Jade, I'm always going to take issue with your view of the clean slate at WDW lol. I know we've debated this before, but the sheer act of pre-scheduling any FP's, especially 3 FP's, IMO negates the clean slate. Sure, part of your day might be free and open; however, when people are talking about a clean slate at WDW within the context of FP+ scheduling- most likely what they're meaning is the entire day being free and clear (like in the pre FP+ days). Entering a park with nothing pre-scheduled. Perhaps having a touring plan, or perhaps not. But often times just going where the moment takes them and making on-the-spot, spur-of-the-moment decisions with regard to FP's. This type of touring is how a lot of people were used to doing WDW with Legacy FP, and why so many are flat out against FP+. It's the *schedule* part of it all. Having to schedule...keeping to the schedule...feels too much like work and less like fun.
How do I know what the exact conditions on the ground will be 60 days out, 30 days out, a week before, the night before, even the morning of? We used to walk up to the rides in question and decide right then if a FP was even warranted at that moment in time. Sometimes it wasn't even needed, other times it was. Who's to know so far in advance? There are too many variables to even attempt listing as to why the conditions on the ground could and would change. With a FP+ schedule, changing things is now a challenge when it didn't used to be. Also, keep in mind that most secondary attractions didn't even have FP's, and didn't need them. But now they are FP-equipped and voila- their SB lines are longer.
IMO, not a good mix altogether: the pre-scheduling, loss of true clean-slate, lack of true flexibility, lack of headliner availability, long SB lines at secondary attractions, etc.
