My husband didn't believe me about FP+

[Kalliope]

This is what my "little longer wait" looked like at TSMM on July 6... A relatively low crowd day. That is the FP+ return line that filled the interior queue, spilled out on to the sidewalk, and snaked its way out of Pixar Place. It was chaos. I'm thinking maybe they gave out too many FP that day. I thought it was worse than Sleazy. I heard quite a few other descriptors from the guests in line...but I can't print them.

Looks like our EE FP return line in July.

 

[bcrook]

Looks like our EE FP return line in July.

I bet that can be bad too. There is NOwhere for people to go waiting to get past that first check point. I noticed at that ride they couldn't get people past the Second checkpoint fast enough to load the trains, and trains were leaving unfilled. Which then leads to longer FP lines.

At Splash, they gave up on the the second checkpoint just to get people loaded quickly.

 

[Kalliope]

I bet that can be bad too. There is NOwhere for people to go waiting to get past that first check point. I noticed at that ride they couldn't get people past the Second checkpoint fast enough to load the trains, and trains were leaving unfilled. Which then leads to longer FP lines.

At Splash, they gave up on the the second checkpoint just to get people loaded quickly.

Yeah, we never had to scan at the second checkpoint at Splash.

 

[dfb]

I have no problem with someone trashing FP+ that has actually used the system. I realize it will not appeal to everyone. My complaint was with the OP who has not yet used the system and feels the need to start yet another "Let's bash FP+" thread.

If someone described a punch in the stomach. I don't think you would have to actually get punched to figure out you wouldn't like it!! They just started using FP+ and I guess they are getting the I'm about to get punched in the stomach feeling.

 

[minniecarousel]

I have no problem with someone trashing FP+ that has actually used the system. I realize it will not appeal to everyone. My complaint was with the OP who has not yet used the system and feels the need to start yet another "Let's bash FP+" thread.

OK, OP here. I really don't feel that I bashed FP+. I haven't been to WDW in 5 years, therefore I know very little about the system. I also stated that I'm a regular Disneylander, which uses the Original FP system. I spend my time on the Community Board & the Disneyland Board & only check out the WDW specific boards when planning a trip. I suppose I could have done a search of "FP+", but I opted to start a new thread. I found it amusing that my husband was so surprised that you really do need to order these FP+ 2 months in advance.

I didn't realize that I was starting "yet another 'lets bash FP+' Thread". That wasn't my intention.

 

[Karin1984]

That's not your fault, OP, some of the fp+ haters here like to use every opportunity to display how unhappy they are with fp+ and rather point out the negatives instead of looking how to work with the system.

I think they should unite and make barricades to block the entrance to WDW. Would be more effective than complaining here. Or go in therapy together to get some closure and become able to accept the change

Maybe together with those who hate the FP+ haters...

 

[BeachClub2014]

No worries at all minniecarousel, you should feel free to express an opinion here. Although there is never a shortage of posters that have snorted a little too much pixie dust along the way and believe any change the mouse puts forward is the best advancement since the wheel. I'm not sure there is effective therapy for that condition and they most likely have a FB+ to get them around any barricades put up by those nefarious miscreants that have the audacity to express a contrarian point of view.

You are definitely not alone in your opinion about the craziness of competing for a golden ticket in the middle of the night while trying to predict exactly where you will be and what you will be doing at WDW two months down the road.

Some people like that level of planning and control. Others, not so much. There is no right or wrong when it comes to opinions.....everybody has them!

 

[SeilerBird]

OK, OP here. I really don't feel that I bashed FP+. I haven't been to WDW in 5 years, therefore I know very little about the system. I also stated that I'm a regular Disneylander, which uses the Original FP system. I spend my time on the Community Board & the Disneyland Board & only check out the WDW specific boards when planning a trip. I suppose I could have done a search of "FP+", but I opted to start a new thread. I found it amusing that my husband was so surprised that you really do need to order these FP+ 2 months in advance.

I didn't realize that I was starting "yet another 'lets bash FP+' Thread". That wasn't my intention.

Well you certainly are not saying anything positive about FP+. Would you prefer to stand in long lines instead of planning things out a bit? You don't need to order FP two months in advance. You can get them the day before you get here. Two months is only necessary for the A&E fanatics. I get my FP+ usually a week in advance and rarely can I not book what I want.

 

[Elfeen]

I am going 2nd week in September and was checking what's available; besides the usual, there's now no Peter Pan or splash mountain available. At a slow time. So you can NOT get them the day before you come here. And if people don't like fast pass+, why shouldn't they be allowed to say it? And as far as standing in long lines, ummmmm did you see the pic of the fastpass return line that was posted?

 

[Goofey Drool]

The first time I went to Disneyworld in the mid 90's, I went with friends who had been 5+ times. We arrived at the park and we had to get to the other end of the park for a show....I had never been to WDW and I was in awe. I was walking behind them looking at everything and taking it all in. They were annoyed because they had everything planned to the minute. Where we would be at nearly every minute of the day. Yes, we did nearly everything....or as people on the boards say. "got a lot done". I didn't want to run around and get a lot done. I was on vacation in Disneyworld and wanted to check the place out. At Downtown Disney a mime was doing a street corner act and I volunteered from the crowd to participate. I am sure that was an inconvenience because this made us late for the next place we HAD to be. I doubt anyone will change their way of thinking on this. You either like to plan.....or at least can tolerate it, or you don't. - My more recent family trips were pretty laid back in that we would arrive at a park and go grab a few FP's for later and move on. We would go on a few rides and check out some of the park. Then our FP's would be ready and we would go on one or two of the big attractions. I guess we will find out in April if FP+ is a positive or negative.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I am going 2nd week in September and was checking what's available; besides the usual, there's now no Peter Pan or splash mountain available. At a slow time. So you can NOT get them the day before you come here. And if people don't like fast pass+, why shouldn't they be allowed to say it? And as far as standing in long lines, ummmmm did you see the pic of the fastpass return line that was posted?

Hmm. What day are you looking at? I just checked a random day the 2nd week of september and found both splash and peter pan were available.

 

[mom2rtk]

Looks like our EE FP return line in July.

And like our Jungle Cruise FP return line in June:

IMG_8030 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[Lucius Best]

And this is one of the big reasons fp+ works so well for us. We park hop and so make multiple trips to each park during our vacation.

It's not a problem at all for us. One trip into Epcot we'll do one and then catch the other on another day. We could use rope drop for Epcot, but we much prefer it as an evening park. It's especially nice to be able to go to Epcot at 5-6 in the evening and know we have headliners to ride instead of knowing fp's are sold out. And not only do we not have to choose which to get fp+'s for, I expect we'll get to do each multiple times during our trip.

The tiers are there because there aren't enough popular attractions to accommodate the FP+ demand, you are correct that without the tiers the big ticket FPs would be gobbled up quicker. That's good that you've found a way to make it work, but it doesn't mean tiers are good for everyone.

Also definitely agree that FP+ works great if you're going to a park late in the day. On our first FP+ trip we visited HS in afternoon on arrival day, which we never would have even considered before FP+, but it worked because we walked in with 3 FP+ in hand. Of course, the downside of booking your FP+ for 5pm is that you don't have any FP during the day at whatever park you visited in the morning. And going to Epcot multiple nights means you're shelling out extra money for park hoppers. And if you have a short trip with only one Epcot day, you have to choose, which means riding fewer headliners using FP compared to the old system.

 

[rpb718]

I'm just going to throw out an observation. Yes, FP+ can become available at the last minute. Just yesterday I noticed that A&E FP+ for today appear to be available (and still are). However, just because they are available doesn't mean you can see them online. For example, say you have 4 FP+ for PP from 1:05-2:05 and 7DMT from 2:10-3:10 and a 3rd throwaway FP+ scheduled for something not in high demand at a different time and someone else has released 4 FP+ for A&E that was for 2:30-3:30. Using the 3rd throwaway FP+ to check for last minute avalability, I'm under the impression that you wouldn't see the 4 FP+ for A&E because of the time overlap with the 4 7DMT FP+ that are being kept and MDE won't show you times that you already have scheduled. The only way to see the 4 FP+ for A&E would be to reschedule the 4 FP+ for 7DMT to a different time, but that may not be possible. Am I wrong in this assumption?

 

[Lucius Best]

But the thing about FP+ is that Disney can predict pretty accurately how many people will not use their FP for any given ride, day, time of day, etc. I'm sure they overbook FP+ just like airlines overbook flights and hotels overbook rooms. (Of course they could do this with FP-, but part of the $2 billion was the infrastructure that will collect for those purposes.) There is nothing "lost" when someone doesn't use them--Disney is actually counting on them to leave without using them.

I have no problem with Disney overbooking FP+, if that's what they're doing, because there's always going to be people not using their FP. I just wouldn't put too much faith in their ability to accurately predict. Looking at how often the dining system goes down, bugs in the MDE app, the Disney Vacation Account fiasco, I don't have a lot of trust in their computer systems. Accurate crowd predictions are also going to require a lot of data, I'm sure FP+ is still a work in progress, and wouldn't be surprised if Disney was constantly tweaking how many FP+ are given out.

 

[Lucius Best]

This is what my "little longer wait" looked like at TSMM on July 6... A relatively low crowd day. That is the FP+ return line that filled the interior queue, spilled out on to the sidewalk, and snaked its way out of Pixar Place. It was chaos. I'm thinking maybe they gave out too many FP that day. I thought it was worse than Sleazy. I heard quite a few other descriptors from the guests in line...but I can't print them.

Curious, was the ride down at any point? I would not be surprised at all if Disney's computers often screwed up and gave out too many FP+. Or if Disney is routinely adjusting how many FP+ are distributed as an experiment. We encountered a 45-minute FP return line at ToT, but that was after the ride went down and came back up with only one drop tower running. CMs with tablets at FP return entrance gave you the option to wait, modify FP+ to different ride, or exchange ToT FP+ for a good-any-time paper FP.

 

[Robo]

after the ride went down and came back up with only one drop tower running. CMs with tablets at FP return entrance gave you the option to wait, modify FP+ to different ride, or exchange ToT FP+ for a good-any-time paper FP.

I'm trying to figure why anyone would choose any other option.

 

[Lucius Best]

Well you certainly are not saying anything positive about FP+.

Is that against the rules?

Would you prefer to stand in long lines instead of planning things out a bit?

Actually, OP has planned things out and was trying to book FP+ for her vacation.

Two months is only necessary for the A&E fanatics.

Not really. 7DMT was the ride that OP said had no FP+ availability 60 days in advance.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

The problem with overbooking is you're attempting to predict if and when someone won't use something you're trying to hype is the best way to travel. Doing so is acknowledging that you're pushing FP onto people for rides or attractions that shouldn't have FP so people see no use in using them.

Then if you guess wrong and everyone does use their FP+ then the people who couldn't get one because the others were gone or they opted for something else are punished because SB isn't going anywhere until the 45 min FP line runs through. That would explain though why SB times have gone up so significantly on secondary attractions since the advent of FP+.

 

[MrInfinity]

We are booking FPs for October. The last time we went was 5 years ago, before FP+. It's very aggravating to have to plan our days 2 months in advance! We thought it was bad enough having to arrange ADRs so far ahead.

How can this possibly be a relaxing vacation?! What are our chances of getting same-day FPs? We generally hate stand-by lines. Are those as bad as they always were?

These boards are so funny. Someone comes out to post their thoughts on FP+, and the same old group jumps on the opportunity to go "HAH! Look another person that hates it".

OP, I have to ask why you're so aggravated. Based on the little info I know, it looks like you already booked your ADRs... so isn't the bulk of your planning done? If you've booked ADRs, that means you've picked park days. Once you know your park days, it's a piece of cake to pick 3 rides in the park that you think you'll want to ride. Picking a whole vacations-worth of Fast Passes takes about 15 min. And there is absolutely no reason not to pick them. You don't have to go to them if you're having fun doing something else, you can change them day-of if you like, and if any of them end up sold out, you've already got one for yourself. It's all pro and no con.

Don't think of it as not relaxing in that you have 3 appointments to keep, but relaxing in that you can walk on to 3 rides (probably busy rides) on those days, if you choose to. You are not penalized if you don't show, and you can change them if you're on the other side of the park and don't want to go to your FP+.

Standby lines are even not bad. We've gone in FP+ times (last year Star Wars Weekend, so it was busy!) and the lines were really about the same as they always were.
Have fun! It shouldn't be stressful. If you want help with anything specific to make it even easier, just ask out here and you'll get tons of replies.