Our Experience Using the "Refresh Method"

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yes, if it makes sense where you are in the park. But, again, some rides don't "move" as easily as others and it can be harder with a bigger party. You will soon get a "feel" for it if you give it a try. The real reason to try to move something up is so that you can then try for another FP for something else that much sooner. I usually check/refresh when I'm in line for another ride, or at lunch. Pace yourself and see it as a potential bonus rather than getting bummed if you can't get something to pop up. Last time I was in AK I wanted to get another ride on NRJ and absolutely nothing would come up. If a ride is down or they are really busy it becomes harder.
Thanks so much!
 
MK is a wonderland for refreshing... 7DMT is hard to get, mostly because it's a pain to scroll for it, but otherwise there are always ample MK FPs to find.
I can't believe on my trip I'll be able to get fastpasses for SM and Splash like nothing! Basically just keep switching between the times and eventually something good will come up!
 
We rode RnR 4 times consecutively on our last visit using refresh. It just kept coming up while waiting in the FP line. One time, we had to wait about 5 minutes for our return time to arrive. The other times we just hopped off and got right back in line. I swear we passed the same groups waiting in the standby line all 4 times.

We wait until later in the evening for Everest. That line gets so short that you can ride as many times as you want, no FP required.
That is crazy! Was toy story mania or TOT hard to get?
 
Absolutely 100% try it out yourself @davish562 and see how well you can get it to work for you. Not everyone has the same success. And sometimes it varies. For some reason I can't get much of anything to pop in the morning at AK. Once the noon witching hour arrives, I can get EE with a window in the next 20-30 minutes in a couple minutes of refreshing. Before noon, can't get a party of 1 with 15 mins of refreshing.
Will do! First day is at Magic Kingdom and will get there at 1 pm. That will be a great first day to try it to see how many rides we can get done in a half day!
 


We did not do a lot of refreshing on our most recent trip for a variety of reasons, but the times we did do it, it worked great! It also works very well if you choose to go to a park in the rain - it rained on our 2nd AK day; we didn't have a lot of options so we went anyway. We were able to move our evening FoP up to mid afternoon and get 4th and 5th FP's for Dinosaur and Navi, each with less than a minute of refreshing. We could have gotten another FoP but my husband was done with the rain by that time (late afternoon).
Wow that is great! Can't wait to try this out!
 
That is crazy! Was toy story mania or TOT hard to get?

Those are both doable using refresh, but we like to wait until later for those too.

TSM is probably my kids favorite. They get pretty competive and like to ride multiple times. Even when if was new, we could wait until an hour before close, ride 4 times and still make it to Fantasmic.

We once did ToT 13 times in just over 2 hours. It did take a little running to get in the last two rides though.

The point is refresh combined with staying late will get you on more rides than you could ever imagine.
 
It’s an entirely different system that requires a different mindset. I enjoy DLR’s FP system too.

We’re going to DL in December as part of a Rose Parade trip so I’ve been following a lot of MaxPass threads.

I’ll be interested to see how much FP strategy can be applied out west.
 


Those are both doable using refresh, but we like to wait until later for those too.

TSM is probably my kids favorite. They get pretty competive and like to ride multiple times. Even when if was new, we could wait until an hour before close, ride 4 times and still make it to Fantasmic.

We once did ToT 13 times in just over 2 hours. It did take a little running to get in the last two rides though.

The point is refresh combined with staying late will get you on more rides than you could ever imagine.
Wow that is great! And yes I love riding rides closer to closing time too!
 
I have been trying to get Slinky Dog Dash since day 60. Any advice? Will this method work?
 
I'm just back and tried the refreshing method several days. I could not get any of the Toy Story rides in the evening, I probably tried 100 times or more. I did get RnR a couple of time and ToT came up several times. In AK I did the same thing on our two days there and got Na'vi River a few times, I never got the Safari or FOP even once. In the MK I had decent options till the last couple of hours than it was basically IASW, Dumbo or the Tea Cups for the most part. I had better luck with refreshing back in August.
 
I'm just back and tried the refreshing method several days. I could not get any of the Toy Story rides in the evening, I probably tried 100 times or more. I did get RnR a couple of time and ToT came up several times. In AK I did the same thing on our two days there and got Na'vi River a few times, I never got the Safari or FOP even once. In the MK I had decent options till the last couple of hours than it was basically IASW, Dumbo or the Tea Cups for the most part. I had better luck with refreshing back in August.
Oh no! I'm leaving in ten days I hope I have better luck than you did.
 
We’re going to DL in December as part of a Rose Parade trip so I’ve been following a lot of MaxPass threads.

I’ll be interested to see how much FP strategy can be applied out west.

We have gotten up to 15 fast passes a day at Disneyland Resort using MaxPass. It's great. But I am sure we'll adapt to the FP+ system - it all just takes practice.
 
Check the day or two after they expand the park hours. Usually happens <30 days out.

Refreshing didn't work for us for SDD or TSM, but the wait was 30 minutes during the last hour of the park day for SDD and 15 minutes for TSM (it was 95-120 minutes earlier in the day for SDD and 65 minutes for TSM).
 
Refreshing didn't work for us for SDD or TSM, but the wait was 30 minutes during the last hour of the park day for SDD and 15 minutes for TSM (it was 95-120 minutes earlier in the day for SDD and 65 minutes for TSM).

Everyday is different, but I’ve refreshed and got TSM many times. I’ve only ever got SDD (day of) from a drop. Drops, however, cannot be relied upon.

But I was suggesting to the person that is <60 days out to check when they release the expanded hours (usually happens less than a month out) because when they add hours, they add FP. And people change their plans based on the hours. It’s a time when FP suddenly become available.
 
I've had success both night before and day of for SDD (even outside of drops). In December I managed to get FP's overlapping for 7 people (broke it into 3 & 4). For 3 of us I've had good luck with it. The other TSL FP's are much easier.
 
Works best in MK. Didn’t really work that well in HS.
We had a great string of Buzz to Dumbo to Pooh to Tea Cups to Mermaid to Barnstormer to Mickey and Minnie all right after each other. Got each FP while waiting in line for the prior ride. Each line was at least 40 mins. We got them all done in about an hour.
 
I used the refresh method at MK today and had less success than I did on my last trip, but still did pretty ok. Touring plans says today was a 7, wait times were pretty high for most of the day. I got the following as additional FPs from refreshing/modifying.

Haunted Mansion
Little Mermaid
Big Thunder
Space Mountain
Dumbo
Space Mountain

It was definitely more difficult than it was last time and I had to spend more time getting the rides and times I wanted, but they all eventually appeared. I could've gotten more but both the app and the mobile site weren't letting me book any FPs after about 8pm, insisting that FP distribution had concluded for the day (park closed at 10). Other people in line mentioned they couldn't book either. So not sure what that was about, but point is refresh worked out today.
 
I used the refresh method at MK today and had less success than I did on my last trip, but still did pretty ok. Touring plans says today was a 7, wait times were pretty high for most of the day. I got the following as additional FPs from refreshing/modifying.

Haunted Mansion
Little Mermaid
Big Thunder
Space Mountain
Dumbo
Space Mountain

It was definitely more difficult than it was last time and I had to spend more time getting the rides and times I wanted, but they all eventually appeared. I could've gotten more but both the app and the mobile site weren't letting me book any FPs after about 8pm, insisting that FP distribution had concluded for the day (park closed at 10). Other people in line mentioned they couldn't book either. So not sure what that was about, but point is refresh worked out today.


I got that message last week on the app, but when I went to the machines I did get some additional FP options (nothing I really wanted, but it was better than nothing).
 
I used the refresh method at MK today and had less success than I did on my last trip, but still did pretty ok. Touring plans says today was a 7, wait times were pretty high for most of the day. I got the following as additional FPs from refreshing/modifying.

Haunted Mansion
Little Mermaid
Big Thunder
Space Mountain
Dumbo
Space Mountain

It was definitely more difficult than it was last time and I had to spend more time getting the rides and times I wanted, but they all eventually appeared. I could've gotten more but both the app and the mobile site weren't letting me book any FPs after about 8pm, insisting that FP distribution had concluded for the day (park closed at 10). Other people in line mentioned they couldn't book either. So not sure what that was about, but point is refresh worked out today.

Sorry to hear that it was more difficult than previously (and a little worried for my upcoming trip). Glad you were able to get the Spaces and BTMR though.

I've been seeing the distribution done indications in DHS as early as 6 pm so that's about 2 1/2 hours before park close. If you keep trying often it will come back but it's annoying to keep having to go back to the point of picking a date and park.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top