No more low crowds?

[lolomarie]

The best trick I have learned is when you hear that a ride has broken down, IMMEDIATELY schedule a FP. The system typically allows you to schedule the FP even though it is broken down (and you can typically get a FP for the next few minutes because so many people don't know they will get an anytime/any ride FP so they cancel the FP for the broken down ride and reschedule a new ride). When we were there in January we did this 4 or 5 times and ended up with multiple anytime/any ride FPs.

If you haven't used your initial 3 yet do you need to modify one of your fastpasses to do this, or does the system let you pick up a 4th?
If you have to modify and you have something like dumbo, I could see this being beneficial. You could actually still use it for dumbo, just at whichever time you choose, or, you could use it for another more popular ride.
But, if you have to modify and you have 7DMT it might not be wise, because aren't there restrictions on those anytime fastpasses?
And last question, do the anytimes work for length of stay or just day of?
Thanks!

 

[SarahC97]

Could it be due to people from Irma rescheduling?

No, I don't think so. There appeared to be a lot of South American tourists (it's their summer, after all), so I'm thinking Disney must have had some good special offers available for them. But seriously, days that in the past were 4/5's were 7/8/9/10 while we were there. It was nuts.

 

[SarahC97]

Sept 6 - 14 2017

Granted... Mean ol' Irma crashed the party, but WOW. Never ever have I seen such desolate park-age. Before AND after the storm. The two days the parks were closed we had a blast at our resort- characters, crafts, movies, food... And get this- Our trip was delayed by a week (so much crying) because we live in Houston and our home was devastated by Hurricane HARVEY. What an experience.

I was there the week of Labor Day last year and it was absolutely a ghost town. I know Irma was getting ready to hit so that must have impacted it, but yeah -- but yeah, I'd never seen it like that either.

 

[WDW_Ding]

First, ditch crowd calendars. They're just wild guesses, at best.

Touring Plans gathers tons data and has developed algorithms to help them with their crowd calendar. To say that TP is making "wild guesses, at best" is false.

We go multiple times a year, every year (including 4 week-long trips this past year) and I have NEVER experienced FP wait times of 25-30 minutes.

I've never waited in a FP line for more than 15 minutes, tops.

The best trick I have learned is when you hear that a ride has broken down, IMMEDIATELY schedule a FP. The system typically allows you to schedule the FP even though it is broken down (and you can typically get a FP for the next few minutes because so many people don't know they will get an anytime/any ride FP so they cancel the FP for the broken down ride and reschedule a new ride). When we were there in January we did this 4 or 5 times and ended up with multiple anytime/any ride FPs.

Can you say more about this, because I don't quite understand.

Let's say I have 3 FP scheduled and I haven't used one yet.

I hear that Space Mountain (SM) goes down.

I could not go on the app and schedule a FP for SM because I still have 3 on the books, so to speak, right? So, I would have to cancel a FP to do that.

Am I right so far?

So, once I drop a FP and add SM, as long as SM is down when my FP window is scheduled, I get an anytime FP for SM?

Is that right?

And if I have an anytime FP for SM, does it still count as a FP, as far as trying to get additional FPs throughout the day? For example, let's say I have an anytime FP for SM, can I still book more Fast Passes before I use the anytime FP?

Lastly, how to I know when a FP has turned in to an anytime FP? Is it noted as such in the app somehow?

 

[Etch]

From reading these boards, both January and February were much more crowded than those months had been in the past.

It will be really interesting to see the 2019 Jan/Feb crowd levels to figure out if 2018 was a anomaly, basically double or triple the crowds from 2017, or it this truly will be the new norm for this time of year.

We were there the 1st week of February 2017 and the parks were dead. It was that huge change this year that seemed to spark the "are crowd calendar's useless" debate.

 

[SarahC97]

It will be really interesting to see the 2019 Jan/Feb crowd levels to figure out if 2018 was a anomaly, basically double or triple the crowds from 2017, or it this truly will be the new norm for this time of year.

We were there the 1st week of February 2017 and the parks were dead. It was that huge change this year that seemed to spark the "are crowd calendar's useless" debate.

Well, the last couple of years that the parks seem more crowded than predicted -- at least they have been during our last 3 trips, which were all traditionally "lower" crowd times. Personally, that's made me put less stock into crowd calendars -- though I think maybe I was spoiled pre-2014 by them.

 

[WaterLinds]

Touring Plans gathers tons data and has developed algorithms to help them with their crowd calendar. To say that TP is making "wild guesses, at best" is false.



I've never waited in a FP line for more than 15 minutes, tops.



Can you say more about this, because I don't quite understand.

Let's say I have 3 FP scheduled and I haven't used one yet.

I hear that Space Mountain (SM) goes down.

I could not go on the app and schedule a FP for SM because I still have 3 on the books, so to speak, right? So, I would have to cancel a FP to do that.

Am I right so far?

So, once I drop a FP and add SM, as long as SM is down when my FP window is scheduled, I get an anytime FP for SM?

Is that right?

And if I have an anytime FP for SM, does it still count as a FP, as far as trying to get additional FPs throughout the day? For example, let's say I have an anytime FP for SM, can I still book more Fast Passes before I use the anytime FP?

Lastly, how to I know when a FP has turned in to an anytime FP? Is it noted as such in the app somehow?

I haven't intentionally booked a downride to get the anytime FP, so I can't speak to doing it stragetgically, but we had a lot of down rides in Feb so I can speak to how it works to use one.

Yes, the anytime FP counts as part of your original three, so you can't book anything else until you have used it. And yes, it shows in the app--the graphic beside it changes (I think it switched to balloons?) and the wording indicates that it is an anytime/anyride.

And one other note--if you get an anytime, be careful when you tap into other attractions that you have booked FPs for. I had a Philharmagic FP and an anytime, and tapped in to Phil in that 5 minute grace period before my window started--turns out it took my anytime instead! I didn't realize that until we tried to tap into another ride later and it didn't turn green. (I explained it to the CM once he told me the system was showing I only had philharmagic left on my band and since the rest of my group had valid FPs and that particular ride wasn't crazy busy, he just let me in) I assume this was only a problem because I was tapping just before my window started and if you're in the proper window it won't take the anytime? But you can always ask the CM what it shows when you tap, they can see your FP on their screen when you tap so they should be able to verify you used the right one.

 

[revdon64]

You won't find walk-on rides anymore, pretty much any time. Some shows and high capacity rides will move more quickly than at peak times, but it will still be crowded. There will be MNSSHP nights so some afternoons in MK will be insanely busy.
Your one huge advantage is streamlining. With only two adults crowds are much more manageable, waits are much more bearable, and deciding what to do or changing plans on the fly is infinitely easier. DW and I did an adults only trip in June/July 2016 and even though it was crowded, we had a great time and did almost everything we wanted to do.

 

[WDW_Ding]

Yes, the anytime FP counts as part of your original three, so you can't book anything else until you have used it. And yes, it shows in the app--the graphic beside it changes (I think it switched to balloons?) and the wording indicates that it is an anytime/anyride.

Good to know, thanks!

And one other note--if you get an anytime, be careful when you tap into other attractions that you have booked FPs for. I had a Philharmagic FP and an anytime, and tapped in to Phil in that 5 minute grace period before my window started--turns out it took my anytime instead!

That is a great tip!

 

[SarahC97]

You won't find walk-on rides anymore, pretty much any time. Some shows and high capacity rides will move more quickly than at peak times, but it will still be crowded. There will be MNSSHP nights so some afternoons in MK will be insanely busy.
Your one huge advantage is streamlining. With only two adults crowds are much more manageable, waits are much more bearable, and deciding what to do or changing plans on the fly is infinitely easier. DW and I did an adults only trip in June/July 2016 and even though it was crowded, we had a great time and did almost everything we wanted to do.

I agree. Even when it's been way more crowded than anticipated, we still have been able to do everything we wanted with some strategy and fastpasses!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Yes, the anytime FP counts as part of your original three, so you can't book anything else until you have used it.

Are you sure about that? There has been discussion in the past that an anytime FP does not count as one of the original 3 in Tiered parks. So if one of your Tier 2 rides is converted to anytime, you have to use an additional Tier 2 (over and above the anytime) before you can schedule a new Tier 1.

Also, people should know that with this strategy, the anytime FP is not for any ride. They give you a list of equivalent rides it's good for (or at least they used to). So grabbing a Dumbo FP while it's down is not going to get you an FP you can use on 7DMT.

 

[Linkura]

Are you sure about that? There has been discussion in the past that an anytime FP does not count as one of the original 3 in Tiered parks. So if one of your Tier 2 rides is converted to anytime, you have to use an additional Tier 2 (over and above the anytime) before you can schedule a new Tier 1.

Also, people should know that with this strategy, the anytime FP is not for any ride. They give you a list of equivalent rides it's good for (or at least they used to). So grabbing a Dumbo FP while it's down is not going to get you an FP you can use on 7DMT.

Correct. It doesn't count as your initial 3.

 

[WaterLinds]

Are you sure about that? There has been discussion in the past that an anytime FP does not count as one of the original 3 in Tiered parks. So if one of your Tier 2 rides is converted to anytime, you have to use an additional Tier 2 (over and above the anytime) before you can schedule a new Tier 1.

Also, people should know that with this strategy, the anytime FP is not for any ride. They give you a list of equivalent rides it's good for (or at least they used to). So grabbing a Dumbo FP while it's down is not going to get you an FP you can use on 7DMT.

We only got them at MK, so I can't speak to how they impact tiered FPs. But I know I couldn't book a 4th FP until after I had used the anytime, which is what I meant by them counting as your original three. We hAd a few instances where one person in our party had an anytime left and the rest of us had used everything, so I couldn't book all of us a 4th FP together because of that person's anytime. (Of course, that person could just use their anytime while the rest of us used new ones. Which we did, I just had to remember to unselect that person when making the booking.)

Ours were for space, splash, and big thunder going down. There were no restrictions on them that I noticed, but those are "higher tier" rides so it makes sense that we could use them on anything in the park, I think?

 

[disneyvoice]

@WDW_Ding With an anytime/anyride FP you are not limited to only the ride that went down and the FP is good for the rest of the day - it doesn't disappear if the ride comes back up. If you still have 3 FPs scheduled you just cancel the ride you are least excited about in order to schedule the ride that went down then ride a more popular ride with the anytime/anyride FP (7DMT will not be included unless the FP was issued because 7DMT went down). I honestly can't remember if we were still able to schedule a 3rd FP when we had an anytime/anyride FP on our account - I want to say we could because I don't recall not being able to. But it really doesn't matter, it will still allow you to ride something popular and/or ride something immediately. You just use the "gifted" FP right away and then you can reschedule the ride you cancelled.

If you haven't used your initial 3 yet do you need to modify one of your fastpasses to do this, or does the system let you pick up a 4th?
If you have to modify and you have something like dumbo, I could see this being beneficial. You could actually still use it for dumbo, just at whichever time you choose, or, you could use it for another more popular ride.
But, if you have to modify and you have 7DMT it might not be wise, because aren't there restrictions on those anytime fastpasses?
And last question, do the anytimes work for length of stay or just day of?
Thanks!

You are exactly correct. The key to doing this is that it allows you to ride something immediately and then reschedule the ride you cancelled, or schedule something else you want before all 3 of your FPs have been used. It worked really well for us in January.

 

[WDW_Ding]

@WDW_Ding With an anytime/anyride FP you are not limited to only the ride that went down and the FP is good for the rest of the day - it doesn't disappear if the ride comes back up. If you still have 3 FPs scheduled you just cancel the ride you are least excited about in order to schedule the ride that went down then ride a more popular ride with the anytime/anyride FP (7DMT will not be included unless the FP was issued because 7DMT went down). I honestly can't remember if we were still able to schedule a 3rd FP when we had an anytime/anyride FP on our account - I want to say we could because I don't recall not being able to. But it really doesn't matter, it will still allow you to ride something popular and/or ride something immediately. You just use the "gifted" FP right away and then you can reschedule the ride you cancelled.



You are exactly correct. The key to doing this is that it allows you to ride something immediately and then reschedule the ride you cancelled, or schedule something else you want before all 3 of your FPs have been used. It worked really well for us in January.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Surgie2]

The best trick I have learned is when you hear that a ride has broken down, IMMEDIATELY schedule a FP. The system typically allows you to schedule the FP even though it is broken down (and you can typically get a FP for the next few minutes because so many people don't know they will get an anytime/any ride FP so they cancel the FP for the broken down ride and reschedule a new ride). When we were there in January we did this 4 or 5 times and ended up with multiple anytime/any ride FPs.

How do you receive the anytime FP? By email, in the app, or do you have to go to the broken ride?

 

[Linkura]

How do you receive the anytime FP? By email, in the app, or do you have to go to the broken ride?

Automatically.

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

You won't find walk-on rides anymore, pretty much any time. Some shows and high capacity rides will move more quickly than at peak times, but it will still be crowded. There will be MNSSHP nights so some afternoons in MK will be insanely busy.
Your one huge advantage is streamlining. With only two adults crowds are much more manageable, waits are much more bearable, and deciding what to do or changing plans on the fly is infinitely easier. DW and I did an adults only trip in June/July 2016 and even though it was crowded, we had a great time and did almost everything we wanted to do.

I have been here since Sunday and most everything has been walk on also a lot of them asking if we wanted to ride again ... been super low crowds

 

[SafariFan1984]

I have been here since Sunday and most everything has been walk on also a lot of them asking if we wanted to ride again ... been super low crowds

Agreed. I waited only 30 minutes for Flight of Passage this afternoon. Yesterday and today have been walk-ons or under 10 minute waits at a lot of the rides with rides like Big Thunder, Space Mountain, and even Toy Story Mania frequently around 20-30. I might actually catch Happily Ever After from the front of the castle for the first time tonight.

 

[peteykirch]

We tend to go Labor Day week in September, and while the crowds aren't tiny they are super manageable.

I was able to get Flight of Passage FP+4 times during our trip that week last year, sure the impending hurricane thinned things out, but it wasn't wall to wall people.