All The New Developments

[Mad Hattered]

He's not a she, either

Yeah...we got that sorted out pages ago. But thanks.

 

[Cherinva]

I haven't been since all this new technology has been started in the parks, so I can't comment to any of that....however there are a few points I'd like to make.

First, I am a planner....I'm well organized but I always keep in mind, things could change and I am flexable. I basicly plan on what parks to go to, but I won't micromanage my time in the parks. I'm on vacation not work....planning down to the minuite is not my idea of a vacation. I don't book many ADRs, only a few and will stick to them. I don't like to be tied to my cell phone while on vacation...I have it with me in case we get separated (or one or more of us want to do something that I don't care to do...and we go our separate ways for a while)...I don't have a smart phone (or anything like it...and don't want one) so the thought of having to check it to manage FP is nuts to me. It really annoys me to be walking through the park, and nearly get run over or run into someone who suddenly stops to check the phone when they could very easily move to the side. With this new technology I see this problem getting worst !!!

I love everything Disney but I don't have to like the changes....will I still go? Absolutely !!! And I will do everything in my power to make sure we have a good time...I don't sweat the small stuff.

I don't mind making ADRs 180 days out...but making FP out that far, just doesn't make sense to me. I guess I will just have to wait and see how this plays out...but I do see this changing the way we tour the parks.

And for CF...thanks for posting and expressing your concerns.

 

[mom2rtk]

You can call BS if you like, but you'd be wrong. Yes I'm here, and yes I like to post...but i'm not an uber planner by any stretch.

Lots of us posting here are not planners. We are researchers. We want to have all the latest information so we can make good decisions about where to go and what to do when we are in the parks. That's vastly different from desiring to plan what time to do each ride.

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

Disclaimer: I'm neither for or against FP+. I think there's pros and cons so I see both sides.


People who won't use FP+ are like people who don't make ADRs. You don't fret that all the good restaurants will be gone and you won't eat - so don't fret that all the good FPs will be gone and you won't ride anything. EVERY ride will still be available once FP+ comes along - you just might have to wait longer.

Of course I don't fret over not having ADR's - that what Counter Service is for, which is the alternative. And meals are in addition to park attendance no matter where you eat, the rides & attractions ARE what I'm paying a relatively lot of money for when I purchase park tickets.

What is my alternative for FP+ if it ultimately phases out regular FP completely and we don't even plan our WDW trips 60 days in advance? Any way you slice it, if I'm waiting until the morning of our park visit to make ressies for FP+ at the kiosk, the availability is going to be compromised based on all those advanced planners. The way the system works right now we all stand the exact same chance at getting FPs as those entering the parks at the same time; depending on our touring strategy we have the opportunity to pull the same number of passes and have an equal shot at getting passes for the most popular rides.

And speaking of these kiosks, if they are located IN the parks, will they be opening early to give people time to wait in line to get this administrative stuff out of the way or do we now do the "hurry up & wait" by rushing to the parks for RD only to stall out at the kiosk trying to get FP for the entire day? Do we need to designate a FP Stander (vs Runner) to stand in line for a chunk of time to feret through the process while the rest of the family occupies themselves in the park? Maybe if we're hopping into MK later in the morning or early afternoon, sure FP are still available for Space - but only with a return time of 9:00 that night.

Since many vacationers are still struggling to understand the regular FP system (even after all the years it has been utilized), I have doubts that they will easily pick up the ins & outs of FP+.

I truly don't know how I'll feel once this rolls out completely & the bugs are mostly ironed out, but I know that the basics of what it entails works against the way my family vacations at WDW.

 

[Mad Hattered]

I will have to report this to the "gaggle" monitor Mad Hattered so he/she can place you on the watch list.

You never fail to disappoint!!

 

[agavegirl1]

I actually have read (or skimmed) nearly every post on FP+/MM+ because I expect it to be fully implemented by the time I arrive next year. Yes, I'll still go. It is a "planned vacation" so I have time to plan and maximize my experience. Disney will not be a "spur of the moment" destination. I did that at DL last year on a trip to CA to see my DD.

I enjoy the speculation that goes into these threads. Things like ride capacity, unintended consequences, potential IT issues, rollout challenges, the impact on different types of Disney guests etc. is very interesting.

There are lots of humorous posts that make me and a lot of by posters firmly in one or the other "camps".

I truly believe that is what a "forum" should be about, within DIS guidelines of course.

I do agree with Waynesgirl, I'll live with whatever comes out and adjust accordingly. Nobody can force me to like, hate or love MM+. Nobody forces me to go to WDW. Will I be impacted? Absolutely! Do I care? Yes, of course! What will I do? Whatever works best for me.

 

[hakepb]

There is a strong correlation between satisfied guests and revenue. There is just a strong correlation between revenue and profits.

I don't see how Disney flips guests from satisfied to unsatisfied and makes more money. I do think upper management understands that (to the contrary of some who say upper management is not listening)

Perhaps the new Disney system is a way to customize the Disney experience. Just bought a plush Pooh doll..... sheezam... get sent FP tickets to go on the Pooh ride.

Your a loyal, high paying, customer at Disney and missed your FP window by a few minutes the auto turnstile will still allow your FP. If you come infrequently to the park, maybe you don't get the grace period.

CM's treat everybody the same as they don't know who they are denying entrants to rides, but the Disney system does. So that "intelligence" is brought forward to key places at the park.

When you go into a park right now you interact with Disney, but Disney doesn't interact with you. They would like to change that.

Disney has been treating people fairly for almost 60 years. When you get on line for a ride you don't know if the person behind you is an AP or someone who has come for the one and only Disney experience. IMHO, Disney would like to get out of the "fairness" business and distribute the magic more by who brings in the most money. That is what the casinos do, the airlines do and Universal does.

The question is can they do it in such a way that would not alienate a significant share of their population who might get just a bit less magic.

Time will tell if this strategy works, but past experience will tell you it will.

The % of guests that visit DHS and get multiple TSM FP- is (probably) very small. If FP+ allows more unique guests to book a single TSM FP+, then Disney satisfies more guests.

..of course they could of limited FP- with things like minimum 2 hour return windows..so I'm with you and im not certain why this is all needed...

 

[UNCFanatik]

Lots of us posting here are not planners. We are researchers. We want to have all the latest information so we can make good decisions about where to go and what to do when we are in the parks. That's vastly different from desiring to plan what time to do each ride.

All those phones you used to secure your BOG ressie looked more like a plan to me than research on BOG.

Did you plan what time to see parades, shows, general time to eat, time to rope drop, what outfits your daughter wore, etc...etc....etc....? Did you plan which order to do the attractions? Did you plan in the past when to return for your FPs?

So, what are you? a researcher or planner?

 

[mom2rtk]

And speaking of these kiosks, if they are located IN the parks, will they be opening early to give people time to wait in line to get this administrative stuff out of the way or do we now do the "hurry up & wait" by rushing to the parks for RD only to stall out at the kiosk trying to get FP for the entire day? Do we need to designate a FP Stander (vs Runner) to stand in line for a chunk of time to feret through the process while the rest of the family occupies themselves in the park? Maybe if we're hopping into MK later in the morning or early afternoon, sure FP are still available for Space - but only with a return time of 9:00 that night.

I've been complaining all along about how awful it will be to stand in line behind a group not just pulling whatever the machine spits out, but a group trying to decide WHAT to ride and WHEN. I'm also now wondering if it's possible to have the person scheduling rides for their group for the ENTIRE TRIP. You know...... like for all parks?

I need a better phone. I have a smart phone. But I want the SMARTEST PHONE. I want to never experience one of the FP kiosks. Ever.

 

[UNCFanatik]

You never fail to disappoint!!

Nor do you....

Have you started that "gaggle" watch list yet?

 

[Mad Hattered]

Nor do you....

Have you started that "gaggle" watch list yet?

Can we just ignore each other so this thread doesn't get closed down? I'm sure the others would appreciate it.

 

[mom2rtk]

All those phones you used to secure your BOG ressie looked more like a plan to me than research on BOG.

Did you plan what time to see parades, shows, general time to eat, time to rope drop, what outfits your daughter wore, etc...etc....etc....? Did you plan which order to do the attractions? Did you plan in the past when to return for your FPs?

So, what are you? a researcher or planner?

Is BOG now a ride? Yes, I plan my ADRs. My research told me if I didn't plan that one, it wouldn't happen. And my research was right.

But I think you'd be surprised at just how little I planned the rest of my days. I generally had 1 or 2 things that were a priority each day. Yes, one day I generally scoped out as my best day to do the night parade and watch Wishes. But I never have a list of what order I'm doing attractions. The closest I get is deciding to start in Fantasyland or grab a Space Mountain FP on my way into the park.

And I'm not sure why a grown man cares if I planned what my daughter wore. It has approximately nothing to do with whether I want to plan rides.

 

[DisneyFanSince71]

All those phones you used to secure your BOG ressie looked more like a plan to me than research on BOG.

Did you plan what time to see parades, shows, general time to eat, time to rope drop, what outfits your daughter wore, etc...etc....etc....? Did you plan which order to do the attractions? Did you plan in the past when to return for your FPs?

So, what are you? a researcher or planner?

I am a researcher...very good question. All I do prior to the trip is determine what park I am going to and which few rides I'm going first. After that I play it by ear because there is so much I don't know (FP Return Times, Weather, Where everybody is)?

 

[UNCFanatik]

Is BOG now a ride? Yes, I plan my ADRs. My research told me if I didn't plan that one, it wouldn't happen. And my research was right.

But I think you'd be surprised at just how little I planned the rest of my days. I generally had 1 or 2 things that were a priority each day. Yes, one day I generally scoped out as my best day to do the night parade and watch Wishes. But I never have a list of what order I'm doing attractions. The closest I get is deciding to start in Fantasyland or grab a Space Mountain FP on my way into the park.

And I'm not sure why a grown man cares if I planned what my daughter wore. It has approximately nothing to do with whether I want to plan rides.

You said you were a researcher and not a planner. I was just asking based on your previous trips and the obvious amount of planning you did before hand AND once you were in the park. Outfits were just part of the planning you did and nothing more. I could care less what anyone in your family wore.Please tone down the "grown man" insinuation.

I think it is funny that you would deny you are a planner and more a researcher when you are both.

You plan every trip. You may not plan it down to the minute which ride you will ride but you have a general plan of order at RD which attractions you will hit first. You have a plan when you need to wait an hour for the parade. You plan when you will see a show

We get you dont like the FP+ idea but to say you dont plan is a bit disingenuous

 

[mom2rtk]

You said you were a researcher and not a planner. I was just asking based on your previous trips and the obvious amount of planning you did before hand AND once you were in the park. Outfits were just part of the planning you did and nothing more. I could care less what anyone in your family wore.Please tone down the "grown man" insinuation.

I think it is funny that you would deny you are a planner and more a researcher when you are both.

You plan every trip. You may not plan it down to the minute which ride you will ride but you have a general plan of order at RD which attractions you will hit first. You have a plan when you need to wait an hour for the parade. You plan when you will see a show

We get you dont like the FP+ idea but to say you dont plan is a bit disingenuous

But this thread is about FP+. Which is exclusively about ride planning. We don't do that.

So glad you fancy yourself to be such an expert on my trips though.

 

[g-dad66]

Can we just ignore each other so this thread doesn't get closed down? I'm sure the others would appreciate it.

Appreciate it, thanks.

 

[Angel Ariel]

All those phones you used to secure your BOG ressie looked more like a plan to me than research on BOG.

Not the quoted poster, but no phones here. I just checked online and whatever I could get I did. No planning other than actually waking up to do it.

Did you plan what time to see parades, shows, general time to eat, time to rope drop, what outfits your daughter wore, etc...etc....etc....? Did you plan which order to do the attractions? Did you plan in the past when to return for your FPs?

We didn't watch any parades on our last trip, except for msep which we saw from the dessert party. Shows we figure out day of when we see the times guide. The only planning of outfits has been buying the cute Disney princess cotton onesie costumes. We may decide what attraction we go to first (like soarin in epcot or ks in ak), but that's usually the night before and we don't plan much beyond that. We return to our fp window when the window opens (or as soon as we can after it opens, depending on what we are doing right then). When we eat is more determined by my daughter's nap.schedule than anythig else.

Why is it so impossible to believe that people who may plan one or two things might not want to plan down to what ride on what day at what time?



So, what are you? a researcher or planner?[/QUOTE]

 

[aaarcher86]

But this thread is about FP+. Which is exclusively about ride planning. We don't do that.

So glad you fancy yourself to be such an expert on my trips though.

The word fancy in this context is sorely underused. Bravo.

 

[UNCFanatik]

But this thread is about FP+. Which is exclusively about ride planning. We don't do that.

So glad you fancy yourself to be such an expert on my trips though.

So you dont ever plan your rides? Never?

Please, you didnt plan to go to ETWB early, first thing after RD and also advise people the same?

You dont ever plan which FPs in the park to pull first? Am I to believe that in DHS, you never PLAN to ride TSMM especially since your RESEARCH shows you that FPs run out at a certain time of day and we all know how much you deplore the SB line. So you just wander into DHS without a plan to ride TSMM? OK, whatever you say....

You NEVER plan which rides to hit first when you are at RD?

AND FP+ encompasses more than just rides, now doesnt it? Parade viewing and Fantasmic come to mind?

It doesnt take anyone being an "expert" on your trips to ascertain that you are in fact a planner.

 

[UNCFanatik]

Why is it so impossible to believe that people who may plan one or two things might not want to plan down to what ride on what day at what time?

Oh, I dont find it hard to believe at all and I understand if people do not want to plan at that level of detail.

What I do have a hard time believing, especially among hardcore DIS'ers who claim that they never have a plan because they know that if they at least dont have some form of a plan, even a loose one, it will make likely make for a less than desirable experience especially during busy times.

If one wants spontaneity, I wouldnt recommend a trip to WDW under any circumstances