At the park now, FP+ lines are snaking through the park

[Davey Jones II]

Wow.....seems hard to believe but maybe the implementers never go to the parks?

Right! They think they can plan these things from the air conditioned comfort of their cozy corporate bubble. GET OUT INTO THE PARKS AND FIND OUT WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON!

 

[ChrisFL]

Right! They think they can plan these things from the air conditioned comfort of their cozy corporate bubble. GET OUT INTO THE PARKS AND FIND OUT WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON!

Exactly. Walt himself used to WAIT IN LINES with the guests so he could see things from the guest perspective!

 

[Lsyves]

Really hoping their plan is to fix this before the big crowds for spring break/Easter. To me that would be common sense, but we shall see...

 

[Yummy]

Just passing along my experience today (Saturday) at Epcot: Test Track: got in line with two people in front of me at FP+ checkpoint one so no line outside at all. Walked straight through to FP+ checkpoint two where there were 6 people in front of me. Total wait time from first getting in line until scanning band at checkpoint two - under two minutes. Stand by wait time was 50 minutes. Soarin': got in line with no one in front of me at checkpoint one. Line stopped with about 20 people or so in front of me. Waited a few minutes to scan band at checkpoint two. Total wait time from getting in line until scanning band at checkpoint two - 5 minutes. Stand by wait time was 70 minutes. Mission Space: no one scanning in front of me at either checkpoint so total wait time was under a minute. Posted wait time was 20 minutes but this was probably inflated as line seemed closer to about 10 minutes. In total walked in to Epcot at 1:30, had lunch at Boulangerie, rode three rides, bought Mickey ears, and walked out by 4:35 to head back to Resort.

Sure am hoping our May trip will look more like this!

 

[EMode]

Yes I was lucky with the glitch but getting there at 1:35 with FP- I would probably only have been able to FP one (if any at all) since by 3:35ish it would be likely the other one would have run out. Therefore, I would have had to stand in one line with FP- as well. Also, there is no way that the FP- I would have obtained at 1:35 would have been for a return time that would accommodate the fact that I only had 3 hours at the park. So in my particular circumstances today, with FP- I may have had to stand in BOTH lines or skip them both.

Today was our first day so I'll post our other experiences in case anyone finds them useful.

But with FP+ (glitch free ) you would have to wait SB for one of those rides, no matter what time you got to the park. Obviously being there at RD would be better than getting there at 1:00 but as long as there is tiering in effect one of those rides will always have t be done SB, and for me that is definitely not something to love.

 

[MVC1225]

Wow, what a horribly short day. I assume you are a pass holder, or don't have to worry about a budget.

Since only half the people at Epcot can choose either ride, i wouldn't expect too long of FP+ lines, really. Especially a random February weekend.

-Jason

I am a Passholder. We are going to Epcot tomorrow for a full day. I drove up from Miami and got here at 12:30. The rest of my group was flying in and their flight landed at 4:45. Since I had extra down time until they arrived, I decided to head to Epcot for lunch and a few rides.

 

[DisneyAnytime]

I haven't read this whole thread just the OP's post. Our last trip was in early Oct of last year, right after FP+ was being rolled out at all resorts. I noticed that on a few rides that the FP line was signficantly longer than I had ever seen them before. The longest I have ever waited in a FP line is probably around 15 minutes. We did wait longer once on Soarin when the ride went down but I consider that an exception. The FP line for Buzz Lightyear was out the building and backed up around the old FP kiosks. The FP line for Test Track and TSMM were both backed to the outside, and TSMM took especially long to actually board the ride (I'm sure it's because it's such a slow loader). Anyway, my point of this is.....WHY .......I can't for the life of me figure out why FP+ should make the lines any longer than FP-. Are they scheduling more FP+ than they would have FP-?

If this is what WDW is going to do, fine, I can work with it. But the reason I grabbed a FP- was so I could ride once with a pretty short wait. What's the point in FP+ if I still have to wait in a 30+ minute line? Something is wrong with the system.

Here is part of the "Why" : With FP-, you had to actually get into the park, go to the desired ride, check the standby line (maybe), and then pull your fastpass. Now with FP+, you can sit at home 60 days before your visit and pull your fastpass.

With the earlier availability, more people are going to take advantage of the system. People who wouldn't have used the FP- system may be more inclined to use the new system to see what all the "hype" or the "fuss" is about.

While I'm sure the folks who designed the FP+ system put a lot of time and effort into the algorithms and voodoo rituals necessary to determine how many FPs per hour per ride per day could be issued, until the system is actually used, there is no way to determine if it is enough or too many.

Add to this all the confusion in using a new system, the glitches, the people still using RFID cards that have to be dug out of wallets/pockets/bags, people getting in the wrong line, and an excessively busy day, and yes --- the lines are going to be long.

It does stink and makes for a lot more Grumpy and a lot less Happy (not sure where that leaves Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, and Sleepy! ). Just don't give up and don't be scared away. The system is still in it's infancy and will continue to evolve and improve. And yes, it is easy for me to say this now as our first FP+ experience is still 96 days out. I hope all who are there before us will be still be able to find some MAGIC

 

[Davey Jones II]

Exactly. Walt himself used to WAIT IN LINES with the guests so he could see things from the guest perspective!

Yes, but why should they follow HIS example? He was only the company founder...

 

[Davey Jones II]

Yep, to me its awful because it ruins the way I tour. But to the average tourist who didn't even know what a FP was or only used 3 or less anyway. It's great news.

The majority of tourists are happy because they now get to walk onto 3 whole rides, clueless that that really isn't that great of a deal. But, since they aren't planners, they don't know better. Does Disney care that my experience is lessened? Of course not. Me riding less doesn't cost them anything. They are making tons of people happy. You know the ones who go to Disney ride 4 rides all day where they wait for over an hour for each ride. Then they come back mad because Disney is no fun. Those people are jumping for joy right now, they only have to wait 1 hr for one ride.

I mean that was the plan all along. Even the playing field and spread things out. Take the 8 FP I might use in a day, 2 or 3 for the same headliner, and spread them out to other people. Now instead of me riding a headliner 3 or 4 times without waiting in a day. I get to do it once maybe twice if I'm lucky. Disney gets to let 3 more people than normal ride it without waiting by essentially giving the FP I would have used to them instead.

Disney also forces me to stay in the park longer by forcing me to hit rope drop for the other headliners I'm no longer allowed to use FP for. Then they keep me in the park by spreading my times out so that I have to wait in between each FP reservation. This means I'm more likely to shop or eat. Add in that all the stand by lines are now longer, and I'm even more likely to shop or eat rather than stand around in line in between my afternoon FP+ reservations.

In my opinion, they don't really want you to tour efficiently or to the standard people on the DIS are use to. It's not really in their favor. Touring that way leaves very little extra time to spend money and takes all the FP away from other tourists.

My guess is that the percentage of tourists who go to Disney and leave unhappy with a bad experience because they didn't plan is equal to or greater than the number who are frustrated with FP+. Planners are frustrated, and then not even all of us. Non planners, seem to love it.

There are a lot of assumptions in this post that I want to address. There seems to be a popular myth which claims that posters on DISboards or other Disney/theme park fan sites are atypical of most tourists. I would say that we are typical of loyal, repeat visitors. I would also venture to say that repeat business is very important to the theme park industry.
Elsewhere on this thread, people have said that 50% of guests used Legacy FPs. So among the half who were clueless about the old FP system, there are a certain percentage who had a bad experience because they were stuck in long lines for most of their trip. Disney probably lost them forever. Another percentage could only afford to come to WDW once in their life, as a long-saved for dream destination. Still others only come back every 5-10 years, or even less.

So my guess is that, among the 50% who did use Legacy FP, most are frequent, return customers who spend most of their vacation dollars on theme park trips. That is a core customer base who make up a disproportionate number of Disney visits. This is a group that often, through their enthusiasm, "converts" others to the cult of Disney, bringing their kids, relatives, friends and significant others to the resorts. When we love what the company is doing, we spread the word through social media, sites like DISboards, and old fashioned word of mouth.

The company would have to be nuts to be unconcerned about keeping us happy.

 

[3happydancers]

What about those without a smart phone, how do they do it in 15 seconds.

Exactly!

 

[3happydancers]

Hail down a CM with an Ipad, or find an unused kiosk. You can do this any time before the end of the day even after your FP windows has closed. Using a CM has the advantage of possibly getting pixie dust that you can't get on the phone.

Really, this is no better than having to go to a legacy machine. Not interested in having to "hunt" down a cm or kiosk. This is not a plus for us!

 

[Planogirl]

There are a lot of assumptions in this post that I want to address. There seems to be a popular myth which claims that posters on DISboards or other Disney/theme park fan sites are atypical of most tourists. I would say that we are typical of loyal, repeat visitors. I would also venture to say that repeat business is very important to the theme park industry.
Elsewhere on this thread, people have said that 50% of guests used Legacy FPs. So among the half who were clueless about the old FP system, there are a certain percentage who had a bad experience because they were stuck in long lines for most of their trip. Disney probably lost them forever. Another percentage could only afford to come to WDW once in their life, as a long-saved for dream destination. Still others only come back every 5-10 years, or even less.

So my guess is that, among the 50% who did use Legacy FP, most are frequent, return customers who spend most of their vacation dollars on theme park trips. That is a core customer base who make up a disproportionate number of Disney visits. This is a group that often, through their enthusiasm, "converts" others to the cult of Disney, bringing their kids, relatives, friends and significant others to the resorts. When we love what the company is doing, we spread the word through social media, sites like DISboards, and old fashioned word of mouth.

The company would have to be nuts to be unconcerned about keeping us happy.

I agree! I often wonder about the assumption that so many people who don't come to this forum are ignorant about fastpasses. I would bet that most people who used fastpasses on a regular basis don't go to any forum. Not everyone enjoys chatting at these places.

I definitely think that Disney values us more experienced people more than some seem to think. I would say that the inexperienced traveler isn't as likely to go back to WDW as often. They simply aren't as interested which is probably why they know so little to begin with. Of course that can change if they decide that they love it but I bet that many just go and maybe never go again or only go every decade or so. My relatives are like that. They've been and it was fine but since then they've been doing other things.

Plus that word of mouth is often what causes a place to become popular (or unpopular). Why would any company not want good word of mouth?

 

[Snurk71]

Right! They think they can plan these things from the air conditioned comfort of their cozy corporate bubble. GET OUT INTO THE PARKS AND FIND OUT WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON!

Having witnessed/overheard imagineers take in attractions numerous times, including Joe Rohde a number of times, I'd venture to guess that you don't know what you're yelling about.

 

[Magpie]

Having witnessed/overheard imagineers take in attractions numerous times, including Joe Rohde a number of times, I'd venture to guess that you don't know what you're yelling about.

Yep. When we were down in the parks in December, there were Imagineers everywhere. They were in their suits, clustered in front of TSM with clipboards, discussing how fast the legacy FPs were disappearing. They were outside Test Track and the Little Mermaid ride, having what looked like very serious discussions.

I was seeing them everywhere. They certainly weren't shut up in air conditioned ivory towers!

 

[tazadd0420]

I think I have found the FP+ disboard thread recipe. Positive or negative for FP+, does not really matter.

For example start with negative post.

1. Neg poster is flamed/corrected by positive poster.

2. Positive poster is then flamed/corrected by neg poster.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until pot is completely stirred up.

4. Add in agreement to steps 1 and 2 for more flavor.

Also yes it is dinner time and I getting hungry.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Having witnessed/overheard imagineers take in attractions numerous times, including Joe Rohde a number of times, I'd venture to guess that you don't know what you're yelling about.

But are.imagineers in charge of implementing fp+? Or is that more the IT dept side of things (as opposed to imagineers like.Joe Rhode)

 

[Mad Hattered]

Having witnessed/overheard imagineers take in attractions numerous times, including Joe Rohde a number of times, I'd venture to guess that you don't know what you're yelling about.

Perhaps Rohde could stand in for the poor CM holding the "FP line starts here and is a 20 minute wait sign"? I bet he could get some useful input from the guest's perspective.

Photo by orky8

 

[Laketravis]

Perhaps Rohde could stand in for the poor CM holding the "FP line starts here and is a 20 minute wait sign"? I bet he could get some useful input from the guest's perspective.

Photo by orky8

Not a lot of smiles in that picture either.

But then, it's obviously been photoshop'd - I was told I was imagining things when I reported back in December that CM's were holding up signs marking the end of the FP line.

 

[3happydancers]

I agree! I often wonder about the assumption that so many people who don't come to this forum are ignorant about fastpasses. I would bet that most people who used fastpasses on a regular basis don't go to any forum. Not everyone enjoys chatting at these places.

I definitely think that Disney values us more experienced people more than some seem to think. I would say that the inexperienced traveler isn't as likely to go back to WDW as often. They simply aren't as interested which is probably why they know so little to begin with. Of course that can change if they decide that they love it but I bet that many just go and maybe never go again or only go every decade or so. My relatives are like that. They've been and it was fine but since then they've been doing other things.

Plus that word of mouth is often what causes a place to become popular (or unpopular). Why would any company not want good word of mouth?

So true. I was just speaking to a friend who we turned on to Disney. She learned about having to book fast passes and she was completely turned off. I explained how the new system is working presently. That alone (without trying to sway her one way or another), was enough for her to say no Disney this year. She is one to book a last minute trip and does not like being tied down to dining reservations made months ahead of time so to be tied down to fast passes months ahead of time was a deal killer for her.

 

[Planogirl]

I think I have found the FP+ disboard thread recipe. Positive or negative for FP+, does not really matter.

For example start with negative post.

1. Neg poster is flamed/corrected by positive poster.

2. Positive poster is then flamed/corrected by neg poster.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until pot is completely stirred up.

4. Add in agreement to steps 1 and 2 for more flavor.

Also yes it is dinner time and I getting hungry.

Well done.