Any Reformed FP- Uber Users Who Have Embraced FP+ ?

[mom2rtk]

I guess, but isn't that the point?

Now instead of being at the mercy of Disney's return times or skipping something, I can pick a time that suits my needs for the things I want to make sure I do. I can apply the same process to the standby line as old FP - line too long? Skip it. There pros and cons to both systems, but at least for us, FP+ takes the guess work and "maybes" out of it.

I don't know why you'd have a problem with 4 people if I didn't with 5. Different vacation times and lengths I guess.

That's really what it boils down to. Those who are willing to settle for what will likely be less FPs (for decent rides) in favor of (typically) more choice of return times like FP+. Those who intend to spend all day in the park anyway and can work their day around the return times and are willing to accept whatever time in exchange for a higher quantity of decent FPs don't like FP+.

We never hop (except at DLR) and typically stay all day once in the park, so it never mattered if we got a later return time. We just pulled another in 2 hours and were happy to have a short line to look forward to later that day.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I've never been so sorry I asked a question.

But thank you for your replies, people. Some very good answers are in here...

I'm still not ready to go, though.

I was just thinking of asking if you were sorry yet.


That's ok; if it wasn't you, it would have been somebody else. You will see this "discussion" flare up every other day or so. Just be glad you didn't ask about getting help if you were vomited on.

 

[aaarcher86]

That's really what it boils down to. Those who are willing to settle for what will likely be less FPs (for decent rides) in favor of (typically) more choice of return times like FP+. Those who intend to spend all day in the park anyway and can work their day around the return times and are willing to accept whatever time in exchange for a higher quantity of decent FPs don't like FP+. We never hop (except at DLR) and typically stay all day once in the park, so it never mattered if we got a later return time. We just pulled another in 2 hours and were happy to have a short line to look forward to later that day.

We are usually in the park all day, but with younger and short kids our rides have always been kind if limited. We also stay longer, so by the end of the trip we've done all the rides we want, etc. We've just never really run around riding stuff all day.

I've never felt like I was settling with FP+.

 

[Suvadoo]

That was the question.

I know I'm going to get blasted for making that remark. Batten down the hatches!

 

[Angel Ariel]

We never hop (except at DLR) and typically stay all day once in the park, so it never mattered if we got a later return time. We just pulled another in 2 hours and were happy to have a short line to look forward to later that day.

This is us too. We don't generally hop, and even when DD was 8 months and 15 months we stayed in the parks all day. She napped in the stroller just as well as she'd nap at the hotel, so there was no point to spending the time going back to the resort (SOG) for nap. Also, on our trips, return times even for headliners were frequently *not* 2 hrs away. Towards the late afternoon/early evening they may get there, at which point we may or may not have pulled them depending on when we were putting DD down for the night, but during the day they were rarely 2 hrs away.

We did way more hopping on this November trip than we've ever done before (not sure we liked it, but it's how it worked out w/ the 1/2 marathon related scheduling). FP+ was very nice for late arrival days, no doubt about it. We did not find it helpful - or even relaxing - on the days we were in the parks all day. It just didn't really mesh with how we tour when we're in 1 park for the day.

 

[Mome Rath]

I have 2 questions: Who the hell is John Gault? Who the heck gives a rat's tail?

Ask Ayn Rand?

 

[Suvadoo]

Ask Ayn Rand?

thanks for the laugh!

 

[Mome Rath]

thanks for the laugh!

 

[estherhead]

The uber users will find a way to maximize the new system as well. That's why they were uber users....they went the extra mile to research how the system works.

This is us. Uber users of fp-. And guess what? We're uber users of fp+ too. We've found a way to use a runner to get more. Fantasyland moderate rides are generally available later at night (Mermaid, Pooh, Small World, Goofini, Mad Tea Party) as are Buzz and Speedway. And you don't have to wait. If it's 9:00 p.m. you can get a fp+ for 9:05-10:05 p.m. By the time you walk from the FP+ kiosk to Goofini it is 9:05. There is a 20 minute line, but you didn't have to stand in it. You can be back at the fp+ kiosk by 9:15-9:20 p.m. and pick another immediate fp+.

And we had 11 people.

Obviously we didn't go New Year's week. But uber users weren't uber users New Years anyway. Our favorite three weeks are the first two weeks of August (low prices and kids out of school) and the week before Christmas. Both are moderate crowd time periods.

I made a video that night. My sister says it'll get me banned from here as they often let us on 10 minutes before our window and I say so. But that was our experience and I'm being honest. Again, I'm sure Christmas week they wouldn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4YllJ_jgus

Having only used fp+ twice, once with success and once without a lot of success (but this was before you could have more than three) I still need more practice, but I think I'll like it. And I find it easier to schedule my days, not harder.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Ask Ayn Rand?

:lol

ETA: Everytime I see your name I think, 'twas brillig..."

 

[DisneyKidds]

OK- I confess, I was a park running, super planning, uber user. We rode rides all day long with no wait. Super early for rope drop, fastpasses all in a row. It was great. My family worshipped my amazing Disney skills. The good old days, lol But things have changed and there is no way that I will let these changes ruin my happy place! So I am determined to learn the new ropes and maximize the potential of FP+. After all it says + so its good, right? Of course its good - just different. I've explained to the kids that we will have to prioritize a bit more, maybe wait in line a bit more. But it will still be great, its Disney!!!! Thing is, I need advice. Tips. We are going one of the busiest weeks of the year (week after Easter). The thing that scares me the most is reading that rope drop is no longer the advantage that it once was. Whats a former uber user to do? If you've embraced the new way and had a good trip can you help me out here? How did you handle the changes and make the trip great? I know it can be done....The truth is out there

Haha....your first paragraph describes me to a T! Guess what, your second paragraph describes exactly what our experience has been since MM+/FP+ have entered the picture. Our trips are just as good, despite being a little different in ways.

The one thing I will say is that with the MM+/FP+ system we ride less rides. Egad's, man......how can that be a good thing? Well, for some it might not be, but let me elaborate. Typical Epcot morning under the old FP system included rope drop, get FP (runner, me) for TT, ride Soarin' standby with a short wait, exit and use TT FP, after exiting TT get FP for Soarin' (runner, me), head back a few hours later to ride Soarin' again. That was three rides. Can't do that any more, so you book your FP for TT and ride Soarin' once at rope drop. That's only two rides. Less rides. Yes, there are longer standby lines on things like Spaceship Earth. In the past we might have done that multiple times over a few days, now we might only FP+ it once. Less rides. For us it's ok, because we can live without that extra ride on Soarin' or Spaceship Earth. Other people may not feel the same way. Ditto in the MK. Under the old system we might have ridden Space/Thunder/Splash 3 or 4 times during a trip, running back and forth for multiple FPs. Now we can't do that, and only ride once or twice. Or we FP+ Pirates once when we might have walked on twice when the standby line used to be shorter. We've been enough that we can live with "less rides" and we like the tradeoff's (no FP running, scheduled evening headliners we never would have gotten when hopping under the old system), but others may feel differently.

Don't worry about rope drop, it is still, as Tony would say, Grrreeeaaat! For instance, on Dec 30 we hit DHS at rope drop. TSMM, RnR, ToT, Star Tours done in an hour and a half without FP. Yes, because there will be FP+ filtering into all those rides from the get go you have to be sure you are at the front of the rope drop crowd, because the standby lines just 10 minutes behind the rope drop leaders will be an hour plus.....but executed properly rope drop is great. The beauty is, we were able to hit the MK that night and ride Space, Thunder and 7DMT with FP+ and no wait. And that is my biggest piece of advice. Execute the rope drop, and FP+ an evening park. Works great for us!

 

[Silock]

I guess, but isn't that the point?

Now instead of being at the mercy of Disney's return times or skipping something, I can pick a time that suits my needs for the things I want to make sure I do. I can apply the same process to the standby line as old FP - line too long? Skip it. There pros and cons to both systems, but at least for us, FP+ takes the guess work and "maybes" out of it.

I don't know why you'd have a problem with 4 people if I didn't with 5. Different vacation times and lengths I guess.

I mean, kinda, but at some point, you're at the mercy of something beyond your control. If you don't get the reservation time you want because you didn't have internet access 60 days out or you just didn't get to it before a million other people did, you're going to have a difficult time getting exactly what you want. You can pick a time that you can make work, but it's not always convenient, especially when you can't pick something close to your ADR, even if that timeslot is available and will work. That's where a lot of our problems came from: Trying to schedule good FP+ reservations around ADRs and ticketed events.

 

[Mome Rath]

:lol

ETA: Everytime I see your name I think, 'twas brillig..."

The mome raths are the cutest and most under-utilized Disney characters ever that also star in a brilliant poem.

 

[kermiebudge]

Yup...reluctant reformed FP- uber user here...
Can't say we have "embraced" FP+ in its entirety! but we do feel we make the best of the new way. If we had our druthers, we'd go back to FP- in a second though as we really had that process down.

What has grown on me a bit though....I'm basically forced to relax a bit now. No more running here there and everywhere at warp speed to take ultimate advantage of paper FP. On that same note, we definitely don't ride as much...and certainly no multiple rides unless we get to RD, squeeze in a couple rides before mid to late morning FP+ scheduling. We are also spending more time at our resort....leisure time even . Makes me wonder if other people are also spending more time at their resort rather than in the parks as a result of FP+ and if this might be an unintended consequence for Disney (as I believe they want to keep you in the parks as much as possible). Maybe it's just us though and other people are spending more time in the parks now.....

 

[Lewdannie]

I made a video that night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4YllJ_jgus

That was a really interesting video. Thanks for sharing

 

[Suvadoo]

Yup...reluctant reformed FP- uber user here...
Can't say we have "embraced" FP+ in its entirety! but we do feel we make the best of the new way. If we had our druthers, we'd go back to FP- in a second though as we really had that process down.

What has grown on me a bit though....I'm basically forced to relax a bit now. No more running here there and everywhere at warp speed to take ultimate advantage of paper FP. On that same note, we definitely don't ride as much...and certainly no multiple rides unless we get to RD, squeeze in a couple rides before mid to late morning FP+ scheduling. We are also spending more time at our resort....leisure time even . Makes me wonder if other people are also spending more time at their resort rather than in the parks as a result of FP+ and if this might be an unintended consequence for Disney (as I believe they want to keep you in the parks as much as possible). Maybe it's just us though and other people are spending more time in the parks now.....

I'm seeing a lot of posts that say the same as you're reporting. Less attractions, less time in the parks and more time at the resorts.

I just don't think that's valuable. I can spend a lot less money for a better resort experience elsewhere. For the most part the WDW resorts are OK, but nothing spectacular. I go to WDW to be in the parks and on rides and if FP+ is limiting my access, then April will be my last trip.

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm seeing a lot of posts that say the same as you're reporting. Less attractions, less time in the parks and more time at the resorts.

I just don't think that's valuable. I can spend a lot less money for a better resort experience elsewhere. For the most part the WDW resorts are OK, but nothing spectacular. I go to WDW to be in the parks and on rides and if FP+ is limiting my access, then April will be my last trip.

Are you going during a busy Easter week or a less busy time in April?

I'm asking because we found fp+ to be very helpful over the busy Christmas week, but we generally don't like it during our end of August trips when the park is less crowded.

 

[Silock]

Are you going during a busy Easter week or a less busy time in April?

I'm asking because we found fp+ to be very helpful over the busy Christmas week, but we generally don't like it during our end of August trips when the park is less crowded.

And I think that's where a lot of the disconnect is coming from.

FP+ is great if the times you go are consistently crowded, and to be an effective FP- user during those times required running across the parks all the time.

But if you are used to going in the slower seasons, FP+ is a much bigger handicap, because you are getting 2/3rd fewer FPs than you're used to getting. So, you have a lot of frustration with the unnecessary limitations.

 

[Suvadoo]

Are you going during a busy Easter week or a less busy time in April?

I'm asking because we found fp+ to be very helpful over the busy Christmas week, but we generally don't like it during our end of August trips when the park is less crowded.

We're going after Easter and Spring Break has ended so I'm hoping the crowds are better.

 

[wisblue]

I'm seeing a lot of posts that say the same as you're reporting. Less attractions, less time in the parks and more time at the resorts.

I just don't think that's valuable. I can spend a lot less money for a better resort experience elsewhere. For the most part the WDW resorts are OK, but nothing spectacular. I go to WDW to be in the parks and on rides and if FP+ is limiting my access, then April will be my last trip.

To me, these comments highlight one of the fundamental differences in how people approach their Disney vacations and what people enjoy and value about them.

We have always built some resort time, or at least some time outside the parks, into our trips. If you gave me an unlimited front of the line pass, I would still not spend 12-14 hours in a park riding rides over and over again. On the other hand, if I just wanted to spend time at a resort lounging around a pool or a beach or just having a "resort experience", I would get bored very quickly.

What we enjoy about visiting WDW, and what we value, is the total package of recreation, entertainment, and relaxation. The rides and shows in the parks are an important part of that, but not the be all and end all of the vacation.

My perfect Disney vacation would be getting up in the morning when I'm ready to get up, which is usually pretty early anyway, taking my time getting to a park, spending a few hours doing rides and attractions without having to wait for anything, taking a break at the resort lounging around by the pool reading a book or something similar, and then going to a park for a few more hours enjoying a few more attractions and maybe a nighttime show before retiring for the night by about 10 PM.

Over the course of the trip, I would want to do all of my favorite attractions at least once, but I would very rarely do anything more than once in a day. We would probably only spend about 8 hours a day in the parks, 4 or 5 hours starting in the morning and 3-4 hours in the evening.

Of course, this ideal Disney vacation is not really possible, except maybe in the least busy of times. But, we can come pretty close by getting to the parks when they open and doing the most popular attractions then. FP+ allows us to enjoy a few popular attractions in the evening, something that wasn't really possible with paper FPs without spending all day in the parks.