Aaaaaand it sucked

[Kingdome8]

I love fast pass and I love planning.

But a point was made which is true. If u make ADRs
You have to stick to a plan.

I don't go to the park with a definite plan in place.
I do what I want. But at least I know I have 3 rides in my back pocket.
I always quote my mom. While she was in disney with us.
She said " her favorite words are fastpass and meal plan"

 

[ArwenMarie]

This is not a rhetorical question to irritate people. All my recent trips have involved character ADRs, so that is what causes me to be "locked in" places, therefore I've never been a "winger"

Honestly asking: old system - wake up, decide what to do, go to park w/no pre-planned FP (didn't exist) use Rope Drop for low lines and maybe also see what FPs are available and whether you want to get them
New system if you want to wing it - wake up, decide what to do, go to park w/no pre-planned FP (even though they exist) use Rope Drop for low lines and maybe also see what FPs are available and whether you want to get them

I don't see the difference. Either way you have little control of what FPs to get and when they'll be. If it's the feeling of pressure to do it in advance (whether required or not, you may still *feel* the pressure) I do totally understand that.

I miss having the clean slate every morning. No matter what happened the day before (weather, bad night's sleep, illness, whatever), you could regroup for the next day.

Now that most of the headliner FPs are locked up in prebooked FP+, you can't do that as easily . Before, as long as you were willing to get up early, you could because every day was a new day in terms of the FP distribution.

 

[anniemae]

Yes Mikie I booked fp because I felt I had to. We went during a busy time, if I did not book a fp for mine train, we would not have had a chance to ride it, and the kids really wanted to ride it so I logged on at 60 days out and grabbed the first time I could find for fear of not getting one. That locked in our MK day. The average wait time was over an hour for that ride. Same with rides like Soarin' and test track. If you go into the park with no fp you will not ride the popular rides, unless you want to wait over an hour. We cannot do that with small kids.

Years age, before kids, we went during the first week of Feb. Crowds were non existent, you did not need fp's at all. Now with the crowds, you can't just wake up and waltz into the park at 11:00 and walk on rides like we used to. You have to pre-plan, especially if you are not rope droppers like us since there really is no slow time anymore.

 

[emldrl]

This is not a rhetorical question to irritate people. All my recent trips have involved character ADRs, so that is what causes me to be "locked in" places, therefore I've never been a "winger"

Honestly asking: old system - wake up, decide what to do, go to park w/no pre-planned FP (didn't exist) use Rope Drop for low lines and maybe also see what FPs are available and whether you want to get them
New system if you want to wing it - wake up, decide what to do, go to park w/no pre-planned FP (even though they exist) use Rope Drop for low lines and maybe also see what FPs are available and whether you want to get them

I don't see the difference. Either way you have little control of what FPs to get and when they'll be. If it's the feeling of pressure to do it in advance (whether required or not, you may still *feel* the pressure) I do totally understand that.

This is a good point, and I have a theory. I kind of have a different perspective, because we haven't been there in so long. So, here's my theory, right or wrong, it's just one person's opinion.

It seems to me that the major problem is change. By this, I mean long term changes at WDW and in the economy, not that people can't adapt. Over the past say, 10 years, people have gotten used to touring a certain way, gotten a certain amount done at the parks, getting certain discounts, etc. With the economy recovering, there are now a LOT more people going to WDW, and as Disney saw this happening, they developed a system to accommodate bigger crowds, which changes the way the "regulars" tour. I think most people that are unhappy with the changes just are having trouble with the concept that the way they used to vacation has to change.

As for us, while we might not necessarily like the whole FP+ system, we didn't really get used to the old system, so it's much easier for us to adapt. You can't miss what you never had to begin with, right?

 

[robinb]

This is a good point, and I have a theory. I kind of have a different perspective, because we haven't been there in so long. So, here's my theory, right or wrong, it's just one person's opinion.

It seems to me that the major problem is change. By this, I mean long term changes at WDW and in the economy, not that people can't adapt. Over the past say, 10 years, people have gotten used to touring a certain way, gotten a certain amount done at the parks, getting certain discounts, etc. With the economy recovering, there are now a LOT more people going to WDW, and as Disney saw this happening, they developed a system to accommodate bigger crowds, which changes the way the "regulars" tour. I think most people that are unhappy with the changes just are having trouble with the concept that the way they used to vacation has to change.

As for us, while we might not necessarily like the whole FP+ system, we didn't really get used to the old system, so it's much easier for us to adapt. You can't miss what you never had to begin with, right?

Someone said on another thread that FP+ was "for the masses": http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3348550 . I think that newbies are happy to be able to book in advance for just that reason: they can't miss what they don't know.

 

[SCDisneyfanatic]

emldrl,

You hit the nail on the head. Truth is, most people fight change. If it's not introduced properly, it gets even more pushback...regardless of what the change is, the overall benefits of change, or how the change effects everyone. I still believe it's all a matter of personal preference. I keep seeing people talking about their "laid back" style and wanting to make decisions the day of...I am always a "take it easy" guy...FP+ seems to be some pre-planning (which we enjoy because it's a great way to build the excitement), but our days are rather slow paced (will be there 13-20 Dec), we do everything we want, and still have built in time to hang out, have a few cold adult beverages, golf time, and shopping time. We love making ADR for half the evenings because we don't waste an hour waiting in line for a meal we really want...the other nights are not sensible for an ADR because it's a MVMCP, our Drink Around the World Showcase night (that will include foods from each country) and a trip to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (technically an ADR I guess, but really a show with dinner included). I know a lot of people on this board are complaining and fighting against FP+ but I don't see it going anywhere. Just like the last iteration (FP-), there may be some minor changes, but I think Disney realizes a system like this is better for the majority of people having a good experience.

 

[Brian Noble]

And if you don’t, you’re screwed.

For our spring break trip last year, we planned the first few days in advance, but the second half of the week we did the night before. This was a medium-heavy time of year, crowds-wise, and it worked out just fine.

 

[allie_to_you]

I am a big planner too and I usually make a day-by-day itinerary of what park we will be in (usually loosely based on ADR's or other reservations), but with the new FP+, I have had concerns that it may take out any spontaneity in making last minute park changes or even park hopping since you can't get extra fastpasses until the 3 you already have are used up in the current park. I'm just hoping that with our dates (Jan 9 - 16) that it won't be super crowded and even if we don't get all the fastpasses we want, that we won't be stuck in ridiculously long lines.

 

[emldrl]

Someone said on another thread that FP+ was "for the masses": http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3348550 . I think that newbies are happy to be able to book in advance for just that reason: they can't miss what they don't know.

I agree with you for the most part. We used the old FP in 2004, and we thought it was great. We like to go with the flow, and don't plan ahead much, usually. Now that things have changed, I will adapt our style, and work FP+ to our advantage. So even though we're basically newbies, I don't personally like the idea of picking out rides 2 months in advance, but I'll make it work.

 

[ChelleFeegan]

Me personally loved FP+ but then I loved legacy too.

We went in August and could still "wing" days. We rode mine train three times. Once we'd pre booked, twice without and one of those times were 20m.

I loved the fact that I could change my FPs on the go. I loved we could plan as a family but we also had the freedom.

Maybe I went at a quiet time, who knows but we really saw nothing negative and were able to be flexible (if not more so as no need to rope drop for the headliners) as old legacy days,

That said I am sorry it had a negative impact on your holidays, and appreciate its not for some

 

[emldrl]

emldrl,

You hit the nail on the head. Truth is, most people fight change. If it's not introduced properly, it gets even more pushback...regardless of what the change is, the overall benefits of change, or how the change effects everyone. I still believe it's all a matter of personal preference. I keep seeing people talking about their "laid back" style and wanting to make decisions the day of...I am always a "take it easy" guy...FP+ seems to be some pre-planning (which we enjoy because it's a great way to build the excitement), but our days are rather slow paced (will be there 13-20 Dec), we do everything we want, and still have built in time to hang out, have a few cold adult beverages, golf time, and shopping time. We love making ADR for half the evenings because we don't waste an hour waiting in line for a meal we really want...the other nights are not sensible for an ADR because it's a MVMCP, our Drink Around the World Showcase night (that will include foods from each country) and a trip to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (technically an ADR I guess, but really a show with dinner included). I know a lot of people on this board are complaining and fighting against FP+ but I don't see it going anywhere. Just like the last iteration (FP-), there may be some minor changes, but I think Disney realizes a system like this is better for the majority of people having a good experience.

Finally another golfer!! This is us too, basically. We are going to go slow and take it easy, use FP+, park hop, make a few ADRs, have plenty of resort time, definitely drink around the world, and if I can convince the hubby, squeeze in a round of golf!

I realize that not everyone can or wants to vacation like this at WDW, but at some point you have to adapt to current circumstances, and let it go! (yes, Frozen pun intended )

 

[ncdj2013]

I know this sentiment is nothing new but I just feel the need to share. I have been holding off on my judgment of FP+ until I could experience it myself and having just returned from the world, in my humble opinion, it sucks. I know there are people out there who are digging it but for me…. I’ve been to Disney an uncountable amount of times and when I go I like to chill. I don’t need to plan everything out to the smallest details anymore. I like to decide which park I’m going to, the day before or the morning of, depending on the weather or what I’m in the mood for. I’m not against change, I’m normally all for it but this, not to be overly dramatic but this took a lot of the fun out of the experience for me. You are now forced to plan which days you want to go to specific parks as well as what attractions you want to go on and the time of day you want to ride months ahead of time. That’s nuts! And if you don’t, you’re screwed. The overall lines are longer and I can’t believe that’s just because more people are going. Anyway, my point is Disney clearly thought this would be great for all of the uber planners out there but I can’t be the only one who has traditionally enjoyed winging it. What about us? I won’t say I’m not going back, I’m sure I will but I may give it a few more years and see if they cant straighten all this out first. In the mean time Universal lines were much more manageable. Just saying.

I actually felt FP+ made our trip more relaxed. WE do not like having to rush to be at the park at RD. So being able to have FP planned for later in the day was great for us. And no longer having to trek back and forth to get FP ; go get another FP; go back to use your first FP etc etc. Also knowing ahead what time your FP will be was fantastic. We have had to give away FP many times because the return time was so late we had to leave for an ADR or something. Flying by the seat of your pants at WDW can drain the life out of you.

 

[MrKnight]

I fully agree with the OP. FP+ is a terrible idea as it is only an advantage for super planners, it is a major disadvantage for everyone else including casual park goers and loyal AP holders. The days of going to the park of your choice and EARNING your FP by going to your favorite attraction first and using the kiosks are long gone. It appears that FP is becoming the primary way to efficiently wait for and enjoy an attraction, this defeats the purpose of FP. What will happen on busy days? Will there be zero FP available the moment that a guest enters the park without preplanned FPs? Will casual guests and AP holders that came into the park at opening have to wait in a 200+ minute standby line while other FP+ guests come in late to the park and walk on to attractions?

 

[Luckybee]

For those who say change is the problem I respectfully disagree. I love change, and new technology. What I hate is change for change sake when what it accomplishes is not as good as before. Which is what imho fp+ has done.
There are those on this thread who say, well in the old system fp's would be gone if you didn't do rope drop or words do that effect. That wasn't our experience most of the time. More importantly even if they were gone it was still much easier to wing it and the reason is simple. Arrive at park no fp's left...hmmmm what do we do ? Well lets go on any of the non mountain rides all of which have short or no lines(perhaps not the case at peak times but definitely was when we went). There is no doubt that by "redistributing" Disney has made it impossible to just wing it without encountering long lines. Before you had a choice which if you didn't want the majors you could still find enough to keep you occupied. To do the same things now would take you 3 times as long

 

[MrInfinity]

I fully agree with the OP. FP+ is a terrible idea as it is only an advantage for super planners, it is a major disadvantage for everyone else including casual park goers and loyal AP holders. The days of going to the park of your choice and EARNING your FP by going to your favorite attraction first and using the kiosks are long gone. It appears that FP is becoming the primary way to efficiently wait for and enjoy an attraction, this defeats the purpose of FP. What will happen on busy days? Will there be zero FP available the moment that a guest enters the park without preplanned FPs? Will casual guests and AP holders have to wait in a 200+ minute standby line while other guests that simply clicked a button on thier home computers get to walk straight in?

I disagree here. FP+ is used by almost all guests, down to the non-techies, non-uber-planners. It is easy to use, and on smartphones that most guests now have.

FP- was only used by a small subset of the visitors who knew how to use it well. Very different.

Remember under FP-, a few users got on a lot of rides via the FastPass system, and most users did not use it. Now with FP+, most users are getting on 3 rides just fine, with lots of options to pick day of, and those who used to get on a ton cannot.

Not sure why you felt so scheduled. Did you have a lot of ADRs? FastPasses you can change any time. There is no hard scheduling. It's not like before where you got a ticket, and you were stuck with that time. Now you can pick whatever you want for whatever time you want it. You can even queue up 3 virtual fastpass tickets in advance if you wish. (tho you don't have to).

 

[abner1776]

DD loves FP+ cause she plans everything down to the minute...I swear she plans her bio breaks into her WDW schedule.
Me...no way...I don't know what park I'm goin to tomorrow let alone what rides I want to go on.
Going to OKW for a week next March for a bit of RnR, golf and whatever and the last thing I want to think about is what time I am going on 7DMT..heck...I may not even visit MK !!!

 

[emldrl]

For those who say change is the problem I respectfully disagree. I love change, and new technology. What I hate is change for change sake when what it accomplishes is not as good as before. Which is what imho fp+ has done.
There are those on this thread who say, well in the old system fp's would be gone if you didn't do rope drop or words do that effect. That wasn't our experience most of the time. More importantly even if they were gone it was still much easier to wing it and the reason is simple. Arrive at park no fp's left...hmmmm what do we do ? Well lets go on any of the non mountain rides all of which have short or no lines(perhaps not the case at peak times but definitely was when we went). There is no doubt that by "redistributing" Disney has made it impossible to just wing it without encountering long lines. Before you had a choice which if you didn't want the majors you could still find enough to keep you occupied. To do the same things now would take you 3 times as long

I do see your point, but do you really think that would still work with the increased attendance? If there are so many more people in the park now than used to be, will this system stay the same? I don't see how. All those people have to go somewhere. I believe that Disney saw this coming, to an extent, and that's the reason for the changes. More people means longer lines, no matter what system is in use. At least with the new system, you are guaranteed a short wait for at least 3 rides.

 

[MrInfinity]

There are those on this thread who say, well in the old system fp's would be gone if you didn't do rope drop or words do that effect. That wasn't our experience most of the time. More importantly even if they were gone it was still much easier to wing it and the reason is simple. Arrive at park no fp's left...hmmmm what do we do ? Well lets go on any of the non mountain rides all of which have short or no lines(perhaps not the case at peak times but definitely was when we went). There is no doubt that by "redistributing" Disney has made it impossible to just wing it without encountering long lines. Before you had a choice which if you didn't want the majors you could still find enough to keep you occupied. To do the same things now would take you 3 times as long

So strange to hear "3 times as long". We went in 2012 (FP-), and I remember waiting about 40 min for the HM standby. In 2014, we went on the HM many times, never used one of our pre-pick FP+s for it, and it either had a short line when we walked up, or, we were able to get it at a kiosk.

This was in May, during Star Wars Weekends, so a moderately busy time.

I don't think I'm using FP+ differently than anyone. I used the first 3, then went to kiosks which had 5-minute waits and a pretty good selection of options well into the day at the MK.

3 times as long is just crazy. So if the average non-mountain was 20 min before, you're saying they're all an hour now? That's just not been my experience.

 

[maxiesmom]

I fully agree with the OP. FP+ is a terrible idea as it is only an advantage for super planners, it is a major disadvantage for everyone else including casual park goers and loyal AP holders. The days of going to the park of your choice and EARNING your FP by going to your favorite attraction first and using the kiosks are long gone. It appears that FP is becoming the primary way to efficiently wait for and enjoy an attraction, this defeats the purpose of FP. What will happen on busy days? Will there be zero FP available the moment that a guest enters the park without preplanned FPs? Will casual guests and AP holders that came into the park at opening have to wait in a 200+ minute standby line while other FP+ guests come in late to the park and walk on to attractions?

On busy days it was impossible to get the old FP tickets unless you were at the parks bright and early. They would be out for the day before noon. At least with FP+ you can schedule the rides that are important to you, and know you have them. Instead of having to get to the park early, and then race all of the other guests to the FP ticket queue, wait and pull your ticket to see what time you got, and then make that work into your day some how.

 

[SuperTink]

It all hinges on what impact FP+ has on EMH and the very first hour of rope drop. If we're not able to do our favorites (maximum 2) at least once and our very favorite twice, WITHOUT fastpasses, and a maximum wait of about 30 minutes, it's not going to be as good.

If we can do the above while still have 3 secured rides in the PM park, it will be amazing.

We shall see!