When Refreshing for FastPasses

[KdKyA]

On the laptop, do you just press the refresh button to have the page reload, or do you back out to the date selection and go back in? Not sure if regular refreshing will actually load new times or just the same page. Thanks!

 

[DebbieB]

On the laptop, do you just press the refresh button to have the page reload, or do you back out to the date selection and go back in? Not sure if regular refreshing will actually load new times or just the same page. Thanks!

I click the times at the top. Like if I did 2:00 and didn't get what I wanted, I would hit 2:30, if I didn't get it, back to 2:00.

 

[Spridell]

I click the times at the top. Like if I did 2:00 and didn't get what I wanted, I would hit 2:30, if I didn't get it, back to 2:00.

same

 

[KdKyA]

Do you scroll down for the hard to get FP or are they at the top if available? Like when I look for one, if it's not available at all, it's all the way at the bottom. If it's available but not at that specific time, does it automatically show up at the top in the "We couldn't find this attraction at your exact time..." section? Or would it be in alphabetical order with the least desired FP's?

 

[Remy is Up]

In tiered parks they show up at the top. In mk its alphabetical. Once you have a fp and you are trying to modify if there are new times available they will be at the top

 

[jaysmom4285]

They show up in alphabetical order, and the Tier I FP+ attractions will be at the top, if there is availability. So if you're looking for FoP or SDD, you don't have to scroll all the way down. If there's a FP+, they will show at the top.

 

[mamamelody2]

I click the times at the top. Like if I did 2:00 and didn't get what I wanted, I would hit 2:30, if I didn't get it, back to 2:00.

Yep, me too.

 

[DavidNYC]

Since you're talking about a laptop, I assume you're in the initial stages of making FP or revising them prior to a trip. When people talk about "refreshing" they're generally (but not always) talking about searching for 4th FP or modifying FP on days they're in the park when inventory changes from second to second.

You're going to find that when you're refreshing weeks in advance, there's going to be very minimal change. (And when you're making initial FP on your day, if you keep refreshing, you're more likely to watch the earlier times disappear than to see one pop up!).

Now - that's not to say that people have not found hard to get FP this way, but I've found that generally, it's not worth the time to sit at a computer for any length of time and continually refresh. That first day or two while everyone is going in and making and fine tuning plans, you will see some availability open - but temper your expectations if you're expecting that you can sit there and refresh prior to your park day and see hard to get FP regularly pop up during a sitting.

 

[Remy is Up]

Since you're talking about a laptop, I assume you're in the initial stages of making FP or revising them prior to a trip. When people talk about "refreshing" they're generally (but not always) talking about searching for 4th FP or modifying FP on days they're in the park when inventory changes from second to second.

You're going to find that when you're refreshing weeks in advance, there's going to be very minimal change. (And when you're making initial FP on your day, if you keep refreshing, you're more likely to watch the earlier times disappear than to see one pop up!).

Now - that's not to say that people have not found hard to get FP this way, but I've found that generally, it's not worth the time to sit at a computer for any length of time and continually refresh. That first day or two while everyone is going in and making and fine tuning plans, you will see some availability open - but temper your expectations if you're expecting that you can sit there and refresh prior to your park day and see hard to get FP regularly pop up during a sitting.

This. refresh is a night before and day of strategy. You may see some changes but for the most part, it wont change a lot until the night before and then a lot the day of.

 

[KdKyA]

Thanks everyone! It’s twofold. We don’t have FP’s yet, that happens in 2 weeks. When we get to WDW though, we will be having midday downtime while DH works in the room. So I will have my laptop with me just resting while he gets work done. As far as before we go, I have 2 “must do” rides for our whole trip. FoP and MMRR. We will have 60+4 to work with and 3 people. If I can’t get them on booking day, I work from home so I can do several searches during the day to hopefully get those coveted passes!

 

[DavidNYC]

Thanks everyone! It’s twofold. We don’t have FP’s yet, that happens in 2 weeks. When we get to WDW though, we will be having midday downtime while DH works in the room. So I will have my laptop with me just resting while he gets work done. As far as before we go, I have 2 “must do” rides for our whole trip. FoP and MMRR. We will have 60+4 to work with and 3 people. If I can’t get them on booking day, I work from home so I can do several searches during the day to hopefully get those coveted passes!

Good luck. I'm not sure how either are at +4 and +3 now but I'd recommend making those the first two you book and you'll likely need them to be the last two days! Keep in mind, that there's always rope drop or, my preference - get on line about 15 minutes prior to park closing when the posted wait time will likely be greatly inflated (we were on FoP in 40 minutes getting on line 20 minutes prior to park closing when the posted wait was 80 minutes).

Sounds like you're there in early to mid-may when crowds should be reasonable and 4th+ FP should be OK to get for a party of 3 to 4 so if it's a choice between a FoP FP at 6pm and just doing it a park close - I'd lean towards the park close so you can try to get a lot more FP during the day.

 

[DavidNYC]

Good luck. I'm not sure how either are at +4 and +3 now but I'd recommend making those the first two you book and you'll likely need them to be the last two days! Keep in mind, that there's always rope drop or, my preference - get on line about 15 minutes prior to park closing when the posted wait time will likely be greatly inflated (we were on FoP in 40 minutes getting on line 20 minutes prior to park closing when the posted wait was 80 minutes).

Sounds like you're there in early to mid-may when crowds should be reasonable and 4th+ FP should be relatively easy to get for many rides for a party of 3 to 4 so if it's a choice between a FoP FP at 6pm and just doing it a park close - I'd lean towards the park close so you can try to get a lot more FP during the day.

 

[Scrapmom3]

When making those initial Fast Passes, is there any advantage to using the laptop vs. the phone app? And is there any way to practice the process before tickets are linked to My Disney Experience? I am going to be trying to book for a group of 8, and I am scared I will botch the job. This will be the 14th trip for me, but we haven't been since 2014, and never with a large group, so definitely feeling underprepared.

 

[KdKyA]

When making those initial Fast Passes, is there any advantage to using the laptop vs. the phone app? And is there any way to practice the process before tickets are linked to My Disney Experience? I am going to be trying to book for a group of 8, and I am scared I will botch the job. This will be the 14th trip for me, but we haven't been since 2014, and never with a large group, so definitely feeling underprepared.

I’ve been trying for 30 days out (not actually clicking on accepting the FP, just searching for them). If you already have tickets linked you can check the 30 day mark.

 

[Scrapmom3]

I haven't bought our tickets yet (we travel in October and our FP window is in August)t, so I can't practice in the app yet, unfortunately

 

[Splat10]

When making those initial Fast Passes, is there any advantage to using the laptop vs. the phone app? And is there any way to practice the process before tickets are linked to My Disney Experience? I am going to be trying to book for a group of 8, and I am scared I will botch the job. This will be the 14th trip for me, but we haven't been since 2014, and never with a large group, so definitely feeling underprepared.

I've always found it easier to use the laptop with a mouse. The phone it's small screen and you can see less at any time. It's all a little easier to keep track of what you are doing.
I actually had two laptops going at the same time this year.

 

[livingthedream]

I see so many people talk about searching for alternative FASTPASS+ option availability before they arrive at WDW. I don't know how they do that. I always get the Not So Fast! screen with a message that says my Daily FastPass+ Limit is already reached. They say to remove the guests that have reached capacity and emphasize "their existing plans won't change", but I am always afraid I'll lose the FastPasses that already made, so I never have the courage to move past this screen. Please reassure me that I can pass this screen to see what is still available without losing the FastPasses we currently hold.

 

[disneygirlsng]

I see so many people talk about searching for alternative FASTPASS+ option availability before they arrive at WDW. I don't know how they do that. I always get the Not So Fast! screen with a message that says my Daily FastPass+ Limit is already reached. They say to remove the guests that have reached capacity and emphasize "their existing plans won't change", but I am always afraid I'll lose the FastPasses that already made, so I never have the courage to move past this screen. Please reassure me that I can pass this screen to see what is still available without losing the FastPasses we currently hold.

Sounds like you are trying to add another FP. If you have reached the limit, you cannot do this. You have to modify an existing FP. Nothing will change for that FP until you officially confirm it.

 

[Scrapmom3]

Splat 10, DH and I were both intending to work on this together on two laptops. We'll see how that goes!

 

[Matt961]

My mom was a late addition(20 days out late) to our trip last month. We of course had our days well planned out. I was able to get her FP for everyone of our rides during our times by refreshing over those 3 weeks. Including SDD, SDMT and FOP.

Most rides were able to be booked as soon as she got tickets. However the times weren’t close to ours. Just by refreshing a couple times a day I was able to match everything up and grab the good ones.
All this to say, you might get one the night of, but you can still get them weeks before. Could’ve been because it was for a single person and not a family of 5, but just saying availability does change further out than the day before.