Solo trip...skipping FP???

Violet Parr

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
So I am going solo for a week next week for the first time. I keep trying to make FP+ ressies but I can't bring myself to decide what to do. I realized I just kind of want to go with the flow, since family trips are often a lot more structured (and harder to do standby when there are 5 or more of us.)

Is this a bad idea? Tier 1 rides are pretty much booked up (Slinky Dog, Flight of Passage) and my main goal is to do all of Galaxy's Edge (first time seeing it!)


I don't know, I guess I just want to go where the wind blows! Am I making a mistake?
 
I wouldn't call it a mistake. Just understand that you are foregoing an opportunity to wait in some short lines for attractions. If going with the flow and just walking around is more your interest for this trip, then its not a mistake at all
 


I think you’ll be fine. You shouldn’t have any problems getting FP for a party of 1 day of. We’ve actually done this with a party of 2 and had relatively no problems. Just do what you want to do!!
 


I always book my three, just because. However, sometimes I use them, and sometimes I wing it. It is just my backup plan.
If I do not use them, I always cancel, and smile, since I know someone is on the app looking to ride those popular rides!
 
I've gone no FP solo before and been fine, maybe you'll miss out on a few things but if you've done them before it's no big deal. The other thing I've found is it's not to hard getting day of FP's solo, just keep checking the app, I've found most of the big rides last minute using the app while in park when going solo. I much prefer going with the flow whenever I can, and just getting a few select FP for the things I really want to do. It's nice to go with the wind!
 
Agree with others: even if you plan on going with the flow, you'd still be wise to book whatever decent FP options you can now so that you have the flexibility to ride those rides with short lines if you choose to.
 
Honestly, since you're only a week out I don't think there's a big advantage to booking FP+ ahead of time. At 60+ days it makes sense since you can get SDD, FoP, etc., but you're well within even the 30 day window--your chances of getting top tier FP+ are actually better day-of at this point since you'll have the full slate clean to play the refresh game and pick FP+ up as they get dropped by other guests or added into the system by Disney. You can still do that even if you do decide to book some FP+, but I would not assume it's going to really do much for you. In January 2018 I did a day stopover in WDW that I planned at the last minute and was in the same situation re: being inside the 30 day FP+ window, and I ended up booking only one FP+ for the morning. Zero regrets; my trip did not suffer for it in the slightest. I ended up getting more than a dozen FP+ on the fly throughout the day, and that was on an unseasonably busy Saturday.

The one thing to be aware of either way is the tiering system--even if you wait to book until you're there, your FP+ reservations are still subject to it. You can't book a second Tier 1 ride until you've used two Tier 2 FP+ (or let two expire). I didn't realize that when I started my morning in AK and didn't use FP+ to ride Dinosaur and EE--the lines weren't long so I didn't feel like I needed FP+, but it would have been a good idea to nab FP+ for those anyway to make up my Tier 2 quota and have a shot at a second Tier 1 (i.e. Pandora) attraction before I park hopped out of there.
 
I don't know, I guess I just want to go where the wind blows! Am I making a mistake?
You are not making a mistake. I do this solo often. It's liberating.

I'll check the night before and if a popular FP is availablr I take it and then and only then choose to go to that park. I've gotten day-of FP's for Slinky and FoP.
 
Here's the thing, and this is only for DHS. If you wander into MK and are playing the refresh game, you can ride multiple T1 rides easily with same-day FP's. In DHS, you can only book one T1 and you have to book AND USE the other T2's before you can book more. So, you can't do the same-day fastpasses "I'm going to ride TOT on repeat" until this has been done. I would book 3 FP's for DHS first thing in the morning, because if you see a FP for something you won't be able to book it until you've either used FP's in a different park, or you've done your 3 in DHS first. It's very annoying and CM's aren't happy to help you get around it. When I travel solo I don't always book FP's in advance but this has been a big pain in the tush since they made the change to the tiers in DHS.
 
I would book FP because to me waiting on a 90 minuted line is such a wast of time. FP your important rides, and go free on the others If you don’t used your FP not a big thing
 
My son and I are going week after next and I haven't booked a single FP and probably won't. I looked last night and could easily get one for SDD every single morning of the trip. Our goal is to ride RotR, after that everything else is gravy. We rarely ever book FPs in advance, I can't remember the last time we did. We will book them the night before if we have decided which park we are going to the next day or we will book them while standing in line for a ride. Thankfully for us, we have been a number of times and riding rides isn't high on our priority list. We like to ride them but we don't try to see how many we can ride and really don't mind standing in line. It's nice to not be tied to a schedule. We also don't make ADRs any further in advance than day of and we eat at TS just about every day. We just look at MDE while walking around in the afternoon, see what's available and go from there. We always have PHs so that makes it all a little easier.
 
Note - I think you are there right now? When I have done solo trips without much of a plan - I still think about FP's the night before. I find the selection to be "decent" for the next day after about 9 pm. And - I can typically decide which park I am going to before bed the night before.
 
My last solo I had suffered from planning burnout. I had FP booked but ended up changing everything as I went and going with the flow a little more...as you said, you are not likely to get the headliners, but you may find things that will work with how you want to tour...
 
I didn't do advance FP for my October solo trip because I had an old ticket that I needed to convert on-site before I could link it to MDE. In the end I found it freeing to go with the flow and just book FP day-of or the night before. With that said, for the time I was there they were having Extra Extra Magic hours so that was a really big advantage for the two days that I got to DHS at 6 a.m. (rode Slinky Dog three times, Millennium Falcon twice). But even aside from that I was able to find same day options for almost everything I wanted. I could've even gotten FoP, although it was for late in the evening and I knew I wanted to head out before then. It was kind of fun playing the "FP lotto" throughout the day and seeing what gems popped up.
 

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