Here now! AK

[natb]

So, like everyone else I logged in at 60days and managed to get FOP for 11:40am! It was amazing and we felt really lucky to have seen it. Of course we wished to ride again but the line was averaging 115mins most of the day! While using my last scheduled fp at 1pm for Kilimanjaro safari I kept refreshing fp and got avatar AGAIN for 3:20!!!!! So excited! Keep checking, people!

 

[DisDreaming4116]

WOOOO for refresh! Well done and enjoy Pandora at night!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Congrats!

That happened to me in the first week of December and I felt like I won the lotto, lol.

 

[disney4us2002]

What is refresh? I skimmed thru the FP thread but it's so long....

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

What is refresh? I skimmed thru the FP thread but it's so long....

Basically just refreshing MDE until the FP you want pops up.

 

[goofyintoronto]

So, like everyone else I logged in at 60days and managed to get FOP for 11:40am! It was amazing and we felt really lucky to have seen it. Of course we wished to ride again but the line was averaging 115mins most of the day! While using my last scheduled fp at 1pm for Kilimanjaro safari I kept refreshing fp and got avatar AGAIN for 3:20!!!!! So excited! Keep checking, people!

You must have some serious horse shoes because last trip i refreshed until my fingers cramped and guess what i got? NOTHING! Not a single ride that I wanted the entire trip there.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

You must have some serious horse shoes because last trip i refreshed until my fingers cramped and guess what i got? NOTHING! Not a single ride that I wanted the entire trip there.

Out of curiosity what rides did you try for (or would have accepted)? And how big was your party?

 

[goofyintoronto]

Out of curiosity what rides did you try for (or would have accepted)? And how big was your party?

It was ONE person (I went on this trip solo), and i tried rides such as FoP, Slinky, Frozen, to name a few. Slinky was my main priority and I got a big fat NOTHING.

 

[SuzyQue]

It was ONE person (I went on this trip solo), and i tried rides such as FoP, Slinky, Frozen, to name a few. Slinky was my main priority and I got a big fat NOTHING.

When was your trip?

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

It was ONE person (I went on this trip solo), and i tried rides such as FoP, Slinky, Frozen, to name a few. Slinky was my main priority and I got a big fat NOTHING.

If those were the FPs you were trying for and expecting then I'm not completely surprised. They are among the hardest FPs to get. Yes, your chances go up if you're a party of 1 but those FPs can still be hard. It took me a solid half hour of constant refreshing to get FEA for 2 (normally I don't do that but DS really wanted to go). I've never gotten 7DMT for any party size. But I get a lot of other FPs for things like EE, JC, Soarin, etc. I have seen others say they couldn't even get those (although that seems less common).

Sometimes the expectation around here is the anyone can get any FP for any time with a reasonably small party size. Clearly that works for some people. But not for everyone. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

 

[epcotty]

I can't imagine refreshing for more than 5 minutes at a time, maybe 10 at the most

 

[JETSDAD]

I can't imagine refreshing for more than 5 minutes at a time, maybe 10 at the most

5-10 minutes looking day of can result in many good FP's. A lot of people who say they have bad luck with finding same day FP's only take a quick look and don't refresh much... @PrincessWithABlaster I'm sure looks quite a bit and I'm not certain as to why her results are different than mine. May be time of day or something else???

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

5-10 minutes looking day of can result in many good FP's. A lot of people who say they have bad luck with finding same day FP's only take a quick look and don't refresh much... @PrincessWithABlaster I'm sure looks quite a bit and I'm not certain as to why her results are different than mine. May be time of day or something else???

I have spent more time refreshing than I would admit in polite company. 5 mins is literally nothing. Before I made real FPs last year, I spent hours poking and prodding the system to figure out any way of improving my results. Different crowd levels, different times of day, different party size, different browsers. Some things help. Believe it or not, a browser over the app have a noticeable difference in success rate (for me). It's a technical puzzle and I'm an engineer with a vested interest.

I really do believe it comes down to how Disney is dividing up the bandwidth between servers. I have zero proof of that but that's my suspicion. Based on who reports having an easy time I think it's people with APs (or a subset of people with APs) who are directed regularly to a server that doesn't get as much traffic. Possibly completely unintentionally by Disney, who knows. But that's totally unscientific with nothing but scant anecdotal evidence. But it helps me when I get frustrated that I'm not in the other half.

 

[JETSDAD]

I have spent more time refreshing than I would admit in polite company. 5 mins is literally nothing. Before I made real FPs last year, I spent hours poking and prodding the system to figure out any way of improving my results. Different crowd levels, different times of day, different party size, different browsers. Some things help. Believe it or not, a browser over the app have a noticeable difference in success rate (for me). It's a technical puzzle and I'm an engineer with a vested interest.

I really do believe it comes down to how Disney is dividing up the bandwidth between servers. I have zero proof of that but that's my suspicion. Based on who reports having an easy time I think it's people with APs (or a subset of people with APs) who are directed regularly to a server that doesn't get as much traffic. Possibly completely unintentionally by Disney, who knows. But that's totally unscientific with nothing but scant anecdotal evidence. But it helps me when I get frustrated that I'm not in the other half.

Earlier last year our AP's had expired but we had family members linked with tickets, not AP's, so for much of the year when I was looking I didn't have AP's linked. The results didn't seem to change (just as a data point). Is there something that changes results?? I have no idea. My thought would be no but I'm also speaking from the side of the fence where I do have good luck so it's easy for me to say lol.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Earlier last year our AP's had expired but we had family members linked with tickets, not AP's, so for much of the year when I was looking I didn't have AP's linked. The results didn't seem to change (just as a data point). Is there something that changes results?? I have no idea. My thought would be no but I'm also speaking from the side of the fence where I do have good luck so it's easy for me to say lol.

That is an interesting data point. If I knew you in RL I'd give you my MDE password to see if it's something your doing or something with my account. The other thought I have is that it's based on when people's MDE accounts were created and possibly people who've had it a long time are somehow different. They have different settings or something that put them in a different pool.

 

[JETSDAD]

That is an interesting data point. If I knew you in RL I'd give you my MDE password to see if it's something your doing or something with my account. The other thought I have is that it's based on when people's MDE accounts were created and possibly people who've had it a long time are somehow different. They have different settings or something that put them in a different pool.

If you're ever up for a test just let me know!! As for how long I have had my MDE account, I'd guess since about 2014-2015 sometime.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

If you're ever up for a test just let me know!! As for how long I have had my MDE account, I'd guess since about 2014-2015 sometime.

LOL. Unfortunately it looks like my testing days are over. The rumor is that with the date based tickets there's no rolling window to be able to test with anymore. If I had known that (it makes perfect sense, I just didn't think of it) I would have bought the undated tickets before they sold out but we werent 100% that we were going at the time. I'll check it when I get them but I don't have high hopes.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

LOL. Unfortunately it looks like my testing days are over. The rumor is that with the date based tickets there's no rolling window to be able to test with anymore. If I had known that (it makes perfect sense, I just didn't think of it) I would have bought the undated tickets before they sold out but we werent 100% that we were going at the time. I'll check it when I get them but I don't have high hopes.

Tickets with the flexible date option will allow for testing any dates within the next 30 days (if no onsite stay).

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Tickets with the flexible date option will allow for testing any dates within the next 30 days (if no onsite stay).

I just priced that out and it would cost $200 more for flexible dates. I don't have any others reason to get them so, not an option for me. I have a suspicion that the dated tickets may actually have a smaller rolling window. People are saying that even if you start your tickets on a day after your arrival date (staying on-site but buying tickets separately) your FP window is still based on your arrival date, not ticket activation date. Depending on how that is coded up, there may be a short rolling window there that testing might be able to happen. I plan to see.

 

[TinkSassy]

5-10 minutes looking day of can result in many good FP's. A lot of people who say they have bad luck with finding same day FP's only take a quick look and don't refresh much... @PrincessWithABlaster I'm sure looks quite a bit and I'm not certain as to why her results are different than mine. May be time of day or something else???

Persistence - I will refresh over and over for 15-20 minutes. Usually standing in another line or eating lunch/snack, but I have had limited issue getting all but the holy grail of FPs - FoP, SDD and 7DMT (PP can be a stretch too). I have usually been able to snag FEA but it is a matter of being the one refreshing just as one is released by another person. Another trick is if they offer the ride you want but not at the time - take it and then modify that one. I've found it much easier to get a new time than a different ride. Not sure if there is something in the formulas that affects that.