A "Power User" and Their MB & FP+ Experience

[White_Sox_Fan]

I thought I would post my first experience with the new MM+ & FP+ systems. I'm breaking it into several post for readability.

We are WDW veterans who, by most people’s definition, were “power users” under the old FP system. We are also DVC members and currently hold PAP’s that we got when DVC offered them for a discount.

I’ll start with ordering and setup up of MM+ and FP+.

Last August, when we activated our annual passes, I had gone online to MDE and attempted to link our vouchers with our MM+ account. This did not go well and when we arrived at Disney the first day to pick up our PAP’s the CM’s had to go do some sort of computer gymnastics to eventually get us PAP’s that worked.

Jump to Feb when we book our trip for 3/16-3/19. I went onto MDE to customize our MB’s. This was easy and we had no issue with it. However, when I went to the “MagicBands and Cards” tab my annual passes were not assigned correctly. After several attempts I finally called to get them straightened out, which they did, except that to this day they still show my daughter’s and wife’s PAP assigned to my wife. We did not have any issue, however, when we arrived.

So with our MB’s on their way and our PAP’s all worked out I set about on booking my FP+. I am normally a planner and use the various crowd calendars to plan which days I will be in which parks so off I set in my normal fashion to determine our touring plans. We usually get to the parks before or very near RD. Hit everything we want to hit (always taking full advantage of FP-) then take a mid-day break and in the evening we return to one of the parks. If we were in the MK in the evening we would never stay till close so we could be back and get some sleep for the next day’s RD.

We decided on DHS for Sunday, with a break mid-day then off to the MK for EMH. I had no issue booking FP+’s for Star Tours (9:50-10:50), TSMM (11:00-12:00) and ToT (1:00-2:00).

Epcot was on the plan for Monday. We decided we could sleep in, then go over to Disney Quest and check it out since we have the PAP’s then off to Epcot. I booked Soarin’ for 3:00-4:00, then Mission Space and Spaceship Earth. I figured we could try the single rider line at TT. A few days later I learned on the DIS that you could re-book your FP’s and get both headliners so I changed my MS FP to TT from 4:00-5:00.

Tuesday was AK and I got FP’s for KS (10:00-11:00), EE (11:00-12:00) and Primeval Whirl (1:00-2:00).

Wednesday was travel day so I needed to get all my FP’s done early, I booked SM (9:00-10:00), PP (10:30-11:30) and BTMRR (1:00-2:00). Normally I would never get a FP this early on SM. We would be there at RD and go straight there and ride with little wait but I figured we could hit something else first then go to SM. I also got a FP for lunch at Be Our Guest. This is our favorite place to eat in the MK.

So we are all set, MB’s in hand and FP+ all booked. Then to add a wrinkle, my parents, who lives in Ocala, bought a weekday resident AP and decided to join us on Wed at the MK. So now they need to try and sign up on MDE, link their passes and book FP’s. This, as is typical for the technologically challenged, became somewhat of a fiasco. After being on the phone with them for an hour I finally just logged into their account to finish up the process. As they do not ride SM, I booked an overlapping PP, BTMRR at the same time as us and Voyage of the Little Mermaid for 3:00-4:00. They have not been to the MK since the Fantasyland expansion opened so this was new for them.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

The Execution:

We arrived at Saratoga Spring on Saturday night around 10:00PM and checked in. When we got to the room the bellman said we should each check to make sure out MB’s worked to open the room. We tried each and they did.

As a note you have to remember to pack your MB’s in an easily accessible place, or carry-on if using Magical Express, as these act as your room keys.

Sunday morning we arrived at DHS before rope drop about 12 deep in line. I was surprised that the park didn’t open until about 8:55 as it had opened about 15 minutes earlier on our previous trip.

We headed straight to TSMM and rode SB with no real wait, then to RnR where my daughter and I rode in the single rider line, then to ToT with about a 15 minute wait. We then went to ST for our first FP+ experience. We had no problem using the MB’s at the “Mickey Heads” and I was surprised by how fast they read and accepted our MB’s. I was also surprised by the length of the SB line. Rarely had I seen it out the door this early in the morning.

After MS we hit Muppets then back to TSMM for our FP. Again no problem with entry and we made it onto the ride at the same speed we had with FP-. At ToT our FP+ experience was the same as the other attractions. We then left the park and went back for a break.

After a dinner at DTD we went back and caught a bus to the MK. This is where I missed the old FP system. The park, with evening EMH, was understandably packed. We went over to Buzz Lightyear and decided to ride, SB of course, as the posted wait time was 20 minutes. The line moved well at first but then it slowed down considerably. The overall wait was actually about 40 minutes and the FP+ line was out the door. This was the longest FP line we saw on the trip and this certainly seemed to be one case where FP+ was greaty impacting the SB line.

We went over to the Teacups then back to Main Street for the evening entertainment of Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. After wishes we walked around and hit a few more attractions. We skipped several attractions we like as the lines were long but we did the Jungle Cruise and Pirates with short lines. We got in line at BTMRR just after EMH began. There was a pretty good line outside the attraction entrance as they appeared to be scanning everyone’s MB. Eventually the CM’s decided this was going to slow and they just asked everyone to hold up the MB so they could see them. Since these are only being used for onsite guests at this time it works out. However, as they expand the use of MB’s this seems like a time consuming effort that just relocates the line to the outside of the attraction.

Monday

After sleeping in we went to Disney Quest. No problem using our MB’s for entry. Later we went to Epcot. We used our FP+ at Soarin’ and, again, the wait seemed to be the same as with FP-. Karma bit us as we were unable to use the FP+ for TT (the one acquired under the short system glitch) as it rained all afternoon and the attraction was closed. I did receive an email stating that our FP was not available and we could go to any of the listed attractions anytime and use our FP. I think that everything except Soarin’ wa on that list. We did not take advantage of this “floating” FP. We worked our way around the World Showcase and went to SE on our way out. I had a FP+ for 8:00-9:00 but we were there earlier and the wait was non-existent so we just ran through the line.

Tuesday

We arrived at AK just before RD. First to EE then we got some coffee and strolled over toward KS taking our time and looking in the shops outside KS waiting for our FP time. This was the first time we hit any kind of line outside the FP+ checkpoint. They actually had a roped line to get to the FP entrance. Once inside it was similar to the old FP- waits. We then went through the Maharajah Jungle Trek, then to EE for our FP. No problem there. Our FP experience at Primeval Whirl was just like the old FP system.

Wednesday

We didn’t quite make RD as we had to check-out in the morning but we were there just after. We went to SM first as my parents were not there yet but would be shortly. The posted SB time at SM was 30 minutes and I would say, based on the line, it wasn’t too much shorter than that. Again no problem with the FP+. We met my parents and headed over to the New Fantasyland and rode VotLM. As I had booked fastpass for my parents for this attraction I thought I would change it to something else. I used the MDE app on my iPhone to attempt to change the FP and got a message stating that there were no other experiences available. I was wondering how this can be as I see lines of people at the FP+ kiosk. I tried again with no luck. I tried a third time about an hour later and was able to change it to PoC.

We went to HM, then over by Frontierland and Adventureland before we used our PP FP. We then went to BOG for our lunch FP, we got to go straight into the building and into a line of about 15 people. After lunch we were able headed to BTMRR to use our FP. Again all the FP+ experiences at the MK were very similar to those we had encountered on previous trips using FP -.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

Conclusions

This was probably what I would consider early spring break time. We have been on spring break before and I would say that while the parks were crowded, they were probably not “spring break” crowded.

We used the MB’s for all their intended purposes and had no issues. From a comfort standpoint I would give it a 6 out of 10. I did switch from wrist-to-wrist occasionally. I had to keep it a little loose otherwise it was too uncomfortable.

And now FP+. I admit it was not as bad as I thought, or wanted, it to be. I still would rate it, for us, a 5 out of 10. It is great if you want to sleep in, but there are still severe limitations depending on the park. If you want to experience TT and Soarin’ the you still want to be there at rope drop. If you want to experience TSMM and RnR , or TSMM multiple times, again at RD. I still value RD at MK if I want to get in all the attractions that I enjoy. MK would benefit from at least one additional FP+, there are enough attractions there to allow this, especially when you add Wishes and parades (once they expand the viewing areas). I think AK is probably the best park for FP+. The 3 FP+’s go a long way in that park, in the future if I going to sleep in on a park day, AK or Epcot is the way to go (as long as you don’t mind skipping Soarin’ or TT, or at least single rider TT)

About the only “pros” I can think of for FP+ is the ability to arrive in the park late and still hit the mega-popular attractions, which in reality are only TT, TSMM and Soarin’, and that it may save a little backtracking around the park. I honestly don’t think it changed the backtracking for us as we still walked 40 miles in 3-1/2 days.

The “cons” are, of course, the tiers, the sometimes quirky app, having to printout, remember or look up your FP+ times, the apparent effect on secondary ride SB lines (I felt there were longer lines on the secondary rides that we had previously experienced) and the FP+ kiosk lines.

I still prefer FP-, there is something inherently fair about the concept of first come, first served. With the exception of a select few rides FP- was available most of the day.

 

[mrsmorrow]

Thanks for the detailed report! I think I am most happy about hearing you hit TSSM, ToT and RnR first thing with no FP's. That does give us the opportunity to use FP to re-ride 2 of those if we choose.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

One MB thing I forgot to mention which seemed counter intuitive. In order to receive the AP discount at stores and such you had to actually show them your AP. Why can't they just scan you MB to determine you are an AP holder?

 

[mlittig]

Thanks for your report