Will we need Fastpasses on a slow day in February?

[jfranklyn]

We are going to Florida in February and will spend two days at the parks. Both days are listed as level 1 out of 10 on the crowd calendar. Will we need fastpasses on a level 1 day?

 

[OKW Lover]

Kind of depends on which attractions you are interested in. The more popular ones (like FoP) yes a FP is a good idea. If you're not particular, don't bother.

 

[JETSDAD]

FP are always necessary in my opinion. Unless of course you enjoy standing in long lines. Even on 'less busy' days any popular attraction is still going to have significant lines.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Yes. In my opinion, you should plan every day as if it will be crowded. If you happen to luck into the one uncrowded day of the year, then bonus... but WDW is (for the most part) always some shade of crowded.

And since there is no reason NOT to book FP, then it’s a no brainer. They will always make tackling headline rides more efficient every day of the year.

 

[LaurenT]

You never need fast passes.
You always want fast passes.
Get them. If you don’t use them you haven’t lost anything.

 

[AgentMama]

We've been on "slow days" and always been happy to have fast passes for the more popular rides. As others above me have said, better to have it and not need it than to wish you had them and not.

 

[FSU Girl]

I don't think Disney has low days anymore. FP are free and are always a good idea to have. Even if the wait is 25 minutes, wouldn't it be better to walk right on? I don't go on rides without FP anymore.

 

[Klayfish]

First, crowd calendars are useless. Don't make plans/expectations based on them.

Even if it is slow, why not use FP+. They're free and easy to get. If it turns out that it really is a "slow" day, they'll be even easier to get. Even on a slow day, the popular attractions still have 30-60+ minute waits. Why wait if you don't have to?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I also don’t have to go too far back on the DIS to find some mega threads about Feb crowd levels this year in ‘what was supposed to be a slow time.’ The month has a lot of ebbs and flows with holidays, running events, etc and is a popular time for global travel to WDW. Disney is just too good at contstantly creating theme park demand during every month of the year. Plus generally shorter park hours much of the month and fewer release valves with things like resort pool and/or water park time due to weather than tends to slant cooler = more people in the parks with fewer open hours.

So yeah, grab those FPs when eligible and enjoy your trip!

 

[GeneralTso]

Yes, absolutely. Why not get them and have them just in case? At least you'll have them and have a backup plan.

I have found Level 1 and 2 crowds to be much crazier than expected. I walk around going "THIS is level 1????" and can't believe it.

It's like dinner reservations. Get them. Don't be that family walking around, hungry and hot and tired only to be told it's a 1.5 hour wait everywhere you want to eat. Not worth it. Make the reservation, it'll be there and you won't have to worry. Find a better place to eat where you can actually get a table--great! Cancel the reservation.

 

[Alison S]

Yep. Did a level one day at DHS (predicted and actual) and it was awful.

 

[CAS239]

Level 1 and slow day aren't used at Disney.

You'll want fast passes and there's zero reason not to have fast passes.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

I get fastpasses for everything because why not? Even rides like It's a Small World or Teacups, since you can pretty much almost always get those immediately, and you're pretty much always in a better position in the fp line than the standby line, even if crowds are low. They're free. Easy to get and refresh in the app. And, if there are actually lower crowds (who knows what that even means anymore, lol) that might also mean lower staffing and rides operating at less than 100% capacity.

 

[CarolynFH]

If crowds are expected to be low, Disney knows that as well as the folks who publish the crowd calendars, and Disney can adjust staffing levels, number of ride vehicles (e.g. how many trains are running at BTMRR), number of FP, etc. so that standby lines are just as long as on more crowded days. So as others have said, why not get FP? If it turns out that you don't need them, lovely!

 

[wfjny]

I also don’t have to go too far back on the DIS to find some mega threads about Feb crowd levels this year in ‘what was supposed to be a slow time.’ The month has a lot of ebbs and flows with holidays, running events, etc and is a popular time for global travel to WDW. Disney is just too good at contstantly creating theme park demand during every month of the year. Plus generally shorter park hours much of the month and fewer release valves with things like resort pool and/or water park time due to weather than tends to slant cooler = more people in the parks with fewer open hours.

So yeah, grab those FPs when eligible and enjoy your trip!

Not just February. I think it is the economy. We were in the parks in early November and again in mid-December, both considered slower times. They were not. It no longer seems to matter. School schedules no longer matter. People pull their children out of school, or home school, or have alternative holiday times.

Disney has done a lot to bring people in during what was traditionally slower times. Dining Discounts, Youth Sports events, Youth Education Series, Halloween and Christmas Parties, EPCOT International Festival of the arts, EPCOT International Flower Garden Festival, EPCOT Food and Wine Expo, Walt Disney World Marathon, Disney Princess Half Marathon, Star Wars Rival Run.

I am sure there are many more...

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Pretty sure February doesn’t have “slow” times anymore.

 

[MomOTwins]

Some rides will always have a long line, no matter the time of year. Read what the crowd level actually means. A TP crowd level one for space mountain means up to 65 minute wait. That's over an hour you could be wasting when you could just walk right on with a fastpass.

I'd also add that even if there is zero wait, fastpasses typically have a shorter queue than standby. For example, on the little mermaid ride, even when it is a walk on with zero wait time, the standby queue takes about 10 minutes just to walk through, whereas fastpass line is much quicker. Same thing for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, POTC; even when the standby is 5 minutes, I still find it much more efficient, and less strain on my achy feet, to get a fastpass that to walk on.

 

[krose4]

It really never hurts to have them? Honestly, on a 1 day I'd take full advantage of the refresh method and get as much done as possible. For example, in magic kingdom pick a start point and go around the loop. Get your initial three fastpasses for like, Jungle Cruise, POTC, and splash mountain as tight together as possible, then while in line for splash mountain grab a fp for thunder mountain and keep going around the loop. I did that on a party day and got all of magic kingdom done by 1:30pm.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

It really never hurts to have them? Honestly, on a 1 day I'd take full advantage of the refresh method and get as much done as possible. For example, in magic kingdom pick a start point and go around the loop. Get your initial three fastpasses for like, Jungle Cruise, POTC, and splash mountain as tight together as possible, then while in line for splash mountain grab a fp for thunder mountain and keep going around the loop. I did that on a party day and got all of magic kingdom done by 1:30pm.

Oh! Please explain how you did this. I think I get it, but I'd love to hear your input!

 

[krose4]

Oh! Please explain how you did this. I think I get it, but I'd love to hear your input!

I've always done it with parties of 2, because I'm always travelling just me and my husband or me and my mom, so it may be harder/riskier with a larger group. But the way I've done it is I've picked a start spot, I recommend either going "against traffic" (i.e. in magic kingdom head left around the loop, for whatever reason people tend to go right around the loop), or starting with your absolutely do not miss ride, to ensure that you for sure get it. Grab three fastpasses tight together time wise and location wise, the most important is the first one.
If you can, while in line for the first ride open MDE and start refreshing the FP+ page, looking for an opening as close to the ride you're on and as close to the current time as possible and grab it when it pops up. Sometimes this can take a bit of refreshing, and I kept doing that idly while in the line, sometimes finding a better ride or closer time slot. You can replace the other two placeholder FP if needed to get the time/ride you want. Keep doing this until you've done everything you can/want to do.
It's easier in MK and AK, a bit more challenging in EPCOT because of the lower number of rides, and most difficult in HS because it's not really a linear loop like in the MK/AK. If you start super early in the day you can get the big rides done early in the day, go have a nap/pool time, come back for some shows/non-FP rides or missed attractions and the fireworks at night. I find it the least stressful way for me to get the most done, as my DH puts it I tend to go into "park comando mode" where I feel the need to see and do everything.