After reading hundreds of posts about FP+.....

[kittyab]

On our last visit, we were there for 8 days. I planned for 3 days at MK. While planning my fast pass picks I used a park map and a wonderful list I found on here....

I did my fast pass picks per section of the park. One day for fantasy land, and so and so on.

I did the same for EP.

My family was happy, and we used the extra magic hours in the evening to ride rides again if we wanted to.

The system will not go away, just got to find a way to make the most of it.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

On our last visit, we were there for 8 days. I planned for 3 days at MK. While planning my fast pass picks I used a park map and a wonderful list I found on here....

I did my fast pass picks per section of the park. One day for fantasy land, and so and so on.

I did the same for EP.

My family was happy, and we used the extra magic hours in the evening to ride rides again if we wanted to.

The system will not go away, just got to find a way to make the most of it.

[sigh] Some of us have husbands who would kill us if we planned three days at MK in one vacation. Not to mention kids who want to see Harry Potter, and relatives who want us to spend a day away from the parks with them. And then there are people like my friends who can only afford one-day tickets. The restrictions are much less restrictive for those fortunate enough to spend many days at WDW.

 

[ucfknight]

Honestly, no one SHOULD HAVE to TRY that hard. It's a freaking VACATION, not a social experiment (or is it?). Make it a hassle and a drag, instead of fun? My money is spent elsewhere.

You completely missed the point. My "Doesn't sound like you tried very hard" was in response to the person who said:

"I've tried really hard to come up with at least one positive about FP+/MB's. I can't."

I wasn't saying they should have tried harder to make sure they had a good vacation. I was saying they didn't try very hard in trying to come up with even one single positive about FastPass+ or MagicBands. Their statement that there isn't a single positive about the system is, frankly, ridiculous rhetoric. If they were being honest, even the most ardent hater of MyMagic+ could concede it might have at least one benefit. I could easily come up with a list of items that even haters might find useful.


Example:

Being able to pick a return time instead of getting whatever the paper FastPass machine spits out at you.

Under the original FastPass system, someone getting to Soarin' at 9:30 am might have gotten a 2:00 PM FastPass. Meanwhile, someone getting there at 10:00 am might have gotten an 8:00 PM FastPass. You just never knew what you'd get until you physically entered the FastPass distribution point, and you had no choice whatsoever. What if that didn't fit into your schedule? What if you were planning to leave for the day or park hop in the early afternoon and the return time was 8:00 PM? Well, you could only choose to change your plans and take the 8:00 PM time, or your could get into the standby line for 2 hours.

What if you got to the park at 11:00 and all FP were already distributed for the day? Well, either wait 2 hours or skip it.

Under the new system you can pick your time. If you are going to park hop away from Epcot in the afternoon and really want to ride Soarin' (it is the ONE thing you simply MUST do to make your day complete), you can pick the time you want to ride the ride. Before you even walk in the gate that morning you know you will be riding Soarin' between 11:00 and 12:00. A time that fits into your schedule.


Is this not a positive that even a hater could see? Forget everything else about the system you don't like. Just view this one item and tell me how this is not a positive when compared to the paper FastPass system. Therefore I stand by my statement that the previous poster didn't try hard if they couldn't come up with a single positive about the new system.

 

[North of Mouse]

Agree 100%, which is why we are 90% sure we are spending our vacation dollars elsewhere this year!

We normally go 2-3 times a year to Disney, but decided to travel elsewhere for the next 12-18 months, then see what is going on with the FP+ - Magic Band scenario after that time.

We travel for 'stress free' times, not to help Disney work the kinks out of their ridiculous changes. We have been going since MK opened, but will reevaluate after this period whether we will continue to go.

Not to say it doesn't/won't work, but we're not of the mind to be their guinea pigs!

 

[ks-man]

I have tried to put it on both my iPod touch and my Android tablet. Both devices are incompatible. I might be wrong about the necessity to have a smartphone or iPad, but that is what the MDE app website says in the fine print. For my iPod, it's a much older generation (2nd gen), which is why it's incompatible. My Android tablet is only one OS behind the current model, though, so I have no explanation for why the app is incompatible with the OS.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/
Quote: Available for iPhone®, iPad® and smartphones for Android™. Message, data and roaming rates may apply. Availability subject to handset limitations and features may vary by handset or service provider. Coverage and app stores not available everywhere. If you’re under 18, get your parents’ permission first. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc.

Honestly, I know why it won't work for my iPod, don't know why it won't work for my tablet. But as a non-smartphone-user, I feel that trying to restrict it to only certain devices makes it less useful for me. I won't be buying or renting a new device to use it, and I dislike being locked out of parts of a system that I used to have completely full access to, just because I don't have a certain piece of technology.

Keep in mind my earlier suggestion (not sure if it was to you or somebody else) was to borrow an iPod Touch from a friend. Nobody is saying you should buy something new just for this. But even if you don't have a friend who would lend you one I'm sure you can rent one from an acquaintance for far less than Disney charge if they offered it. Considering the cost of the trip is it that unreasonable to ask a colleague to borrow their rarely used iPod touch for a week for $20 if your're paying many thousands of dollars to go to Disney?

As to devices, you really seem to be in the most unlucky situation I can imagine in respect to having devices but not having them work. From a technical point of view I don't think Disney can restrict something to allow use on an iPhone and not the iPod Touch. They can by software so if you had an older iPhone (guessing on iOS 5 or earlier, maybe even iOS 4 or earlier) you'd have the same problems as with your iPod Touch. In fairness to Disney, I don't even think Apple still supports versions that old. So if you had an original iPhone still on iOS 4 you'd probably have the same complaints even though you have a "smart phone"

I don't know why the iPad will work but Android tablets won't. But you seem to again be in that unlucky scenario where the one Android device you own (tablet) won't work with the app. I'd guess sometime soon Disney will open MDE to Android tablets but again, just a guess. I wonder if Android tablets can run Android phone versions of an app the same way the iPad can run apps designed for iPhone only. Worst case scenario you can use your android tablet to use the Disney MDE website right?

Regardless of all of this, I still won't begrudge Disney for trying to move forward with existing technology that I'm guessing a large percentage of Disney vacationers have and will take advantage of. It does leave certain people at a disadvantage but without too much effort I think those people can find a way to leveling the field (borrowing a device from a friend).

--Edit--

DME requires iOS 6.1 or later so it wouldn't work on smartphones that haven't been upgraded in over two years.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-disney-experience-walt/id547436543?mt=8

 

[MrInfinity]

Is this not a positive that even a hater could see? Forget everything else about the system you don't like. Just view this one item and tell me how this is not a positive when compared to the paper FastPass system. Therefore I stand by my statement that the previous poster didn't try hard if they couldn't come up with a single positive about the new system.

There really are so many positives.

Another example.

Previously with FP- a common strategy was to arrive, FP one ride and RD the other. A "runner" would split off from the party, run across the park, use everyone's tickets and get FP's for their 2nd ride. Then run back and hook up w them, hoping to line jump and meet them in their line for their first ride.

Now you can still do that. But you no longer have to separate. You no longer have to run, and you no longer have to line jump to meet up w your party.

Now you just pick your ride, from home. Show up, Rope drop the one, ride the other. Done.

There are so many benefits that it is indeed just frustrated rhetoric for anyone to assert that they "cannot come up with a single benefit".

 

[KatieCharlotte]

There are so many benefits that it is indeed just frustrated rhetoric for anyone to assert that they "cannot come up with a single benefit".

I agree that it's hyperbole to suggest that there are no benefits to FP+ to anyone. But I think some people mean only that they cannot come up with a single benefit for themselves. Even the "FP runner" issue -- my DH walks fast and hates waiting around while we walk slow, push a stroller, eat slower, use the bathroom, etc., so it suited us to send him for FP. But I can completely understand that the change is a benefit for others.

 

[mom2rtk]

I agree that it's hyperbole to suggest that there are no benefits to FP+ to anyone. But I think some people mean only that they cannot come up with a single benefit for themselves. Even the "FP runner" issue -- my DH walks fast and hates waiting around while we walk slow, push a stroller, eat slower, use the bathroom, etc., so it suited us to send him for FP. But I can completely understand that the change is a benefit for others.

Agreed. I'm really confident that the PP who said they couldn't see a single positive in FP+ was speaking about the way THEY vacation.

 

[ciera321]

Well, I'm in the anti-FP+ camp, but I can still see several positives about it. The convenience of having everything on the MB, on your arm and ready to go is one. Another is the ability to guarantee I'll get to ride, say Soarin if I choose to go to Epcot later in the day. But this whole new system will cause me to tour differently than I have before, and ride fewer of my favorites than I could before. We are RD everyday kind of people, and we love to ride our favorites several times each day. I know the system is here to stay, and that there will probably be a few tweets here and there in the months to come. It's never going to be "perfect" for anyone, IMO, but if they would simply change the limit to 4 and take away the tiers, I would stop complaining!

 

[anelson81993]

Keep in mind my earlier suggestion (not sure if it was to you or somebody else) was to borrow an iPod Touch from a friend. Nobody is saying you should buy something new just for this. But even if you don't have a friend who would lend you one I'm sure you can rent one from an acquaintance for far less than Disney charge if they offered it. Considering the cost of the trip is it that unreasonable to ask a colleague to borrow their rarely used iPod touch for a week for $20 if your're paying many thousands of dollars to go to Disney?

As to devices, you really seem to be in the most unlucky situation I can imagine in respect to having devices but not having them work. From a technical point of view I don't think Disney can restrict something to allow use on an iPhone and not the iPod Touch. They can by software so if you had an older iPhone (guessing on iOS 5 or earlier, maybe even iOS 4 or earlier) you'd have the same problems as with your iPod Touch. In fairness to Disney, I don't even think Apple still supports versions that old. So if you had an original iPhone still on iOS 4 you'd probably have the same complaints even though you have a "smart phone"

I don't know why the iPad will work but Android tablets won't. But you seem to again be in that unlucky scenario where the one Android device you own (tablet) won't work with the app. I'd guess sometime soon Disney will open MDE to Android tablets but again, just a guess. I wonder if Android tablets can run Android phone versions of an app the same way the iPad can run apps designed for iPhone only. Worst case scenario you can use your android tablet to use the Disney MDE website right?

Regardless of all of this, I still won't begrudge Disney for trying to move forward with existing technology that I'm guessing a large percentage of Disney vacationers have and will take advantage of. It does leave certain people at a disadvantage but without too much effort I think those people can find a way to leveling the field (borrowing a device from a friend).

--Edit--

DME requires iOS 6.1 or later so it wouldn't work on smartphones that haven't been upgraded in over two years.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-disney-experience-walt/id547436543?mt=8

You did say that in response to me, and it's not a bad idea for people without smartphones going for trips of what I would assume would be usual length. My point about not wanting to pay to buy or rent one was based off the earlier poster who suggested that Disney should have smartphones available for rental for a fee to use the new system, which is something I personally dislike. I don't like the concept of having to find a way to level the playing field to gain access to parts of a system when I used to have full access to the entire system without having to find a device to borrow, but I agree that I'm in an unusual and particularly unlucky situation with my devices, and that skews my perception of the app. For me personally, it also wouldn't work at this point to borrow a device from a friend, since as I stated I'm currently a local and I'm here all the time. However, at this point, for that reason, I pretty much don't use FP+ at all anymore, as it's too much of a hassle personally for me to deal with once I get into the parks, my admission media doesn't allow prebooking, and especially since my visits are very spontaneous and based around my work schedule and whatever park seems the least crowded based on the TouringPlans Lines app. I also don't generally need to use FP of any kind, because anything I don't see on a given day will still be there on my next day off, and I might get to it then. If I was a once-in-a-while visitor, my ability to borrow devices that would work to my advantage more easily, and my opinion about the app and the new system surrounding it might be very different.

I have no idea how they expect to limit the app's usage to smartphones, especially since they have it open to iPads, but that's the restriction according to the website. I'll have to check with family who has more updated devices but not smartphones to see if their iPods can get the app. My iPod doesn't support most iTunes store apps anymore, given that it is a second generation that hasn't been updated to a new OS, but it does still support Lines, which is why I primarily rely on it in the parks. My tablet is of a new enough OS that it supports almost everything in the Play store, so I have no idea why MDE does not work on it, which is why I looked up what the site states can be used on it and found that according to the site, it is only available on certain smartphones and iPads. I'm hoping they increase its backwards-compatibility soon so that I can access it from my tablet.

I don't begrudge Disney the decision to move forward with new technology, even though based on my unique situation, that shuts me out of a small part of the system that I'm used to having full access to. I understand why this move was made, and I realize that my circumstances are unique. I also accept that I can still use the Disney website in the parks, although my personal experience with the website has me not wanting to do that again. The reason I brought the issue up at all was that some posters seemed to believe that there were no legitimate complaints about the new FP+ system itself, only the restrictions. Someone in my situation with not having devices compatible with MDE does have legitimate complaints about the system, in my opinion. One of the most touted benefits to FP+ was things like being able to use the app in the parks to set up FP, make changes, view schedules, etc, and I dislike not being able to use it. For me, that's a system problem, since it's not available on my devices and I don't own a smartphone. What I would want instead is some way for everyone to have access to the advantages involved with the app, and I realize that Disney cannot realistically do this. I know that the old FP system did give some individuals (especially rope-droppers) an advantage over others, and now this system does as well, but that doesn't mean I have to like the system that puts me on the disadvantage side. I wish there was an answer that made everybody happy, but I don't have one, and I'm not sure that one exists. But I think we can all agree that no matter what side of FP+ we're on, or what side of FP-, none of us like being on the side that doesn't get the same advantages as the other.

 

[jade1]

Agreed. I'm really confident that the PP who said they couldn't see a single positive in FP+ was speaking about the way THEY vacation.

Yea it must be, I don't think they responded to my arrival day (or departure day) example. But maybe they drive and arrive early am and hit the parks, or arrive late evening so its too late. Or maybe they don't like hitting a park the first day.

But this is now going to much improve our arrival and departure days-we fly in from MPLS around noon and always hit a park late afternoon that day.

Departure we pack up and check out by 11, but we don't fly home until 7 or 8, so we will hit lunch at a park and FP+ the afternoon.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yea it must be, I don't think they responded to my arrival day (or departure day) example. But maybe they drive and arrive early am and hit the parks, or arrive late evening so its too late. Or maybe they don't like hitting a park the first day.

But this is now going to much improve our arrival and departure days-we fly in from MPLS around noon and always hit a park late afternoon that day.

Departure we pack up and check out by 11, but we don't fly home until 7 or 8, so we will hit lunch at a park and FP+ the afternoon.

I can see where it would be an upgrade for arrival day, for those who like to hit a park that first day. We seldom do, as we like to make an early night of it and hit the ground running on a full night of sleep.

We almost always do a park on departure day. But the only way we can make that work is to pack up the night before and be at rope drop the next day, so the lines are short already. With the lead time required for ME, we never get to stay past noon anyway.

We typically stay for 9 or 10 nights, so even if arrival day would be a plus, it's not a big enough plus to outweigh the downsides for us.