The boards arent reflecting the happiest place on earth

[mom2rtk]

But folks are saying FP + made it worst.
What did Fp+ do to make this worse? It was the same lot ken on FP- except now I don't have to "run" at park opening to get the FP anymore.

They removed natural barriers to usage. i.e. needing to be in the park and at the attraction to getting a FP slot. The more barriers you remove, the more usage you get. They also required that you get no less than 3 at a time. All of that results in more usage. That would be fine if they had the attraction capacity to support it. But they don't.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

They removed natural barriers to usage. i.e. needing to be in the park and at the attraction to getting a FP slot. The more barriers you remove, the more usage you get. They also required that you get no less than 3 at a time. All of that results in more usage. That would be fine if they had the attraction capacity to support it. But they don't.

That last line is a terrific point & explains a lot about the horrendous lines now being found on 2nd & 3rd tier attractions that never really required a fast pass before.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

They removed natural barriers to usage. i.e. needing to be in the park and at the attraction to getting a FP slot. The more barriers you remove, the more usage you get. They also required that you get no less than 3 at a time. All of that results in more usage. That would be fine if they had the attraction capacity to support it. But they don't.

Spot on--once again.

It's interesting that a thread complaining about the negativity with regards to WDW turned into a mostly negative thread. Funny how that works.

 

[EMom]

That last line is a terrific point & explains a lot about the horrendous lines now being found on 2nd & 3rd tier attractions that never really required a fast pass before.

Exactly. FP+ lessened the number of FPs I could pull, plus it created previously nonexistent lines for the 2nd/3rd tier attractions.

FP+ appeals to people who must not have gotten to the parks before noon. The only attraction I remember running out of FP was Toy Story. By 10:30, they could be out. We rarely arrived at rope drop, but we got there early-ish. We'd grab a FP for TS, get in the standby line and ride it and manage to hit it twice in one day. We just needed to be there before 10:00 or so and that isn't hard to do. Or we could arrive late and just do standby.

I cannot remember anything else running out of FP early. Even if you dragged in at noon, most things still had FP left. They might be for 6:30 or 7:00, but they had them. If we didn't use a FP because we decided to leave the park, we gave them to another family. I was always amazed at the number of people who didn't pull FP, but that's up to them.

In between our FP, we rode things that had little to no wait. But those attractions now have longer waits, due to FP+. Really, what it boiled down to for us was that with the limitations of FP+ combined with longer lines at tier 2 and 3 attractions, we were going to get to do much less. The reality was, we might only get to ride our favorites like RnR, EE, ToT once in a day and for us, that was just not worth the time, money and hassle.

WDW will do fine. Yes, they will lose some customers, but there are always new families with young princesses about to make their first trip. They will not be able to compare legacy FP with FP+ and will accept it as just the way things are. I'm just glad we had some good years before the ball dropped.

We've done Universal 3 times and will make our 4th trip this summer. After that, I told DH I am done with amusement parks until grandchildren come along. We can take them to DLR. After this next trip, there are too many other places to go and for the money, I might as well go to Europe. I can actually relax and enjoy a vacation there.

 

[JanaDee]

I don't, because the few times we tried to use them, they were closed because no more were left for the day.

Then you must not have been getting to the parks until late afternoon/early evening.

 

[EMom]

Then you must not have been getting to the parks until late afternoon/early evening.

That is all I can figure. Unless he traveled the week starting with Christmas... Even then, we got FP.

 

[TAX GUY]

Then you must not have been getting to the parks until late afternoon/early evening.

That is all I can figure. Unless he traveled the week starting with Christmas... Even then, we got FP.

Pretty much, yes. We aren't the type to be there at rope drop nor the last ones to leave. I don't much care for early rise or down early during vacation. We don't need to ride EVERY ride so we never felt the need to be there ALL day. That said, this FP+ now allows us to schedule a time to ride the more popular rides while taking advantage of a FP and avoid the long stand by lines. So to me, I love this new plan. Sorry others like to be there from open to close and feel cheated now that they can only get a FP for a few rides and are stuck with stand by for everything else. For me, it works great.

 

[okeydokey]

My daughter was reading the DIS yesterday and expressed her disappointment about not being able to get both TT and Soarin' since they are both the same tier. She was ready to choose the Grumpy road until I told her it was really no different than before. She was puzzled. I said before, someone would choose one ride to get a FP for and run and fetch then and then we would ride the other standby.

I understand that not everyone likes that, but I don't see how it is worse than before.

You are wrong. In the past you could get both a fastpass to TT and to Soarin in the same day. We did it every trip. Now you cannot. So it is different now. Get it?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You are wrong. In the past you could get both a fastpass to TT and to Soarin in the same day. We did it every trip. Now you cannot. So it is different now. Get it?

True. However, the solution I described is what we did before the old way and now the new way. I had forgotten about your way. No need to be snippy about it.

It does seem there are some folks passionate about their disdain. I think what the OP witnesses is that it seems to monopolize the boards.

For those wondering--we are indeed a rope drop family. We like FP+. We choose not to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

 

[littlejimmy]

True. However, the solution I described is what we did before the old way and now the new way. I had forgotten about your way. No need to be snippy about it.

It does seem there are some folks passionate about their disdain. I think what the OP witnesses is that it seems to monopolize the boards.

For those wondering--we are indeed a rope drop family. We like FP+. We choose not to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

agree with above. it is what it is. we will make the best of it. figure it out and enjoy it. life is too short to constantly complain about it. now I walk on rnr, then tot, and do ts w fp+ all in the first hour. and I don't even have to walk fast, or back track.

and before someone says that I could have done that and maybe more before, I will say maybe I could, and our group would send runners ahead to pull fp for ts. this way we all stay together and relax more.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Pretty much, yes. We aren't the type to be there at rope drop nor the last ones to leave. I don't much care for early rise or down early during vacation. We don't need to ride EVERY ride so we never felt the need to be there ALL day. That said, this FP+ now allows us to schedule a time to ride the more popular rides while taking advantage of a FP and avoid the long stand by lines. So to me, I love this new plan. Sorry others like to be there from open to close and feel cheated now that they can only get a FP for a few rides and are stuck with stand by for everything else. For me, it works great.

I think the idea is good, but the implementation is a big fail. Rides that previously had no FP option should have stayed standby only. It sucks to see 30 people ahead of you in line at something like Goofy's Barnstormer only to wind up waiting 45 minutes to ride while a steady stream of FP riders go to the front. And forcing people to take 3 FP's or none at all. Where's the option for "one"?

 

[Mkrop]

This sums it up for us. We knew how to pull 7-9 FP a day, ride our favorites (ToT, RnR, EE) 6-8 times per day and never waited in line more than 20 minutes. The ability to do that pretty much ended with FP+. Whether FP+ is a loss or a gain for your family largely depends on how your toured before FP+. For families like ours, it offered us less for even more money. No thanks. I can pay for an onsite room at Universal and get FOTL with no headaches at all. WDW made vacationing work instead of leisure for this family.

I would consider DLR, so long as they do not adopt FP+. I'm not anti-Disney, just anti-FP+. It works great for some, but is a disaster for us.

I was okay with 180 day ADRs. Some years, we decided to mainly do CS and avoid being tied to ADRs. And that was our choice. Making me schedule rides, and not even the GOOD ones, was asking too much. The old FP worked great for our family and IMHO, WDW should have spent that $1+ billion on new attractions and not FP+. That would have made the average visitor much happier.

This sums up our issues entirely. On another thread someone asked about getting teens to the park...well this was one way, give them the opportunity to ride their favorites over and over with little to no wait. We could do this with FP-. It should be our choice if we want to ride the same ride over and over and use our FPs for that, we paid the same amount to get in and the person who wanted to do only character hunting or people watch etc. Our vacation is about the rides and I dont appreciate others telling us to do other things. DLR was so wonderful this summer without all the planning and nonsense.

Totally agree here. I personally loved the FP+! It made my vacation/park touring much more enjoyable. The constant complaints about FP+ amazes me. Thing is, if you dont like the FP+, dont use it! Very simple. If you dont like to plan ahead, then dont. Dont make ADRs, dont book your FP+, just dont. Disney isnt forcing anyone to use the FP+.

So what are my options, FP+ or standby? Before there wasnt all this preplanning garbage and yet we could still tour how we liked and not have to wait in long lines. So now my option is to not tour how we like and wait in long lines, cant you see how some us dont see this as better

My take on it would be that maybe they changed it so MORE people could enjoy some of the better rides rather than only the "experienced" taking advantage? With limiting the amounts of FP one could get in a day, doesn't that open up for others to enjoy it too? I know I typically think "its about ME and I don't care about anyone else" but in some cases, we have to share. I think Disney is trying to be sure we share with others that don't have a firm grasp on how to maximize shorter wait times.

I for one can not wait until we are able to go during their slow season. With a child in school, we are forced to vacation during the busy times. Not just Disney but EVERYTHING! When we were pre-kids, we NEVER needed any FP.... because the longest wait we ever had, on ANY ride, was no more than 20 minutes.

Oh please this isnt about fairness whatsoever. They just moved the line from the day of to 60 days. And even at 60 days people are being shut out so it just changed who was losing out on rides to a different group. And first come first serve is the fairest way. If I was able to pull multiple FPs for a ride, so could you, you just needed to get there before I pulled #2 and #3 FP. And it is certainly not fair to the locals, AP holders and offsite people who get to get in the virtual line at 30 days. It should not matter where you stay if we are all paying the same admission price to get in. Even as a DVC member I dont think FP+ is fair at all. If they want to reward onsite stays, then give discounts on park tickets or something. But FPs should be fair and equal to everyone walking in the gate that day.

 

[TAX GUY]

Oh please this isnt about fairness whatsoever. They just moved the line from the day of to 60 days. And even at 60 days people are being shut out so it just changed who was losing out on rides to a different group. And first come first serve is the fairest way. If I was able to pull multiple FPs for a ride, so could you, you just needed to get there before I pulled #2 and #3 FP. And it is certainly not fair to the locals, AP holders and offsite people who get to get in the virtual line at 30 days. It should not matter where you stay if we are all paying the same admission price to get in. Even as a DVC member I dont think FP+ is fair at all. If they want to reward onsite stays, then give discounts on park tickets or something. But FPs should be fair and equal to everyone walking in the gate that day.

Just in case you stopped reading after the post you quoted, I replied with the following.

Exactly..... they are in business to make money. Don't you think they want MORE people there? To lose a few because they don't like the new system vs gaining many more because they seem to be able to enjoy more of the better rides (because they weren't able to before because other people were taking all the FP's)! For the few that hogged all the FP's (yes, I said hog them because I clearly remember "no more fast pass today" because people abused it and took more than they should have. Think of it like a free sample..... please take one, but there are always people that take until they've had enough, not leaving any left for others to try and enjoy. Disney was forced to make sure you took your one and to leave some for others. Sounds like a solid business move to me.

Its not about being fair, its about maximizing profits. With allowing more people access to a FP for more popular rides, that will draw in MORE guests. Lose some but probably gain more.

 

[Minniesgal]

So like many I don't go to DISNEY for one thing but the problem is the negatives are adding up 1. Lousy food 2. Ridiculous amounts of micro planning to enjoy anything. 3. Hit or miss resorts quality. We're actually surprised when we get a clean updated room. How sad is that? 4. Fast pass plus sucks to us 5. I hate the magic bands. I really hate perfect strangers knowing my itinerary. So it's not just "one" thing. It's quite a few Now I'm not angry at the changes, I'm actually surprised that our love affair lasted as long as it did. My dvc is up for sale, I'll still do a random trip here or there but for me the aggravation is not worth it for vacation. A job yes, but I'm not supposed to dread planning a vacation. I'm very lucky in that I've never believed that Disney was the only place on the planet where you can have a magical vacation so I just chalk it up to time to move on

We have obviously had a totally different Disney experience to you.

I disagree that the food is lousy, expensive yes, inconsistent yes but good meals are available. We don't do CS because all theme park quick service type food is lousy but have had lovely meals at Narcooses, Flying Fish, California Grill, and Jiko. Not many park resorts have places like that.

I don't get why you need to micro plan. Going with the flow still works. You can choose to go to a park with three slots defined then the rest of the time is free how is that micro planned.

We have always had perfectly clean rooms.

 

[Jennasis]

I would like to suggest that the boards ARE reflecting WDW accurately...or at least the tone of what's going on there.

Also, all FP+ did was shift the running of the bulls from 9am at park opening to the ungodly hour of midnight 60 days prior to arrival.

 

[TLSnell1981]

We have obviously had a totally different Disney experience to you.

I disagree that the food is lousy, expensive yes, inconsistent yes but good meals are available. We don't do CS because all theme park quick service type food is lousy but have had lovely meals at Narcooses, Flying Fish, California Grill, and Jiko. Not many park resorts have places like that.

I don't get why you need to micro plan. Going with the flow still works. You can choose to go to a park with three slots defined then the rest of the time is free how is that micro planned.

We have always had perfectly clean rooms.

But, the food used to be good, now it is very mediocre. It was always priced a bit high, but now, it's absurd. We used to do TS, at least, 1-2 meals each day. Now, maybe one every 2-3 days.

It's all really very disappointing. We made many happy memories at Disney. Now, it's becoming an overpriced hassle.

 

[Minniesgal]

But, the food used to be good, now it is very mediocre. It was always priced a bit high, but now, it's absurd. We used to do TS, at least, 1-2 meals each day. Now, maybe one every 2-3 days. It's all really very disappointing. We made many happy memories at Disney. Now, it's becoming an overpriced hassle.

I agree some of it is mediocre but some of it is very good. Totally agree about the prices.

 

[eliza61]

We have obviously had a totally different Disney experience to you.

I disagree that the food is lousy, expensive yes, inconsistent yes but good meals are available. We don't do CS because all theme park quick service type food is lousy but have had lovely meals at Narcooses, Flying Fish, California Grill, and Jiko. Not many park resorts have places like that.

I don't get why you need to micro plan. Going with the flow still works. You can choose to go to a park with three slots defined then the rest of the time is free how is that micro planned.

We have always had perfectly clean rooms.

You're right, many things are subjective. That's the point, those of us who see the downhill slide are just as correct in our views.

Sorry, Yes I think the food is lousy and I call insconsistency lousy. it should not take the luck of the draw to get a good meal. At best it is applebees quality. Is it inedible? No but when I go out to eat I totally admit my expectations are a bit higher than applebees. so yes once again a lot of it is subjective. We use to look forward to the meals at the world, It's funny when we go out to eat usually I ask people "so how's you food". I never get "man it's really good" at the world. I'm happy if my kids say "it's ok". EVERY SINGLE MEAL last May, lol was "meh"

So this is why you need to micro plan. So you plan 6 months out at midnight and pick a park, well what happens if when you actually get there 6 months later you can no longer go to the park? That is one of the reasons why we hate adr's. No I don't know what I want to do 6 months ahead. No I don't know what I want to eat 6 months ahead. We don't use spreadsheets or parks of the day. We wake up and decide what park we want to visit (or we use to like touring like that)

the food we've worked around, it's easy for us because we always have a car. After the 3rd mediocre meal we usually head off site. Heck, I've had better meals at the cheesecake factory in Orlando than I've had at the world. I would totally be ok, if it were "once in a while" but now, it's the norm.

we went in May. our trip went like this.
go to Epcot, have our fp+ for soarin. opps one kid is sick, we want to change. find a kiosk. kiosk line is ridiculously long, stand in line 25 minutes to make a change. Rinse, repeat.

go to dinner, now go to Hollywood studios after dinner. get in line for fp+ darn it, of course I get behind the guest that speaks no English and can't understand how it works.

No, I don't have a smartphone and not buying one just to make a vacation easier. so I can't make changes on my phone on the fly and from my sons attempts this May it wasn't all that easy.

If I want this type of ridged touring I go to work.

Like I said Minnie I'm ok with the changes because we have never been the type of family that felt Disney was the only magical place on earth. Disney uses those words, I do not.
I do admit to being disappointed as I thought when I brought my dvc that it would be for my life time. so it's a bit bittersweet to be selling it. I had visions of taking the grand babies every year but it's no longer worth it to me to keep it.

We've got one last trip planned for august, I won't even go into the hassle it's becoming to try and plan a trip for 18 with fp+

 

[Jedana]

I agree some of it is mediocre but some of it is very good. Totally agree about the prices.

We're going up to WDW this Saturday---DD2 came home for a visit and brought guest tickets. It's going to be DD2, her BFF, DS and myself (DH has some Scout training thing, and then is staying home to watch the doggies). (Only the one day, not even staying the night)

If she didn't have the free tickets, we wouldn't be going. The last time we went (2011), we had such a hard time enjoying anything---between DH's food poisoning from the POFQ food court to the monsoon rain and tornado watches, and the rudeness from the BTGs and the employees---it just turned me off of WDW for awhile.

Plus the whole FP+ thing just bums me out. First, couldn't do the whole preplanning thing,, because they are guest tickets, and we weren't sure she would have them until last week, and how do I know what I'm going to want to ride when we get there? Maybe I'll be in the mood to try something new like SM, or maybe I'll just want to ride Buzz and Dumbo.

We have only eaten in TS places when we could get a walk up, because I HATE planning what I'm going to eat 2 months in advance---maybe I wouldn't feel like Japanese that day.

To make FP+ fair to all---I don't think they can. People who go on the spur of the moment or who haven't bought their tickets until they get to the gate get screwed. Give it a link to a phone number option, so when the ticket is purchased at the gate, the FP can be transferred onto that ticket, with minimal fuss. Open it to multiple parks--if the Jones want to ride POTC, EE, and ToT in one day with FP+, let them---but only one tier 1 per park.

I would like to see a switch to scheduling 4 days. Then in another 4 days, people can book the next 4 days, etc. If they want to reward people who are staying in their hotels, give them the option of pulling another FP+ spot at the 15 day mark (for any tier). So onsite would start with 4 FP, offsite only 3, but everyone has a chance to get their spot.

 

[AnAmericanInDisney]

We've done Universal 3 times and will make our 4th trip this summer. After that, I told DH I am done with amusement parks until grandchildren come along. We can take them to DLR. After this next trip, there are too many other places to go and for the money, I might as well go to Europe. I can actually relax and enjoy a vacation there.

Fast pass+ is doing as much for Universal attendance as Harry Potter did. I just booked an 8 day trip yesterday- longest stay ever at Universal.