FP+? More like FP-!

[disnut1149]

I have no clue where this is coming from. I never used the term "amusement park" and I certainly know the difference. And WDW is not a theme park. It's a resort with four theme parks and two water parks. Also, it says under my sceen name that I joined in Aug 2008.

I also want to address some of the other comments in this thread. If you had a good experience with FP+, more power to you. I posted in order to encourage people to complain IF they preferred the old fast pass system. I know that lots of people loved the old system because people lined up for those little tickets!

I honestly don't see how this new system is much use to us, the paying customers. Maybe they've ironed out the bugs. But the so-called Magic Bands do more or less the same thing that the room key used to do. And two out of three of the reservations it offers are useless, because they are for less popular attractions anyway.

But worse yet, there have been reports that Disney execs are putting projects on the back burner because of the cost of this new reservation system -- that's the bigger picture behind the rollout of MyMagic. Are you all truly satisfied by the glacial pace of new and plussed attractions? We keep going back to the resorts and experiencing little that is new, yet they keep raising prices. Don't we deserve more for our money?

It seems that a lot of that money is being diverted into anything BUT great new attractions. For the billion dollars + they spent on "My magic+", they could have built ten new E Tickets. They certainly have enough land to build on! Ask yourself which you would rather have -- lots of great new rides, or a new reservation system that replaces the fast pass and pretty much does what the old system did?

Yes, Avatar is coming (in 2017 or so). And the new Mine Train ride is opening this year (hopefully it will be good; it better be, after they took this long to build it!). The Little Mermaid was cloned from the West Coast. Star Tours and Test Track were refreshed. That's pretty much it, for the entirety of this decade, unless they are about to surprise us with some big announcements (So far, all I hear are crickets). Are other new attractions coming? Well yes, across town, at Universal Orlando. With less resources than Disney, Universal has announced that they will sink half a billion dollars per year into new attractions (granted, not all that money will go into Orlando).

I'm not saying all this to bash Disney, or to say that Universal is better. I don't believe either of those things. I DO believe that the WDC could and should do a much better job of embracing the values and priorities of the company founder, who was all about show and continuous improvement.

They plaster his name all over everything they do and sell, but do they follow his great example? They have enormous resources, and they easily could reinvest more into the parks. Instead, they spend billions to buy up rivals (Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm) or to build small overseas parks which most of us will never see. Meanwhile, after all these years, Animal Kingdom is STILL barely a full-day park, and both DHS and Epcot STILL badly need more rides.

Is WDW worth visiting? Yes. But I believe we can hold this company to a higher standard: the standard of greatness and excellence that they set long ago. When making decisions about adding to WDW, they consistently do the minimum that they think they can get away with. Most tourists only go to WDW once every 4-5 years, so they know they don't have to budget for many new projects. That's just cynical bean counting. Where's the passion? Where's the pride? Where's the magic? Certainly not in the hearts of the suits who run the place.

If they shared more of the founder's values, doing the minimum would never be acceptable. And we, the fans, would enjoy parks which are much closer to their maximum potential. That's what we deserve.

Great post!!!

 

[jiminyfan]

Hi folks. I'm starting this thread because I am very upset about the elimination of our beloved Fast Pass, and the way the Walt Disney Company is forcing this new system on us. Three fast passes per day, and only one for a premiere attraction?? How does that meet anyone's needs? And if you park hop, you can't even get any fast passes for your second park of the day. But they still charge extra for park hopping privileges!

They spent well over a billion dollars on this. Where are their priorities? Why not a billion dollars worth of new/plussed attractions instead? Isn't that what we all really want?

I also resent having a "magic band" which is designed to track my every move, just so they can market more selectively to me and extract even more money from me. Don't we have enough Big Brother without being followed through theme parks, too?



I don't feel we should take this lying down. If you dislike this buggy and restrictive new system, please complain to the company. Tell them how you feel. Write to www.guest.services@disneyworld.com

Thoughts?

They spent a Billion dollars on a junk system and need to recoup the money. Making it more difficult to do all the attractions, they hope you come back more or stay longer.


We are not taking this laying down, we are staying on our feet and walking away.

Too many other things to see and do in the real world to get frustrated and upset over the Disney World changes.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Thanks for the kind words, Tlady and Disnut1149. And thanks to everyone who is taking the time to post their thoughts in this thread.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I was sent a survey and indicated my concerns about the number of FP+, the inability to hop and the tiering. Other than that, my survey results were pretty positive.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Just came back from a trip last week and wasn't hating FP+ like I expected to. Do I like the 3 a day and the tiering? Not really. But we didn't wait in line for anything more than 15 minutes all week. It didn't end up being a big deal at all, and we switched our FP's many times without a problem. I think I am just a little tired of all the FP+ threads

 

[babydoll65]

[QUOTE To me WDW is a "Theme ParK" not an "Amusement" park. I also enjoy the non-"thrill" attractions and the "Theme".
JMHO[/QUOTE]

I feel the same way as wdw is a theme park, not an amusement park. But for most who have taken recent trips with these mb, disney has been getting an earful of complaints. Iv never seen the long lines at guest relations as I did on my last trip in November. Pretty soon we will need a fp just to talk to a cm. I guess we could look at guest relations as a major thrill ride at this point. Though my magic bands worked fine, I was not happy with the money wasted on my parkhoppers.

 

[Ashlotte]

I just sent a very long email to that address, and it was returned. Is that a real email address?

 

[jdcthree]

I just sent a very long email to that address, and it was returned. Is that a real email address?

Try this one: wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[Angel Ariel]

When I did this, the cast member manning the kiosk was not at all surprised that it "worked".

One of the unanswered questions is whether or not this only worked because I had not used one of the FP from my original park. (And because we were rather close to closing, the system couldn't have offered me more than one reservation in any case.)

I've said in several threads - this is an area where guests with a little extra time on their hands could really do some experimentation.

There have been reports of other guests attempting this, and not being able to get FP+ at the new park.

 

[Ashlotte]

Try this one: wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Thanks! So far it hasn't bounced back, so that one must be good.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I just sent a very long email to that address, and it was returned. Is that a real email address?

Sorry about that. I was given that address by a CM who spoke to me in live chat on the WDW site, and I think she put in an extra period by mistake.

I just sent an email to www.guestservices@disneyworld.com and it hasn't bounced back. So that one should be fine.

 

[tlady]

Thanks for the kind words, Tlady and Disnut1149. And thanks to everyone who is taking the time to post their thoughts in this thread.

What angers me and drives me batty are those who react to every concern/complaint on these boards with a response of - "Well, just don't go to Disney any more." With that attitude, NOTHING will ever change with regards to FP+!!!

People need to stop worshipping at the altar of Disney. They are not Big Brother and they are not God. We all need to politely complain when things aren't right. Disney WILL listen if enough of us do so, but again, as long as we are polite and present the issues intelligently.

 

[jiminyfan]

What angers me and drives me batty are those who react to every concern/complaint on these boards with a response of - "Well, just don't go to Disney any more." With that attitude, NOTHING will ever change with regards to FP+!!!

People need to stop worshipping at the altar of Disney. They are not Big Brother and they are not God. We all need to politely complain when things aren't right. Disney WILL listen if enough of us do so, but again, as long as we are polite and present the issues intelligently.

In some cases yes, for this most likely not. They invested too much in the system to make drastic changes.

I just prefer to take my money elsewhere and be appreciated

 

[jiminyfan]

Nice job, your thoughts are right in line with mine. I also add that the quality of the restaurants has definitely decreased and the menus dumbed down.

 

[tlady]

In some cases yes, for this most likely not. They invested too much in the system to make drastic changes.

I just prefer to take my money elsewhere and be appreciated

I agree that they won't make any drastic changes. But small ones can be made such as: increasing the # of FPs you can get in a day; allowing you to ride the same ride more than once a day using a FP (maybe top it off at 3 so as to not overwhelm the ride), and eliminating tiering at HS and Epcot.

Just those changes can make a tremendous difference in everyone's experience in the parks.

However, IF they are made (and when), is still up in the air.

I, for one, am getting tired of the Disney mantra "We're still in the testing phase, blah, blah, blah . . ." For how long do we allow them to get away with brushing everyone's concerns aside with this pat answer? Meanwhile, people's trips are being adversely affected by the FP system as it now is.

I'm willing to play "wait and see" a bit longer. But if my next trip (in 3 months) is as bad as some are reporting their's have been, Disney will have lost me too.

 

[shalom]

I agree that they won't make any drastic changes. But small ones can be made such as: increasing the # of FPs you can get in a day; allowing you to ride the same ride more than once a day using a FP (maybe top it off at 3 so as to not overwhelm the ride), and eliminating tiering at HS and Epcot.

I think your first suggestion will likely happen in some fashion (staying Deluxe gets you more FPs or you can pay for more or whatever), and I wonder if maybe tiering will become something they skip offseason, but I suspect multiple FPs for the same ride are gone for good. If the FPs for any one ride are far lower than the number of people walking in the gate (which seems likely with at least some rides), but the demand for that ride is high, then one person getting multiple FPs for that ride means other people can't get an FP at all. That is as indisputable a truth as 6 > 3.

If Disney wants to offer the most people as many "top tier" FPs as possible, which seems to be their goal, then they can't offer multiple FPs for the same ride to the same person. Which is not to say people won't figure out ways to work around that; people have figured some out already! But if Disney's goal is to "spread the FP wealth," then, one way or another, it's not going to be as easy or as cheap as it was to get multiple FPs for the same ride as it was with FP-.

 

[Davey Jones II]

To me, the very fact that they keep promising changes is an acknowledgement that the system is woefully inadequate, and not what most guests want. So when are these supposed changes coming? Or is the WDC just hoping that we get tired of complaining, and passively accept it as is?

 

[Disney Dad 88]

Great post Davey...I don't agree with all of it, but I think you hit the nail on the head that because of the lack of investment in the parks it's starting to get stale. More credible rumors have the cost at 2 billion...that is more than an investment it's a change in philosophy of how Disney moves forward. More corporate strategy of milking every dollar from the customer instead of Reivesting in the parks. I am an AP holder and go once a month at least, have been for a long time. I love HS it's my favorite, but it's like a park with no direction, and has been for the last 5 years. Hotel prices are getting ridiculous for deluxe hotels where I like to stay. FP+ has benefits and drawbacks but the amount spent is not changing the parks for the better. I am lucky I can go to the parks all the time, but for people doing their once year vacation at the cost of $3,000 to $8,000 a week I don't know if I would be as content...

 

[tlady]

Excellent post and I agree with you. Many of the attractions/rides at the parks ARE getting stale. Some of the stuff in Tomorrowland is so old, it's laughable and it's certainly not the world of "tomorrow".
It's astounding to me that Disney chose to invest $2 billion in the MDE and it's received mixed reviews, at best. Yet nowhere near that amount is being invested in improving the guests' experiences in the parks in terms of more and newer rides/attractions, etc., etc.
The ever longer lines that guests are experiencing can be directly related to Disney's failure, over many, many years, to focus on adding more things to do in the parks.
Yes, eventually we will have Avatarland, which should help at AK. And WDW did expand Fantasyland, but truly there is next to nothing in Fantasyland that appeals to me because I don't have young kids. About the only thing I'm eagerly anticipating in Fantasyland is the opening of Mine Train.
And why aren't they adding rides to Epcot or HS? Epcot currently has only 2 true headliner rides - TT and Soarin' and it's been that way for years. HS has RnR, ToT and TSM. The dearth of top rides is why WDW was forced to impose "tiering" in those 2 parks. And doing so has significantly and negatively affected guests' experiences in those parks.
It's frustrating beyond belief to see the $$ invested in MDE, without a concurrent investment in improving and adding to the parks' infrastructures.