Anyone else miss the challenge of the old fast passes?

[BugsDaddy]

I think it is laughable that someone can advocate that a system that required you to have a "runner" and to stockpile FPs in order to maximize efficiency was somehow more intuitive to the average guest that going online in the comfort of your own home and selecting your FPs. One argument that is made by those who dislike FP is that going online to get FP's requires "too much pre-planning" and is too burdensome. I guess that getting your mom, wife, husband, etc to run all over the park collecting FPs so that you can ride all three mountains three times and then toss the other FPs is not burdensome at all.

To say that FP- was always being used in the way Disney intended is ridiculous. And if you are not saying that, then by default, anything else is "working the system". Call it what you will, that is what it was.

And Disney knew about it. Once they decided to fix that issue within the new FP+ system, there was grumbling (still is by many on this board). Not that it is the only reason, but I don't think anyone can deny that it is certainly one.

 

[Angel Ariel]

We never had fp runners, and we didn't stockpile fps.

Fp+ *is* more preplanning for us. For *us* and how we toured, that is fact. that isn't the case for others. I have no issue accepting that.

 

[mom2rtk]

I absolutely deny that Disney added FP+ to fix something that was broken.

Runners were not needed. Absolutely not "required". Most of the people who really used "runners" were the first converts into FP+ runners. Most of us who loved legacy FP just incorporated it into our day. Go to a land, pull a FP for the headliner, do some lesser rides waiting for the window to open, move to another land and repeat.

My biggest beef with the whole thing is the loss of the blank slate every morning. Take for example the current lengthy "just home" thread with the mom who was disappointed in the super rushed A/E experience. As I mentioned in that thread, everyone has a bad day. Maybe things were really behind with A/E that day or the gals were just grumpy. I'm sure the mom would have loved to try it again another day. But FP would have been gone 60 days earlier, so no opportunity to do so with a short wait without running with the bulls. Every single day, every single guest entering the park was on even footing. You could adjust for weather, sickness or just plain grumpy kids.

I get that many just prefer FP+. I can see what many of you see in it. My preferences are just different from yours. And that's fine.

But don't kid yourselves into thinking Disney was fixing a problem. Disney wants everyone locked in...... because they believe it benefits their bottom line.

 

[BugsDaddy]

I absolutely deny that Disney added FP+ to fix something that was broken.

Runners were not needed. Absolutely not "required". Most of the people who really used "runners" were the first converts into FP+ runners. Most of us who loved legacy FP just incorporated it into our day. Go to a land, pull a FP for the headliner, do some lesser rides waiting for the window to open, move to another land and repeat.

My biggest beef with the whole thing is the loss of the blank slate every morning. Take for example the current lengthy "just home" thread with the mom who was disappointed in the super rushed A/E experience. As I mentioned in that thread, everyone has a bad day. Maybe things were really behind with A/E that day or the gals were just grumpy. I'm sure the mom would have loved to try it again another day. But FP would have been gone 60 days earlier, so no opportunity to do so with a short wait without running with the bulls. Every single day, every single guest entering the park was on even footing. You could adjust for weather, sickness or just plain grumpy kids.

I get that many just prefer FP+. I can see what many of you see in it. My preferences are just different from yours. And that's fine.

But don't kid yourselves into thinking Disney was fixing a problem. Disney wants everyone locked in...... because they believe it benefits their bottom line.

I never said that was the only reason that FP+ was developed but I think it was certainly something that was considered. Along with profit motivations along with creating a system that was more technologically friendly.

 

[BugsDaddy]

We never had fp runners, and we didn't stockpile fps.

Fp+ *is* more preplanning for us. For *us* and how we toured, that is fact. that isn't the case for others. I have no issue accepting that.

Maybe not you but you don't have to read too far into this thread to find the people that did just that. I am just saying that it did happen and in order to totally maximize efficiency ( note - I didn't say to just use the system as intended), it was the best way to go about it.

 

[scooter7487]

My family certainly misses the old system. As they say a little planning goes a long way. It was nice for my wife and I to have the opportunity to relax and enjoy the stuff the kids were not always interested in while they made it a game to figure out what rides they really wanted to go on and they had a lot of fun being in charge of the touring plans through the lands. I can remember fondly them showing up with a fast pass both holding a mickey bar or some sort of snack that they purchased while on their expeditions to find a fast pass. When we first went the kids were young and luckily we did some research because we didn't want to always wait in the long lines but remember waiting in buzz or space mountain lines for a long time and not regretting not having a fast pass but it was nice to be able to get the opportunity to have a couple fast passes for the rides the kids really wanted to ride. We have done the new system now since it started in animal kingdom and even though there have been some blips there are some advantages but for our experiences we liked the old way much better. I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the lady that is in charge of attractions at animal kingdom on the day they rolled it out at ak and one of the biggest concerns they had was park hopping and at that time the bands were just starting so waiting in line for the kiosks was a nightmare. We had a great conversation, and like anything new there were a lot of bugs to work out. She said the biggest complaint was by those "experienced planners", but that those that have never experienced the old system really liked it. I saw her last summer and knew she wouldn't remember me but had another great conversation and she said that park hopper numbers did go down but they are finding trends that it has increased the morning and evening EMH trends because people will open one park and use their fp+ when they hop. Currently we are planning a trip this summer with 10 people so we are having a fp+ planning party to see if we can at least use our 3 fast passes together.

 

[cakebaker]

I don't remember where it came from, but I do remember a report maybe from last year around this time that had a similar number. A report from a site like TP or easywdw, not just a random post by someone. Like I said, I dont remember where from eexactly or what the whole context of the number was, but I do remember a report discussing an increase in the % of fp+ allotted.

The only place I remember reading that was easywdw from a year ago and the claim was "up to". We don't know if that applies to 1 ride, all rides, if it's a consistent number or if it's even in the ballpark of being true since they made no effort to show how they'd know that. And as the comments were a year ago, who knows that even if true, it's still what they're doing. I don't think there's any place that has access to that kind of inside information. Personally, I wouldn't tout that claim as a known fact or even use it as a guide to guess at the number. We simply have no idea.

"With Disney pushing up to 70% of ride capacity to FastPass+"....http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...monday-april-28th/+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

[BugsDaddy]

The reason FP+ works for me is that I have a young child that requires a break midday and that forces us to split our day. We are also early risers and at able to hit rope drop most days.

This allows us to hit the some of rides we want to hit in the morning and then make our FPs for the evening when we come back to the parks to hit our must do rides.

In the old system and once the forever return times were eliminated, by the time we got back to the parks in the evening, there may not be a FP available forcing us to try to cram all of the must dos in the morning session.

 

[BugsDaddy]

The only place I remember reading that was easywdw from a year ago and the claim was "up to". We don't know if that applies to 1 ride, all rides, if it's a consistent number or if it's even in the ballpark of being true since they made no effort to show how they'd know that. And as the comments were a year ago, who knows that even if true, it's still what they're doing. I don't think there's any place that has access to that kind of inside information. Personally, I wouldn't tout that claim as a known fact or even use it as a guide to guess at the number. We simply have no idea.

"With Disney pushing up to 70% of ride capacity to FastPass+"....http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...monday-april-28th/+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Yep, that was my point. Too many numbers are thrown out as absolute fact when, in reality, they are not. Or there is no reliable source to back up the numbers. Disney won't even release their attendance numbers. No way they are releasing this type of information.

 

[Laketravis]

I think it is laughable that someone can advocate that a system that required you to have a "runner" and to stockpile FPs in order to maximize efficiency.....

Darn it, I had no idea those things were required. Well I guess that explains why I could only get 6 or more FP's a day by just walking up to the machine. If only I'd known...........


.

 

[DisneyFive]

This idea that people had a number of fast passes like a stack of cards and could ride whenever they wanted is crazy to me. We were part of the Majority of patrons who had no knowledge of this ability and would wait on very long lines while "people gaming the system" would ride freely all day long.

I find it comical that some have mentioned they loved spreading the "magic" by offering some fast passes at the end of the day to a family and they would look at them with disbelief and it made them feel so good that there were spreading the magic. I mean really? How wonderful!! At least one person said the liked explaining to someone how to get more fast passes. That was the problem. All day long the majority of people are pulling one pass at a time never knowing people are stockpiling passes.

I can see the people "In the know" missing the olds system and the advantages and "challenge". I just find it upsetting, especially when I see people gloating about it.

I mean Keepsake Aspect! That is crazy to people like me who did not know about this and stood on lines.

Perhaps that is why many people feel Disney has "lost the magic". I know there is more to that, I really do... but many really lost the magic when they could not rule the parks any more or at least not as easily.

I hope you can see how some like myself are very glad those paper fast passes are gone and why it is so hard not to chime in.

And that is part of what I didn't like about the old system. It seemed very inefficient to me. While fast passes were running out, there were guests with a wallet full of fast passes, a lot of which may go unused. I know that there may be fast passes today that go unused but at least you can cancel those in the system and return them back to the supply.

Keeping on the topic of the old FP system...

The idea of stockpiling FP's in the past is way overblown, and I confess that I didn't help explain the situation. We went during the slowest time of the year, when paper FP's were around both when you could, and couldn't use them after the allotted time window.

When I said that I liked having a wallet full of FP's, that's not saying much. We had 7 in our party. One set of FP's was already a lot to have with me, and add a second set and my wallet was THICK. Even though we were there during the slowest time of the year, and knew how to maximize the system, I can't remember ever having more than two sets of FP's at one time. TWO Sets. That's not a stockpile. It was just nice to know that if you wanted to go back to your resort, you could come back to the park and use them when you wanted.

We never pulled FP's with the intent to share them with other guests. We typically pulled all 7 that we could for our group, but once in a while a few decided not to use the FP. The extras we would hand out instead of going to waste.

Also, I very much miss the ability to ride headliners like Soarin, RnRC, etc... twice with FP's. That was doable in the past.

We were very fortunate to have friends that had been to Disney before our first trip in 2010 and told us about FP, and the importance of it. SO glad they did. We never gamed the system, we simply used it.

Dan

 

[BugsDaddy]

Darn it, I had no idea those things were required. Well I guess that explains why I could only get 6 or more FP's a day by just walking up to the machine. If only I'd known...........


.

Required in order to maximize efficiency. Which is the part you neglected to include. Regardless, I am not interested in sparring with you.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The only place I remember reading that was easywdw from a year ago and the claim was "up to". We don't know if that applies to 1 ride, all rides, if it's a consistent number or if it's even in the ballpark of being true since they made no effort to show how they'd know that. And as the comments were a year ago, who knows that even if true, it's still what they're doing. I don't think there's any place that has access to that kind of inside information. Personally, I wouldn't tout that claim as a known fact or even use it as a guide to guess at the number. We simply have no idea.

"With Disney pushing up to 70% of ride capacity to FastPass+"....http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...monday-april-28th/+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

I just remembered it being discussed, but didn't recall from where or what the details were.

 

[Laketravis]

Since you HAVE to pick 3.........

Ah, yes - you DO have to pick three when before you might have only used one or two. And now you are REQUIRED to pick from attractions that never had (or needed?) FP before, which means FP's are applied to an increased quantity of choices. Which means if I were a marketing person and I wanted to promote a positive image by saying that "FP usage has increased by 50%".................

Would I mean that more guests now use FP or that FP is now used more by guests?


.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

I haven't tried it yet, but wife was just there last month. We loved the old system, she didn't care for the new system. This one is catered more for the slow tourist IMO meaning they don't ride a lot of the rides there and take there time around the parks. I also realize we are fast walkers and like doing 2-3 parks per day. We always go in the summer or at Christmas and never had to "run" to get the next FP. We would constantly get 6 FP's/day(yes even on Christmas day), most ever was 8 or 9. You won't be doing that with this new system when it is crowded so get ready to spend a lot of time in the stand by line. My wife just got back from mid Feburary and the crowd level wasn't bad but she was only able to get a max of 4 and that was with all her pre booked Fp's over by 1-2 pm.

When we get to the parks, we hit the big rides many times under the old system. It wasn't uncommon for us to do TSMx2, RnRx3-4, ToTx3-4 in the same day with the old system and we might have to do standby late in the evening when the FP's ran out. I just don't see how this could happen now.

The new system needs tweeked so you can book multiple parks and you need to be able to select Tier 1 rides more than once. This system works better for others than the old and the old worked better for others than the new. We will just have to adjust our planning and stand in line longer.

 

[IrishNYC]

The reason FP+ works for me is that I have a young child that requires a break midday and that forces us to split our day. We are also early risers and at able to hit rope drop most days.

This allows us to hit the some of rides we want to hit in the morning and then make our FPs for the evening when we come back to the parks to hit our must do rides.

In the old system and once the forever return times were eliminated, by the time we got back to the parks in the evening, there may not be a FP available forcing us to try to cram all of the must dos in the morning session.

This is exactly why FP+ works for us, although we've made our FPs for before 3pm, not knowing if she'll make it to return in the evening, because she hates to nap. It's nice to know we can tour the park in a somewhat orderly fashion, see and do what we want, and be out of the parks by 3 or 4pm. If we make it to another park in the evening, we can take the time to look at the little things - explore the World Showcase, shop Main Street, watch Wishes and the parade, and even get on more rides.

 

[minniemous]

Keeping on the topic of the old FP system...

The idea of stockpiling FP's in the past is way overblown, and I confess that I didn't help explain the situation. We went during the slowest time of the year, when paper FP's were around both when you could, and couldn't use them after the allotted time window.

When I said that I liked having a wallet full of FP's, that's not saying much. We had 7 in our party. One set of FP's was already a lot to have with me, and add a second set and my wallet was THICK. Even though we were there during the slowest time of the year, and knew how to maximize the system, I can't remember ever having more than two sets of FP's at one time. TWO Sets. That's not a stockpile. It was just nice to know that if you wanted to go back to your resort, you could come back to the park and use them when you wanted.

We never pulled FP's with the intent to share them with other guests. We typically pulled all 7 that we could for our group, but once in a while a few decided not to use the FP. The extras we would hand out instead of going to waste.

Also, I very much miss the ability to ride headliners like Soarin, RnRC, etc... twice with FP's. That was doable in the past.

We were very fortunate to have friends that had been to Disney before our first trip in 2010 and told us about FP, and the importance of it. SO glad they did. We never gamed the system, we simply used it.

Dan

Well I understand what you are saying. The problem is I do not know exactly how the old system was used 100%, but when I hear statements like the one you just explained (And I thank you) along with other peoples comments calling it a "loophole" themselves it definitely sounds like a system that can be really good for people "in the know" and really bad for people that are not.

Also when I witnessed what people were doing when they were testing the new system with the plastic cards in 2013.... that was infuriating. I would be waiting on the fast pass line with my one fast pass for TS with my family and all these people around me talking about the multiple scores they had throughout the day. Seeing them do a complete turn around after exiting the ride and right track into fast pass line to ride again while people on standby 80 minute lines.

Taking everything under consideration I just like this new system and have had no problems with it so far. We are riding more rides with ease then we ever were before.

 

[Laketravis]

Required in order to maximize efficiency. Which is the part you neglected to include. Regardless, I am not interested in sparring with you.

"Sparring"? I do believe you've pointed out in the past that if you make a claim or comment on an internet forum, it's open for discussion and that the poster should be prepared for and expect feedback.

In any event, I considered 6 FP's to be very efficient - and it did not require running around the park or stockpiling them.


.

 

[mom2rtk]

Ah, yes - you DO have to pick three when before you might have only used one or two. And now you are REQUIRED to pick from attractions that never had (or needed?) FP before, which means FP's are applied to an increased quantity of choices. Which means if I were a marketing person and I wanted to promote a positive image by saying that "FP usage has increased by 50%".................

Would I mean that more guests now use FP or that FP is now used more by guests?


.

Given that they have added FP to so many additional attractions, I think a 50% increase in usage would be somewhat of an underperformance.

 

[g8torphan]

In any event, I considered 6 FP's to be very efficient - and it did not require running around the park or stockpiling them.

Still doesn't...and 6 are still attainable