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

[JennaDeeDooDah]

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.

I disagree sort of. My point was that early risers get less out of FP+ than they did FP, not that they get less out of it than late risers. Early risers got more out of FP than they ever did with FP+ as long as they used FP to the fullest of its capabilities. They were able to use more than 3 easily. They still did all of the stuff early in the morning, just like they do now, but they were able to collect fast passes throughout the whole day that had return times that they were interested in. By keeping an eye on return times, my husband and I were always able to get evening returns for Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Jungle Cruise, which we love to do in the dark. But, we were also able to get fast passes for Space Mountain, Barnstormer, Peter Pan's Flight, and Little Mermaid. We never worried about them running out because we were able to keep an eye on return times. We knew when they were close to running out.

Now, if you aren't an early riser, there was a chance that fast passes would run out before you got to the park or would be for much later in the evening than you were hoping for. Now that they have FP+, there is no running out before you get to the park. You already have them booked.

 

[puffkin]

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.

I think there are many elements of FP+ that will work great for our family/style of travel but since we haven't gone yet (even with 25+ trips under our belts) on many FP+ threads my opinion is not valid

Yes, arrival and departure day are huge perks for FP+. Many people would not do a park day on those days. With FP+ and knowing you can get in 3 headline attractions, I am sure more people will venture in to the parks those days. Any time you step foot in the park, there is the potential you will buy that one last souvenir, bottle of water, book that last ADR, etc. So more $$$.

For us, we like the waterparks. With FP+, we upgraded to PAP's so more money to them off our admission. We can do a WP in the morning and know we have 3 FP+ waiting in a park that evening. Before, we were more hesitant about wasting mornings in the water parks because we might not get on some of our favorites then.

IF you find yourself with more time, you may book that extra tour, or extra signature dining experience, or go play some mini golf, or go ride a sea racer and still feel like you are getting your money's worth out of the parks knowing you will get on all the headliners through your stay because they are pre booked.

Its far from perfect logic, but I am sure a lot of statistical modeling was done to estimate a lot of those types of factors. For my particular family, a lot of those things will hold true and why I am catiously optimistic we will like most of FP+.

Oh, and as far as 8 year old opinions.....my DS8 is spoiled beyond belief compared to most 8 year olds. He had a fit this weekend when we stayed in a hotel for his swim meet and he didn't have his own bedroom (we are DVC so he is used to space at hotels). So I know my DS8's opinions does not represent the vast majority of normal 8 year olds

 

[puffkin]

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.

That is exactly what we plan on doing. And since we are not the type to need to ride the headliners more than 1 or 2 times a trip, we are just kind of flopping our touring. Since we RD most days, we plan on doing a lot of the second tier attractions in the morning.....attractions that we normally would have saved for busier times or evenings. We everyone will rush to the big attractions in the morning to ride standby so the lines should stay lower on the second tier attractions through the morning. Late morning when the shows start ramping up, we will try to see some of those (which typically we never seem to fit in). Then we will head back to the resort for our normal long afternoon break and naps around lunch time (I have a 20 month old who still takes a long nap). We will use our FP+ options in the evenings for the bigger rides that way we can hop or go back to the same park...but it frees us up to do that. Will it work perfectly every day? I doubt it. But I think it will fit our style with a few modifications and may even work in our favor. I guess time will tell.

 

[ferd]

We can do a WP in the morning and know we have 3 FP+ waiting in a park that evening. Before, we were more hesitant about wasting mornings in the water parks because we might not get on some of our favorites then.

That's really the idea that Disney used to sell everyone on the FP+ system, but the reality is when you do arrive in the afternoon/evening with your FP+ in hand for those headliner attractions and are all ready to ride and are anticipating your typical fast pass wait time, you will arrive to find a mile long line AKA a mob scene with people standing in the heat, unsure where to go or what to do with no clear direction as to where the end of the line is (and yes, I'm talking FP+ Return line, not Standby.) The lines create utter gridlock to walkways and you have to stand in these huge lines just waiting to scan your MB before you can even make it into the FP queue within the ride.

Then when you've used your three FP+ for the day you will stroll around to find the average wait time to be 60 mins (and that's for things like It's A Small World.)

 

[redrosesix]

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.

I have to disagree with this post. Early risers get MORE out of a park day regardless of the system.

But unless guests are there at the somewhat low crowd levels you experienced, there are no longer days where there is little or no line, both SB and FP return. Simply scheduling your 3 FPs for the afternoon/evening is not going to get you into the same number of attractions as before.

IMO it's better to let people know to expect some wait -- at least 10 minutes in either line starting at 9 am for every ride, much much more for headliners. This will be even moreso going forward, since offsiters will not be spending their first hour in the parks at the FP+ kiosks -- they'll be going right to the rides too.

 

[MrInfinity]

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.

Just explain to her that before, a few people used to take all the fast passes and most guests didn't get any at all. There are enough rides in a day for each guest to get 3, and now that we have new technology, that's what Disney does. It all comes down to how you spin it.

You can explain that there are not enough rides in a day for each guest to get more than 3. I'm sure she'd embrace the concept of everybody sharing.

How is it "not going to work long term". There are 60,000 visitors to the MK in a day. There are approx. 200,000 possible fast passes to be taken. You show me how guests can get 4 or more. It's just not realistic.

 

[puffkin]

That's really the idea that Disney used to sell everyone on the FP+ system, but the reality is when you do arrive in the afternoon/evening with your FP+ in hand for those headliner attractions and are all ready to ride and are anticipating your typical fast pass wait time, you will arrive to find a mile long line AKA a mob scene with people standing in the heat, unsure where to go or what to do with no clear direction as to where the end of the line is (and yes, I'm talking FP+ Return line, not Standby.) The lines create utter gridlock to walkways and you have to stand in these huge lines just waiting to scan your MB before you can even make it into the FP queue within the ride.

Then when you've used your three FP+ for the day you will stroll around to find the average wait time to be 60 mins (and that's for things like It's A Small World.)

I totally get what you are saying....although I have read many, many first hand reports that while this situation does happen at times....it is not always happening or even the norm. I think what you (using a general you, not just directed at you) are failing to realize are that many, many families do not hop from ride to ride to ride and do 20+ attractions a day. That is just not how we tour and we have never toured like that in 25+ trips. In the FP- days, a typical morning for us was 3-4 (usually headline) rides, a show, running around a playground, hitting a shop, sitting for a snack, watching a street performer, meeting a character or two, then heading back to the resort. Evenings (after an ADR) we might do 2-3 (second tier) rides, meet another character, browse a shop, grab a snack, then find a spot for the evening fireworks/show before heading back to the resort. I have a DS8 and DS1 and this is how we pretty much always toured. We also stay for a week at a time so we have always been able to do every headline attraction we wanted during the week, at least once. I just wanted to point out that I understand the restrictions on the new system and why that will drastically affect/alter how some families tour the parks......but for my family (and I think MANY MANY people tour like us) I think it will actually be a nice benefit with some minor modifications to how we used to tour. And like I said, we are loving that we can use the water parks more....my kids love them!

 

[ferd]

I think what you (using a general you, not just directed at you) are failing to realize are that many, many families do not hop from ride to ride to ride and do 20+ attractions a day. That is just not how we tour and we have never toured like that in 25+ trips. In the FP- days, a typical morning for us was 3-4 (usually headline) rides, a show, running around a playground, hitting a shop, sitting for a snack, watching a street performer, meeting a character or two, then heading back to the resort.

Just for comparison sake, I will tell you how we typically tour the parks. My husband and I are APs. We live a 30 minute drive away and we have a 2 year old daughter. We pretty much go to the park every weekend and usually for a few hours. We don't do the huge headliner rides or mountains (because of our toddler) so our typical days lately have been visiting a few of the following: Fairytale Hall, Mickey Mouse, Tiana, It's A Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Magic Carpets, Philharmagic, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Typically we get there at rope drop and leave around 1 or 2 (when our daughter falls asleep) though a few weekends recently we have stayed to see the new Parade. We also used to go in the early afternoon and stay a few hours (like we tried to do Tuesday and experienced one of the worst days ever at MK.)

That said, given what we try to do in a morning (see a few characters and ride a 'kiddie' ride or two, we have had HUGE waits in a FP+ return line and had to trudge through horrible crowds and have seen absolutely INSANE standby times for what used to be walk on rides in the late morning times. Even utilizing FP+ for morning times have proven to be challenging, even in the way we tour. We aren't on this crazy rush to do everything in one day. We always know we can come back next weekend, but just trying to do SOMETHING in a few hours is turning into a huge headache. The kiosks, the FP+ lines that flood out into the walkways, the utter crowds and confusion have made a leisurely day trip to the parks a thing of the past.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

That's really the idea that Disney used to sell everyone on the FP+ system, but the reality is when you do arrive in the afternoon/evening with your FP+ in hand for those headliner attractions and are all ready to ride and are anticipating your typical fast pass wait time, you will arrive to find a mile long line AKA a mob scene with people standing in the heat, unsure where to go or what to do with no clear direction as to where the end of the line is (and yes, I'm talking FP+ Return line, not Standby.) The lines create utter gridlock to walkways and you have to stand in these huge lines just waiting to scan your MB before you can even make it into the FP queue within the ride.

Then when you've used your three FP+ for the day you will stroll around to find the average wait time to be 60 mins (and that's for things like It's A Small World.)

That's not what we experienced on a rather busy MLK,jr weekend, but okay.

I think the HUGE thigns people are forgetting when they complain about FP+ is that under the old syatem we NEVER arrived at the FP with a FP in our hand. we ALWAYS lost time COLLECTING ast passes. not only that, but we often lost quite a bit of time walking to FP machine after they had run out for the day.

We maxxed out FP collection, and really, we NEVER were able to get more than about five. Under fp-, we did not usually wait in any stanby line that was over 20minutes.

In Epcot the MOST FP we ever got was three: two for TT and one for Soarin'.

In HS, what did we really FP: TSM, RnRRC, and MAYBE ST- though we rarely needed the ST FP.

In AK, we MAYBE got two FP for EE, one for the Safari, and one for DINOSAUR, but really, the DINOSAUR FP was not very helpful most of the time.

So under the new system , you are not loosing any time COLLECTING FP, or wasting any time walking to a FP kiosk that has run out for the day.

Truly, much of the time, usinga FP was kind ofa toss up. I long posted that obtaining a FP was really only worth doing if the standby line was over 20minutes. Because you'd lose more time backtracking across the park to USE your FP, plus whoever long the FP line was.

So with new FP...we rode our three FP attractions, then did standby for the rest. So yes, there was a little bit of a trade off....in short, we did less walking. Some of the time we gained (by not collecting FP) we instead spent in standby queues.

BUT...under old FP, there were plenty of times when we OBTAINED FP- that we never used!!!! Under FP+ we used all our FP, but did not obtain any that we did NOT use- if that makes sense.

 

[ferd]

That's not what we experienced on a rather busy MLK,jr weekend, but okay.
:

FP+ was not fully rolled out that weekend.

 

[MrInfinity]

That's not what we experienced on a rather busy MLK,jr weekend, but okay.

I think the HUGE thigns people are forgetting when they complain about FP+ is that under the old syatem we NEVER arrived at the FP with a FP in our hand. we ALWAYS lost time COLLECTING ast passes. not only that, but we often lost quite a bit of time walking to FP machine after they had run out for the day.

We maxxed out FP collection, and really, we NEVER were able to get more than about five. Under fp-, we did not usually wait in any stanby line that was over 20minutes.

In Epcot the MOST FP we ever got was three: two for TT and one for Soarin'.

In HS, what did we really FP: TSM, RnRRC, and MAYBE ST- though we rarely needed the ST FP.

In AK, we MAYBE got two FP for EE, one for the Safari, and one for DINOSAUR, but really, the DINOSAUR FP was not very helpful most of the time.

So under the new system , you are not loosing any time COLLECTING FP, or wasting any time walking to a FP kiosk that has run out for the day.

Truly, much of the time, usinga FP was kind ofa toss up. I long posted that obtaining a FP was really only worth doing if the standby line was over 20minutes. Because you'd lose more time backtracking across the park to USE your FP, plus whoever long the FP line was.

So with new FP...we rode our three FP attractions, then did standby for the rest. So yes, there was a little bit of a trade off....in short, we did less walking. Some of the time we gained (by not collecting FP) we instead spent in standby queues.

BUT...under old FP, there were plenty of times when we OBTAINED FP- that we never used!!!! Under FP+ we used all our FP, but did not obtain any that we did NOT use- if that makes sense.

Totally! The tradeoff of not having to wait in FP lines, walk to the FP lines, split up and take all your family's cards and go get FPs, then return and line-jump to meet your family, this is all time savings. I think with a little change to how we tour (less time wasted obtaining Fast Passes and crossing the park to return to your ride), we will have just as good a time as always. Most of our days involve a single trip around the park now. In the old days, we'd have to criss-cross several times, cuz once you pick up your FP, you will inevitably have to return to the same location later. Now that entire extra trip is cut out.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

That's not what we experienced on a rather busy MLK,jr weekend, but okay.

I think the HUGE thigns people are forgetting when they complain about FP+ is that under the old syatem we NEVER arrived at the FP with a FP in our hand. we ALWAYS lost time COLLECTING ast passes. not only that, but we often lost quite a bit of time walking to FP machine after they had run out for the day.

We maxxed out FP collection, and really, we NEVER were able to get more than about five. Under fp-, we did not usually wait in any stanby line that was over 20minutes.

In Epcot the MOST FP we ever got was three: two for TT and one for Soarin'.

In HS, what did we really FP: TSM, RnRRC, and MAYBE ST- though we rarely needed the ST FP.

In AK, we MAYBE got two FP for EE, one for the Safari, and one for DINOSAUR, but really, the DINOSAUR FP was not very helpful most of the time.

So under the new system , you are not loosing any time COLLECTING FP, or wasting any time walking to a FP kiosk that has run out for the day.

Truly, much of the time, usinga FP was kind ofa toss up. I long posted that obtaining a FP was really only worth doing if the standby line was over 20minutes. Because you'd lose more time backtracking across the park to USE your FP, plus whoever long the FP line was.

So with new FP...we rode our three FP attractions, then did standby for the rest. So yes, there was a little bit of a trade off....in short, we did less walking. Some of the time we gained (by not collecting FP) we instead spent in standby queues.

BUT...under old FP, there were plenty of times when we OBTAINED FP- that we never used!!!! Under FP+ we used all our FP, but did not obtain any that we did NOT use- if that makes sense.

I can only speak for my experience in January, but we actually wasted more time in the FP return line waiting to scan our magic bands than we ever spent waiting to collect a fast pass. My family never went to a specific ride to collect a fast pass, either, though, so we never wasted time in the past walking across the park just to find out that the fast passes were all gone. I just think that for every one person with a story about the negatives, there is another one with a story about the positives. The problem I see is that I never heard nearly as many people complaining about the previous fast pass system as I do about fast pass+. Now, I don't know if that means more are angry or that they are just a much more vocal minority, but it can't be good for marketing.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Totally! The tradeoff of not having to wait in FP lines, walk to the FP lines, split up and take all your family's cards and go get FPs, then return and line-jump to meet your family, this is all time savings. I think with a little change to how we tour (less time wasted obtaining Fast Passes and crossing the park to return to your ride), we will have just as good a time as always. Most of our days involve a single trip around the park now. In the old days, we'd have to criss-cross several times, cuz once you pick up your FP, you will inevitably have to return to the same location later. Now that entire extra trip is cut out.

You and I have/had very different touring styles which really helps to explain out different opinions on FP vs. FP+. My family never really waited to pull a FP, we spent less time in a FP line than we ever did in a FP+ line on our last trip, we never split up to have a FP runner, we absolutely NEVER line jumped, and when we did cross the park it's because we wanted to ride something on the other side of the park rather than out of necessity. We never crossed the park just to go get a FP or to cash one in. We always had multiple things we wanted to do in and around Space Mountain, so when we went there to grab or cash in a FP, we had multiple other things to do. But, again, we enjoyed doing various rides and attractions multiple times. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Sparkly]

Nevermind, it's not worth it.

 

[*disgal*]

Two weeklong trips since August.

Since August? No offense but any trips not in the last 2 months are moot as far as I can tell. Things are just moving too fast. And I've been there in August and september.......spring break/easter (as in the 9-10 crowd the other poster was talking about) are totally different. Maybe one of your trips was then?

I'm trying to go into this next trip with a good attitude but it WILL be different. In some cases better. But, it won't be like our other trips. That's impossible. Hopefully it will still be a great trip.

 

[*disgal*]

Just explain to her that before, a few people used to take all the fast passes and most guests didn't get any at all. There are enough rides in a day for each guest to get 3, and now that we have new technology, that's what Disney does. It all comes down to how you spin it.

You can explain that there are not enough rides in a day for each guest to get more than 3. I'm sure she'd embrace the concept of everybody sharing.

How is it "not going to work long term". There are 60,000 visitors to the MK in a day. There are approx. 200,000 possible fast passes to be taken. You show me how guests can get 4 or more. It's just not realistic.

That's right, OP. Just tell your daughter that she got screwed by Disney but she gets to "share" her FPs with people who preferred to sleep in. That should do it. That should make her feel totally better. Right, comrade?

To the part in bold; I don't know. I just have this feeling. Just like the feeling that I knew FP+ was never going to be just for onsite(prob everybody knew that one though) and that yes, they would eventually open it up ahead of time for offsiters (had no idea that they would give 30 days! I would have been happy with a week. lol Thank you Disney!)

I think it's because of that survey Disney is giving to people just back. I just have this inkling that more FPs are going to be offered. It would make sense that you would have to either use 1 or all 3 to get another one. That way they aren't giving a 4th one to EVERYONE right off the bat. But maybe not. Don't know exactly but if I had to bet, I would bet they will be giving more. Now, will the headliners still be available for that 4th one? I bet not but Disney will be able to say, "hey, we will give you a 4th and 5th FP! Captain EO or Figment are available.

 

[MrInfinity]

I think it's because of that survey Disney is giving to people just back. I just have this inkling that more FPs are going to be offered. It would make sense that you would have to either use 1 or all 3 to get another one. That way they aren't giving a 4th one to EVERYONE right off the bat. But maybe not. Don't know exactly but if I had to bet, I would bet they will be giving more. Now, will the headliners still be available for that 4th one? I bet not but Disney will be able to say, "hey, we will give you a 4th and 5th FP! Captain EO or Figment are available.

No question. When you analyze that survey, it is clear that all the choices revolved around "if you will use one -- or all three -- of your current fast passes sooner to get a 4th one -- would you?" Obviously this would create the impetus to use your first one in the 9am slot instead of hoarding it till 1pm 2pm 3pm like everyone is. Thus, Disney gets to claim they gave you a 4th FP, but really, they made you use one when you didn't need one, so it's not actually giving you a real benefit.

Thus that survey was actually quite meaningless... All Disney is trying to do is figure out how to get ppl to take their FPs in the 9am and 10am slots, cuz they have 2 hours worth of FPs here that are not being heavily taken right now.

Rope Drop is still a "benefit" we can enjoy if we choose to. Disney is seeking out ways to manage that benefit that right now we enjoy, and turn it into yet more "benefit" to everyone. If you didn't like FP- going to FP+, that survey should scare you because it means Disney is now eyeing your RD time.

 

[mom2rtk]

That's right, OP. Just tell your daughter that she got screwed by Disney but she gets to "share" her FPs with people who preferred to sleep in. That should do it. That should make her feel totally better. Right, comrade?

 

[morethananyonex]

No question. When you analyze that survey, it is clear that all the choices revolved around "if you will use one -- or all three -- of your current fast passes sooner to get a 4th one -- would you?" Obviously this would create the impetus to use your first one in the 9am slot instead of hoarding it till 1pm 2pm 3pm like everyone is. Thus, Disney gets to claim they gave you a 4th FP, but really, they made you use one when you didn't need one, so it's not actually giving you a real benefit. Thus that survey was actually quite meaningless... All Disney is trying to do is figure out how to get ppl to take their FPs in the 9am and 10am slots, cuz they have 2 hours worth of FPs here that are not being heavily taken right now. Rope Drop is still a "benefit" we can enjoy if we choose to. Disney is seeking out ways to manage that benefit that right now we enjoy, and turn it into yet more "benefit" to everyone. If you didn't like FP- going to FP+, that survey should scare you because it means Disney is now eyeing your RD time.

Couple things though. According to the survey, if available, you could use a figment FP at opening and book a Test Track FP even if you already have a Soarin' one booked for later. Also, (the survey was a bit vague on this) it sounds as if you could use a useless tier 2 FP+ at opening, and then book a desirable FP in a different park.

Definitely an improvement over the current situation. Not meaningless at all.

 

[squirrel4569]

One thing that comes to mind about FP+ vs FP- is the disconnected FP at MK. Barnstormer, Dumbo, M&Gs with Mickey, etc helped us get onto those rides and attractions without much wait or having to sacrifice a headliner.

The biggest problem really, is at MK, but I can see the problem of crowds and slow lines at all parks. Now, the last time I went was before this was fully rolled out so I can only go on what I've experienced with the old system, but trying to prioritize MK with only 3 choices is rough. There's just too much there. Tiering at DHS is more of an issue than at EP, since RD times at TT/Soarin weren't bad. AK also wasn't ever an issue.

I don't know if I would call us a commando style touring family, but we almost always made RD, usually with a pre-RD ADR, then grabbed a FP for the busy attraction and started doing standby on lesser attractions until our window opened, rinse, later, repeat. We didn't typically leave the park for breaks and would return back to the resort after dinner. Sometimes we would go back before dinner to change into dinner clothes, but that's about it. We usually weren't there at park close but would try to catch the ELP on our way out if we were at MK.

We're also a family that has one child big enough for everything and one that isn't, plus a few rides my wife isn't a fan of, so not all of us want to do the same ride each time. We've sometimes doubled up on a ride where DD1 could ride twice and either I would ride with her twice or my wife would ride with her once and I would ride with her once. DD1 just used DD2's FP and I would use my wife's unused pass. That's shot now too, unless my wife and DD1 want to sacrifice one of the precious 3 FP+ selections.

Are they still doing the "bonus" FP+ at MK? That would help a little.

Then finally, what is the preferred solution? Is it possible to please the planners and the spontaneous and the commandos and hoppers? If you could constantly keep a queue of 3 FP+ how would you plan? Book for the morning so you could replenish for the evening or book for evening and take your chances at standby times in the morning? Should pre-booking go away completely or would that make it worse? Should you be able to pre-book but have a higher limit? Should that vary per park? Should tiering be removed?

Still a lot of questions in my mind. Again, somewhat glad that I'm not going this year but DLR is also looking kind of tempting for my next trip.