An 8 year old's view of FP+ in its current state

[squirrel4569]

I was telling DD1 about Anna and Elsa having 4 & 5 hour waits at Epcot and she said "Can't you get a Fastpass for it like with the other princesses?" Smart kid right? I said "Yes, now you can, but you are limited to only 3 Fastpasses per day." Her jaw dropped and she yelled "Only 3 Fastpasses? That's not fair! We use more than that!" Then she started to think about what she would use FP+ on and what her 3 selections would be. The fun came when she wanted to do RnRC, TSMM and ToT all in one day. When I told her she could pick either RnRC or TSMM she got very grumpy. She said "The line without Fastpass is FOREVER!"

While I admit that I like the concept of MB and certain aspects of FP+, I can really see that it's current state just isn't going to work long term. As it continues to evolve I really hope that the number of FP goes up as some have rumored it will. I think I saw a rumor that you'll get to advance reserve 3, like now, with the 60 and 30 day windows, then after the three are used you will be able to book more day of. I'd be ok with that I think.

While I really miss WDW I'm kind of glad my next trip is up in the air. Looking forward to seeing what the end state of FP+ looks like.

 

[Jfsag123]

Ha! My 6 year old had similar thoughts. I'm trying to withhold full judgment until it's in its final state/I've actually experienced it, but DD is not at all impressed at this point.

 

[pixarmom]

Our boys are ages 14, 13 and 7, and when I initially explained FP+ to them, they didn't think they would like it. Then we experienced it for the first time last month and they all agree it's great. We already know in advance when our FP return times will be. No running around the park for paper FPs. We arrive at or around rope drop, ride the headliners first and then our FP+ begin when the lines start to grow later in the morning. The other thing they loved is that were able to actually ride Soarin on arrival night before our Garden Grill ADR - we've never been able to do that before - fun way to start the trip! And our 7-year-old loves the technology - just making the mickey turn green was a lot of fun. We take an afternoon break at the resort and spend most evenings in Epcot, so it would be different if we were still in our old commando style of touring.

We did a DHS morning with no FP last month and got on all the rides we wanted at rope drop with minimal (as in less than 15 minutes) wait. (We arrived a day earlier than expected due to inclement weather at home and got a "bonus" morning at DHS - did not book FP for it, though.) The boys decided to skip RnR that morning, but if we used FP+, we could have easily done everything by arriving at rope drop, riding TSMM first, then using FP+ for RnR and ToT and one other ride.

It won't work for everyone, but just wanted to mention that our kids entirely changed their minds when we experienced it! I was skeptical before our trip, but encouraged the kids to keep open minds - and it turned out really well.

 

[AshleeH]

Pixarmom - that's what I'm looking forward to about it. People seem to loathe the idea of it - I can't wait to try it! I felt like a slave to FastPass at times (getting up early for HS, for example, trying to get in line quickly for TSMM, possibly getting a return time for after lunch - when something else was planned or we didn't want to hang around the park that long). I think it will be great for our family. Do I wish there were more than 3? Sure. But Disney would be well within their rights to start charging (a la Universal) for a front-of-the-line pass, so I'm just grateful they still offer them for free.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Our boys are ages 14, 13 and 7, and when I initially explained FP+ to them, they didn't think they would like it. Then we experienced it for the first time last month and they all agree it's great. We already know in advance when our FP return times will be. No running around the park for paper FPs. We arrive at or around rope drop, ride the headliners first and then our FP+ begin when the lines start to grow later in the morning. The other thing they loved is that were able to actually ride Soarin on arrival night before our Garden Grill ADR - we've never been able to do that before - fun way to start the trip! And our 7-year-old loves the technology - just making the mickey turn green was a lot of fun. We take an afternoon break at the resort and spend most evenings in Epcot, so it would be different if we were still in our old commando style of touring.

We did a DHS morning with no FP last month and got on all the rides we wanted at rope drop with minimal (as in less than 15 minutes) wait. (We arrived a day earlier than expected due to inclement weather at home and got a "bonus" morning at DHS - did not book FP for it, though.) The boys decided to skip RnR that morning, but if we used FP+, we could have easily done everything by arriving at rope drop, riding TSMM first, then using FP+ for RnR and ToT and one other ride.

It won't work for everyone, but just wanted to mention that our kids entirely changed their minds when we experienced it! I was skeptical before our trip, but encouraged the kids to keep open minds - and it turned out really well.

I Double Dog Dare you to take your kids to Universal and stay onsite.

 

[mmbl]

I was telling DD1 about Anna and Elsa having 4 & 5 hour waits at Epcot and she said "Can't you get a Fastpass for it like with the other princesses?" Smart kid right? I said "Yes, now you can, but you are limited to only 3 Fastpasses per day." Her jaw dropped and she yelled "Only 3 Fastpasses? That's not fair! We use more than that!" Then she started to think about what she would use FP+ on and what her 3 selections would be. The fun came when she wanted to do RnRC, TSMM and ToT all in one day. When I told her she could pick either RnRC or TSMM she got very grumpy. She said "The line without Fastpass is FOREVER!" While I admit that I like the concept of MB and certain aspects of FP+, I can really see that it's current state just isn't going to work long term. As it continues to evolve I really hope that the number of FP goes up as some have rumored it will. I think I saw a rumor that you'll get to advance reserve 3, like now, with the 60 and 30 day windows, then after the three are used you will be able to book more day of. I'd be ok with that I think. While I really miss WDW I'm kind of glad my next trip is up in the air. Looking forward to seeing what the end state of FP+ looks like.

If you have to use your FP before you can get more, people will complain they can't get them for the afternoon and people who plan and book early has an advantage. The whole system sucks. Disney screwed things up 'royally.'

 

[sunkissed4]

Your daughter is very observant, she gets it!

I'm not sure increasing the number of FP will solve the problem, I genuinely think it's just a mess and not sure how they can fix it.

I never had to "run around" with the old FP, I just picked one up when I was in the area and didn't want to wait stand-by. No biggie.

We've used FP+ a LOT and it's awful for my family at MK. It's a sad day when on a Sunday in early March I have to use a FP for haunted mansion and then tell my 4 year old no he can't ride it again because the line is out to Columbia Harbor House.

 

[ferd]

I am one that never felt like a slave to the old legacy FP- system, but feel completely shackled by the new FP+ one. I also used to easily be able to get 10 FP a day and never waited in lines like the ones we're seeing lately. I used to be able to go to the park a few hours (I'm an AP) and feel like I accomplished a lot, and now even if I have a FP+ for an attraction, I have to stand in line for a substantial time (if I can even find the end of the FP+ line.) This is not an exaggeration. I have taken and posted pics. Currently I feel like I have to fight for certain FP+ (even getting up at midnight to catch ones I want) when before the system was as fair as could be. If you got to the machine first, you got the first FP. Simple as that.

And while the technology of lighting up the green Mickeys can be fun for kids and some adults at first, the headache of watching guest after guest have issues with their MBs or showing up at the wrong time or having their FP+ not show up is far greater. When the FP+ return lines are so long so many people in that line think it's standby and then you have to watch them get turned away (quite confused and often angrily), trust me the novelty of the green Mickeys wears off quite fast.

Your daughter is very observant, she gets it!

I'm not sure increasing the number of FP will solve the problem, I genuinely think it's just a mess and not sure how they can fix it.

I never had to "run around" with the old FP, I just picked one up when I was in the area and didn't want to wait stand-by. No biggie.

We've used FP+ a LOT and it's awful for my family at MK. It's a sad day when on a Sunday in early March I have to use a FP for haunted mansion and then tell my 4 year old no he can't ride it again because the line is out to Columbia Harbor House.

Same completely. My husband and I are just constantly saying "They Broke It!" It's so heartbreaking and disappointing.

And I feel you about Haunted Mansion. It's A Small World was ALWAYS a ride we could take our 2 year old on with little to no wait, and now it just goes against everything I know and believe in about Disney to have to FP Small World, and yet with these 50 and 60 minute waits with Standby lines spilling out allover Fantasyland and down to the Tangled bathrooms, I do have to sometimes use one of my precious 3 FP+ on Small World because an hour long wait with a toddler is not something I want to take on too often. (Especially when we're talking 11AM!!!)

 

[seashoreCM]

If you have to use your FP before you can get more, people will complain they can't get them for the afternoon and people who plan and book early has an advantage. The whole system sucks. Disney screwed things up 'royally.'

(copied from another post)

I think it is fair to have all of your prebooked fastpasses mature or wait 6* hours (after entering that park), whichever comes first, and then you can book more (same day) fastpasses one at a time.

If you got that far, you should have to have the newly gotten same day fastpass mature or wait 2 hours from when you got it, whichever comes first, and then you would be able to get yet another same day fastpass.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

* Refinement: After the first of 3 prebooked fastpasses matures you should be able to get a same day fastpass 4 hours from having entered the park or after the remaining fastpasses mature whichever comes first. After the second to last prebooked fastpass matures, you should be able to get a same day fastpass 2 hours from having entered the park or having the last fastpass mature whichever comes first.

 

[Oomiak]

Everything the OP said is invalid on a crowd level 9-10 week. From rope drop you might get one short wait headliner. I had a CRT reservation at 8:00 on Monday and was outside at 8:50 with a couple of hundred other people waiting for the rope to drop in Fantasyland. We rode Peter Pan with a 5 minute wait and when we were off, wait times everywhere where 15 minutes at best. FP+ will get you three rides on a busy day, after that, good luck!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Everything the OP said is invalid on a crowd level 9-10 week. From rope drop you might get one short wait headliner. I had a CRT reservation at 8:00 on Monday and was outside at 8:50 with a couple of hundred other people waiting for the rope to drop in Fantasyland. We rode Peter Pan with a 5 minute wait and when we were off, wait times everywhere where 15 minutes at best. FP+ will get you three rides on a busy day, after that, good luck!

That was true under the old system, as well. There weren't an infinite amount of paper Fastpasses.

 

[Oomiak]

That was true under the old system, as well. There weren't an infinite amount of paper Fastpasses.

You missed my point completely. The point is that during 9-10 level days you cannot do as much before the crowds take over. I understand how FP- worked. There also weren't FP's for PoTC back then either. This is a different animal now and old strategies do not work nearly as well as they did before.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

You missed my point completely. The point is that during 9-10 level days you cannot do as much before the crowds take over. I understand how FP- worked. There also weren't FP's for PoTC back then either. This is a different animal now and old strategies do not work nearly as well as they did before.

Some work better, and some work worse. They aren't done tinkering yet.

 

[Oomiak]

Some work better, and some work worse. They aren't done tinkering yet.

Well, my observations are based on experience in the parks this week. I'm not sure what you base yours on. The whole still tinkering thing is a cop out, koolaid drinking answer in my opinion. Whether people care to admit it or not, Disney messed things up by creating FP's for almost everything. It's ridiculous. I reserved my opinion for the last few months until I could experience things first hand. I am no longer interested in listening to FP+ supporters who have not seen it in action. I'm not saying that is you, I don't know what your experience is. If you haven't been here during a 9-10 crowd with FP+, I'd be careful about offering insight into what it is or isn't like.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Well, my observations are based on experience in the parks this week. I'm not sure what you base yours on.

Two weeklong trips since August.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

The way I see it, FP+ certainly has its own target audience and there are certain times that FP+ is better than FP. For my family and our touring strategy, we aren't the target audience and the times that FP+ was better than FP+ were few and far between. That said, I have thought of a few times that it is great.

1. Arrival day - For those people who arrive at WDW on a day when they want to go to the park, but won't be there in time for rope drop, it's nice to know that they have a FP+ for some of their favorite attractions. With regular FP, the fast passes could have all be gone by the time the family arrives. Now, with FP+, they know that they definitely will get to ride Space Mountain, Toy Story Midway Mania, Expedition Everest, or Soarin' without standing in line for an hour and a half. That's nice.

2. Sleeping in - My family is a bunch of early risers. There were some mornings that we were actually killing time before taking a bus to the park for rope drop. However, not everyone is like that. There are many families out there who leisurely wake up and that is often times after the park has already opened. So, let's say that a family sleeps until 10:00. They won't get to the park until 12:00 or so. For some rides, the fast passes were gone by this time and if they weren't, the return times were often for extremely late in the day. They don't have to stress, though. Now, they can leisurely get to the park and still get to ride Soarin' and get to ride it at a decent time. No need to set an alarm to wake up.

3. People who would run across the park - I was never one of these people as we would just get fast passes in the area where we currently were, but being on this board has taught me that there were families who would run all over the park to collect fast passes. Now they don't have to do that. They have their three that they booked all at one time and in one location.


So, for our family of early risers who went to rope drop and collected fast passes as we went, FP+ is not good. We collected more than 3 easily, did multiples for the same ride, and never really were stressed. The only situation above that applied to us was the first one. However, for people who toured differently, especially for the people mentioned above in 2 and 3, FP+ is great. What I can't figure out, though, is how people say FP+ makes Disney more money. It seems to me that you aren't spending money if you are sleeping, hanging out at the resort, or otherwise not in the park, which seems to be the group of people who most enjoy FP+. Oh well. It is what it is, I guess.

 

[Oomiak]

Two weeklong trips since August.

Crowd level?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

2. Sleeping in - My family is a bunch of early risers. There were some mornings that we were actually killing time before taking a bus to the park for rope drop. However, not everyone is like that. There are many families out there who leisurely wake up and that is often times after the park has already opened. So, let's say that a family sleeps until 10:00. They won't get to the park until 12:00 or so. For some rides, the fast passes were gone by this time and if they weren't, the return times were often for extremely late in the day. They don't have to stress, though. Now, they can leisurely get to the park and still get to ride Soarin' and get to ride it at a decent time. No need to set an alarm to wake up.

So, for our family of early risers who went to rope drop and collected fast passes as we went, FP+ is not good.

This is extremely flawed. Early risers get MORE out of FP+ than anyone else. Schedule your three FP+ for the afternoon/evening. Hit the parks early, get on all the rides with no/little line, and then enjoy the perk of not waiting in the afternoon/evening at a different, or same park.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Crowd level?

Both probably 5 or 6. I don't go at times of the year where it's worse than that.

 

[morethananyonex]

The way I see it, FP+ certainly has its own target audience and there are certain times that FP+ is better than FP. For my family and our touring strategy, we aren't the target audience and the times that FP+ was better than FP+ were few and far between. That said, I have thought of a few times that it is great.

1. Arrival day - For those people who arrive at WDW on a day when they want to go to the park, but won't be there in time for rope drop, it's nice to know that they have a FP+ for some of their favorite attractions. With regular FP, the fast passes could have all be gone by the time the family arrives. Now, with FP+, they know that they definitely will get to ride Space Mountain, Toy Story Midway Mania, Expedition Everest, or Soarin' without standing in line for an hour and a half. That's nice.

2. Sleeping in - My family is a bunch of early risers. There were some mornings that we were actually killing time before taking a bus to the park for rope drop. However, not everyone is like that. There are many families out there who leisurely wake up and that is often times after the park has already opened. So, let's say that a family sleeps until 10:00. They won't get to the park until 12:00 or so. For some rides, the fast passes were gone by this time and if they weren't, the return times were often for extremely late in the day. They don't have to stress, though. Now, they can leisurely get to the park and still get to ride Soarin' and get to ride it at a decent time. No need to set an alarm to wake up.

3. People who would run across the park - I was never one of these people as we would just get fast passes in the area where we currently were, but being on this board has taught me that there were families who would run all over the park to collect fast passes. Now they don't have to do that. They have their three that they booked all at one time and in one location.


So, for our family of early risers who went to rope drop and collected fast passes as we went, FP+ is not good. We collected more than 3 easily, did multiples for the same ride, and never really were stressed. The only situation above that applied to us was the first one. However, for people who toured differently, especially for the people mentioned above in 2 and 3, FP+ is great. What I can't figure out, though, is how people say FP+ makes Disney more money. It seems to me that you aren't spending money if you are sleeping, hanging out at the resort, or otherwise not in the park, which seems to be the group of people who most enjoy FP+. Oh well. It is what it is, I guess.

To summarize, FP+ works great for anybody who is happy riding 3 rides in a day, give or take a few. Whether it's a family on arrival/departure day, a local guest, or someone happily enjoying the atmosphere, that's what it basically boils down to. Anybody who fits that description will likely think FP+ is amazing, as it allows them to do almost no work and get what in their eyes is a perfect day. That's not to say other types of guests don't enjoy it, but that's who it would be most appealing to compared to FP-.

FP+ has the potential to make more money for a few reasons:

First, it makes riding rides all day less desirable. For families who utilized FP- to the fullest, it is now harder to repeat rides and fit the same amount of attractions into a shorter amount of time like in the past. Those families are faced with the choice to either stand in lines for a larger part of their day than in the past, or find another activity to do. Some may choose some sort of recreational activity onsite that will give Disney more money, some may choose to spend more time dining at sit down restaurants, some may find themselves wandering shops, and some may not spend anything extra but the potential is sure there.

Second, it frees up time during the day for people who didn't utilize FP- to the fullest or at all. Those people may now take the time to book a meal where they otherwise didn't, they may have more time to wander the stores where they didn't in the past, they may spend half a day in the water park because they have 3 rides preselected now, etc. Again, there's a chance nothing will change for these people and they may just enjoy the extra rides, but the potential is there again.

Lastly (and what Disney has said the purpose of FP+ is) it locks guests into their Disney days 60 or 30 days in advance. They may see increases in prepurchased tickets, and also increases in the length of tickets people buy, especially offsite guests. Guests who may have previously bought tickets at the gate now are encouraged to buy them online. There they can see that spending an additional day or two at Disney is cheaper than spending one day at Universal. Plus, they get those FP+ too. A guest theoretically has more motivation to head to Disney that day when they (1) already have tickets and (2) already have their schedule planned. Who is more likely to head to Disney for longer, the offsite guest who upon arrival to the airport sees ads for all the Orlando area activities, or the offsite guest who upon arrival to the airport has their Disney tickets in hand and FP+ booked on MDE?

All of the above could backfire and not make Disney more money, but theoretically, that's where FP+ makes Disney money if we don't consider charging for it eventually.