Another FP+ Down-vote and general disappointment

[jhugge]

Just back from a week at WDW. I am an experienced Disney traveler having been there about 17-18 times over the last 30 years. Our last vacation there was Thanksgiving 2011.

Stayed in the Beach Club Villas and enjoyed it. The resort was nice, our room was clean, and our kids thought SAB was great. No complaints about our accommodations.

I had no issues with the MDE app before or during our trip. It honestly worked without issue. I actually really liked Magic Bands and not having to carry tickets, credit cards, etc everywhere.

We were lucky in catching the less than 24 hour glitch when tiering went away so our FP experience was not as bad as it could have been.

Without tiering, FP+ would be manageable at AK,HS, and EPCOT. I can imagine tiering would cause significant difficulties at EPCOT and HS.

The real problem is at MK. FP+ has made it impossible to see the major attractions at MK in 1 day on a moderately busy day. 3 FP's is no where near enough. Under the old system we could pull 6-7 a day. Standby waits on Tuesday and Friday of this past week were 30-60 minutes plus for most rides. Seemed more than unreasonable for the level of crowds present. I did not have any issues with the length of FP return queues. They were acceptable at all 4 parks.

We did have a bit of magic as they did a limited soft opening of Splash Mt on Friday night and we were able to ride it before our week ended.

Overall, I think Disney has missed the boat with their recent investments. MDE and FP+ do not enhance things enough to offset their issues. I was underwhelmed with the Fantasyland expansion. You look at what Universal has done with HP1/HP2 and Fantasyland isn't close. The experience at the MK in particular is tarnished over what it once was.

I found too many apathetic CM's over the week. One elderly female CM accused my wife of swiping her Disney rain poncho on St. Patrick's day at HS because she had misplaced it. She apologized after the fact for her accusatory tone once my wife revealed the generic "Florida" poncho she was wearing, but the initial accusal was over the top.

It will be a long time before we go back. My kids are 11 and 13 and I may be a grandparent before I consider going again. Too many other places to see and spend my money.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Thank you for your report. I hope you can find time to email Disney and let them know about your trip and your disappointments.

 

[JimmyV]

The real problem is at MK. FP+ has made it impossible to see the major attractions at MK in 1 day on a moderately busy day. 3 FP's is no where near enough. Under the old system we could pull 6-7 a day. Standby waits on Tuesday and Friday of this past week were 30-60 minutes plus for most rides. Seemed more than unreasonable for the level of crowds present.

Thanks for the report. I think that the point you make here is one that many miss. All of the discussion about how MDE and FP+ are designed to provide a return on investment seem to gloss over the fact that the system is designed to encourage guests to spend 100% of their time on Disney propety and not venture up I-4. The best way to do that is to limit your touring to half days or three-quarter days so that you return day after day. Get to the parks early, ride stand-by, use your 3 FPs, then leave. No point hanging around for 60 minute lines when you can hit the pool and start all over again the next day to hit the attractions that you skipped. On crowded days, this is going to become the norm, and it is by design.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Yes..............please send them an email. I just did.

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Here is where to send it!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Thanks for the report. I think that the point you make here is one that many miss. All of the discussion about how MDE and FP+ are designed to provide a return on investment seem to gloss over the fact that the system is designed to encourage guests to spend 100% of their time on Disney propety and not venture up I-4. The best way to do that is to limit your touring to half days or three-quarter days so that you return day after day. Get to the parks early, ride stand-by, use your 3 FPs, then leave. No point hanging around for 60 minute lines when you can hit the pool and start all over again the next day to hit the attractions that you skipped. On crowded days, this is going to become the norm, and it is by design.

Yep.

And hence the emphasis on advertising the resorts now.

 

[SharonS]

Perhaps, the goal is to turn the parks back into a multi-day experience. I have been going to WDW since 1972, and prior to FP, you always had to allow 2 days for MK, 2 for EPCOT and 1 for HS. Once FP was introduced, you could do each park Ina day and do headliners multiple times without waiting. With the increase in all SB lines now, it is no longer possible yo do MK in a day, even if you stay all day.

 

[morethananyonex]

Perhaps, the goal is to turn the parks back into a multi-day experience. I have been going to WDW since 1972, and prior to FP, you always had to allow 2 days for MK, 2 for EPCOT and 1 for HS. Once FP was introduced, you could do each park Ina day and do headliners multiple times without waiting. With the increase in all SB lines now, it is no longer possible yo do MK in a day, even if you stay all day.

So the way to turn the parks into multi day experiences is to make the lines longer, not build new attractions people want to spend more time to see? Seems like spending money on new attractions would increase time spent in the parks and increase guest satisfaction. Does increasing wait times do that?

 

[mom2rtk]

Perhaps, the goal is to turn the parks back into a multi-day experience. I have been going to WDW since 1972, and prior to FP, you always had to allow 2 days for MK, 2 for EPCOT and 1 for HS. Once FP was introduced, you could do each park Ina day and do headliners multiple times without waiting. With the increase in all SB lines now, it is no longer possible yo do MK in a day, even if you stay all day.

Yes, heaven forbid that they just add more things to do to get people to spend more days there.

 

[xie]

I'm agog at the theft accusation.

Wow.

The sad thing is, it's not that far off from a few of our experiences on our last trip there - we were treated more than once as if we were freeloaders or an inconvenience.

For example - Rose & Crown seated us on the patio at 4pm and then - like clockwork, every 5 minutes, sometimes even more often - either the hostess, the server, or some other staff member stopped by the table to remind us that we had a 2 hour time limit on our table. They were clear and specific that they thought we would sit there for hours for Illuminations unless they continually pushed us to leave. (We were in there less than an hour - we sat down, ordered, ate and left.) I'm sure there are freeloaders who do this - but until someone approaches the two hour time limit, they really should not harass guests.

We used to like the place - we'll never go there again. It costs too much money to be treated like a parasite. The list of places we won't go again on Disney property is growing. :x

 

[rluey29]

Our last 4 visits to MK have been 3 rides(FP+), the TTA and then leaving. 40 minute waits for rides we used to stand less than 15 for is no improvement. We live close so we thought about going to Disney Studios tomorrow, but Toy story FP+ are already gone.

 

[MacAddict]

I'm agog at the theft accusation.

Wow.

The sad thing is, it's not that far off from a few of our experiences on our last trip there - we were treated more than once as if we were freeloaders or an inconvenience.

For example - Rose & Crown seated us on the patio at 4pm and then - like clockwork, every 5 minutes, sometimes even more often - either the hostess, the server, or some other staff member stopped by the table to remind us that we had a 2 hour time limit on our table. They were clear and specific that they thought we would sit there for hours for Illuminations unless they continually pushed us to leave. (We were in there less than an hour - we sat down, ordered, ate and left.) I'm sure there are freeloaders who do this - but until someone approaches the two hour time limit, they really should not harass guests.

We used to like the place - we'll never go there again. It costs too much money to be treated like a parasite. The list of places we won't go again on Disney property is growing. :x

I am curious Xie, or anyone else, what places would there be on property that you avoid like the plaque?

Mike

 

[WillAustin]

Perhaps, the goal is to turn the parks back into a multi-day experience. I have been going to WDW since 1972, and prior to FP, you always had to allow 2 days for MK, 2 for EPCOT and 1 for HS. Once FP was introduced, you could do each park Ina day and do headliners multiple times without waiting. With the increase in all SB lines now, it is no longer possible yo do MK in a day, even if you stay all day.

Longer lines will make us not want to go back not allocate more days to spend longer in line.

I can definitely say the amount of time our family waits in line is inversely proportional to how much fun we have. YMMV.

 

[gonnago]

Thanks for the report. I am in a complete state of shock over the rude CM accusing your wife of taking her poncho.I personally am never one to complain/report someone but I am afraid I would of that day.I would of gotten her name and went to guest relations and ask to talk to someone in charge of the CM's and told them what happened because no matter how bad of a day you may be having it is never proper to accuse someone of theft without proof!

I know this must have put a dark cloud over your vacation and I am truly sorry you had to endure such treatment.

I would also do as previous poters have said and send an email to Disney.