I just got back from a short and fast-paced trip at Disney (4 days w/ hoppers) and would like to share my experience.
FP+
I tested FP+ last August when I was able to double dip, so I was already mostly familiar with the system. I did 4 days in a row of rope drop to park close and tried to maximize my FP+ usage. I did not make FP+ selections until 5 days before my arrival day, but I was still able to get everything I wanted at very good times, except 7DMT, which was unavailable.
I will say that after this trip I am a big fan of FP+ and love the direction it is going. Planning was so smooth and I felt that I was able to get much more done than I was with legacy FP. It was very convenient to not have to run across the park to get a FP for a ride at any point, so much more laid back. The kiosks are awesome and the CMs very helpful, and I never had to wait more than 5 minutes at any of them. Availability for more FP was fine throughout the day. I was even able to get a FP at 8 PM for Splash Mountain not much later, and when the ride got shut down, I got to use it on Space Mountain
. Some FP+ availability for attractions are still limited throughout the day just like they were with legacy FP, such as TSMM, Soarin' and Test Track, but now there is no longer the mad dash to run and get FP from them. Several times we needed to push back a FP because other things came up and we weren't going to make the window, and that was easy to do, something not possible with the legacy FP. Overall, if you effectively use FP+, you shouldn't really have to wait in line
7DMT
I did manage to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train despite not having a FP for it. It was past midnight when we decided to get in line, and we thought it would be our best chance to ride it. We had been awake since 6:30 that morning and were exhausted. The posted wait time was 60 minutes, but unlike most attractions, the wait time was much longer than posted. The line extended out of the entrance quite a bit. It was weird, because they were still letting people in through the FP+ line? I thought FP+ wasn't available for extra magic hours, so that was annoying. Anyway, the line was tiring and several times we thought about just getting out of it and going back to the hotel, but as we said, we were sure this would be our only opportunity to ride it. The queue activities were abysmal and only served to hold up the line and create a big gap between where the activities ended and the rest of the queue continued. After about an hour and a half of waiting, it was finally time to ride it. I believe we were seated in the back of the train. My only positive comments about this ride are that it is really smooth and the animatronics in the mine scene are awesome. That's where my appreciation ends however. The ride is short and uneventful. I understand it is a kiddie coaster, but it doesn't even compare to Big Thunder Mountain. To top it all off, the cottage scene at the end wasn't even working. We all agreed that we wished we had just gone back to the hotel and slept and we would never ride it again without a FP.
Food
I'd just like to comment on my favorite food this trip.
My favorite snack was something new for me, the School Bread in the Norway pavilion at Epcot, amazing!
My favorite quick service was definitely Be Our Guest. I ate it last August for lunch and dinner on the same day, so I knew what to expect already. I still believe lunch is better than dinner there. We used FP+, so we didn't have to wait in the line, which looked to be at least one hour long around 11:30. The food was delicious and the master's cupcake with the grey stuff on top is a must try. Honorable mention for quick service goes to Flame Tree BBQ.
Lastly, my favorite table service was by far the Hollywood Brown Derby. We took advantage of the Fantasmic Dinner Package and loved it. The food and atmosphere was amazing; however, my only complaint with this meal would be that the desserts did not compare to the standards of the appetizers and entree. The best dish was the creme brulee which is sooo tiny, and the blueberry cobbler was just warm blueberries in a small dish.
Uncharacteristic Experiences
In all my previous Disney trips, I have had great experiences. Unfortunately, I had some very unpleasant and uncharacteristic experiences in my recent stay that nearly ruined the day, and they all involved nighttime shows.
As mentioned we did the Fantasmic Dinner Package, and this was our first time doing it. If anyone is unfamiliar with how it works now, the seating is divided into three sections. The Dining seating is reserved for the middle section and the two sections to the right of it. All the sections to the left of the dining section (if you are looking at the stage) are for FP+, and the two far sections on the right are reserved for standby seating. The first show was at 9PM, and at about 8:15PM we walked down the boulevard and saw two huge lines, one leading down the street toward the entrance (regular seating) and the other one leading down toward the Tower of Terror (FP+ seating). We met a friendly CM near the where people were lining up and asked when we could go in for our Dining Package, she said that we could come back in about 15 minutes with no issue. Since we had nowhere else to be until then, we decided that we would wait off to the side of the line, about two feet from it, and wait for all those people to go in and follow them through. We had no intention of cutting into the line at that point. Now, early during dinner we had a FP+ that we needed to change because we were not going to make it. No alternate experiences were showing up except Fantasmic, so I changed it to Fantasmic to see if I could change it from it to something else, but it did not work. Fast word to the present, while we are standing off to the side of the aforementioned line, I begin discussing trying to get rid of the FP+ in hopes that it would become available for someone else to get at a kiosk. This is where things went bad quickly. A lady in the line heard us and turned to me and asked if we had a FP+ for Fantasmic. I said yes, and without letting me explain that we were discussing trying to get rid of it, she became extremely rude and exclaimed that she had been waiting in line for over an hour and that we needed to go somewhere else and not cut in line. I tried explaining to her that we were doing the Dining Package and were aware that we were not in line and had no intention of cutting anybody. She would not listen and continued to make a scene, which included pretending to talk to somebody on the phone about coming to remove us and also telling the CM that people were planning on cutting them in line. It was awful to be treated like a criminal when all we had been doing is waiting off to the side discussing how we could get rid of a FP+ we did not need so someone else could use it. Anyway, we did as we said we would and did not jump right into that line and waited for the people to go through ahead of us who had waited. I saw her later in her FP+ section as I walked down to my reserved dining seating, but she didn't make eye contact. This experience was so bad and unlike anything I had ever experienced at Disney before. Disney needs to do something about the disorganized queues for Fantasmic. It is pure chaos and almost scared me away from the dining package for future visits.
I wish I could say that was the only unpleasant experience, but it was not. We staked out a spot behind some people sitting on the curb for the MSEP and stood behind them an hour in advance. To our left was a couple with a stroller holding a baby. When the parade finished, we had people all around us and just wanted to move. The people in front of us for some reason did not stand up and continued to sit on the curb, so we tried to go to our left along the curb. After half our party squeezed between the people sitting on the curb and the women with her stroller, she literally put her foot down and prevented anymore of us from going through, separating our party, for reasons I do not know. She had already made several rude comments to people pushing up behind her before the parade, so not wanting to cause another fiasco like at Fantasmic, I patiently let it happen and finally was able to get back to the rest of my party when she moved. We moved to the hump to get prime viewing for Celebrate the Magic. It was very crowded and we had to move a few times to let scooters pass through. Finally the crowd settled down and people were stationary. However, it was still about 30 more minutes until the castle show started. A group of 3 women with two small children stopped behind us and to our right, even though there was still space in front of us to the right. I am the tallest person in my group so I try to keep some space in front of for group members to move into in case the inevitable happens, such as parents hoisting children up on their shoulders, which is fine, we just move to the side so we can see better. Now, with 1 minute until the show starts, the group of women and children mentioned push through and get in front of some people in our group. It would have been okay if they had moved there 20 minutes earlier, but they literally moved at the last possible time, and we were under the impression they were staying behind us (they were taller than the group members they got in front of anyway. A member in our group politely asked one of them to move, but the result was not expected. The response of this grown woman with a toddler was to giggle and taunt "it sucks to be short" not once, but twice. She then proceeded to converse in Spanish with one of the other women. Unknown to them, one person in our group could understand them, and what they were saying was extremely offense. Anyway, not wanting to make a scene, I stepped back a little and let the group members who couldn't see get in front of me for a better view. We tried to enjoy the castle show and fireworks, but the night was already ruined. It was such an awful experience.
A friend of mine tried to figure out why people were so rude at Disney, and hypothesized that it's because it is becoming a competition. Everyone is trying to provide the best experience for their child, and unfortunately sometimes it is done at the expense of other another's enjoyment. I know these experiences are rare and that 99% of the people at Disney are kind and respectful of others, it was just unfortunate to encounter several bad experiences this trip. However, on a whole, the trip was enjoyed by all and I will definitely be returning soon.
FP+
I tested FP+ last August when I was able to double dip, so I was already mostly familiar with the system. I did 4 days in a row of rope drop to park close and tried to maximize my FP+ usage. I did not make FP+ selections until 5 days before my arrival day, but I was still able to get everything I wanted at very good times, except 7DMT, which was unavailable.
I will say that after this trip I am a big fan of FP+ and love the direction it is going. Planning was so smooth and I felt that I was able to get much more done than I was with legacy FP. It was very convenient to not have to run across the park to get a FP for a ride at any point, so much more laid back. The kiosks are awesome and the CMs very helpful, and I never had to wait more than 5 minutes at any of them. Availability for more FP was fine throughout the day. I was even able to get a FP at 8 PM for Splash Mountain not much later, and when the ride got shut down, I got to use it on Space Mountain
. Some FP+ availability for attractions are still limited throughout the day just like they were with legacy FP, such as TSMM, Soarin' and Test Track, but now there is no longer the mad dash to run and get FP from them. Several times we needed to push back a FP because other things came up and we weren't going to make the window, and that was easy to do, something not possible with the legacy FP. Overall, if you effectively use FP+, you shouldn't really have to wait in line7DMT
I did manage to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train despite not having a FP for it. It was past midnight when we decided to get in line, and we thought it would be our best chance to ride it. We had been awake since 6:30 that morning and were exhausted. The posted wait time was 60 minutes, but unlike most attractions, the wait time was much longer than posted. The line extended out of the entrance quite a bit. It was weird, because they were still letting people in through the FP+ line? I thought FP+ wasn't available for extra magic hours, so that was annoying. Anyway, the line was tiring and several times we thought about just getting out of it and going back to the hotel, but as we said, we were sure this would be our only opportunity to ride it. The queue activities were abysmal and only served to hold up the line and create a big gap between where the activities ended and the rest of the queue continued. After about an hour and a half of waiting, it was finally time to ride it. I believe we were seated in the back of the train. My only positive comments about this ride are that it is really smooth and the animatronics in the mine scene are awesome. That's where my appreciation ends however. The ride is short and uneventful. I understand it is a kiddie coaster, but it doesn't even compare to Big Thunder Mountain. To top it all off, the cottage scene at the end wasn't even working. We all agreed that we wished we had just gone back to the hotel and slept and we would never ride it again without a FP.
Food
I'd just like to comment on my favorite food this trip.
My favorite snack was something new for me, the School Bread in the Norway pavilion at Epcot, amazing!
My favorite quick service was definitely Be Our Guest. I ate it last August for lunch and dinner on the same day, so I knew what to expect already. I still believe lunch is better than dinner there. We used FP+, so we didn't have to wait in the line, which looked to be at least one hour long around 11:30. The food was delicious and the master's cupcake with the grey stuff on top is a must try. Honorable mention for quick service goes to Flame Tree BBQ.
Lastly, my favorite table service was by far the Hollywood Brown Derby. We took advantage of the Fantasmic Dinner Package and loved it. The food and atmosphere was amazing; however, my only complaint with this meal would be that the desserts did not compare to the standards of the appetizers and entree. The best dish was the creme brulee which is sooo tiny, and the blueberry cobbler was just warm blueberries in a small dish.
Uncharacteristic Experiences
In all my previous Disney trips, I have had great experiences. Unfortunately, I had some very unpleasant and uncharacteristic experiences in my recent stay that nearly ruined the day, and they all involved nighttime shows.
As mentioned we did the Fantasmic Dinner Package, and this was our first time doing it. If anyone is unfamiliar with how it works now, the seating is divided into three sections. The Dining seating is reserved for the middle section and the two sections to the right of it. All the sections to the left of the dining section (if you are looking at the stage) are for FP+, and the two far sections on the right are reserved for standby seating. The first show was at 9PM, and at about 8:15PM we walked down the boulevard and saw two huge lines, one leading down the street toward the entrance (regular seating) and the other one leading down toward the Tower of Terror (FP+ seating). We met a friendly CM near the where people were lining up and asked when we could go in for our Dining Package, she said that we could come back in about 15 minutes with no issue. Since we had nowhere else to be until then, we decided that we would wait off to the side of the line, about two feet from it, and wait for all those people to go in and follow them through. We had no intention of cutting into the line at that point. Now, early during dinner we had a FP+ that we needed to change because we were not going to make it. No alternate experiences were showing up except Fantasmic, so I changed it to Fantasmic to see if I could change it from it to something else, but it did not work. Fast word to the present, while we are standing off to the side of the aforementioned line, I begin discussing trying to get rid of the FP+ in hopes that it would become available for someone else to get at a kiosk. This is where things went bad quickly. A lady in the line heard us and turned to me and asked if we had a FP+ for Fantasmic. I said yes, and without letting me explain that we were discussing trying to get rid of it, she became extremely rude and exclaimed that she had been waiting in line for over an hour and that we needed to go somewhere else and not cut in line. I tried explaining to her that we were doing the Dining Package and were aware that we were not in line and had no intention of cutting anybody. She would not listen and continued to make a scene, which included pretending to talk to somebody on the phone about coming to remove us and also telling the CM that people were planning on cutting them in line. It was awful to be treated like a criminal when all we had been doing is waiting off to the side discussing how we could get rid of a FP+ we did not need so someone else could use it. Anyway, we did as we said we would and did not jump right into that line and waited for the people to go through ahead of us who had waited. I saw her later in her FP+ section as I walked down to my reserved dining seating, but she didn't make eye contact. This experience was so bad and unlike anything I had ever experienced at Disney before. Disney needs to do something about the disorganized queues for Fantasmic. It is pure chaos and almost scared me away from the dining package for future visits.
I wish I could say that was the only unpleasant experience, but it was not. We staked out a spot behind some people sitting on the curb for the MSEP and stood behind them an hour in advance. To our left was a couple with a stroller holding a baby. When the parade finished, we had people all around us and just wanted to move. The people in front of us for some reason did not stand up and continued to sit on the curb, so we tried to go to our left along the curb. After half our party squeezed between the people sitting on the curb and the women with her stroller, she literally put her foot down and prevented anymore of us from going through, separating our party, for reasons I do not know. She had already made several rude comments to people pushing up behind her before the parade, so not wanting to cause another fiasco like at Fantasmic, I patiently let it happen and finally was able to get back to the rest of my party when she moved. We moved to the hump to get prime viewing for Celebrate the Magic. It was very crowded and we had to move a few times to let scooters pass through. Finally the crowd settled down and people were stationary. However, it was still about 30 more minutes until the castle show started. A group of 3 women with two small children stopped behind us and to our right, even though there was still space in front of us to the right. I am the tallest person in my group so I try to keep some space in front of for group members to move into in case the inevitable happens, such as parents hoisting children up on their shoulders, which is fine, we just move to the side so we can see better. Now, with 1 minute until the show starts, the group of women and children mentioned push through and get in front of some people in our group. It would have been okay if they had moved there 20 minutes earlier, but they literally moved at the last possible time, and we were under the impression they were staying behind us (they were taller than the group members they got in front of anyway. A member in our group politely asked one of them to move, but the result was not expected. The response of this grown woman with a toddler was to giggle and taunt "it sucks to be short" not once, but twice. She then proceeded to converse in Spanish with one of the other women. Unknown to them, one person in our group could understand them, and what they were saying was extremely offense. Anyway, not wanting to make a scene, I stepped back a little and let the group members who couldn't see get in front of me for a better view. We tried to enjoy the castle show and fireworks, but the night was already ruined. It was such an awful experience.
A friend of mine tried to figure out why people were so rude at Disney, and hypothesized that it's because it is becoming a competition. Everyone is trying to provide the best experience for their child, and unfortunately sometimes it is done at the expense of other another's enjoyment. I know these experiences are rare and that 99% of the people at Disney are kind and respectful of others, it was just unfortunate to encounter several bad experiences this trip. However, on a whole, the trip was enjoyed by all and I will definitely be returning soon.
Then I tried it..............and now, I get at least 3 over a 7 day trip and I had 5 on our 10 day trip in Feb!! Think what you want about my eating habits, but that stuff is HEAVENLY 
As for HBD, we ate there for the first time in Feb. and I agree about the desserts. We loved our meal and are going back in Aug. However, the desserts for some reason just didn't measure up. Next time I'll skip it and get a Mickey Bar...............or head to EPCOT for some School Bread 
