Help with Fast Passes

devalsam

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
We are planning a trip for the first week in December. It will be the first trip for my H and most of the kids, first for me in 10 years. I'm so confused about the fast pass process. Which rides should I try to get for our party? It will be my husband and I and our six kids, ranging in age from 6-17.

We're staying offsite so can't book our fast passes until 30 days out and I'm worried I'm going to miss out on all the good ones! :(
 
I would say- Toy Story, Rock n rollerCoaster, Tower of Terror- EPCOT- Soarin, MK- Splash Mountain, 7 D mine train, ?
Depending on the height of the 6 yr old of course.

1st week of December should be pretty good though. Get there about 30 minutes before rope drop, do the rides you don't have a FP for, book your fast passes starting about 11-noonish. At least that is what worked for us in October. HAVE FUN!
 
You won't miss the good ones so no worries! Just try to book them early afternoon so you can get the short lines in the morning without the passes. You can then get more fast passes after you use your initial prebooked 3 so you also don't want them to be scheduled too late in the day.
I agree with above
MK: 7 dwarfs, peter pan (if its a must on your list because it gets long!), the mountains
HS: Toy Story (so fun for the whole family!)
Epcot: Soarin and Test Track
Animal Kingdom: Everest, the Safari (unless you go there first thing in the morning which is a great time to see animals), River Rapids
We never use them on the shows unless we really didn't want to pick any of the available rides
 
The FP at Epcot and HS are tiered, so you can only get one in Level one, and two from Level 2. So at HS, I would get Toy Story, and then in level 2 you can choose ToT and maybe Star Tours for the other two. Rock n roll Coaster has a single rider line if the younger ones don't want to go on, and you don't have a FP. As PP mentioned, get there early if that works for you, and ride a few things before it gets more crowded, then use FP, and after 3 are used, you can try to get a fourth for later. Fantasmic! Show at nt. is often still available midday, so you could grab one for that. We love Toy Story, and try to ride it at opening, and then again with our FP, because there are long lines the rest of the day. You might split and take the younger ones there 1st, and older go to Rock n Roll Coaster, and you all ride Toy Story together later with FP. If any of your 12 and understand are into Star Wars, there is Jedi training they can do, but you have to sign up early to get a spot for one of the times during the day. They sometimes let people sign up prepark opening, so be there early for that if interested.

At Epcot, Soarin and Test Track are both in Tier one, so you can FP one and try to ride the other first thing. When you are there the Frozen Ride will also be open, and probably a Tier 1 as well, so you will have to prioritize. If you are going to a park more than 1 day, then you can split up your FP between the two days, and Test Track also has single rider .

At MK, as PP mentioned, you will want to grab the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan, and then any of the mountains you want. Again, you can split up between two days if you will be there, and try to ride some early. You can also split FP. So if some want Peter Pan and some want Space Mountain, you can assign each person different rides. This is the park with the most rides, so you can try to grab a 4th and 5th later for some of the other rides like Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Carribean.

At AK, you'll want Safari, Everest, Lion King show, Kali River Rapids(depending on weather). If you go early, you can do Safari right away, and Lion King show is right there, so you could get those done, and use FP for other things if you like. You can change FP to what is still available, so for example if you FP Safari, but get there early, and get it done in the regular line because it's still short, you can pull up the app, and try to change it to Kali River Rapids if it's a warm day. Everest also has the single rider line, if everyone isn't going to do it, or some want to ride it again.

There are also FP for meet and greets, like Anna and Elsa, which can be a long line, so if some of your kids want this, you might want to use a FP for those. You can also schedule some meals as a way to meet characters w/o a line. Many of the princesses(except Anna and Elsa) are at the castle in MK and Akershus in Norway, and Mickey and friends are at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, Tusker House in AK, Minnie's Holiday Dinner at HS, and Cape May brft at Beach Club. (You can get more info. on all the meals at allears.net).

Since you haven't been in a while, and others have not been, you might want to you tube some of the rides that could be scary/dark for younger kids so you are prepared ahead. Also, look at maps of park and have a game plan, so you are or booking FP back to back that are across the park from each other, and you are not trekking all over needlessly, to save on the walking. You can pick what you want to start with, and try to go in some type of order around the park, figuring in FP and meal times. A general plan like this save a lot of time , walking, and stress, and then you can change up things as you want. It helped us a lot on our first trip, as it takes time to get your bearings, and know where you are going next! You probably want to look at the schedule for the parks, and when you pick your days for each park, avoid the parks that have early EMHs since you cannot do those being offsite, and the park will already have people in if you come at regular opening time.

The week you will be there all the holiday decor will be up, and try to see the castle lighting at dusk, when they light up the icicle lights, which is magical, and there is a great projection show on the castle, usually before Wishes, and sometimes after, which is a don't miss. It is very cool, and they add a Christmas part to the end at that time. Also if you want to hop on the monorail at anytime for a break or to go to a meal, you could stop over at Grand Floridian which has a giant gingerbread house that is cool to see, and they sell gingerbread to taste as well. Epcot will also have Santas and storytellers all around the World Showcase, telling of their holiday customs.

Sorry for such a long post, just trying to give you info. that might be helpful. Is is a great week to go! Enjoy!
 
It's worth reading the unofficial guide and/or buying a subscription to touringplans. It's not perfect, but if you're not familar with what to do when, it will give you a great idea how to arrange your day and what attractions you should be trying to get fast passes for.

Bruce
 

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