Do I really need to wake up at 4am PST? (Update!)

[goldengirlz]

My FastPass window for WDW opens next week. I live on the West Coast.

Give it to me straight. How much will I regret it if I wait till like ... 10am PT to get my FPs? What about 6:30am PT?

Update: Woke up at 5:50am PT and managed to get everything I wanted! Thanks everyone!

[curbsideprophet]

How long is your trip and what are you trying to FP?

How upset will you be if you don’t get something?

[goldengirlz]

Feb 1, 2020 22:05:17 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

How long is your trip and what are you trying to FP?

How upset will you be if you don’t get something?

We have three full park days (with park hoppers). I don’t think we have any must rides, but I’d like to get a few of the roller coasters for DD and DH.

ETA: I think we’d like to do Flight of Passage and Soarin as well.

[ribollita]

Yes since you want FOP and for whatever DHS tier1 ride.

[curbsideprophet]

I would definitely not wait for 10 am pacific. Since you want FOP I would try to make them as soon as you can.


If you want Slinky Dog or Mine Train those go quickly as well. If you want Big Thunder and Space mountain was would not be as concerned about those.

You can check current availability on The Dibb to give you a rough idea of if you should be able to get the FP you want on the dates you want.

www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=835236

[countthestars]

You should have a travel agent that would do that for you for free 😉

But yes, I would get up at 4 and do them. 6:30 if you are ok with missing Slinky and Flight of Passage (pay $10 for Kenny the Pirate to tell you how to get same day passes for both).

[sent]

I missed the start of my 60 days due to my Swan reservation not showing up in MDE. By the time they fixed it, I was at like 50 days. I was able to get Mine train for 2 different days but it was around 5 pm. I took both and I didn't drop the duplicate until we were on the trip and solidified our plans. I like morning fast passes. I didn't get Flight of Passage but I did get Navi River Journey. Now I'm kind of meh that we used a FP for that. We've never seen Avatar or care for it so it's a basically very pretty boat ride. I also got Everest at 9 am and then the Safari at 10 am. I think the Safari was the coolest ride we did. Over in Epcot, I got Frozen but like 3 pm. I also took Soarin on a different day not knowing what it was. It turned out to be DD's favorite ride. She got to ride it a second time because we happened to be in Epcot at 8:40 PM one night and it had like no line at that time.

I didn't get Slinky Dog Dash. Then I got an email one day from Touring Plans that DHS had changed the park hours and was going to open at 8 am instead of 9 am. I hopped on and was able to get Slinky Dog as well. On our first trip in 2017, I got Mine Train the same way - more fast passes opened up after they changed park hours.

[TamiTaylor]

Yes you really do. I would not risk waiting until 10am.

[litasail]

Feb 2, 2020 9:54:11 GMT -5 countthestars said:

You should have a travel agent that would do that for you for free 😉

But yes, I would get up at 4 and do them. 6:30 if you are ok with missing Slinky and Flight of Passage (pay $10 for Kenny the Pirate to tell you how to get same day passes for both).

Sorry to thread hi-jack, but can you please share more about this?

[goldengirlz]

Feb 2, 2020 12:46:10 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Yes you really do. I would not risk waiting until 10am.

Not what I want to hear but thanks for the honesty.

Is it one of those things where if I miss one, I should keep checking, or once it’s gone, it’s gone?

[VillainV]

Well, we don’t stay on property and have never really had trouble getting fast passes for things we want 30 days out....but we don’t tend to ride the roller coaster type rides because C is terrified of them.

[krystee]

Yep. We forgot and remembered when we naturally woke up and we got what we wanted, but three of the big rides only had late spots, meaning we won’t be able to book more fast passes that day. Normally we get all three early so we can keep getting more.

[curbsideprophet]

Feb 2, 2020 15:27:45 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Feb 2, 2020 12:46:10 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Yes you really do. I would not risk waiting until 10am.

Not what I want to hear but thanks for the honesty.

Is it one of those things where if I miss one, I should keep checking, or once it’s gone, it’s gone?

Definitely keep checking. Also keep an eye on park hours. If they extend park hours more FP will open up.

[covergirl82]

And ideally you want to get FP times that are earlier in the day (which is another reason for getting on right at 7 am Eastern time), because once you use up your 3, you can make more FPs while you're in the park, one at a time. (At least you used to be able to do that, so please correct me if something has changed recently.)  If you end up with a bunch of FPs later in the day, you may not have as much opportunity to try to get additional ones.

[countthestars]

Feb 2, 2020 14:20:21 GMT -5 litasail said:

Feb 2, 2020 9:54:11 GMT -5 countthestars said:

You should have a travel agent that would do that for you for free 😉

But yes, I would get up at 4 and do them. 6:30 if you are ok with missing Slinky and Flight of Passage (pay $10 for Kenny the Pirate to tell you how to get same day passes for both).

Sorry to thread hi-jack, but can you please share more about this?

Kenny the Pirate has a 1 year subscription service for about $10/year (I don't know exactly how much). He's got great tips about when they release new FastPasses for some key rides. He's also got great information on characters (better than what Disney releases) and very accurate wait times. I don't feel comfortable to sharing here because I believe in small business but I do find his information worth the $10, which is nothing in the grand scheme of a Disney trip!.

[lauren170]

Feb 1, 2020 21:57:00 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

My FastPass window for WDW opens next week. I live on the West Coast.

Give it to me straight. How much will I regret it if I wait till like ... 10am PT to get my FPs? What about 6:30am PT?

Try the night before just in case. If the last full month before the month you go has 30 days it actually opens up at least the night before (unless they fixed their glitch). We went in May and April had 30 days, so when I logged on the night before our window to see where I needed to click, it was already open.

[nextbigthing]

Yes, if you want popular rides, wake up. They're gone SO fast!

[litasail]

Feb 2, 2020 19:59:23 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Feb 2, 2020 14:20:21 GMT -5 litasail said:

Sorry to thread hi-jack, but can you please share more about this?

Kenny the Pirate has a 1 year subscription service for about $10/year (I don't know exactly how much). He's got great tips about when they release new FastPasses for some key rides. He's also got great information on characters (better than what Disney releases) and very accurate wait times. I don't feel comfortable to sharing here because I believe in small business but I do find his information worth the $10, which is nothing in the grand scheme of a Disney trip!.

You just sold him a subscription. Thank you!

[countthestars]

Feb 2, 2020 21:43:43 GMT -5 litasail said:

Feb 2, 2020 19:59:23 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Kenny the Pirate has a 1 year subscription service for about $10/year (I don't know exactly how much). He's got great tips about when they release new FastPasses for some key rides. He's also got great information on characters (better than what Disney releases) and very accurate wait times. I don't feel comfortable to sharing here because I believe in small business but I do find his information worth the $10, which is nothing in the grand scheme of a Disney trip!.

You just sold him a subscription. Thank you!

I hope you find his site helpful! He's also got menus for all restaurants and if you are interested you can use his touring plans to plan your day. Check out "Characterpalooza" on the Hollywood Studios page and "Character Training" on the EPCOT page if you are interested in maybe meeting some random/rare characters! I've subscribed for three years now!

[curbsideprophet]

Also, it sounds like you are going around/right after Easter? The week before and the week after Easter are two of the busiest weeks of the year.

[curbsideprophet]

Glad you got what you wanted.

I just booked mine as well. I was surprised I was able to get an evening Slinky Dog on arrival day!