SDFP: CHANGES COMING!! Beware the 7th of June?!

[ScrapYap]

I'm lost with all of the MDE, AP, phantoms, multiple accounts, FP transfer etc.

My approach was a little simpler. I have plastic tickets from kids senior class trips. They were never attached to an MDE. My understanding is as of June 6th, if I tried these at a kiosk for SDFP, I would get denied because they do not have valid admission.

Is that correct?

Furthermore, with this process, I have little hope of finding a new loophole.

You won't be denied at the kiosks - you'll be denied at FP entrance.

Check back on the thread. If there are more loopholes, we'll find them.

 

[ktate82]

That's right - though @anomamatt might be on to something more efficient - though more time consuming. I think he plans to use more than one FP an hour by arriving with no FP on his primary profiles - he'll only transfer over from donors immediately after using a FP. I've not experimented with this. @anomamatt what is your experience?

This is what we did in February. It was just DH and I traveling, and I booked FP using our kids' APs in advance. Then when we got down there, I realized I forgot their bands. After we used our initial 3 FP, I just modified the party on their FP over to us. Worked great, but I had to alter them after each one of theirs was used. That is what we had planned for our upcoming trip as well as DH hated it when I would pull out other bands lol. But this was easy as we didn't have to keep track of extra bands.

 

[anomamatt]

That's right - though @anomamatt might be on to something more efficient - though more time consuming. I think he plans to use more than one FP an hour by arriving with no FP on his primary profiles - he'll only transfer over from donors immediately after using a FP. I've not experimented with this. @anomamatt what is your experience?

I'm (sadly) not in WDW now, but I just completed a trial via the app (booked via web and transferred using MDE app on iOS). and it works fine. I did it using MK and whatever fast passes were available. Starting with an empty main account. I don't see why it wouldn't work in the parks the same way.

What I don't have a good plan for is how to do this with tiered parks. Because from what I recall, you cannot transfer tier 1 FPs until you have used 3? So starting with zero won't work. I'll try it and play around with it later tonight.

 

[marciemi]

Okay, so I'm back from an afternoon at AK and hopefully tested everything I was supposed to. I had 3 FP booked in DH & my name (ITTBAB at 8am which I didn't feel bad "wasting", Everest at 2 and FOP at 3:25), and Na'vi River Journey booked in 2 of my sons' names (AP's) for 4:15 along with Primeval Whirl at 2:30. Here's what I tested and found out:

1. As soon as I came in I booked a SDFP for someone previously associated with my MDE using their old card with no ticket remaining. I then (on my phone/app) used the Change Party function and had no problem (!!) changing the party from that person to my son's AP (since he had valid admission, although he wasn't in the park). No guarantee this will work after the 6th but could be a game changer if it still does and the "check point" is at the ride as we've heard and not the kiosk.

2. I waited until I was well in the window (about 3:10) for the Primeval Whirl FPP at 2:30 and was able to change the party to 2 other folks in my MDE with AP's without issue. Once I'd changed them, I went ahead and canceled them (not a fan of that ride). But even using the app, I was able to change within a window, which I thought I had done in the past.

3. As far as tiering for AK, I had let the ITTBAB in our "real" names expire (FP #1), used the second one at Everest when we got in the park (FP #2), and we then went to FOP (FP #3). While we were waiting in the long line there (but before we had scanned the second time), I went in and used Change Party to transfer Navi River Journey from my sons' names to our names. We rode that as well without issue using our "real" bands/names. So apparently it's fine to still let one Tier 2 expire (and use the other and the first Tier 1) and then be able to book another Tier 1, and AK works like the other Tiered parks do in that regard.

And of course as we were leaving Pandora I had a woman come up to me and offer me a rider swap for 3 people for FOP! I thanked her very nicely but told her I was local and had ridden several times already and she should offer it to someone who could use it more. Hope someone got to use it! Anyway, I'll be back there tomorrow so if there was anything I forgot, let me know. Realize this is all subject to change in another week!

 

[mikat]

Okay, so I'm back from an afternoon at AK and hopefully tested everything I was supposed to. . .

Thank you so much for reporting back! This is very helpful info.

 

[Hej2222]

We have used Change Party feature extensively in November last year. I had 2 sets of tickets on 2 sets of phantoms in addition to our Annual Passes. I would set up 3 main FP in the morning and use all of them or try to scan the bands at the entrance for the first 2 rides (if we wanted to skip the first 2 rides at tiered parks) to make sure we would be able to transfer Tier 1 rides as the 4th FP after using our 3rd FP (Tier 1). It is hit or miss with letting the first 2 FP expire in order to get or transfer the 4th FP from phantoms, so it is safer to scan the bands and skip the ride instead of just letting FP expire. I was also able to transfer FP from phantoms on the app even when FP window was already open. I usually would schedule second Tier 1 on the first set of phantoms 30 min after the beginning of my my 3rd main FP and I would transfer that 4th FP to our main profiles immediately after using our 3rd main FP, even if the FP window was already open. The second set of phantoms had a next Tier 1 scheduled 30 min later. So for example in Epcot we would have FP for Spaceship Earth at 9 AM, Mission Space at 10 AM, TT at 11 AM, FOE on first phantom at 11:20 AM, Soarin on second phantom at 11:50 AM. We would scan SE at 9:50 AM, ride MS at 10:30 AM and TT 11 AM and then start transferring after that. It worked every time, and I could transfer FP even few minutes before the end of the FP window.

 

[AngelDisney]

I've always been able to change profile names on comps, APs, and partially used tickets.

I have a year 2000 non-expiring paper ticket that has 2 days left. I am planning to bring it with me to exchange it for a rfid tickets this August, so I can use it next trip for prebooked FPs. Will I be able to assign and reassign this ticket? Will the CM link it to a profile right away? TIA!

 

[anomamatt]

I played around with it more, and the solution to this new problem (unless things change) is definitely "change party". It's more of a pain, but my family will be happy not to change bands as much. Will just make my life in the park more difficult. But good planning should make it go easier. And I don't see how they can take away 'change party', there are way too many legitimate uses.

I will say that with the changes coming, I'm very glad that I stockpiled non-expiring tickets the week non-expiring tickets went extinct...

 

[SUSIEQ]

3. As far as tiering for AK, I had let the ITTBAB in our "real" names expire (FP #1), used the second one at Everest when we got in the park (FP #2), and we then went to FOP (FP #3). While we were waiting in the long line there (but before we had scanned the second time), I went in and used Change Party to transfer Navi River Journey from my sons' names to our names. We rode that as well without issue using our "real" bands/names. So apparently it's fine to still let one Tier 2 expire (and use the other and the first Tier 1) and then be able to book another Tier 1, and AK works like the other Tiered parks do in that regard.

Marcie,
Would this work if you just let both of the Tier 2 FPs expire? I was too scared to try this last night, so I went to my expired Tier 2 attractions and scanned the MBs and told the CMs that I just wanted to get them off MDE.
I was able to ride FoP twice and NRJ once last night by transferring. Thanks!

 

[pal6860]

We have used Change Party feature extensively in November last year. I had 2 sets of tickets on 2 sets of phantoms in addition to our Annual Passes. I would set up 3 main FP in the morning and use all of them or try to scan the bands at the entrance for the first 2 rides (if we wanted to skip the first 2 rides at tiered parks) to make sure we would be able to transfer Tier 1 rides as the 4th FP after using our 3rd FP (Tier 1). It is hit or miss with letting the first 2 FP expire in order to get or transfer the 4th FP from phantoms, so it is safer to scan the bands and skip the ride instead of just letting FP expire. I was also able to transfer FP from phantoms on the app even when FP window was already open. I usually would schedule second Tier 1 on the first set of phantoms 30 min after the beginning of my my 3rd main FP and I would transfer that 4th FP to our main profiles immediately after using our 3rd main FP, even if the FP window was already open. The second set of phantoms had a next Tier 1 scheduled 30 min later. So for example in Epcot we would have FP for Spaceship Earth at 9 AM, Mission Space at 10 AM, TT at 11 AM, FOE on first phantom at 11:20 AM, Soarin on second phantom at 11:50 AM. We would scan SE at 9:50 AM, ride MS at 10:30 AM and TT 11 AM and then start transferring after that. It worked every time, and I could transfer FP even few minutes before the end of the FP window.

This is wonderful!! My situation is almost identical to yours (2 phantoms and our annual passes). Thank you for that explanation. I think I'll try that next month when we visit.

 

[pal6860]

I played around with it more, and the solution to this new problem (unless things change) is definitely "change party". It's more of a pain, but my family will be happy not to change bands as much. Will just make my life in the park more difficult. But good planning should make it go easier. And I don't see how they can take away 'change party', there are way too many legitimate uses.

I will say that with the changes coming, I'm very glad that I stockpiled non-expiring tickets the week non-expiring tickets went extinct...

anomamatt, when did that occur? I can't remember if my most recent tickets I bought for phantoms are non-expiring or not? (I thought it was, but now I can't remember)

 

[SUSIEQ]

We have used Change Party feature extensively in November last year. I had 2 sets of tickets on 2 sets of phantoms in addition to our Annual Passes. I would set up 3 main FP in the morning and use all of them or try to scan the bands at the entrance for the first 2 rides (if we wanted to skip the first 2 rides at tiered parks) to make sure we would be able to transfer Tier 1 rides as the 4th FP after using our 3rd FP (Tier 1). It is hit or miss with letting the first 2 FP expire in order to get or transfer the 4th FP from phantoms, so it is safer to scan the bands and skip the ride instead of just letting FP expire. I was also able to transfer FP from phantoms on the app even when FP window was already open. I usually would schedule second Tier 1 on the first set of phantoms 30 min after the beginning of my my 3rd main FP and I would transfer that 4th FP to our main profiles immediately after using our 3rd main FP, even if the FP window was already open. The second set of phantoms had a next Tier 1 scheduled 30 min later. So for example in Epcot we would have FP for Spaceship Earth at 9 AM, Mission Space at 10 AM, TT at 11 AM, FOE on first phantom at 11:20 AM, Soarin on second phantom at 11:50 AM. We would scan SE at 9:50 AM, ride MS at 10:30 AM and TT 11 AM and then start transferring after that. It worked every time, and I could transfer FP even few minutes before the end of the FP window.

Just saw your post, so it is hit or miss with letting the Tier 2s expire. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[anomamatt]

anomamatt, when did that occur? I can't remember if my most recent tickets I bought for phantoms are non-expiring or not? (I thought it was, but now I can't remember)

In February of this year. Here is the thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/ticket-prices-going-up-2-12-17-new-pricing-page-8.3578128/ When they increased the prices for the year, they also put expiration dates on the tickets in MDE (of 2 years, if I recall correctly). If they expire, you can get the value you paid applied to new tickets. But if one is using phantoms as 'donor' accounts, it's much better to not worry about an expiration date.

 

[Hej2222]

Just saw your post, so it is hit or miss with letting the Tier 2s expire. Thanks for the explanation.

There were few times during our trip when I would let first 2 FP expire (Tier 2), use my 3rd Tier 1 FP, but then I was not able to get new 4th FP nor transfer 4th FP from the phantoms. The system still had the first 2 FP as active and it was not allowing me to get the 4th. It is not a problem in non-tiered park (now only MK) since you can just change the skipped FP into a FP from the phantom, but if you want to get a second Tier 1 in a tiered park, it can become more complicated. Someone posted that in case of an error on the app after letting the first 2 FP expire, it could still be done on the website. I have not tried that. Those times when I could not get the 4th FP, I would just change the first expired FP to Tier 2 that was available now, scan it, change the second expired FP to Tier 2 that was available now, scan it and then get the 4th FP transferred. Quite complicated and time-consuming, so later into our trip in November just in case I decided to scan all FP that we wanted to skip instead of letting them expire.

 

[anomamatt]

Marcie,
Would this work if you just let both of the Tier 2 FPs expire? I was too scared to try this last night, so I went to my expired Tier 2 attractions and scanned the MBs and told the CMs that I just wanted to get them off MDE.
I was able to ride FoP twice and NRJ once last night by transferring. Thanks!

I'm assuming this was using just your main band? And I'm assuming you had to tap away a total of 4 tier 2's at their respective touch points to make that work?

I'm still wondering the best way to start with a blank 'main' band for tiers. I just tried transferring a tier 1 to a blank account. No problem there. But getting a second tier 1 still requires either tapping 2 tier 2's or letting them expire to get another tier 1. Tapping them away sounds like the most way to cycle unwanted FPs.

I want to start with blank main bands because it will allow you to do rapid fire FPs. =) On our last trip (two weeks ago), we used 12 FPs in the span of 3 hours (9am-12pm in MK). This should still be possible, but will require one more phantom account that it used to.

 

[marciemi]

Marcie,
Would this work if you just let both of the Tier 2 FPs expire?

Despite what others have reported, just letting 2 Tier 2's expire has worked for me every time I've tested it, at both HS and Epcot. I know others have reported issues and it seems each time someone insisted it didn't work I'd go check again and it would be fine for me. Unfortunately I can't check this tomorrow since I have a Safari FP after FOP that I actually plan to use but since letting one expire today worked, I really think letting 2 expire would as well.

 

[pal6860]

In February of this year. Here is the thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/ticket-prices-going-up-2-12-17-new-pricing-page-8.3578128/ When they increased the prices for the year, they also put expiration dates on the tickets in MDE (of 2 years, if I recall correctly). If they expire, you can get the value you paid applied to new tickets. But if one is using phantoms as 'donor' accounts, it's much better to not worry about an expiration date.

Thanks! I actually bought my most recent phantoms tickets in April, so I guess I'm out of luck, but I love that I can still get credit for new tickets if they expire unused.

 

[SUSIEQ]

I'm assuming this was using just your main band? And I'm assuming you had to tap away a total of 4 tier 2's at their respective touch points to make that work?

Yes, It was on my main band. I had Tier 2s booked at ITTBAB and Primeval Whirl. Once I tapped those and used my FoP FP, I transferred Tier 1s from my phantoms, as I used them.

 

[ScrapYap]

I have a year 2000 non-expiring paper ticket that has 2 days left. I am planning to bring it with me to exchange it for a rfid tickets this August, so I can use it next trip for prebooked FPs. Will I be able to assign and reassign this ticket? Will the CM link it to a profile right away? TIA!

The Cm will probably offer to do this -- might even say they need to do it on the spot. You could tell them you prefer to do it later. Or set up the phantom profile ahead of time and give the CM the phantom name. You won't be able to transfer the ticket to another profile - but you can change the name of the phantom.

 

[ScrapYap]

Okay, so I'm back from an afternoon at AK and hopefully tested everything I was supposed to. I had 3 FP booked in DH & my name (ITTBAB at 8am which I didn't feel bad "wasting", Everest at 2 and FOP at 3:25), and Na'vi River Journey booked in 2 of my sons' names (AP's) for 4:15 along with Primeval Whirl at 2:30. Here's what I tested and found out:

1. As soon as I came in I booked a SDFP for someone previously associated with my MDE using their old card with no ticket remaining. I then (on my phone/app) used the Change Party function and had no problem (!!) changing the party from that person to my son's AP (since he had valid admission, although he wasn't in the park). No guarantee this will work after the 6th but could be a game changer if it still does and the "check point" is at the ride as we've heard and not the kiosk.

2. I waited until I was well in the window (about 3:10) for the Primeval Whirl FPP at 2:30 and was able to change the party to 2 other folks in my MDE with AP's without issue. Once I'd changed them, I went ahead and canceled them (not a fan of that ride). But even using the app, I was able to change within a window, which I thought I had done in the past.

3. As far as tiering for AK, I had let the ITTBAB in our "real" names expire (FP #1), used the second one at Everest when we got in the park (FP #2), and we then went to FOP (FP #3). While we were waiting in the long line there (but before we had scanned the second time), I went in and used Change Party to transfer Navi River Journey from my sons' names to our names. We rode that as well without issue using our "real" bands/names. So apparently it's fine to still let one Tier 2 expire (and use the other and the first Tier 1) and then be able to book another Tier 1, and AK works like the other Tiered parks do in that regard.

And of course as we were leaving Pandora I had a woman come up to me and offer me a rider swap for 3 people for FOP! I thanked her very nicely but told her I was local and had ridden several times already and she should offer it to someone who could use it more. Hope someone got to use it! Anyway, I'll be back there tomorrow so if there was anything I forgot, let me know. Realize this is all subject to change in another week!

WOW Marcie!! This really is a game changer. I wonder if it will work at all four parks - booking SDFP and changing party to transfer to a ticketed profile. That will open up the donor program to everyone - not just people with extra tickets on profiles on their MDE! Thanks so much for the research. Since the big change on the 6th will evidently be at FP entrances rather than the kiosks, I'm betting this will still work.

This is big!!