Here Now (First Week of May) - Some Thoughts

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

hoping the crowds stay that way (well, not the behavioral aspect of them!). !

That made me literally LOL!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

This is one of the nice things about refreshing for FP's. Not only can it allow you to ride a lot of rides without much wait but it also allows flexibility. Whether someone decides they really like a certain ride (like your DS with FEA or my wife with TSM) or you just decide that you feel like switching up parks that day, being able to play around with the app means being able to just go with the flow. Congrats on the FEA FP!

I didn't look at wait times at all from 11:00 until we left MK on Thurs. I was able to FP pretty much every ride we went on ( strategically switching up rides with other activities like the parade and Pirates Adventure to give myself time to modify FPs. Similar experience at AK today. Crowds were 7 but it was largely irrelevant because we FPed everything. The only thing I couldn't get was an EE FP for 1 at 11:30. We passed on going again and half an hour later I got an FP for 3 of us available immediately with no sweat. I think noon is the witching hour for FPs for me. I have a hard time getting them and then something changes around noon and tons of things start coming available. Maybe people decide to hop to different parks or realize their kids need a nap. I don't know what it is but it works for me. I was even able to get an FOP FP for 5 at about 12:45 today. I was shocked because I was only half heartedly trying while waiting in line at lunch. It came up just as I was directed to go to a cashier and I wouldn't do it until I confirmed that FP. I saw another one come up for a party of 5 while I was trying to get a dusk Safari. I didn't snag that one though - we had ridden twice and I'm sure someone else was thrilled to get it.

Put me on the camp that refreshing is a game changer. I still used all my prebooked FPs for hard to get rides and will continue doing that but being able to get FPs for most if not all rides is great. I fear this is the golden age of FPs though. Sooner or later the majority of people who are now waiting in hour-long lines while I grab unused FPs will eventually learn how to better work the system. Or Disney will start making changes and it won't work like this anymore.

Until then I'll take advantage though.

 

[mamamelody2]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[4littleones]

I didn't look at wait times at all from 11:00 until we left MK on Thurs. I was able to FP pretty much every ride we went on ( strategically switching up rides with other activities like the parade and Pirates Adventure to give myself time to modify FPs. Similar experience at AK today. Crowds were 7 but it was largely irrelevant because we FPed everything. The only thing I couldn't get was an EE FP for 1 at 11:30. We passed on going again and half an hour later I got an FP for 3 of us available immediately with no sweat. I think noon is the witching hour for FPs for me. I have a hard time getting them and then something changes around noon and tons of things start coming available. Maybe people decide to hop to different parks or realize their kids need a nap. I don't know what it is but it works for me. I was even able to get an FOP FP for 5 at about 12:45 today. I was shocked because I was only half heartedly trying while waiting in line at lunch. It came up just as I was directed to go to a cashier and I wouldn't do it until I confirmed that FP. I saw another one come up for a party of 5 while I was trying to get a dusk Safari. I didn't snag that one though - we had ridden twice and I'm sure someone else was thrilled to get it.

Put me on the camp that refreshing is a game changer. I still used all my prebooked FPs for hard to get rides and will continue doing that but being able to get FPs for most if not all rides is great. I fear this is the golden age of FPs though. Sooner or later the majority of people who are now waiting in hour-long lines while I grab unused FPs will eventually learn how to better work the system. Or Disney will start making changes and it won't work like this anymore.

Until then I'll take advantage though.

We have been here and agree with everything you said. Weather couldn't have been better...our time was split btwn waterparks and parks and both were equally enjoyable in this weather (we've been mostly in Oct and the heat combined with humidity is very VERY different.

FP REFRESH!!!!!! Crowds and FP was a breeze. We are a family of 6 and totally changed my game plan the night before one day this week. It was maybe 10pm and we changed our parks and thus dropped all FPs. We seriously could get any FP with just a tiny bit of effort. Spend five minutes refreshing and BOOM...there you go. For example I had two kids with me heading to a FP for Kali River Rapids around 11:45am getting pretty hot. My DH had 2 kids and thought I had FP for them as well but I didn't. As I walked over to Kali no FP's showing up. I refresh a few times and bingo. We meet up 5 mins later use the FP for all 6 of us. We walk past so very many people in standby who have a 30min+ wait time. I can't help but feel guilty for grabbing a FP for 3 just moments before my crew enters the line. No joke that I did this so many times. Got FP for Frozen, Everest, Test Track, ToT, Peter Pan...all just refreshing. These are FP for parties of 3-6 people. Just REFRESH is my advice for sure.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We seriously could get any FP with just a tiny bit of effort. Spend five minutes refreshing and BOOM...there you go.

Most everything you said lines up with my experience, except this. Some FPs I had to work quite a long time for. FEA, M&G for Elena, and the Safari at dusk all took at least half an hour or more of constant refreshing and splitting my party to get. The first FOP I think was just luck. The second one turned up probably 20 mins into my quest for the dusk Safari. I know other posters here have your type of success where they can literally get the most popular rides with barely any effort but I am not one of them. I guess I also want to give hope to people who don't have that kind of ease with it that you can still use it very effectively on rides that aren't in the highest demand and still have a really great day using it. Sometimes you do get lucky and get something like FOP right off the bat too.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

In truth, he could've just asked to ride in row 1 to begin with, and then nobody would be inconvenienced and the CM would've been able to accommodate his preferences without a mad scramble at the end.

Ahhh, but he would have been inconvenienced. There was already a full line so had he asked for it, he would have had to wait 10 mins for the next flight. So why wait 10 mins when you can inconvenience everyone else instead.

And LOL on selling your soul for a popcorn bucket!

I don't really get the line creepers, I get the ones that pretend to be meeting up with someone in the front (though I would never do it and hate that they do it), they are at least saving a bunch of time. But the ones that just creep slowly to try to get in front of like 1 family doesn't make sense to me and it happens to us every trip. I find we have to stand side by side and almost guard our spot or eventually someone will just stand next to us and as soon as the line moves they try to move ahead of us. How much time could they possibly

Same here. I wasn't really sure at first that's that's what happened because why would someone do that? They didn't cut ahead of anyone else so they saved maybe 90 seconds of time. What was the point other than to get away with something?

 

[mdsouth]

Every trip we run into some very rude people cutting lines, pushing past us to get a better view of the fireworks, etc. Fortunately the only thing I have had stolen was a cookie. The thief was a squirrel. We stood there laughing watching him eat as fast as he could! We left the cookie on the stroller so it was our fault .

It seems most people only look out for themselves but we had a positive experience last year. Definitely felt like Disney magic! We were in line for Stitch in HS. He is my son's favorite character and this was our only opportunity to meet him. His handler announced that Stitch would be going in soon and my ds started to get nervous he would miss seeing him. The family in front of us heard him fretting and told us to go ahead of them. We took some great pictures and ds was sooo happy! What a kind thing to do and totally unexpected!

It is nice to read a post here about how there are still nice people at Disney who are kind to each other and pass along pixie dust.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

Did anyone else have trouble this past week with the MDE app hanging while trying to modify FPs? When we were at MK on April 26th, I had a rough time getting the app to "save" my modified FPs. I get a FP, then modify it to try and get an earlier time. An earlier time would come up and I'd select it. Then the "save" button would remain greyed out for up to 10 minutes, keeping me from locking in the new time. Sometimes, by the time it lit up and I could click it, the whole screen had timed out and I was forced to start all over. This happened all day, both with using my own cell network and with using the in park wireless. I'd never heard anyone complain of this problem before, so I wasn't sure if it was normal.

 

[Magrathea]

Great info in this thread! We leave Monday for our trip, so this has pumped me up a bit more!

 

[bryanb]

Same here. I wasn't really sure at first that's that's what happened because why would someone do that? They didn't cut ahead of anyone else so they saved maybe 90 seconds of time. What was the point other than to get away with something?

The only thing I can think of is that it's a cultural thing? (And I'm saying this without presuming the culture of the people doing it.) The British are very famous for the concept of standing in line, and perhaps Americans take it for granted that this is the way it's done everywhere. Even in France and Germany, (to say nothing of Italy or China) and probably most other countries, social rules about queuing are a lot less strict than they are here.

 

[4littleones]

Most everything you said lines up with my experience, except this. Some FPs I had to work quite a long time for. FEA, M&G for Elena, and the Safari at dusk all took at least half an hour or more of constant refreshing and splitting my party to get. The first FOP I think was just luck. The second one turned up probably 20 mins into my quest for the dusk Safari. I know other posters here have your type of success where they can literally get the most popular rides with barely any effort but I am not one of them. I guess I also want to give hope to people who don't have that kind of ease with it that you can still use it very effectively on rides that aren't in the highest demand and still have a really great day using it. Sometimes you do get lucky and get something like FOP right off the bat too.

My bad we weren't trying for things like FOP or even SDMT....I should have stated that. I was just so excited that I got what I wanted when I wanted it.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

Did anyone else have trouble this past week with the MDE app hanging while trying to modify FPs? When we were at MK on April 26th, I had a rough time getting the app to "save" my modified FPs. I get a FP, then modify it to try and get an earlier time. An earlier time would come up and I'd select it. Then the "save" button would remain greyed out for up to 10 minutes, keeping me from locking in the new time. Sometimes, by the time it lit up and I could click it, the whole screen had timed out and I was forced to start all over. This happened all day, both with using my own cell network and with using the in park wireless. I'd never heard anyone complain of this problem before, so I wasn't sure if it was normal.

I had trouble with the app this past week. Very slow looking for FP. I assumed it was my old iPhone 6? I’m all updated on iOS and the app so I don’t know. I also only got mobile ordering to work once. I could get as far as clicking on the restaurant but it would go back to the main app screen when I clicked order food. I tried rebooting the phone, but no dice.

 

[dbogen]

Thank you for the report. We arrive on the 13th and hope to have the low crowds and good temps.

Bummer that people have to feel the need to steal-that's just awful!

We also arrive on Sunday, trying to pack when CT has been so cold is the hardest part. I'm not sure if my summer clothes still fit.

 

[ah10is]

We also arrive on Sunday, trying to pack when CT has been so cold is the hardest part. I'm not sure if my summer clothes still fit.

We arrive on the 12th! We live in Maine so I'm with you on trying to pack for summer and hoping the clothes still fit!

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

We had our popcorn bucket stolen out of the bottom of our stroller (it was out of sight under jackets so someone pawed through our stroller). Obviously not a big deal - we only leave things we won't be heartbroken or seriously inconvenienced if they disappear - but still annoying.

Last year we saw a squirrel get into someone's parked stroller and steal a bag with a couple of large cookies in it. It may be possible that a squirrel got into the popcorn. He would have left a mess behind that a cast member might have swept up. However, I would never put it past anyone to take it. There is also no shortage of rude people to deal with. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[North of Mouse]

Last year we saw a squirrel get into someone's parked stroller and steal a bag with a couple of large cookies in it. It may be possible that a squirrel got into the popcorn. He would have left a mess behind that a cast member might have swept up. However, I would never put it past anyone to take it. There is also no shortage of rude people to deal with. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

LOL at the vision of a squirrel with a popcorn bucket in his mouth running for a tree!!!

Sure there would have had to be a 'human' helping!!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Last year we saw a squirrel get into someone's parked stroller and steal a bag with a couple of large cookies in it. It may be possible that a squirrel got into the popcorn. He would have left a mess behind that a cast member might have swept up. However, I would never put it past anyone to take it. There is also no shortage of rude people to deal with. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

It's a good theory but it was empty at the time.

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

It's a good theory but it was empty at the time.

Yep, didn't realize it was empty. Some people will take anything I guess.