Apparently I dislike FP+...alot

[Angel Ariel]

But you must agree that for folks who are not early risers, FP+ is a boon. The problem with legacy FP was that if you were not one of those early birds, the chances of getting a FP for the big ticket attractions were slim, unless you wanted to stay til closing. While I understand why FP+ has many people unhappy, I do believe that it evens the playing field for those attractions for those people who plan ahead. Unfortunately for those folks who do not, it can be a problem, as I witnessed last week.

Somehow I don't think that those onsite guests who have been unable to get A&E or 7DMT even at midnight at 60 days would agree that they had a level playing field when all the fps for their trips were booked by those who arrive a day or two before them.

 

[jahber]

Somehow I don't think that those onsite guests who have been unable to get A&E or 7DMT even at midnight at 60 days would agree that they had a level playing field when all the fps for their trips were booked by those who arrive a day or two before them.

Ha! I can guarantee many of us AP and offsite people who would like to ride 7DMT once without waiting for 60+ minutes don't find the playing field very level either. Then there's the A&E, other meet n greets, Wishes, and parades we can't get FP+ for. But other than that, it's totally a level playing field. Oh. And TSMM. But other than that, totally level.

 

[itchin2go]

Ha! I can guarantee many of us AP and offsite people who would like to ride 7DMT once without waiting for 60+ minutes don't find the playing field very level either. Then there's the A&E, other meet n greets, Wishes, and parades we can't get FP+ for. But other than that, it's totally a level playing field. Oh. And TSMM. But other than that, totally level.

Not to mention, even amongst those who can book 60 days out, the system heavily favors those with LONG stays.

Now, I can totally understand why Disney might like to favor those folks. But I cannot fathom how this has leveled the playing field.

 

[smitch425]

And fact for me, I was unable to get a 4th or more even in MK for anything we wanted to go on. Yes Teacups stitch, and Speedway were available, but I was shocked I wasn't able to get one for Buzz, PotC or HM. They were gone by 2pm. Waited for 1/2 an hour for Pirates. Did MK 3 days and never did do JC. I was bummed for my niece and nephews we weren't able to do Big Thunder twice last Sunday either (luckily we were able to reride later in the week). FP+ didn't have any glitches (thank goodness), but I def didn't feel any "+" with this system for the way we toured.

Not sure which days you were there, but we had great luck booking at the kiosks (though we did change some on the app immediately after booking because there were more options on the app). We were at MK on Oct. 18, 19, 21 (just from 4pm on) and 24, and got 4th (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th) FP for pirates, JC, Buzz, and HM, and late in the day. Space was available a couple of times, but did not notice if BTMR was an option. We ended up booking things like Winnie the Pooh, HM, Buzz and pirates for most of our additional passes because we aren't big thrill ride people.

 

[cakebaker]

Somehow I don't think that those onsite guests who have been unable to get A&E or 7DMT even at midnight at 60 days would agree that they had a level playing field when all the fps for their trips were booked by those who arrive a day or two before them.

We are exclusively on site guests and absolutely think it's a much more level playing field than fp ever was. Do we get to ride the same ride 7-8 times as I've seen people say they used to be able to do? No. But then again, we get to ride more things once at least without having to do stand by. We can easily get in a single headliner or 2 by doing rope drop or EMH or just riding late at night, but when it's 3-4 rides, it gets diffcult.

A&E and 7dmt are 2 attractions in all of WDW. The only other difficult ride to get is TSMM and that one is not difficult to find 60 days out- at least it wasn't when we booked at 45 days out. I'll gladly trade the difficulty of getting fp+'s for 2 rides over walking into a park in the late afternoon and finding most headliners out by 6.

For those that say this isn't true- I spent some time this afternoon looking at old posts from people a year or two ago- I ran into several posts complaining about TOT, RRC, TSMM, Soarin and Test Track being out of fp's by noon. There were many posts talking bout wait lines to get fp's, late return times by 10am for TSMM, lots and lots of complaints. It was very interesting as I wasn't active in WDW planning forums, so wasn't sure what people were actually thinking back then. Time has a way of making people forget how it really was.

Ran into quotes like this-

The worst two I have ever seen are Toy Story Mania and Soarin'. You really have to get someone that can run ahead for those tickets!!!

Fp had it's problems for lots of people, not just us.

 

[mom2rtk]

We are exclusively on site guests and absolutely think it's a much more level playing field than fp ever was. Do we get to ride the same ride 7-8 times as I've seen people say they used to be able to do? No. But then again, we get to ride more things once at least without having to do stand by. We can easily get in a single headliner or 2 by doing rope drop or EMH or just riding late at night, but when it's 3-4 rides, it gets diffcult.

A&E and 7dmt are 2 attractions in all of WDW. The only other difficult ride to get is TSMM and that one is not difficult to find 60 days out- at least it wasn't when we booked at 45 days out. I'll gladly trade the difficulty of getting fp+'s for 2 rides over walking into a park in the late afternoon and finding most headliners out by 6.

For those that say this isn't true- I spent some time this afternoon looking at old posts from people a year ago- I ran into several posts complaining about TOT, RRC, TSMM, Soarin and Test Track being out of fp's by noon. Time has a way of making people forget how it really was.

An old post from a year or so ago said this:

FPs being gone by noon never did mean you had to run to get there. Just get there at rope drop. Hang back and let the crowds pass by. Have a snack, meet a couple characters, then saunter over 30 or 45 minutes later. No running, no mass of humanity. Easy Peasy. Even for TSMM and Soarin.

And if you were looking at posts from last October, you were looking at the worst time in FP history. That was back when Epcot and DHS were not tiered yet, and people were able to double dip with magic bands and all sorts of cards. But it was never that bad with legacy.

 

[Jeslynb]

For whatever reason, we didn't enjoy our last trip (first with FP+) as much as we've enjoyed previous ones. It did feel like "getting less" and we found it more rigid. It just kind of sucked a little of the fun out, but I can't really explain why.

We still had fun. Wouldn't boycott the parks over it, but no one is dying to go this year b/c it just felt more like a hassle, with the exception of the holiday party which was so awesome we did it twice.

I dunno. Not a fan. I love the idea of it, just not the reality.

 

[cakebaker]

FPs being gone by noon never did mean you had to run to get there. Just get there at rope drop. Hang back and let the crowds pass by. Have a snack, meet a couple characters, then saunter over 30 or 45 minutes later. No running, no mass of humanity. Easy Peasy. Even for TSMM and Soarin.

And if you were looking at posts from last October, you were looking at the worst time in FP history. That was back when Epcot and DHS were not tiered yet, and people were able to double dip with magic bands and all sorts of cards. But it was never that bad with legacy.

Actually, I edited my post to correct the time frame- a year or two. I purposefully skipped last fall due to the issues you're talking about. Sorry I can't tell you the exact date of the quote I posted, but there were others that were similar that I just read so those dates I do know- bookmarking would've helped me, but no way am I hunting that quote down now. I don't believe it was last fall though.

It's easy peasy if that's they way you like to tour the parks. Just like fp+ is easy peasy now for us. And being out by noon, guaranteed that park hopping and getting a fp was not going to happen.

But the historical posts I've been reading show a lot of dissatisfaction with TSMM fp waits and lack of availability. I recall being there and know for us that in the late afternoon, headliners at Epcot and HS were often out of fp's.

Here's a few from 2011. Just happens that the thread I was reading happened to be talking about TSMM, but there are others that discuss other rides having much the same issues.

When I finally got the FP's the return time was 12:30- we were at DHS 20 minutes before rope drop and I walked right to TSM FP distribution!

I was at WDW at the end of August and both mornings we went to DHS the last was past One Mans Dream, by the time I got FP the stand by was already at 60 minutes. Both day the FP's were all gone by noon. Its certainly crazy. Its the goldent ticket!

This pretty much mirrors our experiences with FP- at tsmm and other rides as well.

 

[Angel Ariel]

We are exclusively on site guests and absolutely think it's a much more level playing field than fp ever was. Do we get to ride the same ride 7-8 times as I've seen people say they used to be able to do? No. But then again, we get to ride more things once at least without having to do stand by. We can easily get in a single headliner or 2 by doing rope drop or EMH or just riding late at night, but when it's 3-4 rides, it gets diffcult.

A&E and 7dmt are 2 attractions in all of WDW. The only other difficult ride to get is TSMM and that one is not difficult to find 60 days out- at least it wasn't when we booked at 45 days out. I'll gladly trade the difficulty of getting fp+'s for 2 rides over walking into a park in the late afternoon and finding most headliners out by 6.

I wasn't referencing riding the same ride 7-8 times. I was talking about getting 1 FP, for 1 attraction. Yes, A&E and 7DMT are only 2 attractions. I never implied otherwise. However for those people for whom those attractions are a big deal, and were unable to get them at 60 days despite being onsite guests, I would imagine there exist some who do not feel their playing field was level.

I will wholeheartedly agree that the playing field is*different* now, and favors many people who did not like legacy, but I equally wholeheartedly disagree that it is level. I just don't believe something is a level playing field when good portions of the availability - even if it is just a few rides - is gone before someone is even eligible to book.

Fp had it's problems for lots of people, not just us.

I've always acknowledged that legacy didn't work well for some.

I get and appreciate that FP+ works better for those people. But the fact that FP+ works better for them does not mean the playing field as a whole is any more level. It's just tilted differently than it was before.

 

[ParkHoppers]

I agree that a new digital version of the legacy system could work. However the only reason some people got a lot of FP under the old system was just the Math of the situation. Disney didn't publicize the old legacy system which in turn led to not that many people using it. Now that Disney is making a huge push to get people to use the new system a lot more people are using it. So now the math of the situation means more people using FP can only mean less for each guest as there are only so many FP in the pool.The cat is out of the bag on FP. What used to be almost a hidden perk for those in the know has become totally mainstream and highly used. You can,t put it back in the box. A lot more people will use FP going forward no matter what the details of the system might look like. I will also add that I believe that Disney did not publicize the old system because they realized that it would be very bad if twice as many people showed up at RD under the old legacy system. Disney IMO wants people to show up at different times as even as possible throughout the day for crowd control. If you now went back to the old system all the new users of FP would probably realize to get the best use of it you should show up at RD. Having many more people showing up at RD would be a crowd problem that Disney nor its guest would be happy about. The new system spreads out the crowds in that they can show up when they want and still get FPs. Also because of the tiering which includes ALL the rides in DW the crowds while they are in the parks will be more spread out. These two crowd control outcomes are good for Disney and the guest in the parks for a more enjoyable less cramped experience.

Hoping to get some more feedback on what I wrote above. I would like to know how we could go back to the legacy system and get people even close to what they used to get as far as FPs are concerned now that so many people are using FP. Thoughts on the crowd control issue also welcome.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Hoping to get some more feedback on what I wrote above. I would like to know how we could go back to the legacy system and get people even close to what they used to get as far as FPs are concerned now that so many people are using FP. Thoughts on the crowd control issue also welcome.

Honestly, I don't think there's discussion happening on this point because it's pretty evident that going back to legacy is not an option.

As much as there are many of us who may prefer legacy, I think it's safe to say that most - if not all - have accepted the fact that legacy is gone and isn't coming back.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Not sure which days you were there, but we had great luck booking at the kiosks (though we did change some on the app immediately after booking because there were more options on the app). We were at MK on Oct. 18, 19, 21 (just from 4pm on) and 24, and got 4th (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th) FP for pirates, JC, Buzz, and HM, and late in the day. Space was available a couple of times, but did not notice if BTMR was an option. We ended up booking things like Winnie the Pooh, HM, Buzz and pirates for most of our additional passes because we aren't big thrill ride people.

Dang....was there 10/26, 10/28 and 10/31. I did have a party of 6 though. Although 10/26, I tried to get just 1 fp at a time for PotC or HM and it was no go. This was b/t 1:30 and 2. I would have been happy with pooh, pirates, buzz, HM (what I refer to as solid 2nd tier non headliners...yes I know MK isn't tiered) but all that was left was teacups, stitch, speedway. Maybe I hadn't spent enough money yet so the system wouldn't let me get the good rides.

ETA: didn't know about there being different options on app. So I should have picked Stitch and then I could have changed to Pirates? That is some tribal knowledge I missed somewhere along the way. And yet the playing field has been leveled and there are no longer any "tricks" to know about?

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Hoping to get some more feedback on what I wrote above. I would like to know how we could go back to the legacy system and get people even close to what they used to get as far as FPs are concerned now that so many people are using FP. Thoughts on the crowd control issue also welcome.

Honestly, what I would love is 1 prebooked and then once you are in the park you get FPs like legacy worked. And it would allow you to technically hold 2 FPs at the same time. For example, if I had.Wishes FP+ at night, I could still arrive at RD and grab one for Space, ride it standby, maybe ride Buzz and then use the Space FP+ and then move on to Fantasyland and pull one for PP and then ride other rides in FL while waiting for the PP FP+ time to come up. Folks that love FP+ b/c they don't have to be in the rope drop craziness would still be able to ride Soarin' or TSM, but commandos would also be in a better position than they are now. I would think this would work ok for hopping b/c folks could use FP+ in morning park (rope drop has lost some advantage in my book....still better than arriving at 11 just not as good as it used to be) and hoppers would still have a FP to use at the evening park too.

 

[ParkHoppers]

Honestly, what I would love is 1 prebooked and then once you are in the park you get FPs like legacy worked. And it would allow you to technically hold 2 FPs at the same time. For example, if I had.Wishes FP+ at night, I could still arrive at RD and grab one for Space, ride it standby, maybe ride Buzz and then use the Space FP+ and then move on to Fantasyland and pull one for PP and then ride other rides in FL while waiting for the PP FP+ time to come up. Folks that love FP+ b/c they don't have to be in the rope drop craziness would still be able to ride Soarin' or TSM, but commandos would also be in a better position than they are now. I would think this would work ok for hopping b/c folks could use FP+ in morning park (rope drop has lost some advantage in my book....still better than arriving at 11 just not as good as it used to be) and hoppers would still have a FP to use at the evening park too.

Good stuff! Thank you. My only concern would be because so many more people now know about FP would that now mean a lot more people would show up at RD for its added benefits as far as FP goes making that situation an unmanageable mess?

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Good stuff! Thank you. My only concern would be because so many more people now know about FP would that now mean a lot more people would show up at RD for its added benefits as far as FP goes making that situation an unmanageable mess?

In my opinion no. Only b/c it's vacation and folks don't wanna get up early on vacation. They don't do it now even though most guidebooks would say rope drop is still advantageous. (Yes I also know late night EMH is advantageous too). I do think RD has an advantage too just not as much as it was before. With FPs starting at 9 right when park opens (maybe 9:10), the standby line gets longer faster b/c of folks in the FP line. FP- didn't start til I believe 9:40.

 

[wisblue]

FPs being gone by noon never did mean you had to run to get there. Just get there at rope drop. Hang back and let the crowds pass by. Have a snack, meet a couple characters, then saunter over 30 or 45 minutes later. No running, no mass of humanity. Easy Peasy. Even for TSMM and Soarin.

And if you were looking at posts from last October, you were looking at the worst time in FP history. That was back when Epcot and DHS were not tiered yet, and people were able to double dip with magic bands and all sorts of cards. But it was never that bad with legacy.

The issue wasn't so much getting a FP, but getting one for a time we could use.

On those busy days during the holidays when FPs would run out by noon or shortly after for things like TSMM or Soarin, the return times moved well into the afternoon very quickly. So, if we wanted to take an afternoon break, or move into the World Showcase when it opened, it was difficult to get a FP that we could use. Maybe easy peasy for you, but not for us.

With FP+ we make those reservations in the early evening when we know we can use them.

As always, works well for some, not for others.

 

[Jeslynb]

Honestly, what I would love is 1 prebooked and then once you are in the park you get FPs like legacy worked. And it would allow you to technically hold 2 FPs at the same time. For example, if I had.Wishes FP+ at night, I could still arrive at RD and grab one for Space, ride it standby, maybe ride Buzz and then use the Space FP+ and then move on to Fantasyland and pull one for PP and then ride other rides in FL while waiting for the PP FP+ time to come up. Folks that love FP+ b/c they don't have to be in the rope drop craziness would still be able to ride Soarin' or TSM, but commandos would also be in a better position than they are now. I would think this would work ok for hopping b/c folks could use FP+ in morning park (rope drop has lost some advantage in my book....still better than arriving at 11 just not as good as it used to be) and hoppers would still have a FP to use at the evening park too.

That would be ideal.

 

[wisblue]

Honestly, what I would love is 1 prebooked and then once you are in the park you get FPs like legacy worked. And it would allow you to technically hold 2 FPs at the same time. For example, if I had.Wishes FP+ at night, I could still arrive at RD and grab one for Space, ride it standby, maybe ride Buzz and then use the Space FP+ and then move on to Fantasyland and pull one for PP and then ride other rides in FL while waiting for the PP FP+ time to come up. Folks that love FP+ b/c they don't have to be in the rope drop craziness would still be able to ride Soarin' or TSM, but commandos would also be in a better position than they are now. I would think this would work ok for hopping b/c folks could use FP+ in morning park (rope drop has lost some advantage in my book....still better than arriving at 11 just not as good as it used to be) and hoppers would still have a FP to use at the evening park too.

That could be fine in theory, but one big question I would have is how much strain that would put on the system if a high percentage of guests were scrambling for FPs as soon as a park opened. With paper FP there were a very limited number of FP distribution points. If people could book FPs on their phones there could be thousands trying to get FPs at the same time. And, if FPs were only available at kiosks like they are now for fourth FPs the lines at the kiosks would probably be massive and FPs for popular attractions would run out very quickly for the most popular attractions.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

That could be fine in theory, but one big question I would have is how much strain that would put on the system if a high percentage of guests were scrambling for FPs as soon as a park opened. With paper FP there were a very limited number of FP distribution points. If people could book FPs on their phones there could be thousands trying to get FPs at the same time. And, if FPs were only available at kiosks like they are now for fourth FPs the lines at the kiosks would probably be massive and FPs for popular attractions would run out very quickly for the most popular attractions.

Obviously the infrastructure would need some massive improvements in order for this to work. With only getting 1 in advance though I think FPs would last longer than they do now.

 

[wisblue]

Obviously the infrastructure would need some massive improvements in order for this to work. With only getting 1 in advance though I think FPs would last longer than they do now.

If we put the system issue aside, my guess would be that more FPs would be available to start the day than they are now, but for the most popular attractions, they would run out significantly faster than they did with paper FP.

If FPs were available by phone, and first became available when the park opened, you could create a new kind of phenomenon at rope drop. Instead of rushing to attractions, guests would start working their phones the instant they get through the gates, causing big logjams at the entrances.