Fastpass+ Strategy - Opinions needed

Did you read Allie's great FastPass+ article yet? She's amazing at optimizing her selections.

http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/articles/top-5-tips-make-most-walt-disney-worlds-fastpass-system

Yes... the article is great and has some excellent tips.

But I would also say that how you use and strategize your fastpasses also depends on how you want to use the parks (and what your "whole family" will prefer) ... and even the weather once you hit the day.

For instance, if you plan on staying at Magic Kingdom til close, that may shift how you want to use your fast passes,
given that later at night, the lines for Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain seem to ease up quite a bit, especially toward close with extra magic hours.

Moreover, if you have kids in your party, privileging Toy Story Mania over Rockin Roller Coaster seems like a no brainer. If you have teenagers or roller coaster enthusiasts, then I might suggest the other way around. Also, if you are willing to ride alone, the Single rider line at rockin roller coaster is often an excellent option -- but know that your party will be split up -- they really do mean "single rider".

I haven't been to the parks since the renovations (extra track to toy story... and didn't they add extra seating to Soarin also ???) So I'm not sure how that's impacted the lines... but my strategies are as follows:

--I always fastpass Kali Rapids (AK) and Splash Mountain (MK) because I like to ride them in the heat of the day like everyone else, so that _if I do get wet_ , its enough to cool me off, and I dry off fairly quickly. (It's kind of miserable to walk around wet on a cold night)

--I always fastpass 7dwarfsmine train (MK) because this ride seems to be new enough and popular enough that there's almost always a long standby line, even at night (And if for some reason there's a short line during extra magic hours, then as a bonus, and I'll ride again)

--I always fastpass space mountain (MK) again because this ride usually has significant wait times, unless again, late at night with extra magic hours). (Note that because this ride is indoors - it is one of the few not impacted by rainy/stormy weather - except everyone goes to it because its still running)

--I tend to fastpass Toy story at (HS) because as a single rider, I take advantage of the single rider line at Rockin Roller Coaster.

--As for Epcot.... A tough call... (again, who is in your party may dictate this...)
... Test track tends to get my fast pass (But if its a stormy or rainy day, you may want to try for the others, as test track cannot run in the rain.)
... Since Frozen is new, I would probably use my fast pass here, just because I would want at least one go on the newly renovated Maelstrom (just to see what all of the fuss is about).
... If I were to try to place my bets on waiting in line, it would probably be for Soarin'. I know we are all spoiled by fastpasses and hate lines, but sometimes you just have to put on your big kid pants and wait. But, my logic is that Soarin is a high capacity ride/theater experience. So while there may be a wait, They Usher LOTS of people into the theaters at once for this. It is a long queue line, but it moves significantly when it moves.

Even the FastPass+ line for this attraction has been 45 min - 1 hour at time this Summer. Plus, it's a *SUPER* hard FastPass+ to get. If you want to see this one you really should come up with a good plan to squeeze it in. Though, if you are a late night person, you can always hop in line 5 minutes before Park closing.

Thanks!

It really depends how many days you plan on visiting each park. For Magic Kingdom for sure FastPass 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, maybe on two different days even if you think you'll want to ride it more then once. The other ones you have listed for MK are all good FastPass+ options as well, but if you rope drop you should be able to knock out a couple of them first thing in the morning with a fairly short line. Keep in mind too that MK has the most amount of attractions on FP+ so getting 4th, 5th, etc rolling FastPasses is easier in this park. Do NOT plan on getting a rolling for 7 Dwarfs, though.

Epcot if you are going more then one day I would FP+ Frozen one day and Soarin' the other. If you're not concerned about the other attractions I would only make the one reservation for that day so then you can immediately setup a rolling FastPass for another park once it is used up. If you're only going to Epcot one day I would rope drop Soarin' (it is new but like Sorcerer Mickey pointed out they did add an additional theater) and FastPass Frozen. Test Track has a single rider line you can utilize so I would not waste a FastPass on that.

Hollywood Studios I would FastPass Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Rock 'n' Rollercoaster has a single rider line that can get you on faster if you're willing to split your party up.

1. The longest wait I saw for Soarin a couple of weeks ago was 45 minutes. I have the My Disney Experience app on my phone and even when I am not there, I randomly check the wait times of rides. I've seen it over an hour and a half a couple of times.
I rode it with just a 25 minute wait while there and fast pass the next time. There was only a 30 minute wait when we got off but Blondie didn't want to ride again...

2. Same with Toy Story, didn't notice huge lines but we were only at HS once and had a FP

3. Norway opens at 9am instead of 11 with the rest of World Showcase. A friend posted that he rode Frozen 3 times in about 45 minutes a couple of weeks ago. If you are planning to meet Anna and Elsa, there are 4 doors once you get inside, the wait hasn't been over 30 minutes for them!

Very happy to see this!

Love this! We were planning on FastPassing Frozen Ever After both of our Epcot days in February and we were going to rope drop our second Epcot day to meet Anna and Elsa. Maybe we'll just FastPass Soarin that last day, rope drop Frozen Ever After, and then do Anna and Elsa if their waits aren't getting to insane.

That's a pretty recent change and it is super helpful!

I just logged into the Disney Travel Agent site that normally has the most up to date list of refurbs and nothing is listed yet.

It _may_ be a bit early to confirm seasonal closures/refurbishment schedules for specific attractions. Looking in a few different places seems to confirm the refurbishment dates for Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, but I'm not seeing much for specific park attractions for the month of January yet.

A couple of options to keep checking:

1. A google search of "Refurbishment Calendar Walt Disney World 2017" will land you Refurbishment schedules on "allears.net", "undercovertourist", "wdwinfo", "wdwmagic", "touringplans.com", "themouseforless", and "doctordisney". By comparing data at some of these websites, you should be able to garner some insight... especially as time nears closer to your trip

2. If you go to my disney experience (without logging in), At the top of the page you can click on "Things To Do".
On that Drop Down Menu, choose "attractions". This will bring you to a page where you can enter a date in a small box on the right hand side of the page (enter one of the dates you will be in the park). you can then Choose Magic Kingdom park and/or search for Splash Mountain. .... AS I Said, IT MAY BE TOO EARLY but the calendar should (eventually) tell you if its "closed for refurbishment" on the date. (I tested this method with dates that Big Thunder Mountain and Rockin Roller Coaster are scheduled to be closed - and the refurbishment notice appears).

When I choose a mid date in January, nothing comes up yet for Splash Mountain, but that doesn't mean much... So my advice is to Keep Checking and keep your fingers crossed.

Good Luck.

From the main menu, select Wait Times.

It will show the screen with ALL of the times. In the bottom right corner there is a circle with what looks like a funnel in it, click on that and it will pull up the options to filter the options you are looking for.

Select the park you want and then Done in the top right corner.

Welcome!

Glad to hear it went well for you!