Anyone already post that paper FP will be gone at MK as of 1/14?

[Laketravis]

(3) I am "pathetic" because I don't think that tiers at DHS and Epcot make it impossible to ride more than one headliner without waiting in a long line.

Somebody called you "pathetic"? Seriously? That's just wrong.

 

[wisblue]

Somebody called you "pathetic"? Seriously? That's just wrong.

It's in this thread.

Not directly calling me pathetic, but saying that calling TOT a "headliner" was a pathetic attempt to dispute the statement that you can only get a FP for one headliner at DHS.

 

[Punzie]

Yup among all the other stuff that makes FP+ inferior to FP- .. this is KEY.

Yep. I agree. When we tested in September I changed nearly all my mk selections every time we were there. The same for ak and dhs- I think the only ones I kept were Epcot and only bc dh and the two older girls rode while I met characters with the toddler.

It helped me out exactly zero percent to have early reservations for rides because they weren't busy. I ended up changing them as I breezed through the standby lines and often what I chose ended up being changed as well.

I am fairly certain the only thing I kept in four days of mk was our msep seating. All rides got changed numerous times.

I do realize though that not many were testing and now I may have to stick with what I have but the point is you can't know that far in advance- even a day in advance what rides you'll need fp for and what time.

 

[mesaboy2]

Somebody called you "pathetic"? Seriously? That's just wrong.

No, somebody didn't. "For the record," I called the PP's attempt to defend tiering pathetic, in response to a baiting post on the all-important question of whether lil ol' me thought ToT was a headliner or not. Reading comprehension is everyone's friend.

 

[Laketravis]

We have had at least one person (at least that I read) compare their initial experience during testing of it being "awesome" to a more recent experience where it ... again 'sucked'.

I kinda sorta count myself in that crowd - we were "invited" to test FP+ way back in November of 2012. Of course, they weren't calling it that at the time or maybe they were, I can't remember - but we got a few extra "reservations" on top of regular FP's. I'm pretty sure we were limited to MK, and we used them for Wishes and the parade and something else...again I can't remember.. and we thought it was really cool at the time.

We were given an extremely comprehensive survey to fill out and gave it all high marks (so if you don't like it, maybe you can actually lay some of the blame on me!).

Fast forward to our trip just a couple of months ago and the latest reincarnation of FP+. Long story short, we loved some aspects of it but saw long term problems with other aspects of it. That original thread is buried somewhere on the DIS.

So yeah, I'm evidence of somebody who thought it was cool even before most people had ever even heard of it but now see some very large issues with it.

 

[Laketravis]

Wow, and I just now saw this poll:

FP+ Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down

It's currently running 4 to 1 thumbs down and I haven't even voted yet!

 

[Shaden]

Wow, and I just now saw this poll:

FP+ Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down

It's currently running 4 to 1 thumbs down and I haven't even voted yet!

also some examples of people changing their opinion s in there ... will link more in morning but for pp who asked .... just read through thar thread

 

[ArwenMarie]

Just an observation but it seems the "I'm sure this will turn out fine" crowd is getting smaller and the "This really sucks!" crowd is getting bigger.

If that is any indication of the feedback those CM's with "Research" name tags are getting, I suspect that Disney isn't using that feedback to tweak the system but rather primarily how to present this entire concept differently to future guests.

There is a very astute post by someone who just got back in regards to MB and FP. One of the observations they made was a condition that I don't think Disney is going to find an easy solution for, and that is guests who dispute the "Blue Mickey"...please read that thread for details, but it is a major and unanticipated flaw with FP+

Personally, I don't think there is a lot of mystery to each action Disney takes; each incremental step of implementation is not so much a test as it is a phase in, and the reality of what we see is the reality of what it will be.

I don't feel like I'm explaining this very well, but in essence I don't think Disney is just throwing the alpha out there for testing ... they are throwing out the beta and it would take major faults to justify minor tweaks.

AK is done, and what we see is pretty much the final product. Given that, what they've announced for MK is pretty much the final product. Same goes for HS (just remove legacy FP) and EP (just remove legacy FP) and offsite guests (same-day is as good as it gets).

Yes, we'll see. But the feedback to the DIS is growing in negative nature, and it will be very interesting if not captivating to see how this develops over the next few weeks.

Sure. The CMs can just "direct" them to a kiosk for assistance.

 

[wisblue]

No, somebody didn't. "For the record," I called the PP's attempt to defend tiering pathetic, in response to a baiting post on the all-important question of whether lil ol' me thought ToT was a headliner or not. Reading comprehension is everyone's friend.

You said that with tiering at DHS you could only get a FP for one headliner, and I disagreed. In other words, you made a statement that is factually false (unless TOT is not a headliner), and I called you on it. You didn't appreciate being questioned, so you resorted to calling my disagreement pathetic and referring to me as "your honor" and "Judge Judy".

My reading comprehension is just fine. I also appreciate factual accuracy and avoiding irrelevant sarcasm and personal denigration to keep discussions on an adult level. That is getting next to impossible when dealing with an issue as critical and emotional as getting FPs to both TSMM and RNRC in one day.

It's this kind of thing that makes it not worth the effort to try to offer alternative viewpoints for the benefit of first time or infrequent visitors who come to this site for information to help them plan their trips.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think a lot of this has to do with people who think this will turn out fine, or at least don't think it's the end of the world, getting tired of being berated by the usual members of the "this really sucks" crowd, and leaving them alone to wallow in their misery.

There's been quite enough "berating" on both sides.

 

[lovethattink]

My family is "local" and we are passholders. We've been to AK twice since they started with FP+ for offsite guests. I suppose I am in the minority because it worked out great for my family. It was the easiest park day we've had since DAS started. It made it as easy for us as a park day was when GAC was available. Here is a copy and paste from what I wrote on the disability board.

This was from January 5th.

We went to the AK today for the first time since DAS started. Wow! As an offsite guest, being able to make FP+ made it so easy! From 3pm when we got there until 6:30 when we left, we did so much!

FP+ kiosks were down when we first got there. So I got ds a return time for Dinosaur. We walked around a little. Then he rode triceratop spin which was a 10 minute wait. Went back to the FP+ kiosk. The kiosks were still down, but a cm with an ipad was able to make our reservations for us. We got Dinosaur, Nemo and Bug's Life.

Watched the parade, then headed to Dinosaur and used the FP+. It was ds's first ride on that ever. He loved it. So we went back in line using the DAS. Ate dinner at Restrauntasaurus. Then headed to Nemo. He was tired and wanted to go home, so we didn't use the FP+ for Bug's Life.

It was sooo nice and so easy to do a park this way. I hope the other parks soon change to offer FP+ to offsite guests.

 

[Missyrose]

Sure. The CMs can just "direct" them to a kiosk for assistance.

But with the offsiters now queuing up at those kiosks, that isn't a feasible solution. Sure, it might weed out some of the FP+ cheaters! but I don't think Disney wants to send someone with a legitimate technological problem to stand in a really long kiosk of GR ride when all the CMs are likely to do anyway is give them an anytime FP to use instead.

 

[morethananyonex]

My family is "local" and we are passholders. We've been to AK twice since they started with FP+ for offsite guests. I suppose I am in the minority because it worked out great for my family. It was the easiest park day we've had since DAS started. It made it as easy for us as a park day was when GAC was available. Here is a copy and paste from what I wrote on the disability board.

This was from January 5th.

We went to the AK today for the first time since DAS started. Wow! As an offsite guest, being able to make FP+ made it so easy! From 3pm when we got there until 6:30 when we left, we did so much!

FP+ kiosks were down when we first got there. So I got ds a return time for Dinosaur. We walked around a little. Then he rode triceratop spin which was a 10 minute wait. Went back to the FP+ kiosk. The kiosks were still down, but a cm with an ipad was able to make our reservations for us. We got Dinosaur, Nemo and Bug's Life.

Watched the parade, then headed to Dinosaur and used the FP+. It was ds's first ride on that ever. He loved it. So we went back in line using the DAS. Ate dinner at Restrauntasaurus. Then headed to Nemo. He was tired and wanted to go home, so we didn't use the FP+ for Bug's Life.

It was sooo nice and so easy to do a park this way. I hope the other parks soon change to offer FP+ to offsite guests.

I know this is a delicate subject, and I don't want to offend anybody, but of course touring was nice with the DAS and FP+. You have the ability to wait for attractions with longer lines while enjoying attractions that have shorter lines. You say you're in the minority like it's surprising. You had an easier time riding rides than people without the DAS, you still had a FP- system (the DAS) to use.

I want to make it clear I'm not envious of people who have the DAS, they obviously have challenges in life that lead to them getting it in the first place, but when talking about park touring, I don't think you can lump them in with everybody else. It's great that FP+ makes using the DAS easier on families. It still remains to be seen if FP+ enhances everybody else's experience too. Families without the DAS cannot do a lot of what you described.

 

[wisblue]

There's been quite enough "berating" on both sides.

If I have made any berating, belittling, or insulting comments, I apologize.

I don't care if someone is on my side of a discussion, I don't condone that kind of conduct and don't appreciate it when it is directed at me.

 

[magicbob]

My family is "local" and we are passholders. We've been to AK twice since they started with FP+ for offsite guests. I suppose I am in the minority because it worked out great for my family. It was the easiest park day we've had since DAS started. It made it as easy for us as a park day was when GAC was available. Here is a copy and paste from what I wrote on the disability board.

This was from January 5th.

We went to the AK today for the first time since DAS started. Wow! As an offsite guest, being able to make FP+ made it so easy! From 3pm when we got there until 6:30 when we left, we did so much!

FP+ kiosks were down when we first got there. So I got ds a return time for Dinosaur. We walked around a little. Then he rode triceratop spin which was a 10 minute wait. Went back to the FP+ kiosk. The kiosks were still down, but a cm with an ipad was able to make our reservations for us. We got Dinosaur, Nemo and Bug's Life.

Watched the parade, then headed to Dinosaur and used the FP+. It was ds's first ride on that ever. He loved it. So we went back in line using the DAS. Ate dinner at Restrauntasaurus. Then headed to Nemo. He was tired and wanted to go home, so we didn't use the FP+ for Bug's Life.

It was sooo nice and so easy to do a park this way. I hope the other parks soon change to offer FP+ to offsite guests.

I know this is a delicate subject, and I don't want to offend anybody, but of course touring was nice with the DAS and FP+. You have the ability to wait for attractions with longer lines while enjoying attractions that have shorter lines. You say you're in the minority like it's surprising. You had an easier time riding rides than people without the DAS, you still had a FP- system (the DAS) to use.

I want to make it clear I'm not envious of people who have the DAS, they obviously have challenges in life that lead to them getting it in the first place, but when talking about park touring, I don't think you can lump them in with everybody else. It's great that FP+ makes using the DAS easier on families. It still remains to be seen if FP+ enhances everybody else's experience too. Families without the DAS cannot do a lot of what you described.

Glad you had a good time. But even without the DAS factor, what you described was a touring style that involved seeing relatively few attractions in January. I don't doubt that FP+ would be entirely suitable under those circumstances.

In fact, it may work out great for me in the future because I plan to visit during mostly low crowd times. But there are lots of people who visit in moderate to high crowd times and who would not be satisfied with riding only Dinosaur and Triceratops Spin.

By your own admission, you left without even using your third FP+, so obviously FP+ wasn't critical for the success of your touring style. But for a lot of people, those FP+ reservations will be much more critical to being able to see and do all they want to. The big question (still to be seen) is how the new program will impact those guests.

 

[lovethattink]

I know this is a delicate subject, and I don't want to offend anybody, but of course touring was nice with the DAS and FP+. You have the ability to wait for attractions with longer lines while enjoying attractions that have shorter lines. You say you're in the minority like it's surprising. You had an easier time riding rides than people without the DAS, you still had a FP- system (the DAS) to use.

I want to make it clear I'm not envious of people who have the DAS, they obviously have challenges in life that lead to them getting it in the first place, but when talking about park touring, I don't think you can lump them in with everybody else. It's great that FP+ makes using the DAS easier on families. It still remains to be seen if FP+ enhances everybody else's experience too. Families without the DAS cannot do a lot of what you described.

There is no FP- at AK, so that was NOT available to us. Since October we have been averaging 2 attractions per visit. And DAS has made it pretty hard to even do that. At AK with the FP+ we were able to have a "one stop shopping" to get the 3 FP+. We rode 4 attractions that day, so it doubled our norm.

DAS is not an advantage, it is an equalizer. We waited the same amount of time for Dinosaur as those waiting in the standby line. Except that we could wait it out elsewhere.

Our 2nd time back to AK there was only 1 FP+ available for us. So we snagged that. It still made it so much easier even with only 1. We didn't use the DAS card at all that day. Bugs Life was a 5 minute wait, though we had to wait an extra show because of the w/c line. Kilamanjaro Safari was a 10 minute wait at the end of the day and we were the last accessible jeep to pull out for the day. So that gave us 3 attractions which is still more than the 2 we've been averaging.

I'm hoping to get over to the MK with ds on the 14th to see how it goes there on the first day.

 

[Angel Ariel]

If I have made any berating, belittling, or insulting comments, I apologize.

I don't care if someone is on my side of a discussion, I don't condone that kind of conduct and don't appreciate it when it is directed at me.

My point was more in response to the "people who like FP+ aren't posting because they've been berated" - there has been a lot of the same "berating" attitude from some on the positive side as well, and I'm sure that there are posters who have stopped or slowed their posting because of that as well.

I know I have slowed in my posting in the last week or so because I'm tired of having to defend why it's absolutely acceptable for me to have concerns about the program.

 

[morethananyonex]

There is no FP- at AK, so that was NOT available to us. Since October we have been averaging 2 attractions per visit. And DAS has made it pretty hard to even do that. At AK with the FP+ we were able to have a "one stop shopping" to get the 3 FP+. We rode 4 attractions that day, so it doubled our norm.

DAS is not an advantage, it is an equalizer. We waited the same amount of time for Dinosaur as those waiting in the standby line. Except that we could wait it out elsewhere.

Our 2nd time back to AK there was only 1 FP+ available for us. So we snagged that. It still made it so much easier even with only 1. We didn't use the DAS card at all that day. Bugs Life was a 5 minute wait, though we had to wait an extra show because of the w/c line. Kilamanjaro Safari was a 10 minute wait at the end of the day and we were the last accessible jeep to pull out for the day. So that gave us 3 attractions which is still more than the 2 we've been averaging.

I'm hoping to get over to the MK with ds on the 14th to see how it goes there on the first day.

I didn't mean FP- was available to you, I meant a FP- like system was. The DAS. That's exactly what it is. It gives you return times in X amount of time (usually shorter than FP- was anyways) that allow you to return in the FP line.

The DAS is an advantage in the sense that it allows you to get more attractions in than your non DAS counterpart should you choose to do so. People without the DAS cannot spend the stand by wait time enjoying other attractions, eating, shopping, going to the washroom, taking a break, whatever. The waiting it out elsewhere part is the part of the DAS that makes FP+ more desirable than a family just using FP+ alone who has to stand in stand by lines for any additional rides and can't do repeats without waiting in the line to. I don't dispute that you have to wait with the DAS, just that it allows you to be free to do other things in the park.

All I'm trying to say is, DAS gives you more flexibility which likely helps towards your enjoyment of FP+. That's why it shouldn't be surprising if you're in the minority of offsite guests who enjoy it.

 

[lovethattink]

Glad you had a good time. But even without the DAS factor, what you described was a touring style that involved seeing relatively few attractions in January. I don't doubt that FP+ would be entirely suitable under those circumstances.

In fact, it may work out great for me in the future because I plan to visit during mostly low crowd times. But there are lots of people who visit in moderate to high crowd times and who would not be satisfied with riding only Dinosaur and Triceratops Spin.

By your own admission, you left without even using your third FP+, so obviously FP+ wasn't critical for the success of your touring style. But for a lot of people, those FP+ reservations will be much more critical to being able to see and do all they want to. The big question (still to be seen) is how the new program will impact those guests.

The first day we used FP+ at AK as an offsite guest was the very last day of Mickey's JINGLE Jungle Parade, so it was fairly crowded that day. The 2nd day we went was this past Monday and it wasn't crowded at all, but closed earlier.

Arriving mid afternoon gave us slim pickings for FP+, so for someone who is looking for thrill rides like EE, they'd have to do single rider line or wait it out in standby. Neither day was EE available, but ds can't ride it anyway. And our 2nd day, only Dinosaur was available. But ds loves that attraction so for him it worked out fine.

Yes, we left without using the 3rd FP+ because ds was too exhausted. Had he not been so tired, there would have been that extra attraction opportunity.

The tier system at the other parks will definitely limit most people's attraction choices and ride availability. The only way it will affect my family is if we can't swap a headliner for a non-headliner attraction. If that is the case, then only 2 FP+ would be available for us at DHS and Epcot when it goes into effect there for offsite guests.

 

[Missyrose]

I didn't mean FP- was available to you, I meant a FP- like system was. The DAS. That's exactly what it is. It gives you return times in X amount of time (usually shorter than FP- was anyways) that allow you to return in the FP line.

The DAS is an advantage in the sense that it allows you to get more attractions in than your non DAS counterpart should you choose to do so. People without the DAS cannot spend the stand by wait time enjoying other attractions, eating, shopping, going to the washroom, taking a break, whatever. The waiting it out elsewhere part is the part of the DAS that makes FP+ more desirable than a family just using FP+ alone who has to stand in stand by lines for any additional rides and can't do repeats without waiting in the line to. I don't dispute that you have to wait with the DAS, just that it allows you to be free to do other things in the park.

All I'm trying to say is, DAS gives you more flexibility which likely helps towards your enjoyment of FP+. That's why it shouldn't be surprising if you're in the minority of offsite guests who enjoy it.

Bolding is mine. This is an assumption and it is wrong. With a DAS, you're given a return time that mirrors the standby time (minus a few minutes to account for a wait in the FP line). For many, the DAS allows guests who cannot wait in long lines wait somewhere where their needs can be met until it is time to ride.