Any Reformed FP- Uber Users Who Have Embraced FP+ ?

[mom2rtk]

Every post after 3:50pm Eastern... just POOFED!

I suddenly feel a half-hour YOUNGER!

Where is that "Glitch City" image of yours?

 

[SmithSmith]

To be fair here, the first post *in this thread* where you stated you did in fact ride TSMM and Soarin' once each was post #71.

Mom2trk referred to my post in saying that's how she'd read it in post #72.

The post that, as far as I can tell, you're referring to with mom2trk still insisting you hadn't ridden them was post #69 -before your clarification, not after.

I truly think this was just a miscommunication/misunderstanding, and not intentional (on either of your parts).

Completely off topic, but I've noticed that you're extremely good at explaining/resolving/clarifying issues. Thanks.

 

[momof2n2]

Have you considered adding new experiences to your trip? For example, if you were to do a water park on two different mornings of your trip and then either do a dinner show (Spirit of Aloha Luau or Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review could be fun) or maybe head to one of the parks would really change it up. And if you head to the parks, you could plan your fast passes for later in the day and still get to do 3 of your favorites. It wouldn't be exactly the same, but if you did, for example, Epcot on two different late afternoons/early evenings after hitting up the water parks, you would still have two different times to ride Soarin with a fast pass and still have the new experience of Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Or, you might could do a fun watercraft day. You can go parasailing over Bay Lake at Contemporary or even tubing, wakeboarding, or waterskiing. A morning of horseback riding at Fort Wilderness followed by a day at Magic Kingdom could help to change it up in a way where the focus is more on the new things you are doing rather than the old things you are no longer able to do.

I appreciate that this has been the best solution for your family. I'm glad you found it and continue to go.

I understand that's how some are dealing with diminished expectations. And I suppose that's how Disney is fishing more money out of their wallets. But I just refuse to pay to do something else when I already paid for park access for the day.

I'm still here in thought.

My budget remains where 5 days of park entry is all I'm willing to spend (and all DH can stomach) as we other things during our two-week visits to Florida. I hate that in order to do things as many times as we used to, we'd now need to go more days to get it done.

 

[Silock]

Hey, I know you.

I'm afraid I will hate it too.

Just accept that you will hate it and try not to let it ruin your trip.

 

[Silock]

Do I expect anyone to know me well enough?
No.

What I do expect is that you not make assumptions of someone you don't seem to know well as you admit to have done here and then draw the false correlation that FP+ is enjoyed only because of those assumptions.

FWIW, I read it exactly as mom did. A simple clarification was all that was needed. There's no need to jump down her throat over it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

FWIW, I read it exactly as mom did. A simple clarification was all that was needed. There's no need to jump down her throat over it.

But a clarification was not requested.

To be fair, I did ask what gave the impression. And it turns out the impression was based upon assumption. It required a different poster to let me know that
It had to do with my first post ( taken out of context ) in direct response to the ability to ride 3 specific attractions 3x each.

For the post you quoted here, I directly responded to her inquiry and leveled what I expected. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

To be fair here, the first post *in this thread* where you stated you did in fact ride TSMM and Soarin' once each was post #71.

Mom2trk referred to my post in saying that's how she'd read it in post #72.

The post that, as far as I can tell, you're referring to with mom2trk still insisting you hadn't ridden them was post #69 -before your clarification, not after.

I truly think this was just a miscommunication/misunderstanding, and not intentional (on either of your parts).

Completely off topic, but I've noticed that you're extremely good at explaining/resolving/clarifying issues. Thanks.

Yes, thank you Angel Ariel. I was at a loss.

 

[estherhead]

So I have been checking wait times off and on the past two crazy busy weeks and they have been CRAZY. No old FP or current FP+ coulda helped 240 minute waits for Soarin'! Shocking. But right now, New Years Day MK is open until 1:00 am. It's currently 11:14 and most things are 10 minutes, a few are 15-20 (Pirates and Buzz), Peter Pan is 30 and Seven Dwarves is 70. Earlier today all these rides were over an hour. Late at night is a great strategy even for the busiest of days. Except for New Years Eve. Don't go to Epcot on New Years Eve. Those wait times never went down yesterday. First time in the past two weeks I haven't seen them drop off after 11:00 pm.

 

[Rebekkap]

This is my experience.

EE is easy to ride multiple times at rope drop or sometimes later in the day at AK even without FP.

Soarin and TSMM lovers suffer the most with fp+. If you get there right at rope drop you can ride it once and then use a FP if you have one. Generally the standby lines would be too long for a second standby ride at rope drop. Sometimes during less busy times you could ride them late at night without too big of a line. But, I don't know if anyone has ever been able to make a fourth FP reservation for either of these rides during the day.

I managed to get fourth FP+ for TSMM last year in April. Didn't try to get a fourth for Soarin but did Soarin twice by doing rope drop, then using FP+, then riding test track single rider multiple times in a row. I'm definitely a convert - thought as an uber user I was going to hate it, but loved the fact that I could, for example, ride space mountain four times in a day with very little wait, as well as multiple other rides. Wouldn't have been able to get four FPs for Space as well as others under the old system.

 

[mom2rtk]

But a clarification was not requested.

To be fair, I did ask what gave the impression. And it turns out the impression was based upon assumption. It required a different poster to let me know that
It had to do with my first post ( taken out of context ) in direct response to the ability to ride 3 specific attractions 3x each.

For the post you quoted here, I directly responded to her inquiry and leveled what I expected. Nothing more, nothing less.

I didn't even realize I had read it wrong until you jumped all over me. That's why I didn't request a clarification.

 

[Suvadoo]

I managed to get fourth FP+ for TSMM last year in April. Didn't try to get a fourth for Soarin but did Soarin twice by doing rope drop, then using FP+, then riding test track single rider multiple times in a row. I'm definitely a convert - thought as an uber user I was going to hate it, but loved the fact that I could, for example, ride space mountain four times in a day with very little wait, as well as multiple other rides. Wouldn't have been able to get four FPs for Space as well as others under the old system.

Did you in fact ride space mountain 4 times or is this just an assumption? I haven't seen anyone post that they were able to get a 4th FP for SM, unless the parks were slow.
Your example of why you like FP+ would be the same if you used legacy: multiple times at rope drop and then later using legacy FP. The problem I see is that now you may be able to ride a headliner at RD without a wait, but the FP+ line starts forming immediately, so SB for a second ride is possible, but the wait may be substantial.

 

[Suvadoo]

My family rode EE 3X first week of December. Kali was ridden 4x the same day.
Did not try TSMM due to other plans. Could have at least 2x if not for other plans.
Soarin' did not try as we hit the park after 12 noon the first time and not until near 4 the second day.

So I wouldn't say it is out of the question if it is your priority for at least 2x.

I was there the first week in December 2010 and 2012 and Kali was always a walk-on. I don't think it's a good example of a multiple ride headliner when it really is seasonal. Now if you were able to do this anytime from May- October, that would be impressive.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

We were just there from 12/20 to 12/28, and found RD (or admittedly soon after on some days) to still be incredibly useful. Our first two or so hours in the park found most rides with minimal wait times. I scheduled my first FP+ when I knew crowds would start to pick up - around 10 or 10:30 - with the last one right after lunch. We'd then head back to the resort to swim and relax, then back to a park or to dinner later. Worked like a charm.

Ok, here's my 2 cents...we are premium annual pass holding locals now (read: LOTS of experience with this now!!), but previously, I was a 25 year Disneyland vet and was VERY savvy with the FP- there. Definitely an "uber" user, and was looking forward to doing the same at WDW! I thought I would absolutely despise FP+...however, with a positive outlook going in, we have discovered we actually really love Fp+! Even though we can technically go whenever we wish, laura428's system is exactly what we do too! First, we RD anything big we want to do for the day...even mine train is totally doable at RD, as long as there was not EMH at MK! We then switch to Fp mode when it starts to get busy, and then leave either after lunch if we plan to eat at the park or just before lunch if we have other plans. Then we go home and swim...in our pool! LOL!! Works perfectly! We never feel like it's too crowded...even during the busiest times, and we always get to ride on/do whatever we want for the day!

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

May I please add this question to OP's?

Are you getting to reride favorites?
Our superusing family likes Soarin x 3, TSMM x 3 and EE x 3.

Anyone pulling that off? Thinking about May...

We do this all the time! If you RD these big rides, you can get on them easily 2-3x and then if you still want more, you can make your first FP for it too! The last time we went to Animal Kingdom, we rode EE with no Fp over and over and over....lol We have done soarin a couple times in a row and we do space over and over and tsmm a couple times too!

 

[Suvadoo]

Ok, here's my 2 cents...we are premium annual pass holding locals now (read: LOTS of experience with this now!!), but previously, I was a 25 year Disneyland vet and was VERY savvy with the FP- there. Definitely an "uber" user, and was looking forward to doing the same at WDW! I thought I would absolutely despise FP+...however, with a positive outlook going in, we have discovered we actually really love Fp+! Even though we can technically go whenever we wish, laura428's system is exactly what we do too! First, we RD anything big we want to do for the day...even mine train is totally doable at RD, as long as there was not EMH at MK! We then switch to Fp mode when it starts to get busy, and then leave either after lunch if we plan to eat at the park or just before lunch if we have other plans. Then we go home and swim...in our pool! LOL!! Works perfectly! We never feel like it's too crowded...even during the busiest times, and we always get to ride on/do whatever we want for the day!

you are so fortunate. But really, you can go to WDW anytime you wish throughout the year. So if you miss out on some attractions, there's always next time and that could be tomorrow, if you wanted.
I go to WDW for 5 days a year if I'm lucky. So missing attractions and leaving the parks at midday is not very appealing.

 

[Disneylover99]

Did you in fact ride space mountain 4 times or is this just an assumption? I haven't seen anyone post that they were able to get a 4th FP for SM, unless the parks were slow.

We changed some fp's around during Christmas week. Space Mountain always seemed to have multiple times available for the four of us the night before. So I'm going to assume that getting a fourth FP for Space Mountain would be completely doable, even during a busy time.

 

[estherhead]

We ride rides multiple times, often in a row. But not Soarin'. I'd say FP+ makes this impossible but in reality FP- made it impossible too. That FP was SO far from anything I'd always start my Epcot morning racing to Soarin to get our fp's while my family waited (impatiently) for me at Test Track. Then I'd get to Test Track with sweat pouring and a family tapping their foot saying "Why didn't you go faster? 100s have gotten on before us!" Once we were done using that Soarin' FP- the return times were 7 pm or later. In my opinion even with tiers that situation is better. We rode Test Track twice at rope drop Dec 17 this year with no wait. And I hadn't already jogged across the park twice. Then we did other Future World things until our Sorain FP+ at 11:25 am.

What Epcot needs, and I know this is a whole other thing, is more rides. I realize Disney uses it as a people holder with shops and dining, but it seriously needs it's turn in the sun. It's time. As soon as Avatarland is done and DHS is under way, I want my major Future World Epcot overhaul. And the Frozen ride doesn't count. It isn't Future World. It needs at least two more major rides. And one or two amazing shows.

As for the other parks we had no problem riding Space over and over at park closing time. We did TSM at rope drop with no wait. And RnR would have been fine except it kept breaking. ERRRR, this was our biggest issue of our week. Every time we walked down Sunset, RnR would break. We still managed to ride it 5 times in our week using the single rider line but it singlehandedly tried to thwart our trip by it's breaking.

Seven Dwarves was the only thing we never tried at rope drop or park closing. We held three FP+ for it for our week (on three different days) so we never attempted another riding.

So yes, my feeling is FP+ is as good as FP- in general. Even for multiple riding of the same ride. It's just different. And I really hate it on the busiest weeks. But I HATE the uber busy weeks for other reasons too. I like moderate weeks. Enough people to fill the shows and feel like Disney but not so many I'm terrified for my life. Like the week before Christmas as we just enjoyed.

 

[dfb]

I think this went over my head. Care to explain?

Nothing goes over my head, my reflexes are too quick...

 

[alicat8]

I didn't read all the comments, but in regards to the original post, I can say I'm somewhat of a convert. But my reasoning is totally unscientific. Our first fp+ experience was also my first going with a kid. So we were already forced to slow down because of the 2 year old. We used to go like you, rd to close, multiple fp, re-riding faves...all during busy season. I was really nervous about the limits of 3 fp, because going during "teacher season", I knew very few 4th+ fp would be available fpr headliners. We didn't end up needing them-kid was too tired after the 3 were used anyway.
So, advantages:
-knowing at the beginning of the trip when your fp would be (though this is a bit of a - for me, since overscheduling stressed me out a bit)
-being able to change fp times or rides. This is my favorite feature! It was fairly easy and came in handy many times.

Your biggest advantage is still knowing the parks. People who don't are still scheduling fps for rides/times when they're totally unnecessary. If you're a pro, you can still tour like a pro to a certain extent, based on my experience

eta-Forgot to add, RD was still an absolute advantage. We even got to MK an hour after on one of our days and were able to breeze through Adventureland and most of Frontierland. (This was in August.)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Did you in fact ride space mountain 4 times or is this just an assumption? I haven't seen anyone post that they were able to get a 4th FP for SM, unless the parks were slow.
Your example of why you like FP+ would be the same if you used legacy: multiple times at rope drop and then later using legacy FP. The problem I see is that now you may be able to ride a headliner at RD without a wait, but the FP+ line starts forming immediately, so SB for a second ride is possible, but the wait may be substantial.

My family got 4th FP for Space Mountain on Dec 2 that we picked up just after 4pm. At the time we pulled it, wait was over an hour and the FP (for 4) was within 2 hours. Pretty sure park closed no earlier than 10, maybe even 11.

I am not a member of a crowd level calendar site. But you are free to use the date to find out what was predicted and what it actually was that day.

Per touring plans generic example defining wait times for Space Mountain for each level, that estimate places MK at 5-6 that day.