Textbook MK FP day! (Added more FP pixie dust at HS)

[lmbcdb]

Not sure if this goes in this forum or trip reports - it’s a little of both!

We had the most amazing day at Magic kingdom yesterday. (FP wise)

This was a last minute trip, so I didn’t have great Fastpasses. I booked 3 in Adventureland and thought we’d try our luck at adding on. (NOTE: we haven’t been in 5 years, when we helped pilot the original online FP) Also, keep in mind that this momma doesn’t wait in line more than 30 minutes, so while some people might consider my choices a “waste”, these are our favorite rides..

We got to the park at 9:15 and leisurely made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean for a 9:30 FP. Interesting - all the “politically correct” changes. Booked a Jungle Cruise for after lunch while in line.

Headed to Splash Mountain, where the ride was temporarily down. Our FP got switched for a “multiple experience“ pass. (Anything/anytime but Mine Train) We really wanted Splash, so we kept it and strolled to Haunted Mansion, where our FP was in 15 minutes. Rode HM then had lunch at Columbia Harbour House.

Rode Jungle Cruise where we had the best ever Cruise Director, Adriel. Booked Small World while waiting in line.

After Jungle Cruise, Splash was back open, so we rode that. One of my favorites. My 11yo DD giggled the whole time...

Rode Small World, and booked Buzz Lightyear while in line. (I know, it’s crossing the park, but we were headed out for a break and I wanted a cream cheese pretzel) Buzz was a bit of a let down for the kids at the end since you can’t squeeze through the bars and get a picture with Zerg anymore)

It was super hot by now. Went back to Pop and I napped by the pool while the kids swam. Booked a Teacups FP for 6:30.

After a 2 hourish break, we went back and ate at Cosmic Ray’s. BTW, we did mobile order everywhere and it was totally worth it. (My 16yo DS disappointed that the alien wasn’t playing. He even remembered the weird lyrics he sang)

Walked out of dinner and over to Teacups for our FP. Then booked a Journey of Little Mermaid. (My kids did a stage production of this last summer so it was extra fun)

Planets aligned - lightening in the area. Pulling up and refreshing and not getting much. Found a Dumbo as my husband was looking at the wait times — he said “Dumbo is temporarily closed” so I clicked on the time to book it. (I remembered what had happened earlier with Splash) Two minutes later it turns in ago a “multiple experience” pass, so we used it on Space Mountain, which had been elusive to me ever since we booked our vacation. Whooop!

Rode the Mountain, booked a Barnstormer while waiting. (SM FP line took like 30 minutes!)

Rode Barnstormer, booked Dumbo.

Planets aligned again - just as Dumbo went in the air, the fireworks started. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

We split up at this point, as I still wanted to ride Mine Train and DH and DS didn’t want to wait. I took DD and we watched the fireworks as we walked and waited. It’s 9:25 at this point, and the posted wait is 55 minutes. It took us 25! Out the door at 10 pm, as Villians was starting. DS and DH walked on People Mover and Splash while we were on Mine Train.

Best.Day.Ever.

Click here for more pixie dust at Hollywood Studios.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

What a great day! Once you get used to navigating FP+ through the MDE, you can have a field day at MK between modifying and booking FP+ for attractions just before it rains. Glad to see older kids into the pins.

 

[lmbcdb]

Glad to see older kids into the pins.

DS16 has been trading since he was 5. I noticed yesterday he was getting more out of the experience making little kids happy by trading some of his older pins. He even traded his Perry the Platypus!

 

[glocon]

How fun- reading this made me smile! And you have such a beautiful family. So glad you had a magical day!

 

[kymom99]

I was looking at wait times on the app yesterday and saw a ton of big rides down. Looks like it all worked out for you though!

 

[lmbcdb]

I was looking at wait times on the app yesterday and saw a ton of big rides down. Looks like it all worked out for you though!

They were up and down for just a few hours during the rain. We just did inside stuff. It was barely sprinkling, but they would close them because of the lightening.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

How amazing!! What an awesome day!! I am with you on the fP+ on rides you really don’t need them for. We have must dos and sometimes catching those as our subsequent fP+ makes our lives easier. What an awesome trip!!

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Thank you for the report, I just booked our FP's this morning-your great experience just adds to my excitement

 

[saving our pennies]

Sounds like a fabulous day!! I hope the rest of your vacation is just as great! What a great way to work all the FPs - smart thinking! I once lucked out and got up on the Astro Orbiter just as the fireworks started. It wasn't something I planned, or really ever thought of. Just a very happy accident

 

[JESSketeer]

Curious to know how you were able to book a 4th fp before using your original 3?

 

[lmbcdb]

Curious to know how you were able to book a 4th fp before using your original 3?

Yes, but only once. Same at Epcot today. As soon as I scanned my band at out 1st FP, it let me book another one. But not after the 2nd. We had to wait until the original 2 and the extra were all used.
At Epcot, same thing. We uses our 1st Tier 2, and were able to book a 3rd tier 2 for right after the 2nd. (Our Tier 1 wasn’t until the afternoon. ) But after that, we had to wait until the original 3 were used. Clear as mud? Was able to get a Test Track and a Soarin day of today! Just kept refreshing and didn’t have to spend a lot of time on it.

 

[brockash]

Not sure if this goes in this forum or trip reports - it’s a little of both!

We had the most amazing day at Magic kingdom yesterday. (FP wise)

This was a last minute trip, so I didn’t have great Fastpasses. I booked 3 in Adventureland and thought we’d try our luck at adding on. (NOTE: we haven’t been in 5 years, when we helped pilot the original online FP) Also, keep in mind that this momma doesn’t wait in line more than 30 minutes, so while some people might consider my choices a “waste”, these are our favorite rides..

We got to the park at 9:15 and leisurely made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean for a 9:30 FP. Interesting - all the “politically correct” changes. Booked a Jungle Cruise for after lunch while in line.

Headed to Splash Mountain, where the ride was temporarily down. Our FP got switched for a “multiple experience“ pass. (Anything/anytime but Mine Train) We really wanted Splash, so we kept it and strolled to Haunted Mansion, where our FP was in 15 minutes. Rode HM then had lunch at Columbia Harbour House.

Rode Jungle Cruise where we had the best ever Cruise Director, Adriel. Booked Small World while waiting in line.

After Jungle Cruise, Splash was back open, so we rode that. One of my favorites. My 11yo DD giggled the whole time...

Rode Small World, and booked Buzz Lightyear while in line. (I know, it’s crossing the park, but we were headed out for a break and I wanted a cream cheese pretzel) Buzz was a bit of a let down for the kids at the end since you can’t squeeze through the bars and get a picture with Zerg anymore)

It was super hot by now. Went back to Pop and I napped by the pool while the kids swam. Booked a Teacups FP for 6:30.

After a 2 hourish break, we went back and ate at Cosmic Ray’s. BTW, we did mobile order everywhere and it was totally worth it. (My 16yo DS disappointed that the alien wasn’t playing. He even remembered the weird lyrics he sang)

Walked out of dinner and over to Teacups for our FP. Then booked a Journey of Little Mermaid. (My kids did a stage production of this last summer so it was extra fun)

Planets aligned - lightening in the area. Pulling up and refreshing and not getting much. Found a Dumbo as my husband was looking at the wait times — he said “Dumbo is temporarily closed” so I clicked on the time to book it. (I remembered what had happened earlier with Splash) Two minutes later it turns in ago a “multiple experience” pass, so we used it on Space Mountain, which had been elusive to me ever since we booked our vacation. Whooop!

Rode the Mountain, booked a Barnstormer while waiting. (SM FP line took like 30 minutes!)

Rode Barnstormer, booked Dumbo.

Planets aligned again - just as Dumbo went in the air, the fireworks started. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

We split up at this point, as I still wanted to ride Mine Train and DH and DS didn’t want to wait. I took DD and we watched the fireworks as we walked and waited. It’s 9:25 at this point, and the posted wait is 55 minutes. It took us 25! Out the door at 10 pm, as Villians was starting. DS and DH walked on People Mover and Splash while we were on Mine Train.

Best.Day.Ever.

View attachment 413638

Glad you guys had fun... wondering about Sonny Eclipse - he wasn't at Cosmic Rays when we were there in May either, just a lonely empty stage... anyone have any idea on what's going on with him?

 

[kymom99]

They were up and down for just a few hours during the rain. We just did inside stuff. It was barely sprinkling, but they would close them because of the lightening.

Ohhhh! I didn’t know they were weather related. That’s good to know, not mechanical issues

 

[Love Tink]

Curious to know how you were able to book a 4th fp before using your original 3?

My guess is that she was already into her time period for her Splash FP and it had already automatically converted into an anytime FP - meaning to the system she had already used one (Pirates) and had one scheduled (HM).

The system wouldn't see/count the anytime FP.

 

[Love Tink]

It was super hot by now. Went back to Pop and I napped by the pool while the kids swam. Booked a Teacups FP for 6:30.

I'm glad you shared your excitement, so please take this as delivered with the wink that it is....

But as a FP enthusiast, I can't believe you booked Tea Cups as your first FP after returning to the park! Tea Cups is easily the easiest FP to get in the whole park - available all day every day for times five minutes away!

I know you said you were doing the rides you like, and not to judge....but come on...TEA CUPS?!

 

[lmbcdb]

I'm glad you shared your excitement, so please take this as delivered with the wink that it is....

But as a FP enthusiast, I can't believe you booked Tea Cups as your first FP after returning to the park! Tea Cups is easily the easiest FP to get in the whole park - available all day every day for times five minutes away!

I know you said you were doing the rides you like, and not to judge....but come on...TEA CUPS?!

It’s my DDs favorite ride. I wanted to make sure she rode it. And it ended up being a 30 minute wait.

 

[lmbcdb]

More Pixie Dust at Hollywood Studios!

Since we booked 8 days out, my FPs looked like this:

Star Tours 9:30 am
Toy Story Midway Mania 2:00 pm
Rockin’ Roller Coaster 7:30 pm

Just as we scanned our bands for ST, it went down. They told us just to come back at any time, they could look up our time, and would let us in.

I was able to move up our TSMM to 11:20. After walking around the ST gift shop for some A/C, the ride was back up so we rode it.

During lunch I was able to move up our RNR to 2:55.

At lunch, MDX sent me a notification:


Now remember, this is our first time back in 5 years, and we used MDX in its infancy when it had very few features. I was thinking it was some cool kind of extra special magic thing. We found the booth on the way to TSMM, and asked about the message. She proceeded to tell us that they were just guest services spread through out the park. I said something about the “make our visit today extraordinary” part and we thought she was going to do something fun. My DS16 was all “yeah, something impossible like fly us around the park on a magic carpet or give us Slinky Dig fast passes”. She was all, “oh no, not even I can do that.” We laughed and starred chatting with her, found out she was from Texas like us, and told her how we were back for the first time in years and hadn’t seen Toy Story land. While we’re talking, she scans our bands. Then, at the end end of our conversation, she says, “Go get in the FP lane and enjoy Slinky Dog.”

We rode SDD (AWESOME ride! with amazing theming!) Then used our FP for TSMM.

Later did our 2:55 RNR then returned to the room because the “feels like” temperature was 106°.

Note: Toer of Terror was down all day up until this point. It opened up around 4 pm and was at a 2 hour wait for the rest of the day. Needless to say, we didn’t ride it.

Returned at 6 pm for dinner and another ST FP. Saved us all of 10 minutes.

Went to Voyage of the Little Mermaid and scored another set of FP for an 8 pm RNR.

Luckily it rained at this point and brought the temps down. It felt good to walk around the park and just sightsee. DS16 noticed TSMM had a 5 minute wait, and wanted to redeem himself and try to beat DH. Saucers was a walk on, so DD11 and 8 rode it 3 times in a row. Giggles all around to end a great vacation.

 

[TXDisneyFan1]

Wow! I hope we have your kind of luck when we arrive in 6 days!! Thanks for sharing!