little after opening, for a whole 15 minutes. Fast passed all rides, doing soarin twice, and FEA 3 times total. Daughter is a big fan so that made her day. We had pre booked FP for TT, but we didn’t look for more because on that ride, even the FP line was around 30 minutes (standby was 145). Everything that had a FP line we were able to grab, even illuminations at the end. Soarin was popping up a lot when refreshing btw. FEA took a bit of refreshing to get. Abt 10-20 mins each time. Standby line was never under 40 mins after we finished our first ride.

I will be doing the same thing at HS and AK later this week. I’m worried about SDD and NRJ with this strategy, but will see if we get them.
 
Last edited:
I will be doing the same thing at HS and AK later this week. I’m worried about SDD and NRJ with this strategy, but will see if we get them.

We got Na'vi twice and FOP once with refresh. My guess is you'll get at least Na'vi.
 
I will be doing the same thing at HS and AK later this week. I’m worried about SDD and NRJ with this strategy, but will see if we get them.

We are here now. I got NRJ yesterday, and SDD today by refreshing. I didn’t have to spend much time getting either one of them.
 


We got Na'vi twice and FOP once with refresh. My guess is you'll get at least Na'vi.
NRJ is the one that wouldn't pop up last night for us...assume because was getting late in evening. Saw it somewhat frequently last year (when didn't want it).
 
NRJ is the one that wouldn't pop up last night for us...assume because was getting late in evening. Saw it somewhat frequently last year (when didn't want it).

During our trip we didn't see Navi all day (refreshing for other things) but did get FOP to pop for 5 twice.
 
Last night at Epcot we rode Soarin' and FEA with our fourth and fifth FP+ of the day. Our original 4th was TT but it went down so we did Soarin' instead. I was able to get it again but too late for my kids so I released it. Soarin' had a ton of availability all night, but TT and FEA took more persistence.
 
This strategy worked great during the week of July 1st. I am curious to see how it will do on a ultra busy time of the year like Christmas week or Thanksgiving week.
 
I'm confused about something. If so few people know about this strategy (the talk about how most guests don't use blogs or the DIS to research before going) then how are so many FPs being 'caught and released' for everyone to grab when refreshing? I mean if most don't know to do this then most aren't canceling or modifying their FPs, so I don't know how anyone refreshing is getting any! If it's only DISers and a few others in the know who do this, then how are there enough released for people to refresh and grab?? I would think those who are clueless would have their prebooked three and simply use them up, not cancel or modify them...

Also, off topic, but FEA is the Frozen Norway ride, correct? And that opens at opening? Then what is the Frozen thing that doesn't open until 11?
 
I'm confused about something. If so few people know about this strategy (the talk about how most guests don't use blogs or the DIS to research before going) then how are so many FPs being 'caught and released' for everyone to grab when refreshing? I mean if most don't know to do this then most aren't canceling or modifying their FPs, so I don't know how anyone refreshing is getting any! If it's only DISers and a few others in the know who do this, then how are there enough released for people to refresh and grab?? I would think those who are clueless would have their prebooked three and simply use them up, not cancel or modify them...

Also, off topic, but FEA is the Frozen Norway ride, correct? And that opens at opening? Then what is the Frozen thing that doesn't open until 11?
People change plans all the time. They switch parks. They leave early. They change FPs to something else, etc.

FEA is Frozen Ever After. It's in Norway.

There is no Frozen ride that opens at 11.
 
I'm confused about something. If so few people know about this strategy (the talk about how most guests don't use blogs or the DIS to research before going) then how are so many FPs being 'caught and released' for everyone to grab when refreshing? I mean if most don't know to do this then most aren't canceling or modifying their FPs, so I don't know how anyone refreshing is getting any! If it's only DISers and a few others in the know who do this, then how are there enough released for people to refresh and grab?? I would think those who are clueless would have their prebooked three and simply use them up, not cancel or modify them...

Also, off topic, but FEA is the Frozen Norway ride, correct? And that opens at opening? Then what is the Frozen thing that doesn't open until 11?

Most people make their 3 FP's and will change their FP's if their schedules change. They'll drop FP's if they decide not to go to the park or they change the day they're going, they'll change the park they are going to go to the night before or morning of, they'll sleep in so go in and change their FP's to later times, etc. The majority aren't refreshing to catch the changes. Also if someone who is using the method changes one of their existing FP's, what they previously had then opens up. Many people know that they can go in and add more after their first 3 but most will just check once and see nothing so give up.
 
Regarding FEA, that is the Frozen ride and it opens with the park but FP's never used to be available until 11...that's not the case anymore.
 
I have a few questions. Do I have to refresh in the order of my fast passes? I have a fast pass for SDMT at 5:50 that was I was able to grab. I am hoping to move it up. My other two are for earlier in the day. Is it possible, even though there are no more fast passes to move it up after my first fast pass?
 
I have a few questions. Do I have to refresh in the order of my fast passes? I have a fast pass for SDMT at 5:50 that was I was able to grab. I am hoping to move it up. My other two are for earlier in the day. Is it possible, even though there are no more fast passes to move it up after my first fast pass?
Yes, just hit the “Modify” on your SDMT plans and keep hitting the time you want, ie: Refreshing, until a better time shows up.
 
I have a few questions. Do I have to refresh in the order of my fast passes? I have a fast pass for SDMT at 5:50 that was I was able to grab. I am hoping to move it up. My other two are for earlier in the day. Is it possible, even though there are no more fast passes to move it up after my first fast pass?

It depends on much time between your first and second FPs. The previous poster is correct but you need to have at least an hour slot between 1 and 2 or you have to cancel or move 2. The tighter that time is the harder it will be to get an FP that works. And I don't remember if it shows you available FPs that conflict with another FP you aren't trying to modify. I didn't think it did, but I could be wrong about that.
 
It depends on much time between your first and second FPs. The previous poster is correct but you need to have at least an hour slot between 1 and 2 or you have to cancel or move 2. The tighter that time is the harder it will be to get an FP that works. And I don't remember if it shows you available FPs that conflict with another FP you aren't trying to modify. I didn't think it did, but I could be wrong about that.
It does show you the available times, even the ones that conflict with other FPs you have. It gives you the opportunity to cancel those for a more desirable one like SDMT.
 
It does show you the available times, even the ones that conflict with other FPs you have. It gives you the opportunity to cancel those for a more desirable one like SDMT.

If you're modifying it won't show overlapping times. If you're selecting your original 3 and haven't selected them all yet, it will then show you overlapping times. The system can't handle making 2 changes for 1.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top