FP+ AS-IS: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

[g-dad66]

OK, I think enough DisBoarders have used FP+ by now that it's time for this poll.

And here are the "rules" for this poll:

1) To vote "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down," you have to have actually used FP+ in the parks.

2) The assumption for this poll is that FP+ will stay just the way it is now (I do realize this may well not be the case at all), i.e.

a) Limit of 3 FP+ per day in one park
b) Tiering at Epcot which allows FP+ for EITHER Soarin or Test, but NOT both
c) Tiering at Hollywood Studios which allows FP+ for EITHER Toy Story Mania or Rock n Roller Coaster, but NOT both

3) If you used FP+ before tiering came into effect, you can still vote "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down."

 

[Silock]

Down. Tiering, overall limits (of 3) and time slot availability.

 

[bcrook]

Whole-hearted thumbs down. Travel time late October.

The overall hassle of MDE and planning my days in advance is a deal breaker for me.

Not being able to use my three FP on whatever ride I want is irritating. I would like two Peter pans somebody else can have my BTMRR or space mountain.

I like to hop wherever and whenever I want. Those locked in FP+ Coerced me to follow a schedule I set up weeks in advance. And it was horrible trying to change experiences "on the fly".

I also think this sets up the ride CMs as enforcers rather than greeters. I saw many more exasperated CM in October than in the past.

 

[Farps]

Thumbs down , tiered fast pass is a real bummer. Also would like to see multiple park FP+. So that the system would be more park hopper friendly.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Was Thumbs Up on the concept until the Tiers.

Now they can, well, you know

 

[Disney_Princess83]

With tiering, thumbs down. Yes, we used FP+ in the parks both more and after tiering. Before the tiering, we would FP Soarin', Test Track and the Character Spot. There were great to have already prebooked so that we could simply arrive, do the rides and experiences we wanted in Future World and then head into World Showcase. Once they started tiering it, we couldn't FP+ more than one of these. We choose Soarin, waited in stand by for Character Spot (usually less than 10 minutes anyway) and missed out on Test Trac entirely since the lines were always 90 minutes + line. Even Single Rider was 45-50 minutes wait. With the new tiering system, we just selected FP+ times for Spaceship Earth (thanks to FP+ this seems to be getting a usual line of 20-30 minutes+ when we were there) and Seas with Nemo (which you NEVER need a FP for except possible peak times)

At Hollywood Studios, original, pre tiering, we chose Toy Story Mania, Fantasmic (originally it had a designated seating section - sadly we were in the first few nights they decided to only give us a separate entry line) and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. These were a great selection (Fantasmic is a total waste of FP+ after they stopped giving you a section) After the tiering, we chose Toy Story Mania, Great Movie Ride (which never had a longer than 10 min wait anyway) and Tower of Terror (which we never used) All the other rides we either didn't do anyway or honestly they never need FP+ (MuppetVision??? Seriously?)

Prior to the tiering, this system seemed to have more positive elements. Also, by forcing us to choose 3, we often didn't use 2 of reserved times and therefore, they were totally wasted, Prior to the tiering, we used every single FP that we made

 

[WillAustin]

Thumbs down.

3 FPs are not enough for our family, limiting it to one park and tiers just turn it into a sad joke.

I'm not sure how they think they'll convince most people that a reservation for one headliner ride in a day is a significant plus.

We are letting our APs expire tomorrow and are holding off on any decisions about going back until things shake out and we see if and how they address the complaints about the new system.

 

[DebbieB]

I voted thumbs up based on my experience earlier this month (without tiering but I would still vote thumbs up with). I liked being able to schedule fastpasses anytime of the day in advance and being able to do it online. Not having to watch the return time sign to see if it fits in with the days plans (meals, breaks) or have to hang around until it hit the right time. When they took away "return anytime after" for FP-, it became more difficult to plan around.

As far as tiering, we typically did single rider on RnR and TT before.

 

[cvjw]

Thumbs down for our family. We used them a couple of weeks ago on an adults only trip. They worked fine for just DH and I because we don't ride very much.

FP+ will be a big thumbs down when we have our teens with us. Between the tiering, the fast pass limits per day, and only being able to reserve rides at one park per day, our normal way of touring will forever be altered. FP+ may be the straw that broke the camels back and convince us to vacation at other places.

 

[AmyB2006]

I loved FP+ back in October. Already have FP+ ressies for December before the tiers went into effect so my true test of this system will be February.

But before tiers I loved it. It worked great.

 

[MissStitch626]

It's a reluctant thumbs down for me just for the tiers and the 3 FP and single park limitations.

 

[lucyem]

Thumbs down due to lack of spontaneity and flexibility.

What happens if little Johnny suddenly needs a nap? Or gets sick. Or if the weather is bad and we want to change when we are where. Or grandma from Tampa decides to spend the day with us. Not happening with dhs and Epcot. Limited flexibility happening at mk. Instead we wake up Johnny for tsmm or skip it totally or go back and sit in an hour plus line. And sorry grandma we have soarin FP+ so you can wait for us or we all sit in super long line.

I like the magic bands idea. Hate hate hate FP+.

And yes I do see benefits to FP+ but they are so outweighed by negative.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Hate the tiered system. When we went, Epcot was tiered, DHS was not- the tiers are just ridiculous. The reason we ever used fastpass, whether it's + or not, was to ensure rides on our favorites. Soarin, TT, TSMM, ToT, etc. It's stupid to have to choose between our favorites.
And the inability to set up FP+ in multiple parks per day makes hopping less appealing. Hopper passes cost more, yet now they are less appealing; a revenue drop because of FP+ limitations would actually be comical.

 

[WorldWacky]

It was a thumbs up for us this Thanksgiving Week. Granted, we did reserve our FPs before he tiering system, BUT we were still able to ride TSMM, ToT, RnR and StarTours all twice by using the good old fashioned rope drop method. So even if we had been in the tiered system, we would have still experienced all the headliners at least once. I was able to change things on the fly and had very few problems with the app. But I can understand the frustration from those who did have issues.

 

[Ariel on Land]

Thumbs down, and we even used them prior to tiering. Not a fan of having to plan days around ADRS AND FP. Not a fan of the limit of 3 per day, and definitely not a fan of not being able to park hop.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

Thumbs way up here. I don't go to WDW during peak seasons, so I really like this system. This was new and exciting for me. It was also a very convenient perk. I enjoyed planning my FP+ attractions a couple of weeks before leaving home, and changing those plans on the fly, if needed.

Using my iPhone, or the kiosks in the parks was nice. And the Magic Band is Disney's best innovation of its kind since the "e-ticket".

One of the most obvious facts about the DIS is that people here do not embrace change in any way. It's sad that people on these boards are so negative. Especially those who whine excessively about things they haven't even tried.

 

[g-dad66]

One of the most obvious facts about the DIS is that people here do not embrace change in any way. It's sad that people on these boards are so negative. Especially those who whine excessively about things they haven't even tried.

Another thing that's obvious to me is that a lot of folks have had very unpleasant experiences with MB/FP+ during the past couple of months.

As an example, check out these reports I just now finished reading on page 23 of this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=50181158

I feel very bad for these folks.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Thumbs way up here. I don't go to WDW during peak seasons, so I really like this system. This was new and exciting for me. It was also a very convenient perk. I enjoyed planning my FP+ attractions a couple of weeks before leaving home, and changing those plans on the fly, if needed.

Using my iPhone, or the kiosks in the parks was nice. And the Magic Band is Disney's best innovation of its kind since the "e-ticket".

One of the most obvious facts about the DIS is that people here do not embrace change in any way. It's sad that people on these boards are so negative. Especially those who whine excessively about things they haven't even tried.

Did you enjoy being limited to 3 fastpasses per day, or having to use them all in the same park?

This isn't something that needs to be tried to see if you will like it.

 

[davidl81]

The OP asked for a vote from only people who have used fast pass plus. It looks like over half of the people who voted have not even used them in the parks yet. I would have loved to see a poll just from people who actually used them, not just read about it on the Internet.

 

[g-dad66]

The OP asked for a vote from only people who have used fast pass plus. It looks like over half of the people who voted have not even used them in the parks yet.

Why do you say this?