Did Double Dipping FP Just End?

[tuckerkeys]

I was there last week Oct 11-19th

We used 3 KTTW cards, from previous trips. They were room only cards. They worked every day. Last day we used them was Friday Oct 18.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I was there last week Oct 11-19th

We used 3 KTTW cards, from previous trips. They were room only cards. They worked every day. Last day we used them was Friday Oct 18.

 

[ktlm]

I would be interested to see the "show up rate" for those FP+ picks. I bet that many ppl pick them, and then don't use them. Disney can't account for that, if they are picked prior to use, they have to assume they will show up for their times. I bet many ppl waste them. Not everyone is as savvy as us Disers. LOL

I believe that alot of FP+ go to waste. I know even as Disers we had several we didn't use. The system forces you to pick 3. We only wanted 2 at AK, but it made us pick a third. We didn't use the 3rd we were forced to pick so it went to waste. Our flight got cancelled and we arrived 6 hours later than we were supposed to- because of that, our only EPCOT FP+ we were going to be able to use was the one for Illuminations. It would not let us cancel the other 2- it was cancel all 3 or leave 3 in place. As such, 2 went to waste there. Also, if we weren't going to make one, and I tried to cancel- again it was an all 3 or nothing cancel- you could not cancel just 1. If MDE was working- which it rarely was- you could move one to a different time or different attraction- but you could not cancel one. If there was no other time good for us available, we didn't want one for something else, or as we got one time "there are no other times or attractions available for FP+ in this park today"- then our FP+ went to waste.

We are WDW veterans (7 trips in the last 6 years- not counting trips before that), and I spent 3 hours tweaking our FP+ in hopes that I had a good guess what areas we would be in at what times so we wouldn't have to run back and forth across the park to make our FP+. We still found ourselves running back and forth until we decided we weren't stressing out about it anymore and were just going to miss them and use the paper FP system if they turned out not to be convenient. I can't even imagine what a newbie will be doing, if we had to run back and forth knowing the parks and how we usually tour as well as we do.

 

[patrickpiteo]

Fair enough. Again, you and I will have to agree to disagree on this.

There's a lot of that in this tread LOL

 

[AmyB2006]

I put "old" in quotes for a reason - they are old in the sense that we don't use the card APs anymore since they are now attached to the Magic Bands. It would be the same as someone using their resort card.

Sorry you misunderstood was I was asking. Thanks for the snarky response.

You're welcome. There's plenty of snark and sarcasm flying around these boards lately, and not just from me. I actually thought you were trying to stir things up again by asking that. (Bait taken ) Either that or you just popped in here and hadn't read any of the prior posts at all and were asking.

Sorry I misunderstood.

There's a lot of that in this tread LOL

LOL, yes. I'm ok with it, though.

 

[patrickpiteo]

I'll be sure to do that. Maybe I used the term "double dipping" wrong - we have Magic Bands with our APs attached which we will use to get in. We also have our original card APs. Sorry...didn't know this was such a touchy subject! It would be easy for them to "correct" if Disney saw it as a problem.

Seems too many people get riled up and crazy on this just go see all the treads .... Way took many

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I've thought about this and I think you're right mom2mickeyfan.

The FP lines will just move faster. It won't affect the standby lines at all.

I think the CM has discretion at the FP/SB merge point. If the FP line is really long then more of those go through and SB slows. If the FP is shorter, then more SBers get added to the mix.

So if people don't show up in the FP line then I think yes, SB will move quicker.

 

[surferdave]

I agree with ktlm. Most days we did not end up using all 3 FP+ for one of several reasons. Sometimes something we couldn't control prevented us from making it....sometimes a party member changed their mind about what they wanted to do.....in all cases by the time I knew we weren't going to do it either MDE wasn't working at all or the offerings still available at the time weren't worth bothering for.

 

[patrickpiteo]

You're welcome. There's plenty of snark and sarcasm flying around these boards lately, and not just from me. I actually thought you were trying to stir things up again by asking that. (Bait taken ) Either that or you just popped in here and hadn't read any of the prior posts at all and were asking. Sorry I misunderstood.

Sorry IMHO it's not right to jump on people here on what they say ... At the end of the day it's ok to disagree.. Just seems to me to many of the people here getting snaky just to make a point or to prove people wrong..

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I agree with ktlm. Most days we did not end up using all 3 FP+ for one of several reasons. Sometimes something we couldn't control prevented us from making it....sometimes a party member changed their mind about what they wanted to do.....in all cases by the time I knew we weren't going to do it either MDE wasn't working at all or the offerings still available at the time weren't worth bothering for.

we always wasted a lot of paper FPs too (not on purpose).

not sure FP+s should get wasted at a higher rate. at least for the headliners.

 

[vinotinto]

Well, this puts resort guests, especially those with a package, at a disadvantage.

They needed to fix the issue of all types of media cards working, but what bothers me is that they are not giving you a choice between MBs and KTTW card or between FP- and FP+.

If you are staying onsite, they will send you a MB, whether you customize it or not. There is no option to "opt out" of the MB. There is no option to opt out of FP+.

Personally, I would pick FP- and KTTW card over MBs and FP+.

3 FPs/day. Puhleeez, we would do RD and could easily use 4-7 FPs in one day. Of course, that was before the days of "glitches" and other issues. But, we have never been to DHS without using 2 FPs for TSMM. Now that does not seem like a possibility, no matter how early you get there.

 

[jimmysmom74]

I believe that alot of FP+ go to waste. I know even as Disers we had several we didn't use. The system forces you to pick 3. We only wanted 2 at AK, but it made us pick a third. We didn't use the 3rd we were forced to pick so it went to waste. Our flight got cancelled and we arrived 6 hours later than we were supposed to- because of that, our only EPCOT FP+ we were going to be able to use was the one for Illuminations. It would not let us cancel the other 2- it was cancel all 3 or leave 3 in place. As such, 2 went to waste there. Also, if we weren't going to make one, and I tried to cancel- again it was an all 3 or nothing cancel- you could not cancel just 1. If MDE was working- which it rarely was- you could move one to a different time or different attraction- but you could not cancel one. If there was no other time good for us available, we didn't want one for something else, or as we got one time "there are no other times or attractions available for FP+ in this park today"- then our FP+ went to waste.

We are WDW veterans (7 trips in the last 6 years- not counting trips before that), and I spent 3 hours tweaking our FP+ in hopes that I had a good guess what areas we would be in at what times so we wouldn't have to run back and forth across the park to make our FP+. We still found ourselves running back and forth until we decided we weren't stressing out about it anymore and were just going to miss them and use the paper FP system if they turned out not to be convenient. I can't even imagine what a newbie will be doing, if we had to run back and forth knowing the parks and how we usually tour as well as we do.

So true, if we have troubles, imagine the newbie. Were the FP lines shorter than usual when you were there? Since they seem to limiting FP- to suit the FP+ers. I know there are million and two reasons not to make a FP. Not understanding the system for new ppl is just one of them. My guess is a 55-70% show up rate. That is probably high.

 

[Q-man]

Any anyone looking at crowd calendars to see if the recommended parks are the ones running out of FPs so soon? Are we seeing the knowledge tourers following crowd calendars book up the FPs via FP+ at the recommended park?

If the goal is to balance crowds across parks then Disney is going to need a screen where you can see FP+ availability at all parks at once.

 

[lugnut33]

Well, this puts resort guests, especially those with a package, at a disadvantage.

They needed to fix the issue of all types of media cards working, but what bothers me is that they are not giving you a choice between MBs and KTTW card or between FP- and FP+.

If you are staying onsite, they will send you a MB, whether you customize it or not. There is no option to "opt out" of the MB. There is no option to opt out of FP+.

Personally, I would pick FP- and KTTW card over MBs and FP+.

3 FPs/day. Puhleeez, we would do RD and could easily use 4-7 FPs in one day. Of course, that was before the days of "glitches" and other issues. But, we have never been to DHS without using 2 FPs for TSMM. Now that does not seem like a possibility, no matter how early you get there.

Seems like best bet to ride TSMM without using FP+ is to make sure you're one of the first people in line before rope drop and then sprint directly to the ride.

 

[mggeary]

My brother checked in on Sunday at Poly, with a room only reservation, both FP+ and FP- with KTTW cards working fine for him.

Interested to hear more actual reports of people checking in in the next few weeks.

 

[FLchick415]

Any anyone looking at crowd calendars to see if the recommended parks are the ones running out of FPs so soon? Are we seeing the knowledge tourers following crowd calendars book up the FPs via FP+ at the recommended park?

If the goal is to balance crowds across parks then Disney is going to need a screen where you can see FP+ availability at all parks at once.

Regarding the bold, if I'm understanding you correctly, I don't think so. Today, MK is the most recommended park, and according to MDE, there are still plenty of FPs left for almost all of the rides (ETWB notwithstanding).

 

[AuroraRora]

we always wasted a lot of paper FPs too (not on purpose).

not sure FP+s should get wasted at a higher rate. at least for the headliners.

A lot of our FP+ will get wasted too, because about 1/3 of the ones we booked, we already KNOW we won't be using, but the policy of choosing 3 or nothing meant we had no choice. It seems stupid to reserve FP+s for times we know we don't even be in the park and someone else could've had that slot, but what else are we meant to do when we're planning to hop and be at our FP+ park for an afternoon and the FP+s are spaced out between 10am-4pm

 

[Disneylover99]

The problem with your logic is that there are still the same number of guests in the park. Whether they are using FP, FP+ or standby, it would still be the same amount of people.

FP/FP+ availability has nothing to do with the amount of people in the park.

I can make a FP reservation right now from work (just in case I want to go to the park this afternoon) I may never even set foot in the park, and if I don't cancel or can't cancel because of a blip in the system, those fp's are gone.

Guests are forced to make 3 fp's. Many will not use all of them. Some guests make their fp+ selections for a different park later in the day with the intention of park hopping, but for various reasons they don't make it over to the next park. Sometimes it's impossible to cancel them or they don't bother to cancel them.

That's a main reason why I think fp's are running out earlier.

 

[vinotinto]

I can confirm that I was at a Hilton in Chicago yesterday and the room key card that my wife received did not work to open the room door.

I blame the whole episode on FP+ implementation.

This:

As someone who just spent a lot of our vacation with Guest Services or at one of the MB stations just three days ago I'm pretty shocked they've removed FP- for the testers.

I was the only one in our party who's MB and FP+ kept "crashing" (their words not mine). I had three MBs on a seven day trip. We'd get it set up and it would look good to go and by the time my next FP+ rolled around or I would go to room-charge something it would crash again.

The CMs at the FP return treated me like criminal like I was trying to rob others. As if I would schedule my entire family and not myself? Not sure how that would get me ahead, but whatever. It was pretty horrible. Every time my band wouldn't go green it was like I had flipped them the bird or peed in their Cheerios.

And this:

Here on property now and at Animal Kingdom, bands would not work at entrance, was in guest services for almost an hour...

Switched resorts and had more issues...

And this:

At the end of August- I spent six hours of my vacation time helping work out glitches while various cast members worked on my families bands during the week. We had issues with getting into our room with the bands, purchasing meals on several occasions and trouble at the FP plus turnstiles.

is what scares me.

It's well-documented that for many resort guests the MBs are working fine, but for many resort guests things are not working fine and it is taking time away from vacation. If we don't have a choice but to get MBs, and if on top of that we don't have access to a back-up system, and on top of that we'll have to spend time sorting things out, well, that is not a very magical at all, is it?

And I agree that it is a huge bummer than you *have* to select 3 FP+s. If you only want one, then that's what you should be able to get. Having to select 3 or it will choose for you is a complete waste.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Regarding the bold, if I'm understanding you correctly, I don't think so. Today, MK is the most recommended park, and according to MDE, there are still plenty of FPs left for almost all of the rides (ETWB notwithstanding).

Well, MK has so many attractions to fastpass, the FP+ bookings are going to be so much more spread out. To state the obvious, nearly everyone going to Epcot would book Soarin and Test Track, and nearly everyone going to DHS would book TSMM. They all have wide appeal and there are few other headliners to fastpass. Meanwhile, at MK, with the same 3-pass limit, you'll have people riding the mountains, others booking Fantasyland rides or meet and greets, some booking the parade and wishes, etc. With typical families taking at least two days at MK, even most of the mountain riders won't book the three mountains both days. Even if there are many more people at MK, there will still be many fewer people booking FP+ for each individual ride than the Epcot/DHS headliners.

I wonder if they've talked about allowing more than three FP+ for MK?
As annoying as a limit on FP+/day sounds for MK (where we collect FP- all day long), clearly it would not be workable to allow people to book an unlimited number of FP+/day. I think I could live with the limit if it was increased slightly for MK, or more could be booked same-day when there were still slots open, ie you'd never get TSMM or Soarin same-day, but you could get less in-demand attractions. And make it easier for people to book just one or two fastpasses when that's all they want, leaving more slots open for people who want them.