please help my understand the evil of MyMagic+ & Fastpass+

[goofydad621]

First I am not trying to tell anybody they are wrong for feeling the way that they do or that they are getting it all wrong and this is all magic and pixie dust I am just trying to gain some understanding
Please help me understand why people are going to stop traveling to WDW because of the new systems being put into place.
I will admit I have not read every thread about them but have tried to gain a decent understanding. I just don’t get what is there to keep me from not going back.
My background with Disney travel, Disney land in the 60’s very early 70’s before WDW was open and DL in 80’s as well. WDW 1974 and more times than I can count since.
Is it just that it is change? Is there some inherent evil that I am not seeing? I used to plan out every last detail now we make an outline of what we want to do and then I kind of figure out what park on what days to try to see everything. Some trips we never even get a fast pass. Doesn’t bother us as we (DW and I) remember touring before there was such a thing as fast pass and we have ways to amuse ourselves as we stand in line either with a scavenger hunt that we make and print out before we go or take in all the little things that Disney has put in the waiting queues to look at. (There are more distractions in waiting lines at Disney then there is in people watching at Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon and there can be some real oddities there let me tell ya lol)
If it is the change thing maybe it won’t be that bad once worked out. I remember being the remote for our TV growing up (hey Dave get up and turn the channel or turn up the volume), only having three channels of TV. And trying to get the channel a little clearer but moving the antenna a bit. That technology seemed to work out (maybe not for the better of society with the 200 channels of garbage that is on but that is another topic)
Is it having to plan every little bit before hand and put it on your phone or wrist band?
Has everybody that is negative about it tried it yet?
Please help me understand because I am not getting it.
Goofydad621

 

[mesaboy2]

First I am not trying to tell anybody they are wrong for feeling the way that they do or that they are getting it all wrong and this is all magic and pixie dust I am just trying to gain some understanding
Please help me understand why people are going to stop traveling to WDW because of the new systems being put into place.
I will admit I have not read every thread about them but have tried to gain a decent understanding. I just don’t get what is there to keep me from not going back.
My background with Disney travel, Disney land in the 60’s very early 70’s before WDW was open and DL in 80’s as well. WDW 1974 and more times than I can count since.
Is it just that it is change? Is there some inherent evil that I am not seeing? I used to plan out every last detail now we make an outline of what we want to do and then I kind of figure out what park on what days to try to see everything. Some trips we never even get a fast pass. Doesn’t bother us as we (DW and I) remember touring before there was such a thing as fast pass and we have ways to amuse ourselves as we stand in line either with a scavenger hunt that we make and print out before we go or take in all the little things that Disney has put in the waiting queues to look at. (There are more distractions in waiting lines at Disney then there is in people watching at Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon and there can be some real oddities there let me tell ya lol)
If it is the change thing maybe it won’t be that bad once worked out. I remember being the remote for our TV growing up (hey Dave get up and turn the channel or turn up the volume), only having three channels of TV. And trying to get the channel a little clearer but moving the antenna a bit. That technology seemed to work out (maybe not for the better of society with the 200 channels of garbage that is on but that is another topic)
Is it having to plan every little bit before hand and put it on your phone or wrist band?
Has everybody that is negative about it tried it yet?
Please help me understand because I am not getting it.
Goofydad621

The structure (let's ride Toy Story Mania at 1:25p in a couple of months) and the limitations (no more than 3 in a single park) are negatives to many, at least as currently envisioned.

Trying it now is not representative of the final product, since there are relatively few using it. When all park goers are rolled in, that should in theory decrease the flexibility currently enjoyed by the testers. Allowing continued use of regular FPs also skews the current experience.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Please help me understand because I am not getting it.
Goofydad621

I think you ARE getting it.

It's the folks who get borderline hysterical over stuff like this that aren't getting it.

 

[rwdavis2]

I think you ARE getting it.

It's the folks who get borderline hysterical over stuff like this that aren't getting it.

Good post. The OP has gone from what appears to be über commando to someone enjoying the moment. We only differ in that we won't stand in a long line. I think the ne FP+ will offer mor flexibility when we finally go in a few years. Do RD at the first park then hop to the next where we may have the FPs set up. I would probable never hop to DHS without a FP available.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Trying it now is not representative of the final product, since there are relatively few using it. When all park goers are rolled in, that should in theory decrease the flexibility currently enjoyed by the testers. Allowing continued use of regular FPs also skews the current experience.

But remember that not all FPs are available to current users. Most are still being obtained via the FP machines. Once this goes property-wide the number of FP+s will increase and, IMO, that will make the experience similar to what it is now.

 

[Farps]

I am pretty optimistic that Disney will over time work out any and all of the kinks in the system. I just hope that it is not as hard to get a FP for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, as it is to get an ADR at BOG for dinner 180 days out. Really don't want to have to plan every move that we make way ahead of time.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Good post. The OP has gone from what appears to be über commando to someone enjoying the moment. We only differ in that we won't stand in a long line. I think the ne FP+ will offer mor flexibility when we finally go in a few years. Do RD at the first park then hop to the next where we may have the FPs set up. I would probable never hop to DHS without a FP available.

That's one of the first things I thought of when I heard the details of the new FP+. Some days we don't go back to the parks after our break because we have no fastpasses.

I think some of the concern with the FP+ system is the fact that you will have to plan your FP in advance, maybe months in advance (who knows). Some people don't like making dining ADRs months in advance, I think they're not going to like making FP arrangements months in advance either. It seems like people who don't plan their trips well in advance may be hard pressed to get FPs to major attractions. Just like right now with the ADRs, if you don't plan them well in advance you're not going to get the most popular restaurants. So if all the FPs are gone for TSMM, if you want to ride it you will have no choice but to stand in a 60-120 minute or more line.

I'm a planner so I'm OK with what I've seen so far, though I am concerned how I fit in as an AP holder who somtimes stays offsite. But, I can see how some people have concerns about it.

 

[DisneyMom]

Half of my family (including me) love to plan things out to the nth degree months in advance - that's a big part of the FUN for us (you should SEE the detailed spreadsheets we have!!) - the other half like to "wing it" with just a general plan of what park what day and that's up for change at any time depending on the mood at the moment. Will be interesting to see how both sides deal with the new changes during our upcoming December trip!

 

[bcinohio]

When the FP+ system goes into full use does that mean only the people who stay on Disney property will be able to use it? DH and I are going in Dec and staying on property but looking to take the family back next July and will be staying off property. Not being able to use any FP will stink if we stay off property but it is much cheaper for a family of 5.

 

[Magpie]

Some people fear change. Some people dislike uncertainty.

Some people's fallback position is, "I don't like this new way of doing things, and you can't make me!" So they threaten to cancel their vacations.

There were people threatening to cancel their vacations over the Starbucks location on Main Street!

Ultimately, none of this matters to you or me or even to Disney. In the unlikely chance an individual did cancel their vacation, their protest wouldn't be noticeable in the ever increasing crowds of people flooding the Disney parks.

And the truth is, I don't think people are actually cancelling vacations at all. I think it's just a way for them to vent.

In a surprisingly short time, hardly anyone will even remember that you couldn't always pre-book your Fastpass Plus. It will feel like this is way things have always been, and the right way for things to be.

I, for one, welcome our new-and-improved Corporate Overlords!

 

[EMom]

I think you ARE getting it.

It's the folks who get borderline hysterical over stuff like this that aren't getting it.

It's not borderline hysterical to say that if FP+ disappoints, you may take WDW off your vacation list. It's reasonable. If I have been getting Experience A and now am being changed to Experience B, and B is not a good fit for our family, it is only logical to look elsewhere for a vacation that might better meet our desires.

Our family likes to do as many attractions as possible. but we especially like to do certain headliners MANY times in a day. We often do RNR, TOT and EE 4-8 times in a day. But we won't wait in a line over 20 minutes long. Long lines are not my idea of a vacation. Our first trip to WDW was when DD was too short to ride anything but the kiddie rides, so we didn't even need FP. By the next trip she had grown taller and could ride more, so we made full use of FP and have ever since. Pulling 6-8 FP per day is our norm.

If WDW truly limits you to 3 FP once FP+ is completely rolled out, that will be a greatly diminished experience for OUR family. And planning ADRs months in advance is bad enough. I don't want to plan attractions months in advance as well. I don't trust Disney's IT and wifi enough to believe I will actually be able to presto chango while I'm walking around the parks once this goes wide.

Once FP+ is totally in place with no bonus of pulling regular FP, we won't go to WDW for quite some time. I will wait to see what reality holds. I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to be a guinea pig when this thing goes wide. I'll sit back and let someone else do that. If they change things and I can get 6 FP+ in one day, that might work. But 3? No way.

It's too easy to instead visit Universal, stay onsite and get FOTL privileges. Or go to Europe. Or the beach. I don't need FP at the beach.

For OUR family and OUR traveling style, the new system appears to hold more negatives than positives. If it holds more positives than negatives for another family, they will be fans. So I am saying, not hysterically at all, that there have been indications FP+ may not be a good fit for our family and will in fact, diminish what we are used to experiencing at WDW. Again, no hysteria present, if that comes to pass we will probably go elsewhere with our vacation dollars.

Disney will only give a rat's hiney about my changed plans if I am joined by vast numbers of fellow vacationers. And I won't be. So I am not "threatening" to cancel a vacation. I am saying that if FP+ turns out to be a poor fit for our family, we have enough sense to recognize that and look for an alternative vacation that is a better fit.

We are planning a November visit. If FP+ should have a full roll out by then and we are limited to 3 FP only, then I might cancel the vacation as I am in no mood to essentially gamble that we will be satisfied with the changes. If FP+ is still in the testing stages and we can continue to pull regular FP, then we're still going.

 

[Robo]

When the FP+ system goes into full use does that mean only the people who stay on Disney property will be able to use it?

No. FP+ will be available for anyone with a valid WDW TICKET.
Only during the TESTING (currently going on) is FP+ limited to guests at WDW resort.

Does this mean that guests will need to purchase their tickets well before (up to 60 days+) their trips to make advance FP+ reservations? Many believe so.

 

[ArwenMarie]

From what I have read and gathered from the testing information, I think that the prebooking of FPs is going to be on onsite perk, tied to a resort stay. So offsite folks, even annual passholders without a resort stay, will be shut out. Now, that's the prebooking...

I do think there will be same-day FPs available once you enter the gates (your account on the app will be activated at that point to choose FPs, just like the onsite people's got activated at some point).

But what will be left at that point, especially during the busy times of the year?

JMO.

 

[ArwenMarie]

And the truth is, I don't think people are actually cancelling vacations at all. I think it's just a way for them to vent.

I don't know if people are canceling vacations...But if it turns out to be that only onsite guests can prebook, I think it's going to take the wind out of a lot of offsite visits. For our next trip, we are staying offsite if I can prebook FPs...if not, we are going onsite to Universal. Now I'm just one person, and I certainly don't think Disney cares what I do lol!

On the other hand, if this is true, it might also bring people back onsite, which I imagine must be one of the goals of building this system.

 

[2girlsmom]

From what I have read and gathered from the testing information, I think that the prebooking of FPs is going to be on onsite perk, tied to a resort stay. So offsite folks, even annual passholders without a resort stay, will be shut out. Now, that's the prebooking...

I do think there will be same-day FPs available once you enter the gates (your account on the app will be activated at that point to choose FPs, just like the onsite people's got activated at some point).

But what will be left at that point, especially during the busy times of the year?

JMO.

I think your information is faulty. According to what information has been released by Disney, the prebooking at 60 days will be available to ALL guests with a ticket linked in My Disney Experience. There is speculation that they will give the 60+10 to onsite guests the same as they do for dining adr's. As a passholder with active magic band I can make FP+ reservations now on any given day 60 days out. I think the point will be that once fully operational, rides such as TSMM that currently run out of fp by noon or so will also run out weeks in advance.

 

[Alice1386]

I personally think the system will be great! I love that they are limiting it to 3 a day. I believe that everyone who gets a bunch of fastpasses is slowing down the standby lines because of cms having to stop the standby line to let fp folks in. Therefore by limiting the fp+ it will speed up standby lines. And I suspect there will be plenty of people like me who will use the fp+ for parades and shows since I am short and can't see over most and hate having to stake out my spot way in advance.

 

[Nina1]

It's not borderline hysterical to say that if FP+ disappoints, you may take WDW off your vacation list. It's reasonable. If I have been getting Experience A and now am being changed to Experience B, and B is not a good fit for our family, it is only logical to look elsewhere for a vacation that might better meet our desires.

Our family likes to do as many attractions as possible. but we especially like to do certain headliners MANY times in a day. We often do RNR, TOT and EE 4-8 times in a day. But we won't wait in a line over 20 minutes long. Long lines are not my idea of a vacation. Our first trip to WDW was when DD was too short to ride anything but the kiddie rides, so we didn't even need FP. By the next trip she had grown taller and could ride more, so we made full use of FP and have ever since. Pulling 6-8 FP per day is our norm.

If WDW truly limits you to 3 FP once FP+ is completely rolled out, that will be a greatly diminished experience for OUR family. And planning ADRs months in advance is bad enough. I don't want to plan attractions months in advance as well. I don't trust Disney's IT and wifi enough to believe I will actually be able to presto chango while I'm walking around the parks once this goes wide.

Once FP+ is totally in place with no bonus of pulling regular FP, we won't go to WDW for quite some time. I will wait to see what reality holds. I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to be a guinea pig when this thing goes wide. I'll sit back and let someone else do that. If they change things and I can get 6 FP+ in one day, that might work. But 3? No way.

It's too easy to instead visit Universal, stay onsite and get FOTL privileges. Or go to Europe. Or the beach. I don't need FP at the beach.

For OUR family and OUR traveling style, the new system appears to hold more negatives than positives. If it holds more positives than negatives for another family, they will be fans. So I am saying, not hysterically at all, that there have been indications FP+ may not be a good fit for our family and will in fact, diminish what we are used to experiencing at WDW. Again, no hysteria present, if that comes to pass we will probably go elsewhere with our vacation dollars.

Disney will only give a rat's hiney about my changed plans if I am joined by vast numbers of fellow vacationers. And I won't be. So I am not "threatening" to cancel a vacation. I am saying that if FP+ turns out to be a poor fit for our family, we have enough sense to recognize that and look for an alternative vacation that is a better fit.

We are planning a November visit. If FP+ should have a full roll out by then and we are limited to 3 FP only, then I might cancel the vacation as I am in no mood to essentially gamble that we will be satisfied with the changes. If FP+ is still in the testing stages and we can continue to pull regular FP, then we're still going.

This exactly, except we are going in a few weeks. Since FP+ is still in the testing phase and it does not seem that it will impact our touring this trip, we are going. But, won't book a bounce back for next year as usual since we want to see what happens with the full FP+ rollout first.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think your information is faulty. According to what information has been released by Disney, the prebooking at 60 days will be available to ALL guests with a ticket linked in My Disney Experience. There is speculation that they will give the 60+10 to onsite guests the same as they do for dining adr's. As a passholder with active magic band I can make FP+ reservations now on any given day 60 days out. I think the point will be that once fully operational, rides such as TSMM that currently run out of fp by noon or so will also run out weeks in advance.

My info could be faulty, I hope it is!

But where did anyone actually see that from Disney, that all guests with valid, linked tickets will be able to prebook at 60 days? I would love to see the actual info or link, mostly because we have an offsite trip planned and this is a big part of whether or not we go through with it.

That's good to hear that you can make pre bookings 60 days out right now with your AP.

 

[theparsons]

Ok, I'm not one that said "I'll not return to Disney if they don't give up this FastPass+" but I can't say I've seen much to like so far.

Thankfully we go during relatively slow periods so the actual NEED for having fast passes or enduring hours long lines for anything more fun than the TTA doesn't apply to us....but we love to ride Soarin' and the Mountains, and Toy Story and others that always have a relatively long line. Without FP we will likely not ride a second time unless the line length is around 30 minutes....for ME...that's the limit of standing in line. (As I said at the beginning of this paragraph, we go during slow time, so I know I'm spoiled in thinking more than 30 minutes is "long"...but for me...that's my threshold).

So...the things I'm reading that makes me not like FP+

Being limited to 3 FP per day. Even in the slowest of times we do more than that....I can only imagine the anguish for those going in summer!

Now, I'm a planner....love making lists of all the things we want to do/try/experience/find.....but not exactly what day/time I'm going to do so. Picking rides for us has always been about getting off one and all three of us pointing in different directions for what we want to do next.....or oh heavens that ride we just got off was so much fun, let's do it again....10 more times, even though we've ridden it 100 times since our vacation started. That would be gone. Because now we have a reservation for a ride that is on the other side of the park and we deviated from our required plan and are not in position and are going to have to run back to that ride or lose 1/3 of our FPs! Not liking that at all. I can only imagine how people who detest even thinking about meals until they're hungry and hate the 180 days dining reservation requirement are feeling about having to plan their rides months in advance too!

What's next....do I need to make a reservation 3 months in advance to be able to use a toilet stall? And please Disney execs if that's the case....remember us old women are going to need more than 3 FPs for the bathroom! You're going to reduce us to scalping our Space Mountain for a toilet pass, I just know it.

The day the bathroom FP becomes reality, yep, I'm done with Disney.....but until then no probably not....but I do think it will take some of the freedom and fun out of our trips......we leave a rather scheduled life away from Disney so Disney is about whatever we want to do at that very moment we're deciding. Take that away and I'm going to feel I need to whip out my calendar to decide if we have time to stop at the bathroom.

For those going in summer/holidays etc. where FP is a necessity not a convenience, I do "get it" a bit. Disney is pretty expensive already....if you start cutting down on the number of rides I can do in a day, well, the value changes and the expense goes up because I'm not getting as much accomplished in a day. So either having LESS rides for the same amount of money, or having to pay for additional days to get in the number of rides I used to be able to do in a trip is required and that's big bucks. And heavens, those extra days are now so expensive if you stay onsite.

We stopped staying onsite a couple years ago.....it just got ridiculously expensive. No free dining when we're going. But, our next trip, we have a 3 bedroom condo that we're paying $54 per night, tax and fees INCLUDED. 5 times the amount of space (and separate bedrooms!) a living room (yeah, no having to stay quiet until the kids wake up I can get up sit in the living room, or on the back porch to watch the sun rise in my PJs, and surf DIS), a full kitchen (yes, we enjoy cooking enough to do it on vacation....but mostly quick, healthy meals), free washer and dryer (so no having to overpack or spend an afternoon doing laundry, we can toss it in the washer before we leave for the park and dry then when we get home). And seeing as how I have plotted toilet jokes throughout this post, gotta also mention our condo has three bathrooms...no waiting in line or scrambling for a FP for showers or toilets!!!

And all for about $120 a night LESS. We always rent a car, even when staying onsite, but if you'd have to calculate in having to pay for a rental car ($40 if you don't try finding a coupon or two), and even parking (we have AP so free parking) $15....that would still have you $65 PER NIGHT. We usually stay 3-4 weeks so for us that's a huge chunk of change ($2,500-$3000 or more).....but even if you're staying only a week, that's $455 or more savings....that's a lot of extra spending money, or a deposit towards next year. I once agreed that the "immersion" of staying on site was worth a few dollars more....but now it's just not a "few" dollars.

The ones I really feel sorry for are the first timers.....just like with thinking they can show up and get seating at the Castle for dinner that night, these folks will be clueless about fast pass.....and while I read that you'll be able to make FP reservations same day....I think we all believe that getting FP for Toy Story on your smartphone for later that day, isn't likely to happen. Give it a month or two and DISboarders and other Disney fanatics will have figured out how to work the FP+ system and the good stuff will be gone before the park opens, lol. So the newbies will be riding the TTA and Carousel a lot. To me, that is where Disney is making it's biggest mistake.....if they don't capture those first timers and make them fanatics before they leave, they lose them forever. They're the ones that go back home and say "yeah, we did Disney, expensive, crowded and we don't need to do it again". THEY are the ones I don't get, lol.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have heard a very good explanation concerning all of NextGen, which includes MagicBands, Fastpass Plus, My Disney Experience, RFID tickets and everything related.

The description is from a friend who is a very high-level Technical Specialist in Disney's IT department: "This is a railroad claimed to be in full operation while they are still building the locomotive".

Everything is in testing and development. There is nobody who can give any accurate answer about any of these, or their interactions.

Everything is still subject to change on a daily basis.

And nobody has any idea when when everything will work. My personal opinion, also, is that Bob Iger's public statements are prepared by the PR department and not by knowledgeable people.