Curious how FP+ has changed your touring style, if at all?

[Lisaloo]

We made major changes based on our last experience in August 2013 planning our July 2015 trip. For the first time, we are getting a guide. We are going to power through all 4 parks on 2 days using the human fast pass. We also plan no rope drops this time. We are going to use morning fast passes on the non-touring days and then just meander and explore a bit. We also built in resort time which we never do. We have everything in a spread sheet and planned out for pretty much every day.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I bet there are a fair number of people doing this already. Heck, people still do it for restaurant reservations, so I'm pretty sure they're doing it with 7DMT and A/E.

That strategy only works if you have no other headliners at the top of your list. If you cancel some of your 7DMT reservations while you're in WDW, you will be lucky to get TSMM, Soarin' or other headliners on such short notice.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I've been worried about this issue for our next trip in August. We haven't really been back since FP+ (our last trip was during the stage where there were FP+ AND paper FP-).

Normaily, we were a rope drop family. We would get what we could done until noonish and then have a sit down ADR. After lunch, we might do one or two more rides and then head back to the resort for a little rest or pool time. Then we would head back to the same park (we weren't park hoppers) and have a special reservation like Wishes Dessert Party or Hoop Dee Doo. Then fit in rides if we could, but the main point was the evening parade and/or fireworks.

Now I don't know what to do. I'm thinking we will still do rope drop and do the minor rides. Make my FP+ for 10 - 11 - 12 for our MUST DOS. Maybe head back to the resort for break (I guess it depends on what we get done in the morning). And then head back to the park for a Dinner ADR and fireworks.

I think the main thing that I am personally going to have to give up is that feeling that I want to do every ride (at least our most favorite ones!). I mean, it is me, DH and 2 20somethings. So if we don't get on Peter Pan will than be a big deal?? I guess not. But I will miss it mainly because it would be missing part of what our normal Disney trips used to be - not really because I can't live without seeing Peter Pan.

I have all our ADRs for lunch. (Well, mostly. I have a night time one at California Grill to see wishes. And we have a Wishes dessert party.) But I think I may change the lunch ADRs to dinner ones.

Maggie

Merely based on what you have posted is YOuR touring style, it appears FP+ would be an enhancement rather than a detriment.

I would use your FP+ for your 2 post lunch rides and then, save a few bucks and fast pass wishes instead of doing the party. If you don't want to fast pass wishes, then use that 3rd FP as your first before lunch. Basically, bookending your lunch with fast passes. Then rope drop your what you so not have fast passes for. I think you will find you have no issues.

So for example--Peter Pan at rope drop the head to Adventureland and Frontierland. FP mine train and Tomorrowland attractions.

Or rope drop Peter then do Tomorrowland followed by adventure land and FP mine train and the Frontierland mountains.

By rope dropping standby for PP, you will get to see the queue that everyone is talking about.

Since morning rope drop tends to flood mine train, Anna and Elsa and then Peter Pan followed by the mountains, you will find that rope dropping Peter and then the mountains and land you don't have fast passes for to be very easy.

It is just about what we have done actually. But with short people.

 

[itchin2go]

That strategy only works if you have no other headliners at the top of your list. If you cancel some of your 7DMT reservations while you're in WDW, you will be lucky to get TSMM, Soarin' or other headliners on such short notice.

You are right about this, but I have to say, I appreciate the fact that the discussion has evolved past FP is great/FP is terrible, and we're now discussing some issues people have encountered with FP+ and how to mitigate those issues. Even if the strategies being offered are unsatisfactory (not saying they are or aren't), at least it's a discussion on theme park strategy.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

This is an excellent point!

I think often guests dismiss this part of the equation. We've also had many problems with our bands that took much time from our visit. One trip we tried FOUR times and then gave up, because trying to fix the hotel function messed up the park ticket which was far worse!

Automatic Photopass didn't fully work either. We had somebody else's ride photos in our account. (Buzz comes to mind.) I didn't bother doing anything.

On a crossover trip -where bands were just getting started and we used old tickets, we had many problems. I haven't posted about it. I'm not sure how much $ we lost. I know we had old tickets with days left, but we had no way of proving they did beyond what we had written on them with a sharpie.

I don't think it gets dismissed. Tech issues occurred, certainly. What you see as dismissive may just be the folks (quite a bit of us) who did not experience a tech issue. It is our reality and to fail to acknowledge that can also be seen as dismissive.

Neither are dismissive. They are realities for guests. And it would be quite irritating to have to spend any time you intended for touring or relaxation trying to have technical issues resolved so that you can simply enter your room or use a dining credit or enter the park or to use the fast passes you did take the time to book but "Stitch got a hold of them."

And it would be--beyond irritating--to have ticket media credits not usable because they aren't working and the proof that they exist is not available.

 

[Davey Jones II]

You are right about this, but I have to say, I appreciate the fact that the discussion has evolved past FP is great/FP is terrible, and we're now discussing some issues people have encountered with FP+ and how to mitigate those issues. Even if the strategies being offered are unsatisfactory (not saying they are or aren't), at least it's a discussion on theme park strategy.

Very true. I'm a battle scarred veteran of those early threads, and I was definitely in the anti-FP+ camp. I still would have preferred that they keep Legacy FP. But, having experienced FP+ last year, I saw the pros as well as the cons. And it's certainly time to discuss how to mitigate those cons while maximizing the pros.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Oh, not just the pool bar.

Seems to me there's been a sharp increase in how much WDW advertises alternatives to the parks. It isn't just clear cut ads- but also the semi-ads, like travel-channel shows and magazine articles touting alternatives to the parks.

Things like arcades, mini-golf, fishing are getting much more play than they used to get.

It has always been advertised as a resort destination with beyond the parks activities and dining. I remember reading much of the marketing materials my mom ordered back in the 1980s. I wish I held on to those catalogues and brochures.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Great question.

I see a lot of posters suggesting rope drop as the way to mitigate the down sides of FP+. Yet a lot of those posters are the same ones who disliked legacy FP because they didn't arrive sat rope drop and missed out on certain FPs.

I have been a life long rope dropper once I was old enough to understand what it was. Drove my mom nuts--but the early bird gets the worm.

I disliked a feature of FP- and that was zero control on return time. We did go with the flow. But now, I can determine my return time.

As for the run at rope drop--much prefer to ride a ride at rope drop than to hustle for a FP. We would usually divide and conquer. We do divide now, but that is for age and height reasons. The kids grow up eventually and want to ride Space Mountain 3x. So we send them off to do just that. At rope drop.

 

[cakebaker]

It has always been advertised as a resort destination with beyond the parks activities and dining. I remember reading much of the marketing materials my mom ordered back in the 1980s. I wish I held on to those catalogues and brochures.

I still have some of mine that I sent off for in 1987, and yes- they were pushing the resorts and outside the park activities back then too! My girls couldn't wait to get to WDW and experience all the fun stuff they pictured in the brochures and it's what convinced us to stay on site that first time- the resort just looked like way too much fun to pass by!

Some day I'll get the energy to drag them out and share.

Btw- We've always been at park openings too- It's very rare that we skip openings and has only happened a handful of times in all the trips we've made. This last trip is the first time we ever tried to be "first" and that was just for kicks to see what it was like.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Cakebaker and wisblue...your posts make sense to me for your touring style, but with all due respect to kaybird, her arguments just don't hold water. She said she'd never been able to ride TSM or Soarin' at all on past trips, and now with FP+ she can ride multiple times. I have to wonder what she was doing if she was really in the park at RD or during EMH and never got a ride on TSM or Soarin' because the FP+s were always gone and the lines were too long. Her explanation just doesn't make sense like both of yours does. It seems like to me she's finally realized the value of RD?

This is puzzling and hopefully she responds.

For us, we ARe rope drop people but have never been at the front of the pack. Maybe in my teens, maybe. But due to a knee injury (since corrected), my walk was not a speedwalk, running was not allowed and I am on the short side--so I would be beat by a lot of people to my destination.

Since kids, stroller parking is involved or when they are our of strollers, their short little legs can only have a certain size gait.

We have rope dropped and successfully obtained paper fast passes--but as has been suggested, maybe they were out of the time they could have used by the time they got there. ????

Rope drop does not always mean first. It just means trying to get there with the first waves of people.

 

[wisblue]

That strategy only works if you have no other headliners at the top of your list. If you cancel some of your 7DMT reservations while you're in WDW, you will be lucky to get TSMM, Soarin' or other headliners on such short notice.

On our last "long" trip (a Saturday to Saturday over Easter break with 2 adult daughters who had never ridden the mine train) we hedged our bets by getting FPs for 7DMT on the 2 evenings we planned to spend at MK (including one on which we had an ADR at BOG) and on the morning of our departure day. Since we also planned to hit at least 2 7 AM EMH's at MK, we were confident that we could do the ride at least once during the trip, and possibly more if they wanted. It turns out that we were at the MK at 7 AM on Easter Sunday and made 7DMT our first stop to remove any concerns that we wouldn't do it at least once. We also ended up using the 2 evening FPs for it, but changed our FPs for departure day to Epcot because we had done everything we wanted at MK over the course of the week.

On the one other day that we all started at MK at 7 AM, we bypassed the rush to 7DMT and were able to do many other favorites with short waits in the 3-4 hours after opening.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Great question.

I see a lot of posters suggesting rope drop as the way to mitigate the down sides of FP+. Yet a lot of those posters are the same ones who disliked legacy FP because they didn't arrive sat rope drop and missed out on certain FPs.

I think that those who prefer FP+ tend to be in this camp, but many of us have learned to mitigate the downside of FP+ who were rope droppers. For us - it gave us options. Before, it was get to the park early or forget any chance of getting a FP- to TSMM or Soarin'. Now we have options on those days when we drank too much the night before and need a little extra sleep.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I don't do rope drop as often. With my Fast Passes already reserved, I get to sleep in a little.

 

[maggiew]

My questions for you would be what rides you consider your must dos, whether you have more than one day to visit MK, and whether you are trying to do certain favorite attractions more than once in a day. Between rope drop, FPs, and a good basic plan, you should be able to do quite a few attractions, including most of the major ones, in one day. If you have 2 MK days you should have no trouble doing everything you want at least once.

I would also wonder how you have spent your days in the parks in the past and whether you were heavy users of paper FPs. Many people who don't usually spend all day in the parks have found that FP+ improves their park experience.

I guess we were what people call super users of FP-. We would get a FP- for a ride and then get another one immediately after use or after the 2 hour limit. We often had 3 sets of fast passes at once. We saved some of the FP- for the evening when we returned after break. We were followers of Tour Guide Mike style. We zigged while others zagged.

We don't need to ride the rides more than once. I would be happy just hitting all the rides once. We can skip some of the real childish ones since the kids are older but we still like to ride the classics like IASW, Peter Pan, Dumbo, etc.

We are planning one day at MK, but I am debating that. We have 5 day tickets and must do EPCOT 2 days because it is our favorite. In past we have skipped the Studios, but this time we want to go and see the Frozen stuff. We also sometimes skip AK, but we didn't do that park last trip and now my daughter wants to eat at Yak and Yeti. So we are going to do AK this trip. I'm thinking of adding a day to our tickets and maybe doing MK in the evening. I can't really give up our rest day because of my other daughter. She only goes along with the rope drop and commando touring if I promise a couple easy rest days in between.

Maggie

 

[mickeyluv'r]

the folks (quite a bit of us) who did not experience a tech issue. It is our reality .

What I actually said is that tech issues aren't the first thing that pops in my head when I'm asked how FP+ has changed my touring style, in support of another DIS member's comments.

But let us suppose you are correct for a moment.

Why join the DIS if WDW's website and MDE are pure magic, as advertised, and provide all the tools and information necessary for a perfect WDW experience?

(and as I type, I have a second window open to MDE...and it is stuck chugging away in limbo.)

Keep in mind there are 5,639,902 messages in just this section of the DIS. I say that's strong evidence our reality is less than perfection where WDW's tech side is concerned.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

What I actually said is that tech issues aren't the first thing that pops in my head when I'm asked how FP+ has changed my touring style, in support of another DIS member's comments.

But let us suppose you are correct for a moment.

Why join the DIS if WDW's website and MDE are pure magic, as advertised, and provide all the tools and information necessary for a perfect WDW experience?

(and as I type, I have a second window open to MDE...and it is stuck chugging away in limbo.)

Keep in mind there are 5,639,902 messages in just this section of the DIS. I say that's strong evidence our reality is less than perfection where WDW's tech side is concerned.

Um, the majority of members joined before MDE. I joined in 2004.

There are 12,357 pages to the TPAS board. I ASSURE you that has little to do with MDE. I have no activity rate comparison to compare any increased rate of activity since MDE, but in my 11 years, I do know that this has always been a hopping place.

So I scrolled through---page 671 takes us to posts with last post date of August 2014. Many glances at many pages show that MDE and FP+ are discussed a bit as are the other topics associated with planning a park visit.

So no, just because there are over 5 million posts doesn't mean much when they track back to 2002. So obviously folks had plenty to discuss before MDE as well as during it and the quoted state are little evidence of anything In Regard to MDE.

So why do folks join? Because Disney is way more than MDE. And the DIS is way more than the TPAS board. Heck, there is a community board alone has over 13 million posts. MDE and FP+ are barely blips on the radar over there.

DCL has over 5 million posts.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I guess we were what people call super users of FP-. We would get a FP- for a ride and then get another one immediately after use or after the 2 hour limit. We often had 3 sets of fast passes at once. We saved some of the FP- for the evening when we returned after break. We were followers of Tour Guide Mike style. We zigged while others zagged.

We don't need to ride the rides more than once. I would be happy just hitting all the rides once. We can skip some of the real childish ones since the kids are older but we still like to ride the classics like IASW, Peter Pan, Dumbo, etc.

Is the bar really so low?

According to the DIS parent website, there's a total of 84 attractions/shows listed in the 4 parks (I'm counting each country in the WS once). that's about 32 in MK, and 15/16 in the other 3. It also counts the Tree of Life and HISTK playground as attractions.

I think most week-long first time visitors think 12 attractions per day, is a reasonable expectation.

Now folks who visit more often, say those who join the DIS, realize it takes quite a bit of stamina to ride everything once.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Um, the majority of members joined before MDE. I joined in 2004... they track back to 2002. So obviously folks had plenty to discuss before MDE as well as during it and the quoted state are little evidence of anything In Regard to MDE.

Um, WDW's magical website existed before 2002.

Or are you saying we all joined the DIS in spite of the WDW website's technical and informational perfection since 2002?

(FYI, I lurked long before joining the DIS because I posted to an older site that dates back to 1996! Not that either of our backgrounds is relevant.)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Um, WDW's magical website existed before 2002.

Or are you saying we all joined the DIS in spite of the WDW website's technical and informational perfection since 2002?

(FYI, I lurked long before joining the DIS because I posted to an older site that dates back to 1996! Not that either of our backgrounds is relevant.)

You need to reread my post. You made a claim that all of these posts correlated to MDE. The TPAS board dates specially to 2002. The post count you posted is 13 years of history. 12.000+ pages of history.

Unless folks have a crystal ball, the majority did not join due to tech issues with MDE since it didn't exist when they joined.

You tried to make a correlation causation claim, but the correlation was in error and by default, the claim was as well.

Has nothing to do with background. You asked why join? They join for a variety of reasons that extend beyond MDE and even the parks. Much was discussed well before MDE was around and much will be discussed now that is around.

 

[Lago]

Subscribing