Disappearing FP+ - Actual experiences

[mom2faith]

I've had stuff (fast passes and tickets) disappear from my account but never permanently. I always just attributed it to a temporary computer glitch and when I would check in later everything was always back the way it was supposed to be. I never had to call. The cell phone app can be very very very quirky from time to time and often shows things inaccurately for me but when I log into a desktop computer everything always shows just fine.

I am really not referring to quirks with the MDE App vs Website , I am referring to situations where FP+ are GONE and are either not retrievable at all or only retrievable with help (usually lengthy help) from IT. Yes, quirks happen, but I do not intend to miss Wishes like PP while on the phone with IT. That is unacceptable.

 

[mom2faith]

My least favorite thing about FP+. Two personal stories: October: We had our FP+ all set for Epcot (about on the 4th day). I went into the App to tweak the Test Track time a bit and the change was confirmed on the site as I did it. Once I went back to the main screen that FP was now gone and I had two only. I waited to see if it would come back (Never ever do that!) and naturally it didn't. As a result I spent my Saturday night chatting with the Disney IT people during Wishes from our special treat Theme Park View room at BLT. I was in hold forever and it took time to solve the problem. In the end, she was able to get us TT again, but it was close to 5 hours after our original time. It worked out, but I was annoyed at having to spend valuable vacation time with Disney IT and it just barely worked as we had dinner reservations we were planning to go back for. January: same thing. Went to change a time of a FP+ for a future day and it disappeared after confirming the switch. I immediately sought help, only to be told by the front desk people at VGF to wait a bit and it would probably come back.... Ummm no thank you! Learned my lesson on that one. I had the WL front desk people sort it out and got close to the same times, but not exactly. Again... Spent valuable vacation time waiting and talking with WL CM on something that was entirely a Disney IT issue. We are going again between Xmas and New Years with extended family and it's disappointing to hear this is still happening.

Missing Wishes while on the phone is unacceptable.

I feel we are just The "Crash Test Dummies" - we will continue to allow them to "test" this "crashing" system on us "dummies".

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I've had stuff (fast passes and tickets) disappear from my account but never permanently. I always just attributed it to a temporary computer glitch and when I would check in later everything was always back the way it was supposed to be. I never had to call.

I had a similar experience with my MDE account, accessed only from a computer. A couple FP+ disappeared and reappeared later. I didn't call and stopped checking MDE. At the park, our MBs all turned green every time. All our FP+ were there. I know this is not exactly what you're looking for, but IMO it's useful for people to know that disappearing info doesn't always mean problems at the park.

 

[PrincessV]

I'm semi-local and visit pretty often, so I've been using FP+ for a while... every once in a while a FP+ will "vanish"* from my list, and a couple times they all went POOF! I've just rebooked them and that was the end of it. I haven't had to call for help yet.

*I've also, far more often, had a FP+ not show up in my list when I use MDE in the parks. But it's still there and active, as verified by simply going to the ride in question at the reserved time and walking in. So now I just take a screen shot of my day's FP+s to remember when and where they are.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm semi-local and visit pretty often, so I've been using FP+ for a while... every once in a while a FP+ will "vanish"* from my list, and a couple times they all went POOF! I've just rebooked them and that was the end of it. I haven't had to call for help yet.

Can you imagine that happening to someone who can't just come back next week (or next month, or maybe even next year?) and do what they miss though?

This really cannot happen at ALL. Once Disney chose this high tech route, they needed to be sure this sort of thing did not happen. Or they need adequate guest recovery to take care of it. And, although I'm sorry to say this....... even if it means they might occasionally get scammed.

 

[PrincessV]

Can you imagine that happening to someone who can't just come back next week (or next month, or maybe even next year?) and do what they miss though?

This really cannot happen at ALL. Once Disney chose this high tech route, they needed to be sure this sort of thing did not happen. Or they need adequate guest recovery to take care of it. And, although I'm sorry to say this....... even if it means they might occasionally get scammed.

ITA, but to clarify, I didn't rebook for another day - I rebooked the same rides for the same day. Sometimes, this was day-of, as I was in the park, ready to roll, and other times it was days or weeks ahead. And a couple times I had to rearrange my ride schedule a bit to get what I wanted, but my experience so far is that, with the exception of TSM and occasionally TT, it's totally doable. So I think my advice to anyone encountering the vanishing FPs is to first try rebooking them - if nothing else, you'll gain some good info from the attempt: if it rejects your booking because you "already have FP+ reservations", you know your initial ones are still out there, somewhere in cyberspace.

I'm not FP+s biggest fan, not by a longshot (okay, I kinda despise them), but will admit that I've been able to adjust them pretty easily*, as needed.

*ETA: Okay, "easily" isn't the best word... NOTHING is easy about this system, lol! But I've been able to get it done.

 

[PrincessV]

I should probably admit, too, that being local-ish and dealing with Disney tech so often, I've just abandoned all hope and have accepted that this is the new normal: half an hour (or more) of tweaking FP+ from computer and app to get what I want. That's just sad, isn't it?! But I do let 'er rip in the many surveys they send me.

 

[Kai Rose]

I woke up at midnight on the 60 day mark to make all of my FP+ at the perfect times, including Anna & Elsa. A few weeks later, my husband called to upgrade our dining plan, and the CM forgot to attach the tickets to the "new" reservation. All of my perfect FP+ were gone. I only noticed this after a few days. I called and was told that they acknowledged it was an error on their part, but there was no way to give the FPs all back. The worst part was that there was no longer any availability for A&E. After a couple of calls, we were told that a note would be put in our file saying that they had made the mistake, and we should go to Guest Services when we got to the park. It was insinuated that they would give us a written pass, but no real guarantee. Luckily, I saw a thread about A&E availability on Disboards and was able to get another FP, but I still feel a bit troubled by the lack of action on Disney's part to correct their error. Although the CMs we talked to were very nice and apologetic, they were unable to really do anything about the mistake.

 

[maybeecatlady]

Subscribing. My vacation starts in 61 days and I want to know what's going on right up until the time we leave.

Thank you for starting this thread.

 

[ancestry]

I am really not referring to quirks with the MDE App vs Website , I am referring to situations where FP+ are GONE and are either not retrievable at all or only retrievable with help (usually lengthy help) from IT. Yes, quirks happen, but I do not intend to miss Wishes like PP while on the phone with IT. That is unacceptable.

The point of me sharing my experiences was to let others know that just because things aren't showing when they log in one time doesn't always means everything is gone permanently. Sometimes I think getting IT involved right away is what causes the problems.

Now I'm NOT implying that this is what the OP did but people panic right away and in SOME cases the panic is unnecessary and causes greater problems.

Computers and technology have issues and glitches and always will. Things like this will happen from time to time. Disney will never be able to eliminate it 100%.

 

[mom2faith]

Can you imagine that happening to someone who can't just come back next week (or next month, or maybe even next year?) and do what they miss though?

This really cannot happen at ALL. Once Disney chose this high tech route, they needed to be sure this sort of thing did not happen. Or they need adequate guest recovery to take care of it. And, although I'm sorry to say this....... even if it means they might occasionally get scammed.

EXACTLY!!!

I woke up at midnight on the 60 day mark to make all of my FP+ at the perfect times, including Anna & Elsa. A few weeks later, my husband called to upgrade our dining plan, and the CM forgot to attach the tickets to the "new" reservation. All of my perfect FP+ were gone. I only noticed this after a few days. I called and was told that they acknowledged it was an error on their part, but there was no way to give the FPs all back. The worst part was that there was no longer any availability for A&E. After a couple of calls, we were told that a note would be put in our file saying that they had made the mistake, and we should go to Guest Services when we got to the park. It was insinuated that they would give us a written pass, but no real guarantee. Luckily, I saw a thread about A&E availability on Disboards and was able to get another FP, but I still feel a bit troubled by the lack of action on Disney's part to correct their error. Although the CMs we talked to were very nice and apologetic, they were unable to really do anything about the mistake.

This is what makes me nauseous!! Thank you for sharing.

The point of me sharing my experiences was to let others know that just because things aren't showing when they log in one time doesn't always means everything is gone permanently. Sometimes I think getting IT involved right away is what causes the problems.

Now I'm NOT implying that this is what the OP did but people panic right away and in SOME cases the panic is unnecessary and causes greater problems.

Computers and technology have issues and glitches and always will. Things like this will happen from time to time. Disney will never be able to eliminate it 100%.

I don't think you are understanding me. As I have stated I am NOT refering to glitches, I am referring to ACTUAL situations where FP were lost until IT got involved (or lost altogether). I am NOT trying to induce panic, I am trying to determine what WE can do about it to protect ourselves and our planned vacations. This thread is not about the glitches, it is about the the LOST fastpasses. Does that make sense? Not trying to say your point is not valid, just saying that those situations are not what the point of the thread was. (I know I am coming across snarky and that is not the intent, I am struggling to word this.)

 

[clsteve]

Sometimes I think getting IT involved right away is what causes the problems.

Computers and technology have issues and glitches and always will. Things like this will happen from time to time. Disney will never be able to eliminate it 100%.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

You must get IT involved immediately. They need to continue to feel the pain themselves- and have to log the issues and be forced to track how large the problems continue to be in order to fix them.

Call them and continue to call since, as they say in the industry "no pain, no fix......"

 

[jahber]

I wholeheartedly disagree. You must get IT involved immediately. They need to continue to feel the pain themselves- and have to log the issues and be forced to track how large the problems continue to be in order to fix them. Call them and continue to call since, as they say in the industry "no pain, no fix......"

I agree. The fact that we even have to warn people not to panic when their carefully crafted vacation plans disappear is kind of ridiculous to me. If I planned a vacation through any other site, and then had my plans messed up by that site (even only appearing to be messed up), you bet I'd be on the phone immediately. But since it's Disney and it's still a "test" (heaven help me if I hear that one more time), we just have to suck it up and be patient. Right. Imagine what would happen if the bank or Target or Southwest tried that. "Sorry, our system is still in testing. Anything you did (purchases, transfers, etc) during that time was lost. Or, maybe not. Just be patient. And have a magical day!" And no one would complain because it was a "test"? Hardly.

Disney is holding your money, after all. And they offer no recourse when part of the product they promised you (the glorious convenience of FP+) simply disappears. As for me, I'm over it after only one hour with IT. I'm resigned that my daughter's MB will never work after multiple visits and GR interactions. And that's just sad.

 

[AandJsMommy]

I don't think you are understanding me. As I have stated I am NOT refering to glitches, I am referring to ACTUAL situations where FP were lost until IT got involved (or lost altogether). I am NOT trying to induce panic, I am trying to determine what WE can do about it to protect ourselves and our planned vacations. This thread is not about the glitches, it is about the the LOST fastpasses. Does that make sense? Not trying to say your point is not valid, just saying that those situations are not what the point of the thread was. (I know I am coming across snarky and that is not the intent, I am struggling to word this.)

I have no idea if this will help or not, but I just sent a message to WDW through their website explaining that I had heard numerous reports about Fastpasses disappearing and not being recoverable, and that guests were being given no recourse from Disney when that happened, other than to rebook or wait standby. I said that with all the money and hours of planning time being poured into this trip, it was very unsettling to think that the reservations would not be there when I needed them. So, I asked them to confirm that my FP reservations did actually exist and that they would be honored at the park. I plan on printing out their response, as well as a copy of my FP's, and keeping that with me in case there are any problems. Again, I have no idea if this will work, but I figured a pre-emptive strike can't hurt.

 

[3happydancers]

Can you imagine that happening to someone who can't just come back next week (or next month, or maybe even next year?) and do what they miss though?

This really cannot happen at ALL. Once Disney chose this high tech route, they needed to be sure this sort of thing did not happen. Or they need adequate guest recovery to take care of it. And, although I'm sorry to say this....... even if it means they might occasionally get scammed.

And if you don't mind my adding to this, not everyone has smart phones to do this "on the fly"!

Totally agree with you! If Disney insists on moving forward with these consistent problems so be it but...they absolutely should not make guests feel like they are scamming or taking advantage of the system and they need to implement adequate quest recovery as you mentioned!

 

[3happydancers]

I have no idea if this will help or not, but I just sent a message to WDW through their website explaining that I had heard numerous reports about Fastpasses disappearing and not being recoverable, and that guests were being given no recourse from Disney when that happened, other than to rebook or wait standby. I said that with all the money and hours of planning time being poured into this trip, it was very unsettling to think that the reservations would not be there when I needed them. So, I asked them to confirm that my FP reservations did actually exist and that they would be honored at the park. I plan on printing out their response, as well as a copy of my FP's, and keeping that with me in case there are any problems. Again, I have no idea if this will work, but I figured a pre-emptive strike can't hurt.

Excellent idea! If you don't mind, after my FP reservations are made, I think I'll follow your lead and do the same. Once these rese's have been made, Disney needs to honor them regardless if they "disappear" and no guest should be on the phone for hours with IT trying to get things fixed nor should they be expected to stand on lines at Guest Services only to be told there is nothing they can do. There is something they can do: 1-honor my reservations and 2-fix these problems once and for all!

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I don't think you are understanding me. As I have stated I am NOT refering to glitches, I am referring to ACTUAL situations where FP were lost until IT got involved (or lost altogether). I am NOT trying to induce panic, I am trying to determine what WE can do about it to protect ourselves and our planned vacations. This thread is not about the glitches, it is about the the LOST fastpasses. Does that make sense? Not trying to say your point is not valid, just saying that those situations are not what the point of the thread was. (I know I am coming across snarky and that is not the intent, I am struggling to word this.)

I understand what you're saying, but many people planning their vacations are reading this thread and I know I worried unnecessarily when my FP+ disappeared. So it makes sense to discuss the serious problems (which should not be happening and make me angry at Disney for their constant IT failures) while at the same time reassuring countless vacation-planning readers that MDE glitches don't automatically mean they are going to have problems at the park.

 

[AandJsMommy]

Excellent idea! If you don't mind, after my FP reservations are made, I think I'll follow your lead and do the same. Once these rese's have been made, Disney needs to honor them regardless if they "disappear" and no guest should be on the phone for hours with IT trying to get things fixed nor should they be expected to stand on lines at Guest Services only to be told there is nothing they can do. There is something they can do: 1-honor my reservations and 2-fix these problems once and for all!

If they start getting these kinds of emails, I wonder if that might be more incentive for them to work on the problem and fix things? Surely it would be easier to just fix the problem than to have to answer countless emails from people concerned about falling through the cracks. Maybe it would get them to at least set it up so that you get an automated email confirmation (with a confirmation # or something) so you have some proof.

 

[PlutoPals]

We booked our FP+ 60 days out, followed all the rules, linked accounts together, all seems hunky dory unless I check them on my DW's phone. On my phone all the FP's are there; on hers and the IPad it's usually only one or two people that have them when it should be 4, and it changes those people randomly every time we check in. Our trip is in 10 days, needless to say we'll be using my phone and taking screenshots. Fingers crossed!

 

[JennyDrake]

Here is mine from December:

[Are you ready??....]

About 8 weeks before the trip, via the WDW web site, I selected MB colors for Cathy and me and the lovely items were shipped to me ~ 3 weeks before our trip, personalized and pretty cute. Cathy’s is pink, mine (University of KY) blue.

Around the same time I selected the colors and personalization, I made FP+ selections for Epcot (arrival day), MK and DHS.

Both Cathy and I have APs that were converted to plastic AP in August, but had not (yet) been linked to MB.

[So far, so good.]

I go back to the web site several times only to find that my FP+ selections are now GONE. My MB is GONE, but Cathy is still there with some of the FP+ selections, but not all.

24 hours, no email. 48 hours, no email. 72 hours, email saying they are still working on it.

Fast forward to check in day. _I_ have the MB and Cathy arrives hours before I do. She is allowed to check in, but they balk at giving her a plastic room key/card, making it very clear “We don’t normally do this.” The CM at check in also told her that MY MB was “good to go!”

[Famous last words.]

So we go to the FP+ kiosk in Epcot to link my AP to the MB.

He asked if I had a smart phone—I don’t, so he uses a tablet. Linking our APs to the MB is painless. Then comes the FP+ issue. The ones for me have gone, vanished, lost in cyberspace. So he copies Cathy’s FP+ to my MB; because it is already they day they were to be used, he has to do some system overrides. So we’re fixed. “Good to go.” All systems go.

[Or so we think.]

The FP+ worked brilliantly that day and Andrew was even generous enough to have thrown in an extra, so we had 4 FP+. That day and all subsequent days the MB worked perfectly for room charges whether food or merchandise. So in short, any time we wanted to give WDW money, they worked great.

The next day we go to DHS. I get into the park fine but when we try our first FP+, My MB is rejected. No FP+. Cathy’s works fine. Cathy tells them that ours are linked in a polite, but firm voice. The CM at Star Tours pulls out a tablet and “beeps” my MB, then Cathy’s MB, then mine again. Voilà! MB works great the rest of the day.


The next day we go to the MK; MB work great to get into the park and eat breakfast, then we start on our FP+ selections—first up Peter Pan. My MB is rejected. No FP+. Cathy’s works fine. Cathy tells them that ours are linked in a polite, but firm voice. The highly irritable CM waves us through. This would be the “Theme of the Day” at the MK. It didn’t take a psychic to figure out that CMs have HAD IT with FP+. HAD IT. By 11 am just about everyone we encountered was exasperated, short tempered and in some SERIOUS need of Pixie Dust. Cathy pulled out the “Wrath of Cath” tone at each and every attraction where we—well, SHE—had FP+, and the CMs waved us through with an air of frustrated “Whatever!”

A scene that played out over and over (especially at MK) was a guest or party of guests being told they did not have FP+ and parking them off to the side until they could get out their smart phone, open MDE and *show* the CM their FP+ selections! No smart phone? You’re screwed. Paper print out? Not accepted. As one CM snipped, “You could have printed this, then made changes and printed another copy, giving you FP+ all day for everything! I can’t accept that.”

International guests were BEYOND confused and frankly, beyond screwed as well. Just imagine English being far from your first language and trying to understand this mess.

So overall a very polarized review. Where and when MB, FP+ worked, it was great. When/where didn’t work, very frustrating. I was particularly irked that the darn things worked whenever and wherever I wanted to give WDW money, but otherwise undependable at best.