MyMagic+ App Enhancements in Action, Rivers of Light Construction Progress

My Disney Experience Enhancements - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

One big hassle with FastPass+ at Walt Disney World is that until this month, guests were only allowed to make three FP+ reservations on their own — you had to visit an in-park kiosk once you used those first three if you wanted to schedule additional FP+ experiences.

Well, Disney has just enhanced their iPhone and Android apps to allow guests to make their own fourth (and more) FastPass+ selections using a mobile device, rather than visiting an in-park kiosk. You have to make the additional reservations one at a time — and only after using your first three — but for those who end up using this feature, it holds some hope of cutting down on the hassle we saw in my previous post with insane lines at the FastPass+ kiosks during spring break.

I downloaded the new version of the app to my iPhone and gave the feature a whirl last Monday, April 11th. Before I begin, I will note that the week of April 11th saw much lower crowds than the week before, as the “Easter rush” had sort of died down a bit by then.

Preferred Parking - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Here we are bright and early, when I arrived in the parking lot at about 8:15am. I opted to walk to the monorail loading area, rather than take the tram. At this time of day, I had just missed parking in the closest parking lot, but on the plus side, I was at least able to check out the preferred parking area. As you can see in the image above, three cars were taking advantage of the $35 offering at this time of day. (Note that you can click on any image in this post for a larger view.)

Take the Bus - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

The Express monorail wasn’t running yet this morning…

Bus Transportation - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

…but given the choice between taking the ferry or a bus, I chose the bus. I hopped on board at 8:21am…

Magic Kingdom Rope Drop - Walt Disney World

…and found myself in line outside the entrance tunnel just twelve minutes later. (Again, you can click on any image for a larger view.)

As a side note, I did end up doing a Periscope broadcast of the opening today, which included rope drop to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, just to demonstrate the path I like to take as I make my way to that ride at rope drop if it happens to be the first thing on my RideMax plan.

Because I was “scoping” the opening rather than taking pictures, you’ll have to take my word for it that I rode Mine Train first thing, and was in line right behind the Cast Member leading the way.

Original FastPass+ Reservations - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

On to the business at hand, my main goal today was to burn through my first three FP+ reservations so that I could test obtaining more of them from the app once those three were gone.

Above is the screenshot of my first three reservations, which I secured before leaving home for the park.

As you can see, my plan was to visit Big Thunder, Jungle Cruise, and Buzz Lightyear using FP+. I chose these particular attractions — especially Buzz Lightyear as my last one — because I was hoping the large hourly capacity on Buzz would allow me to “move up” my reservation there earlier in the day once I had used the other two.

Because I was Periscoping my ride on the Mine Train as well as Big Thunder, I don’t have pictures of Big Thunder, but I did finish it by 9:40am.

Because I was finished so early, I was hoping I might be able to reschedule my Jungle Cruise FP+ earlier than my original 10:25am starting time.

Move Jungle Cruise FP+ Reservation - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

As you can see in the screenshot above, there was indeed a 10:00am time slot available, so I took it. As you can also see, there was availability for 10:30am, 11:00am, and other time slots as well. Things were pretty flexible this early in the day.

New FP+ Reservation Confirmed - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Jungle Cruise now confirmed for 10:00am rather than 10:25am.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Short Wait - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

It’s now 9:42am, and the crowds aren’t too bad at this point. Five minute posted wait for Pirates.

Splash Mountain - Short Wait - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Same for Splash…

Big Thunder - Short Wait - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

…and Big Thunder was up to a whopping ten minutes.

Jungle Cruise - 35 Minute Wait - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Here we are at 9:52am, and the posted wait for Jungle Cruise is already up to 35 minutes. I think this was partly due to Disney running the ride at reduced capacity this early in the day.

Jungle Cruise Queue - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

At least the crowds outside the queue weren’t too bad yet, including the line at the FP+ kiosks.

Jungle Cruise Plants - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Finally on the ride, here we are riding through the jungle at 10:09am.

Buzz Lightyear FP+ Availability - Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom

Finished with the Jungle Cruise by 10:29am, I had hoped to move up my reservation at Buzz Lightyear to earlier than the 11:25am time slot I had now. Somewhat to my surprise, especially given the ride’s huge capacity, the earliest time slot available is now 2:10pm. So I opted to just stick with my 11:25am reservation.

And actually, available FP+ time slots at the other attractions seemed somewhat limited as well. Here’s a list of availability at various attractions for just one guest at around 10:30am, as displayed by the app (I’ve just listed the first three time slots displayed by the app):

  • Buzz Lightyear – 2:10pm, 2:35pm, 5:15pm
  • Dumbo – 5:40pm, 6:15pm, 6:40pm
  • Enchanted Tales with Belle – None
  • Haunted Mansion – 5:10pm, 6:25pm, 6:35pm
  • Jungle Cruise – None
  • Main Street Electrical Parade – None
  • Winnie the Pooh – None
  • Meet Anna & Elsa – None
  • Meet Ariel – None
  • Meet Cinderella & Rapunzel – None
  • Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 11:25am, 11:50am, 12:05pm
  • Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 6:30pm, 7:40pm, 8:00pm
  • Peter Pan’s Flight – None
  • Pirates of the Caribbean – 2:20pm, 3:20pm, 3:50pm
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – None
  • Space Mountain – 10:45pm
  • Splash Mountain – None
  • Tomorrowland Speedway – None
  • Under the Sea – 7:45pm, 8:40pm, 9:00pm
  • Wishes – None

I have to admit that I was *very* surprised at the limited availability for the vast majority of attractions, especially this early in the day. Even a high-capacity ride like Under the Sea didn’t have anything available until 7:45pm.

I didn’t verify this, but my guess here is that if I had been setting up my initial three reservations now (instead of just trying to reschedule my third one), I would have seen much more availability. I may need to save *proving* this theory for a future test though.

FastPass+ Kiosk Tomorrowland - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Having decided to wait for my 11:25am time slot, I had a few minutes to take some pictures. Above is the line for the FP+ kiosks outside the Stitch’s Great Escape queue.

Buzz Lightyear Crowds - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Crowds are building in Tomorrowland…

Buzz Lightyear Posted Wait Time - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

…with the Buzz Lightyear wait posted at 40 minutes. This is at 10:42am.

Buzz Lightyear Crowds Again - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Buzz Lightyear No More FP+ Reservations - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Still NO alternate time slots listed for Buzz Lightyear at 10:56am.

FP+ Kiosk Tomorrowland - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Empty FP+ kiosk here…

FP+ Kiosk Tomorrowland Queue - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

…despite a decent line waiting to use them.

FP+ Kiosk Tomorrowland Queue - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

Ugh…

Although I didn’t take pictures on Buzz Lightyear, I was able to board five minutes earlier than my scheduled time, and I was finished by 11:25am.

Interestingly, and sort of proving my previous theory, now that I’ve finished my first three attractions, at 11:25am I’m seeing much more availability for additional FP+ time slots than I saw earlier:

  • it’s a small world – 11:35am, 12:55am, 1:10pm
  • The Barnstormer – 11:50am, 12:10pm, 12:40pm
  • Big Thunder – None
  • Buzz Lightyear – 12:15pm, 4:05pm, 4:25pm
  • Dumbo – 12:10pm, 1:05pm, 1:25pm
  • Enchanted Tales with Belle – 12:00pm, 5:50pm, 7:00pm
  • Haunted Mansion – 12:00pm, 1:45pm, 2:00pm
  • Jungle Cruise – 11:45am, 12:10pm, 12:55pm
  • Mad Tea Party – 11:30am, 11:50am, 12:00pm
  • Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 12:05pm, 12:55pm, 1:10pm
  • Main Street Electrical Parade – None
  • Winnie the Pooh – 12:20pm, 12:40pm, 1:20pm
  • Meet Anna & Elsa – 5:00pm, 5:40pm
  • Meet Ariel – 12:50pm, 1:20pm, 3:20pm
  • Meet Cinderella & Rapunzel – 12:10pm, 1:10pm, 1:50pm
  • Meet Michey Mouse at Town Square – 12:40pm, 3:30pm, 4:20pm
  • Meet Tinker Bell – 11:40am, 3:40pm, 7:00pm
  • Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 11:35am, 11:50am, 11:55pm
  • Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 11:50am, 12:05pm, 1:00pm
  • Peter Pan’s Flight – 2:40pm, 5:10pm, 10:45pm
  • Pirates of the Caribbean – 2:10pm, 2:30pm, 2:45pm
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 8:25pm
  • Space Mountain – ?? (Sorry, I missed these)
  • Splash Mountain – ??
  • Tomorrowland Speedway – 3:05pm, 7:40pm, 8:50pm
  • Under the Sea – 1:45pm, 3:00pm, 4:10pm
  • Wishes – ??

It’s worth noting that some of the slots listed above as available are probably just due to good luck, with someone else canceling an existing reservation — 7DMT at 8:25pm, for example.

The availability at other attractions is much more telling though. For example, Jungle Cruise is now showing wide availability, with the first time slot beginning in just fifteen minutes, whereas earlier (before I had used my third reservation) it showed NO availability at all. Likewise Dumbo, which previously showed the earliest available time slot at 5:40pm, is now showing availability as early as 12:10pm. I’ll leave it to you to compare the two lists and draw your own conclusions, but to me it seems that Disney is generally showing more availability for FP+ *after* you’ve used your first three — at least when you’ve wrapped up those first three early in the day.

I should also note that I’m probably seeing more availability today than most groups would, because I’m traveling as a party of just one. Some of these time slots likely wouldn’t be in the list of a larger party.

Also noteworthy with this update of the app, once you’ve used your first three FP+ reservations, you are now able to secure your next FP+ reservation(s) in one of the other three parks. Here’s what was listed as available in the other parks at roughly 11:30am (again, these are just the first three available time slots for each attraction):

Epcot:

  • Illuminations – None
  • Living with the Land – 11:40am, 11:55am, 12:00pm
  • Mission: SPACE – 11:50am, 12:15pm, 12:20pm
  • Soarin’ – CLOSED
  • Test Track – None
  • Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival – 11:35am, 11:50am, 11:55am
  • Journey Into Imagination with Figment – 11:30am, 11:45am, 12:00pm
  • Meet Disney Pals at Character Spot – 1:00pm, 1:40pm, 3:20pm
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 11:40am, 12:10pm, 12:15pm
  • Spaceship Earth – 11:40am, 1:30pm, 1:55pm
  • Turtle Talk with Crush – 11:35am, 12:10pm, 12:15pm

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

  • Beauty and the Beast – 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 3:30pm
  • Fantasmic! – 7:55pm
  • The Great Movie Ride – 11:50am, 12:15pm, 12:25pm
  • Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – 4:50pm, 5:05pm, 5:10pm
  • Toy Story Mania! – None
  • Frozen Sing-Along – 3:05pm, 4:05pm, 6:05pm
  • Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! – 4:30pm, 5:30pm
  • Muppet*Vision 3D – 11:40am, 11:55am, 12:00pm
  • Star Tours – 11:30am, 4:30pm, 7:10pm
  • Tower of Terror – 1:45pm, 6:20pm, 7:35pm
  • Voyage of the Little Mermaid – 11:45am, 1:00pm, 1:25pm

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:

  • Dinosaur – 11:50am, 12:50pm, 3:00pm
  • Expedition Everest – 11:55am, 2:35pm, 3:30pm
  • FOTLK – 4:30pm
  • Finding Nemo, The Musical – 3:30pm
  • It’s Tough to be a Bug! – 11:40am, 11:55am, 12:00pm
  • Kali River Rapids – 11:40am, 12:55am
  • Kilimanjaro Safaris – None
  • Meet Disney Pals – 1:20pm
  • Primeval Whirl – 11:35am, 11:50am, 12:00pm

Expedition Everest FP+ - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

I was sort of in the mood to check out the Rivers of Light construction progress at Animal Kingdom, so I set up my next FP+ reservation at Expedition Everest. As shown above, when I actually went to make the reservation, it now had a 12:30pm slot available, which I took.

FP+ Kiosk Main Street - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

On my way out of the Magic Kingdom, I stopped by City Hall and noticed that, just like my previous visit, the two FP+ kiosks in here had very little wait, with just one guest at one of the kiosks, and nobody in line for the other one.

Preferred Parking Midday - Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World

If you click on the image above, you can see details of the large panorama shot illustrating how (not) full the preferred parking area is now, at 12:08pm. ALL of the area on the other side of these yellow cones is reserved for preferred parking.

Animal Kingdom Entrance Queue - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

Here I am, twenty minutes later at the entrance to the Animal Kingdom. Not too busy at the front gates.

Rivers of Light Seating Area - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

Construction is moving along nicely at the Rivers of Light, though Disney is keeping mum on when we might exactly expect to see it open now.

Rivers of Light Seating Area - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

The prayer flags here serve to blend the viewing area in well with the Expedition Everest theme across the walkway from the rear of the seating area.

Rivers of Light Short Wall - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

Rivers of Light Entrance - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

Here is one of the newly-uncovered entrances to the Rivers of Light show. I really like the great details here, and how well it fits with the rest of the park. I’m sure Joe Rohde must be pleased with how well this has turned out.

Rivers of Light Entrance - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

Another Rivers of Light entrance.

Rivers of Light FastPass+ Touchpoint - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

Even the FP+ readers are nicely themed.

Expedition Everest Lift - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

It’s 12:57pm and I’m on my way up the lift at Expedition Everest.

I finished my day at after riding Everest, but I thought it might be helpful to see what my possibilities were for a fifth FP+ reservation, had I chosen to get one. I’ll follow with some brief analysis.

Things are *generally* getting more restrictive now, as you might expect with today’s last-minute FP+ users filling out their FP+ slates for the day, but there are some exceptions.

Below is the list of available reservations just after 1:00pm.

Animal Kingdom:

  • Dinosaur – 4:00pm
  • Expedition Everest – 3:35pm, 4:25pm
  • FOTLK – 1:30pm
  • Finding Nemo, The Musical – 2:30pm, 3:30pm
  • It’s Tough to be a Bug! – 2:00pm, 3:oopm, 4:00pm
  • Kali River Rapids – None
  • Kilimanjaro Safaris – None
  • Meet Disney Pals – 3:30pm
  • Primeval Whirl – 1:15pm, 2:15pm, 3:20pm

Magic Kingdom:

  • it’s a small world – 6:15pm, 6:30pm, 6:35pm
  • The Barnstormer – 2:25pm, 3:25pm, 4:50pm
  • Big Thunder – None
  • Buzz Lightyear – 5:30pm, 7:20pm
  • Dumbo – 3:45pm, 4:15pm, 5:00pm
  • Enchanted Tales with Belle – None
  • Haunted Mansion – 3:15pm, 5:45pm, 6:50pm
  • Jungle Cruise – None
  • Mad Tea Party – 1:35pm, 3:40pm
  • Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 5:55pm
  • Main Street Electrical Parade – None
  • Winnie the Pooh – None
  • Meet Anna & Elsa – None
  • Meet Ariel – None
  • Meet Cinderella & Rapunzel – None
  • Meet Michey Mouse at Town Square – None
  • Meet Tinker Bell – None
  • Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 2:30pm, 4:05pm, 5:05pm
  • Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 3:30pm, 5:00pm, 6:35pm
  • Peter Pan’s Flight – 1:40pm
  • Pirates of the Caribbean – 5:15pm, 5:35pm, 5:50pm
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 3:50pm
  • Space Mountain – 9:35pm
  • Splash Mountain – 10:25pm
  • Tomorrowland Speedway – None
  • Under the Sea – 4:15pm, 8:40pm, 8:55pm
  • Wishes – None

Epcot:

  • Illuminations – None
  • Living with the Land – 1:35pm, 3:15pm, 4:40pm
  • Mission: SPACE – 1:10pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm
  • Soarin’ – CLOSED
  • Test Track – None
  • Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival – 1:20pm, 2:20pm, 3:30pm
  • Journey Into Imagination with Figment – 1:35pm, 2:55pm, 4:25pm
  • Meet Disney Pals at Character Spot – 1:20pm, 2:40pm, 4:00pm
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 2:05pm, 3:15pm, 4:55pm
  • Spaceship Earth – 2:40pm, 3:50pm, 4:55pm
  • Turtle Talk with Crush – 1:30pm, 2:35pm, 4:05pm

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

  • Beauty and the Beast – 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm
  • Fantasmic! – 7:55pm
  • The Great Movie Ride – 1:35pm, 2:50pm, 4:10pm
  • Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – 5:25pm, 5:45pm, 5:55pm
  • Toy Story Mania! – None
  • Disney Junior – 2:50pm, 3:40pm, 5:20pm
  • Frozen Sing-Along – None
  • Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! – 4:30pm, 5:30pm
  • Muppet*Vision 3D – 2:30pm, 3:45pm, 4:45pm
  • Star Tours – 5:20pm, 5:40pm, 5:45pm
  • Tower of Terror – 6:05pm, 7:05pm, 7:25pm
  • Voyage of the Little Mermaid – 3:40pm, 4:30pm, 4:55pm

Just focusing on the Hollywood Studios list here, it’s interesting to me how different the list is now of available time slots, compared to the list I captured at 11:30am. Previously, Star Tours was showing what appeared to be sporadic availability, at 11:30am, 4:30pm, and 7:10pm. It now appears to be showing wide availability beginning at 5:20pm.

Might we venture to make some guesses as to the algorithm Disney is using here as the day progresses? A couple of possible hypotheses include:

  • Once you have your initial three reservations set and the day of your visit has arrived, flexibility in changing your initial three FP+ reservations is somewhat limited, versus what someone else might see who is still setting up their initial reservations.
  • Not all of the time slots that are *actually* available are displayed at any given time. When you finish using your initial three reservations, Disney may give priority to filling in slots that have been canceled by someone else. (This is one possible explanation for the Star Tours lists above.)

From a practical standpoint, what does all of this mean?

First, I think it’s important to note that you shouldn’t absolutely depend on being able to get anything past your first three FP+ choices. Although availability later in the evening seems decent in the lists above, I was visiting as a party of one, on a not-terribly-busy day. If you’re making a RideMax plan and are really, really, want to ride a specific attraction, you should either include it as one of your three “guaranteed” FP+ reservations, or you should expect to visit it standby. Any fourth, etc. FP+ reservations should be viewed as a bonus.

Second, and this almost goes without saying, you should try to make those FP+ reservations as far in advance of your visit as possible. Getting FP+ for very popular attractions, such as Toy Story Mania or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, can really help you cut down on your overall wait. (You can “test” these scenarios in RideMax if you want to see how the estimates change with various combinations of FP+ selections.)

It will be interesting to see how all of this unfolds, and we may get a better picture of what’s “really” happening behind the scenes of FP+ and what to expect in terms of availability as we get more experience with the system.

Expedition Everest View - Disney's Animal Kingdom Walt Disney World

As I sign off today, I’ll share one of the views that never gets old, taken near the top of Everest. You can even see Avatar construction off in the distance in the upper left. (Click on the image here for a larger view.)

As always, if you’re looking for a custom, time-saving game plan designed to minimize your wait at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, be sure to subscribe to RideMax.

Finally, what do you think of the new enhancements to FastPass+? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!

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5 thoughts on “MyMagic+ App Enhancements in Action, Rivers of Light Construction Progress”

  1. I used the new Fast+ app this past Sunday. MK and Epcot. Both were very busy. We were parked way out in Mulan at 9:30. I noticed that everytime I attempted to change my selections, I would get slightly different options for time and available attractions. We scored a Minetrain FP, same day! My advice would be that if you don’t see why you want just keep checking and you’ll probably end up getting it eventually.

  2. Can you sign onto the Magic my way app to select your fourth fast pass + once you are in line on your third Fast pass+ ride? Basically, I was wondering if you are able to make your selection as soon as you checked in on your last booked fast pass ride. I just wasn’t sure how the system knew you were done with your last ride?

  3. Yes, as soon as you’ve had your ticket or magic band scanned at the attraction entrance for your third FP+, you can go into the app and request a fourth. Often there isn’t a great selection by that time of day, but sometimes there are cancellations which allow you to sort of sneak in lol.

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