AP's to get 20 FP+ per quarter

[CanadianGuy]

I made the joke a few times now -- but Disney spent a small fortune on the Lightmagic night time parade/show/nightmare at Disneyland in the late 90's. The route through the park was changed, viewing areas added, special lighting and projection stands all themed to match the area of the park etc. Nevermind the custom floats with fibre-optic lighting effects, the ridiculously ugly costumes for people and characters and millions in advertising the crap out of it.

It ran for four months and guests hated it SO universally it was unceremoniously dumped. They said it would return but it never did.

Guest reaction and impressions matter. Just not upfront apparently. That's ok, they'll get mine if/when they ask.

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

I really hope that the FP+ implementation is different that than the speculation I've read so far about it. If it does happen I will use the regular FP as long as I can.

I almost wish I didn't have a trip planned and PAPs already purchased I think implementation will not go smoothly and it would be nice to have all the kinks worked out before we went.

 

[bauer1168]

It's all very good to think you will be able to book your FP+ for later in the day so you can have a lie in. Theoretically, that's great if that's what you want. However not only will the people who like to sleep in be wanting to grab the later FP+ slots, but so will most, if not all, of the early risers who were there at RD.
No point in having a FP+ slot for 9:40-10:40, especially during slow seasons when you're there at RD and and can walk into the attraction.
Most may want it during 1-2pm or 5-6pm for example.
There is no guarantee you will get the FP+ time you want.
Toy Story will be the most interesting. As a Previous poster stated,even if you like to sleep in, and the only FP+ slot they could get for say, Toy Story is between the 9-10am range, they might aswell be there at RD anyway. Resulting in them not being able to sleep in at all.
It will be interesting if the tour groups use FP+ too aswell, tour group leader booking say, 50-100 FP+ slots in a matter of seconds, and that's just one tour group. I could be wrong there, as I don't know if there's specific rules/guidelines on tour groups or parties bigger than say 10 people.

 

[mom2rtk]

It's all very good to think you will be able to book your FP+ for later in the day so you can have a lie in. Theoretically, that's great if that's what you want. However not only will the people who like to sleep in be wanting to grab the later FP+ slots, but so will most, if not all, of the early risers who were there at RD.
No point in having a FP+ slot for 9:40-10:40, especially during slow seasons when you're there at RD and and can walk into the attraction.
Most may want it during 1-2pm or 5-6pm for example.
There is no guarantee you will get the FP+ time you want.
Toy Story will be the most interesting. As a Previous poster stated,even if you like to sleep in, and the only FP+ slot they could get for say, Toy Story is between the 9-10am range, they might aswell be there at RD anyway. Resulting in them not being able to sleep in at all.
It will be interesting if the tour groups use FP+ too aswell, tour group leader booking say, 50-100 FP+ slots in a matter of seconds, and that's just one tour group. I could be wrong there, as I don't know if there's specific rules/guidelines on tour groups or parties bigger than say 10 people.

That's a great point. We're almost aways at rope drop. But no way am I scheduling any FPs for early in the day. If FP+ is the way it goes, I'll use it, but I'll definitely be competing with all the late sleepers for later day slots. After I've made the standby rounds while they slumber.

 

[bauer1168]

That's a great point. We're almost aways at rope drop. But no way am I scheduling any FPs for early in the day. If FP+ is the way it goes, I'll use it, but I'll definitely be competing with all the late sleepers for later day slots. After I've made the standby rounds while they slumber.

Thanks I know there's a huuuuuuugggeee number of people on these boards who are a lot more experienced than myself with wait times and when the busiest/longest lines will be. I have always thought 1-3pm, 4-7pm are some of the busiest periods? No-one is going to want to be in a standby line then, the majority of people would probably want a FP slot for then

 

[mesaboy2]

Thanks I know there's a huuuuuuugggeee number of people on these boards who are a lot more experienced than myself with wait times and when the busiest/longest lines will be. I have always thought 1-3pm, 4-7pm are some of the busiest periods? No-one is going to want to be in a standby line then, the majority of people would probably want a FP slot for then

Absolutely.

 

[larryz]

However, if it backfires on them, they, like the Coca-Cola Company, may have to rethink their "New" ideas.

"New FastPass" and "FastPass Classic."

Which one can you buy now?

 

[Suellen]

No point in having a FP+ slot for 9:40-10:40, especially during slow seasons when you're there at RD and and can walk into the attraction.
Most may want it during 1-2pm or 5-6pm for example.

My thought here is that they are limiting the "big rides" you can get on FP so that you will ride some with a short wait in the morning while getting a FP+ for another "big ride" later and not the same one.

Say DHS...

You can't get there early ~ ride TSM, RnRC and Tower of Terror and then ALSO have FP+ later in the day for all those rides... I'm guessing only ONE of those and the other options will be for things like Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones or something.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

"New FastPass" and "FastPass Classic."

Which one can you buy now?

~LOL, apples & oranges. Fastpass+ is not a soft drink, and it's not for "sale" either, it's free & fabulous. I'm so excited about Fastpass+, I cannot wait!

 

[larryz]

~LOL, apples & oranges. Fastpass+ is not a soft drink, and it's not for "sale" either, it's free & fabulous. I'm so excited about Fastpass+, I cannot wait!

Well, so far, it has been "free" to those staying in WDW resorts...

 

[TDC Nala]

but apparently if, as an annual passholder, you elect to use the Fastpass Plus, you cannot go back to regular fastpasses. It's one or the other and you are stuck with your choice. so if you want to have plus so you can snag FPs for Toy Story, and all that's left for your DHS day is the 9:30 AM slot, it won't make much difference and you still have to be at the park that early. and you can't grab another FP for later.

And then you have two extra FPs for DHS that you can use that day, but you can't use them on another headliner, they'll tell you which attractions they'll work on and it could be something like the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot.

I may stick with the regular FP system as long as it's allowed.

 

[mousermerf]

but apparently if, as an annual passholder, you elect to use the Fastpass Plus, you cannot go back to regular fastpasses. It's one or the other and you are stuck with your choice. so if you want to have plus so you can snag FPs for Toy Story, and all that's left for your DHS day is the 9:30 AM slot, it won't make much difference and you still have to be at the park that early. and you can't grab another FP for later.

And then you have two extra FPs for DHS that you can use that day, but you can't use them on another headliner, they'll tell you which attractions they'll work on and it could be something like the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot.

I may stick with the regular FP system as long as it's allowed.

Don't forget that attractions that did not previously have FP but are getting FP+ will not distribute "old style FP" ever. They are not going to install new machines or anything to allow people to get FP for them - only FP+ through the reservation system.

Since they're FP+ they will get people using the system and slowing down the standby line... so if you want any hope f riding those attractions during busy periods you'll need to convert.

Not to mention, once they change all the entry gates to the RFID you have to convert your ticket type and at that point.. so much for the old FP system.

Disney is not going to let this linger and be a drawn out process.

 

[linzbear]

I honestly think this could work well, but not in its current speculative form. At this point it's crowd control from the D/E rides to the A/B/C rides, but it doesn't allow a family that plans well to ride every E ride in the park at least once in one day (without waiting in long standby lines), and that will cause ridiculous backlash as soon as a family with teens upgrades their ticket to a bracelet and is not allowed to use the current FP (I feel sorry for guest services on that day...).

In my case, I'll try it out in May if it's up. But I'll have a 2 & 4 year old, and the 4 year old is afraid of the dark - we'll be lucky if we can get him on BTMRR, and besides that, May is a slow time, so in general I don't have to worry about long standby lines. It'll work out well for me, because I can jump on and get my Toy Story, Peter Pan, and Barnstormer FP's along with the Parade viewing ahead of time, and not have to worry about missing those rides because the FP return happens to be at naptime (Parade starts right after nap ends, so no time to wait for a good spot there). I think I'm about the only person it'll work out well for, though.

 

[TDC Nala]

Not converting until I have to. I'm usually not there in busy times anyway. And no I do not think our opinions are going to change the system, even though Disney spent a small fortune on Light Fantastic or whatever it was and then had to scrap it because it sucked. They spent a LARGE fortune on this. They've already said eventually it will all go to RFID. Resorts, parks, payment, fastpasses, restaurants.

And if you don't want Disney to tell you what you can ride, then you need to plan for standby lines.

 

[DougEMG]

If you don't know how to use FP effectively and you love making ADR at 180 days out, you'll love the FP+.

If you know how to use FP effectively and you hate making ADR at 180 days, you'll hate FP+.

When I get up each morning I like to decide what I'm going to do for the day. I like do my favorite rides multiple times during the day and lots of rides I don't bother with. I typically check online what the wait times and fastpass return times are and plan what I'm going to do based on that. For me, the FP+ suck, I absolutely hate it.

I've been at Big Thunder Mountain and the standby line had a long wait then the return time on the available FP. How does Disney expect people who can't manage using FP properly to book their FP+ months in advance?

My other point is that all the testing that Disney has done so far has allowed guests to use FP and FP+ at the same time. That is a completely different experience than using only FP+. Anyone who was involved in the recent testing care to comment on how they would have felt if it was just FP+ and no FP.

 

[DougEMG]

FastPass+ is exactly what others have eloquently explained - a means to spread people out over a bunch of attractions they probably wouldn't have spent any time on, in effect preventing them from concentrating to heavily on the smaller number of premium ones.

I wonder if, in the process, they won't give proper consideration to just how much of a factor being able to ride a favorite attraction multiple times IS the "experience" that matters most to many.

Personally, I'm not one who would be willing to trade six or more same day Fast Pass rides on Space Mountain for one Space Mountain, one Haunted Mansion, one Parade Viewing, one character Meet & Greet, and five 60 minute Standby wait times for Space Mountain.

And that's what FP+ is going to require me to do. Only time will tell if I'm in the minority or the majority.

Count me in as one who isn't willing to make that trade either.

 

[mousermerf]

I'll stress one more time..

"Opting in" will be optional for an extremely short period. Then all ticket media ceases to work at the turnstiles unless they're converted. Same thing they did when they got rid of ticket books.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

OK, I am confused

We are AP holders and are taking a 2 week trip this summer, staying on property. So we will only get 20 FP + for the whole trip? Or do we get the 4 per day (or whatever) since we are resort guests?

 

[mousermerf]

OK, I am confused

We are AP holders and are taking a 2 week trip this summer, staying on property. So we will only get 20 FP + for the whole trip? Or do we get the 4 per day (or whatever) since we are resort guests?

Disney hasn't clarified. They may or may not have switched systems by that point. From everything visible on the outside, they seem to intend to do it in 2013 at some point, with the physical systems they need for "phase 1" in place by the end of January and the full "tap to pay" by March.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Disney hasn't clarified. They may or may not have switched systems by that point. From everything visible on the outside, they seem to intend to do it in 2013 at some point, with the physical systems they need for "phase 1" in place by the end of January and the full "tap to pay" by March.

Well that STINKS if its true

And the general thinking here is that once FP+ goes live, FP as we currently know it will be a thing of the past?