Fastpass strategy over Christmas

[bellelab]

We are taking our trip Dec. 21-28. We have gone to Disney World many times but never during a busy season like Christmas. Our 60-day window is coming up in a few short weeks, and I want to be sure I know what the best strategy is fastpass-wise. What I am unsure about is the availability of a 4th fastpass once our 3 are used.

Should I make fastpass reservations for first thing in the morning?

Should I make them mid-morning and rope drop a few rides first?

Or should I make them in the late afternoon during the busiest time of day if the chances of even obtaining a 4th fastpass is slim?

We are staying at Yacht Club, so it is feasible to go back, rest, and avoid the crazy afternoon crowds on our HS and EP days, but I doubt we will go back to the hotel on our MK or AK days. Thank you!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

Following. I have similar questions. We are going for first Christmas trip and I wonder about FP strategy also. With crowds that high, there must be many many Disers who have actual experience, lol

 

[anomamatt]

For Christmas week, I always make our FPs early in the morning (9, 10, 11 or 8, 9, 10am). MK will open at 7am every day of the week during Christmas week (as an EMH) and that is a good time to knock out a few rides. Its pretty crowded already by park open (8am). So its not crazy to have FP for the first hour the park is open.

I'm also big into the refresh method, so I always make my FPs early. Refresh has historically worked well for me during Christmas week.

 

[reluctantredhead]

We'll be there from December 20-27 (split stay between WL 12/20-12/23 and BC 12/23-12/27). It's been ten years since we've been at Christmastime, and I've been really worried about crowd levels and FP+ availability too, so we decided to book a CL room and purchase the 3 CL FP+s for $50/pp/per night. That way, we can be guaranteed to get on at least 6 rides per day. It is expensive for sure, but since this is kind of a "last hurrah" trip to WDW for my D before college, we were willing to splurge. I know this plan won't work for everybody, but I just wanted to throw it out there for anyone who might not know about it but might be interested in using it...Disney hasn't really advertised this program to my knowledge, and it can be tough to find info about it.

 

[djc9699]

We rope drop and ride what we can early, then start our first FP around 9:30 - 9:45, then make the 2nd shortly after. We break for lunch. Then have our 3rd FP after which we refresh for more, while hitting shows or less popular rides, and soaking up the atmosphere.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We will be there Christmas week also. I was wondering the same thing and found that most will agree to make FP early, ride what you can between FP and refresh for afternoon. We plan on leaving the parks mid day and spending time at the resort. I thought about going to Disney Springs in the evenings but many have said DS is crazy crowded Christmas week.