Beautiful trip

[maciemouse]

We just got back last night from a quick weekend getaway. The parks looked great. We stayed at the Beach club. It was wonderful. The weather was perfect. We visited all four parks. Delightful CMs. I'm on the fence about fp+. It is convenient to have you fast passes already in hand but I do not like being on such a schedule. An example: We were really enjoying the pool and wanted to stay and swim a little longer but we couldn't without losing our fast passes. I tried to rebook them for a later time and there was nothing available. Nothing at all the rest of the night. This was at 1pm. There were a lot of families complaining at the reservations desk. According to the CM I spoke with, they were experiencing a lot of glitches this weekend.

 

[Robo]

There were a lot of families complaining at the reservations desk. According to the CM I spoke with, they were experiencing a lot of glitches this weekend.

Welcome to GLITCH CITY.
Population: Everybody.

 

[POOHsie]

The old FP system was simple: pick up fastpasses after you entered the park. The 60-day advance scheduling might seem like a "dream scenario" but as OP reported, plans change, sometimes by the hour. The big drawback of FP+ is that a much larger number of people are scheduling FPs for a certain day at a certain park. There's no guarantee they will actually enter their scheduled park that day. Wonder how many advance FP+ holders don't show up for their scheduled time. Meanwhile they've flooded the FP system so others trying to get one in "real time" are locked out.

 

[Disney/Universal Fan]

So glad you had a nice trip. We drove up last Tuesday morning, stayed the night at Pop Century, and spent the next day at Magic Kingdom. The main purpose of the trip was for the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot and we were not disappointed. The Food stands were great, no lines at all, and seemed to be larger portions than that served at the Food and Wine Festival. We had no trouble at all with the Magic Bands or FP+. Happy to say that all of the CM's we came in contact with were happy, helpful, and seemed to be having fun.

 

[wuzzy6]

I'm on the fence about fp+. It is convenient to have you fast passes already in hand but I do not like being on such a schedule. An example: We were really enjoying the pool and wanted to stay and swim a little longer but we couldn't without losing our fast passes. I tried to rebook them for a later time and there was nothing available. Nothing at all the rest of the night. This was at 1pm. There were a lot of families complaining at the reservations desk. According to the CM I spoke with, they were experiencing a lot of glitches this weekend.

We were there Friday through Monday, and we experienced the same scenario as you. On Friday, we hit the ground running very early. By lunch time, we were ready to go back to the resort, relax by the pool and take a nap. Unfortunately, we had scheduled our FP+ (in advance) for the afternoon, so that meant we had to make a choice... we chose to let our fast passes go, which was hugely disappointing. Fortunately, we had ridden those rides first thing in the morning, so not a huge deal in the big picture. BUT, if we had gotten to the park later in the morning, that would have been impossible - no later times were available, which means either not riding OR having to wait in a long stand-by line. I totally agree with you - if you have your FP+ booked in advance, and your plans don't change at all, then it's FABULOUS!!! But, if you can't keep your plans, for whatever reason, the likelihood of changing things on the spot are very unlikely.

 

[2Tiggies]

Good to hear you had a great time and that you managed to work things to suit you.

I think the over scheduling and the ongoing system glitches are the biggest obstacles in adapting to or accepting this new way of planning.

I like planning which parks on which days, but not more than that and given a reliable app to work from would go a long way to helping. I really do want to hold out hope that they are fixing this but it's becoming increasingly difficult when this has been going on since the outset and instead of attending to the problems, they just keep expanding the testing. I really don't understand it.

Thanks for sharing