Disappointed with FastPass+ Was I doing something wrong?

[babaganoosh]

Thanks for the replies!

As people said, last minute, there's not much good FP available. I personally think that's wrong. I don't know how many people can really plan 2 months out what they will be doing on their vacation so they can reduce waits. YES, loads of info here. But think about the family coming to WDW first / 2nd time with little kids. its tough enough juggling that, let alone the nuances of maybe getting 1 FP that works for them.

Again, the old way, no matter you were a Disney fanatic or 1st timer showing up at the park - you go to the box, insert your card and you got a FP for that day. At least you had something. yes, that had limits on how many you could get at 1 time, couldn't trade / turn them back in. but overall, I was dismayed with the process.

our trip was with our teenage son before going back to college (we did 5 - 6 trips to WDW when he and daughter were younger years ago). I don't see going back to the parks anytime soon (likely when our kids have kids?). So I guess our opinion of FP doesn't carry much weight with Disney. Understandably, as a shareholder, they want to be sure to cater to the repeat guests, etc.

It could / should be another thread (in another forum?) but I just have to ask, having not been there in a bunch of years - damn, are they overbuilding DVC properties?! on the water at the poly, next to the Contemporary, loads of other places I don't know about.

All these people and can the parks support all of them?

And maybe not being a fanatic like others here (sorry, please don't take offense), but (at least some) attractions are a bit old / dated at times? It WAS interesting to see things now vs. our memory - chasing the poachers is gone from the safari ride, the mexico ride has the 3 caballeros, the 7DMT is in the general area where 20K used to be. Eager to hear how the movie ride will change - who knows who james cagney is nowadays? Indiana jones - GREAT movies, but still... have kids seen that? honey I shrunk the kids playground....

Not to belittle their talent. it certainly is expensive and tough coming up with new ideas. I would love to have time to see all the resorts and the nuances. But have to pay to get in the park to see the countries (which are basically a collection of stores and slow moving food services)? again, when I have grandkids maybe.

And I DO have to go in with a mindset of slow down / don't try seeing everything in a day or 2. Go when you have several days to see things.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Nope, they sure couldn't. And neither can Universal, because Express Pass isn't a "front of the line" system. It's just a (greatly) reduced wait over the SB lines.

A lot of people seem to think it works pretty good, and maybe something like that would work well at WDW if people were okay waiting just a few minutes in the FP line rather than expect an absolute zero wait time. It would only take a little tweaking of the SB/FP ratios. That's all Express Pass does, really. They just let more of the SB line in before letting more EP in.

Universal Orlando has 2,400 eligible rooms. Walt Disney World has over 24,000 rooms. An Express Pass-like system couldn't work with those numbers.

 

[Suvadoo]

Yes, that's why I say it begs the question. I don't know what percentage of a ride's capacity is allocated to FPs or how many FP guests are allowed to enter for every standby guest allowed in.

I suspect that WDW is watching and tweaking this constantly, like when they suddenly released batches of 7DMT FPs last fall.

It can be a delicate balance especially because, as you say, people have gotten used to FP being virtually no wait, at least to the merge point. One of the hot topics on these boards a year ago was the outrage over FP lines getting longer because there were 2 minute long lines at the first touch point and jokes about FP being Slow Pass.

It wouldn't bother me, but I would bet that if you surveyed people about routine 15-20 minute waits with FPs in exchange for getting one or two more per person, there would be some strong differences of opinion. It would make coordinating FPs with other plans like ADRs more difficult because the FP wait time would be less predictable. I also don't think it would sit well with people who already object to being too heavily scheduled.

Guests can only get FP+ for 3 rides, but the SB lines have increased for all FP+ rides. I don't think most people would mind a 5 minute wait for FP+ if it resulted in reduced SB waits for those same rides. For example, if Pirates had a 5 min wait for FP+ and this reduced the SB line from 30 minutes to 20 minutes I think both groups would be satisfied.

 

[wisblue]

Guests can only get FP+ for 3 rides, but the SB lines have increased for all FP+ rides. I don't think most people would mind a 5 minute wait for FP+ if it resulted in reduced SB waits for those same rides. For example, if Pirates had a 5 min wait for FP+ and this reduced the SB line from 30 minutes to 20 minutes I think both groups would be satisfied.

The PP was talking about FP+ having a wait of more like 20 minutes, not 5.

Also, your statement that standby lines have increased for ALL rides with FP+ is not supported by the studies done by either Touring Plans or Easywdw. They both have said that standby lines are longer for some things and shorter for others. The bigger increases (which they have reported as an average increase of about 10 minutes) are for things like POC and HM that did not have FP at all before.

Finally, guests can and do get FPs for more than 3 rides, especially at the MK, and rides like POC and IASW are perfect examples of rides that often have availability with return times that are very close.

 

[Laketravis]

The PP was talking about FP+ having a wait of more like 20 minutes, not 5.

If you are referring to me, in this particular discussion I was talking about FP+ having a minimal wait time of perhaps 2, 3, or maybe even 4 minutes:

"Under the right conditions, the more they moved away from absolute zero wait for FP to still-acceptable 2, 3, or even 4 minute waits, they could have a tremendous impact on reducing SB wait times and permit additional FP's across the park. In other words - there is tons of room for tweaking as long as the current FP wait time is close to zero."

While that may seem inconsequential, the overall effect it could have would be tremendous.

 

[Laketravis]

...rides like POC and IASW are perfect examples of rides that often have availability with return times that are very close.

Those are perfect examples of rides that historically always had availability.

 

[Laketravis]

Universal Orlando has 2,400 eligible rooms. Walt Disney World has over 24,000 rooms. An Express Pass-like system couldn't work with those numbers.

Using that logic, FP+ will never work.

 

[Laketravis]

Guests can only get FP+ for 3 rides, but the SB lines have increased for all FP+ rides. I don't think most people would mind a 5 minute wait for FP+ if it resulted in reduced SB waits for those same rides. For example, if Pirates had a 5 min wait for FP+ and this reduced the SB line from 30 minutes to 20 minutes I think both groups would be satisfied.

Not to mention it could allow for more than 3 initial FP's.

 

[wisblue]

If you are referring to me, in this particular discussion I was talking about FP+ having a minimal wait time of perhaps 2, 3, or maybe even 4 minutes:

"Under the right conditions, the more they moved away from absolute zero wait for FP to still-acceptable 2, 3, or even 4 minute waits, they could have a tremendous impact on reducing SB wait times and permit additional FP's across the park. In other words - there is tons of room for tweaking as long as the current FP wait time is close to zero."

While that may seem inconsequential, the overall effect it could have would be tremendous.

It has not been my experience that FP waits at WDW are absolute zero all, or even most, of the time, either before or after FP+. I have found a wait of 5-10 minutes to be typical, and more than acceptable.

On our recent trip to Disneyland we only used one FP per day because the availability was so limited during the busy holiday season. And we waited about 15 minutes to get on Space Mountain and Indiana Jones (that was after standing in line for 15 minutes to get the IJ FP in the first place). That wait was caused in part because the ride, along with 5 other major attractions (Space, Matterhorn, Buzz, HM, and POC) were not ready to open when the park opened, and JC was down when we returned to IJ to get FPs.

My overall impression from that trip is that long lines are much more a function of large crowds than the FP system in place. And WDW has larger crowds than Disneyland or US.

 

[Suvadoo]

The PP was talking about FP+ having a wait of more like 20 minutes, not 5.

Also, your statement that standby lines have increased for ALL rides with FP+ is not supported by the studies done by either Touring Plans or Easywdw. They both have said that standby lines are longer for some things and shorter for others. The bigger increases (which they have reported as an average increase of about 10 minutes) are for things like POC and HM that did not have FP at all before.

Finally, guests can and do get FPs for more than 3 rides, especially at the MK, and rides like POC and IASW are perfect examples of rides that often have availability with return times that are very close.

OK, FP+ is great and there are absolutely no problems with it. You can get 20 -30 FP+ reservations daily and SB lines have not increased, it’s an optical illusion.

Regardless, I don’t think guest with FP+ would mind waiting 5 minutes , if it reduced their overall standby wait on rides where they could not secure FP+.

 

[babaganoosh]

1 - 2 - 3 minutes? It takes a fair amount of time just to walk the waiting corral right after RD with no one there. : )

and when they say wait time, for ones with preshows, are they talking 'till you get to the pre show'? Or get on the actual ride?

 

[Eastern]

I was asked (upon leaving MK one day) to complete a survey when I returned home. I just completed it and the questions leaned heavily toward my FP+ experience before leaving home and while in the parks.

I indicated that FP+ worked best for those who planned carefully and who were knowledgeable about the FP+ system. I felt I had to plan too much.

Making the initial FP+ reservations at home was easy enough (once I figured out all the directions) but modifying FP+ at the parks, using the app on my phone, was very difficult, and often unsuccessful.

I did not know that once you used your 3 FP+ in the park, and made and used another FP+, that you could make a 5th FP+ in that same park. (they told me this on the survey. "Did you know that...") Don't know if this is possible, but it's interesting! I think that you should be able to make that 4th FP+ on your phone, and that you should be able to make it for another park while you are not in that park. By the time we got to the other parks, nothing (good) was ever left.

I like the fact that I can preplan 3 FP+, but the modification system once you get to the parks is horrible. I often got an error message or the page took forever to load. Too much time spent looking at my phone. It works fine in the early morning when the park is empty, but once it fills, it's impossible.

 

[wisblue]

OK, FP+ is great and there are absolutely no problems with it. You can get 20 -30 FP+ reservations daily and SB lines have not increased, it’s an optical illusion.

Regardless, I don’t think guest with FP+ would mind waiting 5 minutes , if it reduced their overall standby wait on rides where they could not secure FP+.

Right, that is exactly what I have said.

I also disagree that FP waits of 5 minutes (which I think they are already) would have a significant impact on standby wait times.

 

[wisblue]

1 - 2 - 3 minutes? It takes a fair amount of time just to walk the waiting corral right after RD with no one there. : )

and when they say wait time, for ones with preshows, are they talking 'till you get to the pre show'? Or get on the actual ride?

If I remember right, there was a current or former CM who posted on the boards occasionally who said that their target was to keep the FP wait under 10 minutes, and that was to get past the merge point. For that purpose, preshows or things like the car design at TT are considered part of the attraction.

 

[erc]

Back in the pre-FP+ days I don't recall them stopping everything just because I was walking through the FP line. All told from showing up at the ride at the return time to making my way through the queue, it was probably still 5 minutes or so of waiting.

 

[SmithSmith]

If I remember right, there was a current or former CM who posted on the boards occasionally who said that their target was to keep the FP wait under 10 minutes, and that was to get past the merge point. For that purpose, preshows or things like the car design at TT are considered part of the attraction.

I agree with you. The FP+ waits I experienced were already 5-10 minutes. What I've learned from WDW vacation planning is to schedule roughly 15-20 minutes for fast passed attractions. Of course, that doesn't apply to every ride, but I found it helpful and pretty accurate.

 

[babaganoosh]

Eastern - you say my thoughts exactly... and much clearer!