Aaaaaand it sucked

[kathy884]

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.

Thanks you for posting. Reports like yours are a big reason for right now at least that I'm very hesitant to consider a mini trip to Disney at spring break time or any busier time. // I will be doing a low crowd mid December trip and haven't bought any tickets or made any FP reservations at Disney yet. I think we'll probably just do one day at Disney and buy tickets at the gate. The touring plan projections look pretty darn good on this crowd level 2 day, so I guess I'm hoping that on a low crowd day there won't be any need for FP+ and making ride reservations in advance (just seems really over the top to make a reservation for a Disney attraction that you've done a zillion times before.)

Over popularity and crowds just take the fun out of so much. // It's not just Disney either. A summer trip to Yellowstone high season doesn't make me fired up to visit this place high season again either any time too. (Maybe too with the Disney parks before many people never ever used FP at all and with the new system they are using it??)

I'll have to post our experience on a low crowd day with no FP. It very well may be for me that I don't do the Orlando trips at all unless I have an unusual opportunity to go at a low season time.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I just returned from my first trip with FP+, and I have to say overall I liked it better.

 

[DrewT]

Our family just got back from our first trip to WDW in several years (used to go with our children, now we're going with our grandchildren) I thought the fast pass + worked great. We've always been planners and rope drop people and really never used the old fast pass system that much.

With the new system we were able to get a fast pass for our favorite rides ahead of time an know that we did not have to worry about them. After the first couple of days we would modify our fast passes the night before based on our experience from the prior days. The last couple of days I even used the app to modify fast passes while we were in the park based on what we had done that day.

With the exception of the major attractions like mine train, soarin, midway mania there were plenty of fast pass selections. I think the new system is an improvement vs spending time running around the park trying to get fast passes for some unknown time later in the day

 

[Suvadoo]

I usually look at the park calendar just before the six month mark so I can take advantage of EMH and plan adrs at the 180 day mark. So planning a few rides at the park I'm going to be at isn't a big deal.

I look at the park calendar also, but last week Disney increased all the hours for the remainder of November and all of December. So if you were one of the families that had reserved an ADR at an in-park restaurant before it officially opened with the intent of eating and then entering the park at RD, your plans were changed. I'm just trying to say that looking at the park calendar before your 180 day window may give you some clue, but things may change.

 

[Csaks]

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 couldn't agree more.

Feel the same way. We are AP holders and tend to go with the flow. We are limited with FP+, dont like scheduling everything and am aggravated when we cant get some of our fave attractions FP.

I was always a WDW planner, could not understand those who went without hotel reservations or ADRs. But this is overboard planning. I get asked for my advice when someone I know is going to WDW. For those first times who say they arent planners I tell them good luck you will not enjoy your trip because of FP+. The crowds have been ridiculous this year as well.

Last month we went to Universal for a few days. It was wonderful, never thought I would say we dont need to go over to Disney because it is just too aggravating. But we did. Already planning my next visit there.

This was the first time I've enjoyed Universal more than Disney.

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

Yup, stangby lines have gotten way longer than our last trips.

We went in October and it felt like we were playing "hurry up and wait" all the time. I scheduled our fp+ times about an hour apart. All the wait times at non-headliners were so long that we were afraid to ride anything in between our FP+ rides. We don't have smart phones, so we couldn't shift our FP+ times to shorten the in-between waiting times, and honestly, on crowd level 7 or 8 days, I am not convinced there would have been any times available to shift them to. We felt like we wasted a lot of time, waiting to do those FP+ rides.

On the other hand, by mid-to-late afternoon (say between 4pm and 6pm), it was really easy to get that 4th, 5th, etc. FP+. We'd go to the kiosk, see what was available NOW or SOON in the immediate area, go ride, then return to the kiosk. This worked particularly well in TomorrowLand, where we were able to ride Buzz Lightyear several times in a row. HOWEVER… standby lines were at an hour or longer for Buzz, Space, and the Laugh Floor. Even Stitch had a 30 minute wait. I hate that FP+ has made for more waiting overall. We aren't planning on taking trip #27 anytime in the near future… if at all. It's just too much preplanning, too much locked in planning, and too much waiting around for an expensive vacation!

Hurry up and wait, thats a perfect way to describe it.
Our best day at MK this trip was Night time EMH after the last parade. The place was a ghost town and we rode everything.

 

[Suvadoo]

This was the first time I've enjoyed Universal more than Disney.

I'm seeing this comment with increasing frequency on the boards. I'm also noticing that there is a lot less criticism aimed at Universal from the Disney fans. I think the combo of FP+ and the increased crowds at Disney are beginning to have an impact on a lot of guests.

I am going in April, but I would rather walk away from the parks than deal with huge crowds.

 

[cm4lfie]

I actually think its a combination of things right now. Massive crowds, a seeming lack of enthusiasm from a lot of cast members, a fp+ system that's really upsetting a significant portion of Disney regulars, tons of invasive construction that takes years longer then it seems it should and the continued push for more princesses just to name a few. It's not the Disney that it used to be, not for me anyway. Meanwhile, I have a 10 year old boy and Universal offers a lot more that he (and truthfully I) am interested in. I would almost like to stay at a Disney resort and commute to Universal for the parks. I never thought I would say that. In my opinion, Disney has really dropped the ball lately and needs to get their stuff together.

 

[Suvadoo]

I actually think its a combination of things right now. Massive crowds, a seeming lack of enthusiasm from a lot of cast members, a fp+ system that's really upsetting a significant portion of Disney regulars, tons of invasive construction that takes years longer then it seems it should and the continued push for more princesses just to name a few. It's not the Disney that it used to be, not for me anyway. Meanwhile, I have a 10 year old boy and Universal offers a lot more that he (and truthfully I) am interested in. I would almost like to stay at a Disney resort and commute to Universal for the parks. I never thought I would say that. In my opinion, Disney has really dropped the ball lately and needs to get their stuff together.

But if you stay at one of Universal's deluxe resorts you get front of the line access and 1 hour early entry for Harry Potter. Universal has some pretty great incentives IMO for their on site guests.

 

[Bullseye]

I look at the park calendar also, but last week Disney increased all the hours for the remainder of November and all of December. So if you were one of the families that had reserved an ADR at an in-park restaurant before it officially opened with the intent of eating and then entering the park at RD, your plans were changed. I'm just trying to say that looking at the park calendar before your 180 day window may give you some clue, but things may change.

They do sometimes change but since I always go in June, it's always a increase in hours so it doesn't really matter. In any case even if the schedule changes I wouldn't go through the trouble of rearranging ADR's and FP+.

I can see ops point that you now have to a planner if you want to get on some good rides. But if you were already a planner, then planning FP+ isn't really a big deal. For most planners it means not having to run around the parks anymore procuring FP.

 

[Luckybee]

But if you stay at one of Universal's deluxe resorts you get front of the line access and 1 hour early entry for Harry Potter. Universal has some pretty great incentives IMO for their on site guests.

We recently did a 1 night stay at Loews Portofino(for early park access and express pass) , we also checked out the Royal Pacific. I wasn't expecting to love the hotel.

In the past we've stayed at AKL concierge level , but have checked out rooms and the properties at GF, Polynesian, and the Contemporary and the Boardwalk

If you can swing deluxe at U. then imho the Portofino blows any of the hotels I mentioned out of the water. The grounds, pools, restaurants, SERVICE, ambience etc. are all at luxury level. By this I mean the real luxury level , not the Disney luxury level (which to those of us who stay at luxury hotels elsewhere is a different standard than Disney's).

The price btw is much better than D deluxe as well !

I would go back to the Portofino anytime. We wont stay onsite at Disney. Nuff said !

 

[huhwhat]

I'm going to try to focus on the beauty of the park and the thus far unspoiled things to do and less on the rides and attractions. No expectation = no disappointment.

not into paying $1200 for park tickets and have no expectations....

 

[agavegirl1]

not into paying $1200 for park tickets and have no expectations....

Okay. I did have expectations. I read extensively on these boards and others. I planned. I bought hoppers. I did Rope Drop. I researched crowd calendars. I made spreadsheets. I was online the second my opportunity to book ADRs and FP+ was available. And...my advice is....adjust your expectations.

Having some FP+ each day is nice. Having to try to squish ever expanding wait times for standby between said FP+ reservations is not.

By day three, we adjusted our expectations, resigned ourselves to only doing WDW every five years or so and made do.

Advice, use the crowd calendars (always be in the least busy park), utilize rope drop for popular attractions (you may get two or three in before it gets busy), use FP+ for expected longer lines after the park has been open around two hours and expect you will ride fewer attractions. Learn to prioritize. Know your wait tolerance. Mine is 25 minutes due to arthritis. Schedule your FP+ more than one hour apart. I know they give you one hour windows but if you plan is to ride attractions standby in between, you will need more time. Use a guidebook such as "The Unofficial Guide" for realistic descriptions of attractions and who may enjoy them. They also have very accurate information on how long a ride lasts and expected waits for each 100 people in front of you in line. Posted wait times are less accurate with FP+. It will work itself out in time.

 

[jahber]

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).

If this were actually true, I would LOVE FP+! Currently the following (and this is only at MK) are completely unavailable to me for even ONE FP+ at 30 days out: Holiday Wishes, MSEP, A&E, the Christmas Parade, and 7DMT.

Or let's say I want to be spontaneous and go to DHS tomorrow with my kids. TSMM, RnR, Frozen Singalong, AND ToT are all unavailable for FP+. I can't even do the infamous rope drop run and grab a TSMM FP. Can the FP+ lovers see how this is a wee bit discouraging?

So, since I must be missing something here, tell me how I can get whatever I want whenever I want if even one of the attractions I listed is what I want. Like I said, if that were true, I'd be the biggest FP+ fan ever!

Really, I know it must be annoying to hear people who don't like FP+ complain that "nothing" is available, but it's equally annoying to hear people who like FP+ say you can get anything you want whenever you want and change it to anything you want. That's just laughable.

 

[cm4lfie]

So what I'm hearing from a lot of people then is Disney's prices keep on rising while the overall experience keeps on falling.

 

[mouserly]

I'm weighing in on the "it sucks" side of things. Although, I'm REALLY trying to be positive. We went in December 2013, while it was being tested and I was already on the verge of, "this sucks" even in the testing phase. The ONE thing I like about it is that there is no running to get a ticket across the park and then going to meet the rest of the group on the other side of the park. That was something I really appreciated. HOWEVER. The negatives far outweigh this. This year we are going back with 14 people. (Yes, a little crazy, I know) There is no way for me to get similar times for all of us for even one attraction a day. I'm having trouble making reservations for even my immediate family at the same time! And now, everyone is using it. I am a HUGE planner. But the planner advantage was always knowing that others were NOT planning and others were not using the Fast Pass system. Now everyone is using it. And other rides are really getting clogged up. Navigating the reservations on the website...don't even get me going about that! It's a nightmare! Ugh! I hope that I get there and I realize it is the best. Really. I really hope.

 

[MinnieMOH]

We were there last week.

I did not like the fp+ system. At 60 days out, I was unable to get fastpasses for our whole party at the same time for the most desired fastpasses.

I lost fastpasses more than once when attempting to copy to the rest of the party because if the fastpass you try to copy is unavailable, the app just assigns you something. You end up with neither your original fastpass, nor the fastpass you were trying to change it to, and every member of your party has different fastpasses at different times which you then have to go in and change
individually and hope that the fp attraction/time you are changing to remains available as you work your way down the list of people in you party. At the park, a cast member had the ability to pull up all available fastpass slots for the day on her device and assign my party to one that had space for all of us and I wondered why they don't make that an option for everyone, rather than assigning you a time and making you go back to change it without telling you how many spots are still open or splitting your party up.

The day of fp availability was pretty poor, IMO.

That being said, halfway through our trip we slept in until ten, missed that day's fps and never looked back. We rode 7dmt five times during our stay and the longest we waited was half an hour. Twice we waited 15 minutes and twice we walked on. When we met Anna and Elsa, the sign outside said 40 minutes. We actually waited for 20. On Saturday the Magic Kingdom was busy all day so we opted to wait for the second electrical parade and ended up with front row viewing. We did everything we wanted to do several times and overall had a wonderful time. For us, fastpasses were just not as necessary as we thought they would be.

 

[TowMater92]

So what I'm hearing from a lot of people then is Disney's prices keep on rising while the overall experience keeps on falling.

you nailed it

 

[TowMater92]

We were there last week.

I did not like the fp+ system. At 60 days out, I was unable to get fastpasses for our whole party at the same time for the most desired fastpasses.

I lost fastpasses more than once when attempting to copy to the rest of the party because if the fastpass you try to copy is unavailable, the app just assigns you something. You end up with neither your original fastpass, nor the fastpass you were trying to change it to, and every member of your party has different fastpasses at different times which you then have to go in and change
individually and hope that the fp attraction/time you are changing to remains available as you work your way down the list of people in you party. At the park, a cast member had the ability to pull up all available fastpass slots for the day on her device and assign my party to one that had space for all of us and I wondered why they don't make that an option for everyone, rather than assigning you a time and making you go back to change it without telling you how many spots are still open or splitting your party up.

The day of fp availability was pretty poor, IMO.

That being said, halfway through our trip we slept in until ten, missed that day's fps and never looked back. We rode 7dmt five times during our stay and the longest we waited was half an hour. Twice we waited 15 minutes and twice we walked on. When we met Anna and Elsa, the sign outside said 40 minutes. We actually waited for 20. On Saturday the Magic Kingdom was busy all day so we opted to wait for the second electrical parade and ended up with front row viewing. We did everything we wanted to do several times and overall had a wonderful time. For us, fastpasses were just not as necessary as we thought they would be.

You just gave me hope for my vacation next week. I hope we can do what you did and have short waits

 

[Mambo Junkie]

not into paying $1200 for park tickets and have no expectations....

I should have said "planned" expectations. I hope to go with less plans and be pleasantly surprised. I said "hope". We really don't like to plan. I do have some (especially ADRs) but the majority of our day(s) basically unplanned.

 

[fla4fun]

I am another "wing it" type person, who rarely used the legacy FP. However, I have found myself using FP+ and liking it. I don't book FP+ for every day of the trip, but I do use it to make sure I get in my very favorite attractions easily at some point during the trip. Most of my trips are solo, so it's a lot easier to find spots at the last minute. So I still wing it for the most part, with just the occasional scheduled FP. There's nothing that says you can't cancel or change the FP if the mood strikes.

I also use it for those days when there will be more than just me touring the parks. For example, I will be there for 10 days in January and for two of those days have a couple people joining me. We have made the FP+ for the two days they will be with me, but I probably won't make any others until I actually arrive.

I understand why people don't like it - it's not for everyone. But the legacy system wasn't either. In my opinion it seems like the people who loved the legacy system hate the new one, and vice versa. The very things I disliked about the old system (having to be at the park at rope drop and running to grab a FP before they ran out, crisscrossing the park multiple times to get the FP and then return for the ride) have been drastically reduced with the new system. However, for those who enjoyed grabbing FP for the same ride over and over, or had a runner system going, it's not so much fun.

For now, though, it's the only game in town as far as WDW goes, and everyone just has to figure out how to make it work best for their family.