Disney AFTER FP+ and MB (and please be honest)

[Maleficent Dragon]

For Disney vets who have been going long before FP+ and MBs were ever discussed, has the new system changed things drastically (or even a lot) for you? Has it changed the way you feel about WDW vacationing?

And PLEASE, if you HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN since the changes, do not weigh in. This is NOT an "I hate the new system" debate thread. There are many of those you can post on.

I really want to hear from those who have visited Disney many times before the change and those who have been in the last few months since the change.

• Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid?
• Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like?
• Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions?
• Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+?

I appreciate any honest feedback based from experience.

I am asking these questions because my daughter is requesting to go to Disney for her birthday later this year. I am really leaning towards Disneyland, but she is concerned she will be disappointed. As it is her birthday I would like to give her what she wants, but I want to make sure we are getting our moneys worth as well.

 

[MYD714]

I was able to test the new system last August and I found there were pros and cons.

Cons:
I hated that the lines for attractions such as HM and POTC seemed twice as long as August of 2012. We used to walk right on to these throughout the day, but we found the lines to be at least 40 minutes long each time we tried to ride. As a result, we didn't ride these as much. It was a huge disappointment.

We almost had a problem at Splash Mountain one night when my FP+ was registering properly. I told the CM that I did have a FP+ and took out my phone to show her the FP+ on my MDE app. She told me that "if it didn't light up, there was nothing [she] could do about it." I was about to get angry when it lit up. Therefore, I'm a little worried about it happening again on a future trip.

I found that only 3 FP a day was not enough for us. We utilize FP to our advantage, and have always had more than 3 a day. Luckily, at the time we were able to use regular FP and FP+. I'm happy that more than 3 are now available, but I wish we were able to make the extras on the app rather than having to find a kiosk.

Pros:
I did like having FPs for popular rids without having to race to a park first thing in the morning. It was nice to know that I was guaranteed to get on TSMM without hitting RD. It was nice being able to have 3 FP at once. Additionally, I liked being able to alter my times when we wanted to change our schedules. The app made this super easy.

Another plus was when TSMM shut down during our FP+, we got an email allowing us to choose another FP+ for any other attraction in the park. I was worried we'd lose the fastpass, and it was nice to be able to schedule a new one.

I liked not having to race around for FPs, and I think I'll appreciate it this summer when DH isn't there to be the official runner.

 

[mavadell]

We've been many times before FP+ and twice with FP+ and as much as I hate to say it, for us there are more negatives than positives. We are in our 60's with no children at home. We go to WDW alone and with children and grandchildren.

Positives: I like knowing I have a reservation to ride my favorites without standing in line and without stressing over being there at rope drop.

Negatives: For whatever reason, I do feel as if the parks are more crowded.
There is no doubt that the lines for lesser attractions are much longer. Nothing is important enough to us to wait in line for longer than 15 or 20 minutes and there were always rides we could walk on (Pirates, IASW, Jungle Cruise). Last trip (May 4-10) that was not the case and it was not a high crowd time.
Making ADR's 180 days out was one thing, but FP+ at 60 days, trying to adjust times and attractions on my phone in the park and trying to find a kiosk and stand in line to make a 4th just exhausted me. It was not fun or spontaneous!
We definitely rode less and had less fun this trip and we were alone. I cannot imagine doing all this juggling with grandchildren. Just my experience.

 

[Planogirl]

We've been once since the changes started. We stayed offsite and this was before offsite was eligible and while onsite people were already using FP+.

It did appear that the standby lines were longer for middle tier attractions at that time. I've been monitoring wait time apps since then and this appears to still be true. I'm not sure if crowds might be higher or if this is due to FP+ but time will tell.

 

[amykathleen2005]

On our trip this past week I scheduled the following ADR and Fastpass+ times:
Living with the Land 11:00-12:00 (so we got there at 11:45)
Soarin 12:00-1:00 (then walked right onto Soarin)
Coral Reef ADR 1:05 (then walked over to the Seas to look around and check in)
Journey Into Imagination 1:40-2:40 (and then walk nicely over to the imagination pavilion and Captain EO).

Plus then we went through the single rider line on Test Track and only waited 20 minutes!


Could we have done that without Fastpass+? No way. Did I have to jog from the entrance to Soarin hoping there was a Fastpass available and at a time that we wouldn't be all the way in Norway? No.

It is easy and convenient if you do it right.

 

[basketlacey]

For Disney vets who have been going long before FP+ and MBs were ever discussed, has the new system changed things drastically (or even a lot) for you? Has it changed the way you feel about WDW vacationing? And PLEASE, if you HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN since the changes, do not weigh in. This is NOT an "I hate the new system" debate thread. There are many of those you can post on. I really want to hear from those who have visited Disney many times before the change and those who have been in the last few months since the change. [*]Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid? [*]Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like? [*]Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions? [*]Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+? I appreciate any honest feedback based from experience. I am asking these questions because my daughter is requesting to go to Disney for her birthday later this year. I am really leaning towards Disneyland, but she is concerned she will be disappointed. As it is her birthday I would like to give her what she wants, but I want to make sure we are getting our moneys worth as well.

We've been several times using legacy FP, did one day in Feb with FP+ and did a week in April with FP+. I'll share my thoughts below on your questions but overall I will say that we love it. I'm excited to go back and have the option to add more than the original three. I'll focus on April since February was just one day.


[*]Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid?
We did notice that a few attractions where you normally wouldn't have much wait, had a bit of a wait. I'd say less than 30 minutes in most cases. I noticed this most at MK and with Spaceship Earth. We actually stood in line for Small World (around 20 minutes) which I would say is pretty unusual. Thirty minutes is my max wait time unless someone in my party really really wants to ride. So I'd say yes there is some truth to this rumor but in no way would I expect it to ruin your trip.


[*]Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like?

I think it makes it easier. You get FP for the ones you want to do most and that you know will have longer lines and then evaluate the others based on wait times. We would skip by something if it had a longer wait than we wanted and watch the app to hit it when it was less of a wait. I had family with me that had only been one day to MK before this trip. They thought oldest DD and I were superstars because if how well our plans worked out lol. Just for perspective, here's what we did:

HS - 1/2 day:

FP+ for TSMM, TT and Star Tours(we really didn't need ST). We also did: Animation Academy, great Movie Ride, Indiana Jones, MUPPETS, RR, Fantasmic. And some of our party did Voyage of Little Mermaid while we rode RR. Pretty good for half of a day.

EPCOT - 1 1/2 days:

Day 1 FP+ for Soarin, Spaceship Earth and Mission Space. Also did Nemo, Turtle Talk, TT STANDBY, Character Spot, and ate at Via Napoli. Left and went to swim and came back for Illuminations. We spent a lot of time hanging out in countries.

Day 2 FP + for TT (only 2 of our party of 11 ride standby on day 1), Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land (which we didn't use or need). Also did ride in Mexico and Norway and ate at F&G booths. Left park by 2ish and that was it for the day.

MK - 1 day

FP+ for BTMRR, Space Mtn and ETWB. Also rode Pirates, Jungle Cruise, people Mover, Dumbo, Phil Harmagic, small World, Ariel, Haunted Mansion, and a second ride on BTMRR. We ate two counter service meals, watched the Dream Along with Mickey Castle SHow, watched the afternoon Festival of the Fantasy Parade, watched Wishes and played Sotmk. Two of our party watched MSEP while the rest of us did another round on BTMRR.

AK - 1 day

FP + for Safari, Nemo, EE, Also did ITTBAB, Dinosaur, Prime Evil Tilt thingy, Parade, Jungle Trek, the scout books that have the stations, several character meet and greets, one counter service meal, one sit down meal at Y&Y and watched the parade. Also we re-rode EE several times at end of day (at least 4 maybe more)

[*]Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions?

We repeated a few things and went back and did other favorites later in the week. I didn't feel restricted here, I just don't love to wait in line. So I made sure my kids got to do their favorites at least once (either FP+ or standby) and if they got to do it again, it was a bonus and based on wait time.

[*]Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+? I feel like we did more actually!

 

[wuzzy6]

I've been to the parks 4 times in the last 5 months, with another visit coming up next weekend...

Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid? I believe the parks are more crowded, in general, and that is affecting the lines more than FP+.

Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like? Not at all. I have ridden every ride I've wanted to ride, each time I've been to the parks over the last 5 months.

Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions? No, I don't feel any more or less limited than I did prior to FP+. Every ride and attraction still has a SB line, and I think the size of the crowd in attendance is more limiting than anything else.

Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+? No, not at all. In all fairness, however, I feel it's important to state that my touring style has changed a lot as I've gotten older. In spite of that, if I still toured as commando as I always did, I am pretty confident I'd still get just as much done, depending on the crowd size. Again, I think it's the attendance numbers that are causing the biggest problems.

 

[rn448698]

I've been to WDW 7 times with regular fastpasses, and 2 times with fp+. We first experienced fp+ in October 2013 right when everyone at YC received magic bands. We also experienced fp+ during the first week of May 2014. My answers are based on the May 2014 visit because there were still paper fastpasses in October 2013. On our first 7 trips, it was my partner and me. On our May 2014, it was the two of us plus my parents. No kids. Only one meet 'n greet.

Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid?

My personal opinion is that the longer lines are more because the economy is improving and less because of fp+. More people = more lines. Also, my experience during the first week of May was that fp+ probably has evened out the length of lines on rides. Basically, it appeared that headliners had shorter lines than before, and regular rides had longer lines than before. The crowds, in general, only felt marginally more crowded than May 2012.


Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like?

No. Not at all. In fact, it made it a little easier to hit up headliners without running around like a crazy person. We basically used our first three fastpasses between 5pm and 8pm, and then got extra fastpasses for the rest of the evening. We used the morning hours (9am - noon) to ride headliners that we didn't have fastpasses for and to ride some of the other rides (Pooh, IASW, HM, LwtL, etc.). However, any night that we planned for WS at Epcot, we got fastpasses for the morning. Every afternoon was spent at the pool.


Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions?

Yes. But again, I blame that on larger crowds moreso than fp+. If we wanted to ride a ride more than once, we made sure that we either had two fastpasses for it or we rode it at rope drop and then later with a fastpass.


Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+?

Maybe. But, I'm not entirely sure. However, I can unequivocally say that we walked slower and enjoyed ourselves much more this trip. For example, we rode the following at MK on our first day (W, 5/7) between 9am and 11am: Space Mountain, Pooh, Under the Sea, IaSW, Haunted Mansion, Meet n Greet with Daisy and Minnie. From 5:30pm - 8:30pm, we rode Big Thunder (fp+), Splash Mountain (fp+), PoTC, Jungle Cruise (fp+), Tomorrowland Speedway, and TTA (twice), and had dinner in there are Pecos Bills. We saw Celebrate the Magic and Wishes that night.

At Epcot on Th (5/8) between 9am and 11am, we rode Test Track (rope drop), Soarin' (fp+), LwtL (had a fastpass, but there was no line and the fastpass readers were covered), Nemo, and Spaceship Earth (fp+). We went to WS in the evening and also rode Maelstrom.

At DHS on F (5/9) between 9am and 11:30am, we rode Toy Story (rope drop), RnR (single rider), ToT, walked through Walt's Story (or whatever it's called), shopped, and took pictures. Had lunch at 11:30. Went back to AKL. Instead of going to the pool with my family, I went to MK. From 1:30-5:00, without fastpasses, I rode Space, Buzz, TTA, watched Festival of Fantasy Parade from Liberty Square, Country Bear, and the Riverboat. I also sat around, walked around, and shopped. Dinner was at 5:00 at LTT. From 6:30 - 10:30, we rode Big Thunder (fp+), Splash (fp+), Swiss Family Treehouse, Peter Pan (fp+), watched MSEP from Liberty Square (probably got there 25 minutes ahead of time), Dumbo (fp+), and Haunted Mansion (fp+, but didn't need it). We shopped and took bathroom breaks a lot during those 4 hours.

At AK on S (5/10) between 9am and noon, we rode (saw) Bug's Life, Kilimanjaro Safari (fp+), Pangani Trail, Everest (fp+), Primeval Whirl, had lunch at Flametree, and Dinosaur (fp+). We went to WS in the evening and also rode Maelstrom (fp+).

The only rides we didn't go on that I wish we did: Carousel of Progress, Maharajah Jungle Trek, Laugh Floor, and Figment (20 minute wait; no way!). This was more or less because we were only in the parks for four days.

Could we re-ride Soarin' twice? Probably. Did we? No. We didn't use fastpasses at DHS (only there for half a day); and the fastpasses at AK in the morning just made it more relaxing (we went to WS at Epcot in the evening).

Overall, I have no major complaints other than not being able to book extra fastpasses on your phone and having to do it at a kiosk at the park with the ride.

 

[Dan Murphy]

B

We just returned a couple weeks ago from WDW...my daughter, her two boys (4 and 7) and myself.

We were there just prior to the 4th and more fastpasses. I loved that we could schedule 3 per park of basically any attraction at any time prior to leaving. I liked being able to make changes on the fly. FP lines basically were walk on. It worked really well.

I do think the rides/attractions that typically need not be FP'd had longer standby lines.

I think the ability to keep adding more fastpasses after 3, especially if they go to the smartphone, is great, even though we did not have the opportunity to do so. We will next time.

 

[TimothyG]

For Disney vets who have been going long before FP+ and MBs were ever discussed, has the new system changed things drastically (or even a lot) for you? Has it changed the way you feel about WDW vacationing?

It has made rope drop less of a priority for me. I'm not 100% sure if its because I take so many trips or because of the new system, but the new system makes it easier for me to sleep in and be guaranteed a ride. If you slept in during the old system, you would not be able to get one for TSM, at least not until much later at night. I find this makes my vacation a lot more relaxing and gives me more energy throughout the day.

I think overall the system is a lot better. I think that there are certainly valid criticisms and I do think the people who say you can't get 10 FPs per day are right. You can't anymore under a normal operating day. But, the new system is a lot more flexible. You can pick any time you want to ride from your smartphone.

With the old system, you were limited to the following:

• If the FP machine was handing out FPs in the middle of your ADR, too bad. You had to either accept what it gave you or waste time waiting until the machine gave a better time.
• After they started enforcing return times, if you wanted to go back to the resort and go swimming or take a nap, you had to pick between using your FP or your break.
• You had to constantly traverse the park to grab another FP.
• Generally, the FPs were all distributed earlier in the day than they are now.
• If you misplaced your paper FP, it was gone forever.

Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid?

Somewhat, but I'm not sure how much of it is attributable to FP+. There are longer lines for several reasons, including increased attendance to the parks. A minor goal of FP+ was to more evenly distribute guests around the park and so some lines that have historically seen short waits now have a slightly longer wait. I don't think its the case for headliners though. I think those lines have remained about the same length.

Having said that, it hasn't really impacted my touring. Sure, I might wait a little longer for POTC, but I'm also not walking all the way across the park every 45 minutes to grab another FP.

Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like?

No. I've done Space Mountain, my favorite attraction, more on my last trip than ever before.

Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions?

Not really. I still manage to do a lot of re-rides for my favorite attractions.

Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+?

No, I get just as much done as I did in the past. And I used to be one of those people that got 10 FPs per day.

 

[jlaneme]

We didn't find any problems with the FP system. We had traveled to Disney 3 times previously and enjoyed the FP system. With the new Magic Band, I found we had to be a little more organized and simply ensure we were where we needed to be at the specific time. The only time we ran into trouble was at Hollywood Studios when there was a FP for the Ariel show and it was a 20 minute time slot vs the normal 60 minutes. We missed it, not realizing that there was a difference. We were still able to hit all the rides we wanted and even scored a FP to see Elsa and Anna! One day, we were able to secure 10 FPs over the course of the day and hit all our favorites in the MK including Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Toy Story Space Ranger Spin, Barnstormer, Ariel and more. It was a successful day and we just planned it carefully but I wouldn't say we were "slaves" to the MB system. The only other thing that was of concern was standing in a line to add our extra fast passes - that was a little odd. That being said, I think it was simply because Cast Members were walking people through the process and not everyone knew how to use the system. Having said that, perhaps people were indecisive at the FP stations and maybe having the Cast Members there would have sped up the process! Just wish I could have snagged a Mine Train FP for May 10th and my trip would have been complete!

 

[Momof2Singers]

I was able to test the new system last August and I found there were pros and cons.

Cons:
I hated that the lines for attractions such as HM and POTC seemed twice as long as August of 2012. We used to walk right on to these throughout the day, but we found the lines to be at least 40 minutes long each time we tried to ride. As a result, we didn't ride these as much. It was a huge disappointment.

We almost had a problem at Splash Mountain one night when my FP+ was registering properly. I told the CM that I did have a FP+ and took out my phone to show her the FP+ on my MDE app. She told me that "if it didn't light up, there was nothing [she] could do about it." I was about to get angry when it lit up. Therefore, I'm a little worried about it happening again on a future trip.

I found that only 3 FP a day was not enough for us. We utilize FP to our advantage, and have always had more than 3 a day. Luckily, at the time we were able to use regular FP and FP+. I'm happy that more than 3 are now available, but I wish we were able to make the extras on the app rather than having to find a kiosk.

Pros:
I did like having FPs for popular rids without having to race to a park first thing in the morning. It was nice to know that I was guaranteed to get on TSMM without hitting RD. It was nice being able to have 3 FP at once. Additionally, I liked being able to alter my times when we wanted to change our schedules. The app made this super easy.

Another plus was when TSMM shut down during our FP+, we got an email allowing us to choose another FP+ for any other attraction in the park. I was worried we'd lose the fastpass, and it was nice to be able to schedule a new one.

I liked not having to race around for FPs, and I think I'll appreciate it this summer when DH isn't there to be the official runner.

Your last line here...I asked this question earlier, but no one responded. Regarding DH being a runner, if everything is in my name, do I have to go to the Kiosks to get more fast passes...if so, that would be a bummer, or do all 4 of us have to go...how does that work, in the past, he just took all four of our cards and got the passes

 

[Wendybird55]

We first used Magic Bands and FP+ last September when it was still in "testing" phase and not everyone was using them. We will be going again this August and Sept. I have been to Disney close to 30 times and DH 7 I have taken our son (who is now 7) 8 times.

To preface my experiences: we went during a typically slow time so crowds were low to being with and we did not notice any longer lines, etc. Since we were still in test phase not everyone had Magic Bands of FP+, but since it was still being tested it my have been "buggier".

I thought the magic bands were great...It's me DH and DS (7) and I am usually the "holder of the tickets" so it was much easier for me to just have us tap our bands then have to get tickets out of my bag then put them back each time we entered a park. Also, more people can enter at main entrances through what used to be 1 turnstile where 1 person entered at a time. All 3 of us could be tapping our Magic Bands at the same time and walk in. And I wised they had this system when we had the stroller as no more waiting for someone to open the gate, etc.

I also likes being able to charge on Magic Band. Again, one less hassle of having to go thru bag to get wallet, etc, especially when it seems that the mom with the handbag tends to end up carrying most everything.

We didn't have any technical problems with Magic Bands during our trip. So in my experience Magic Bands are a plus and didn't interfere with our usual Disney plans..in fact in some cases they made things easier.

FP+ was also fine..it was fun to pre-plan our FPs mostly because it was something new to try. I did and was able to change our FP+ selections while in park. Sometimes I spent more time then I wanted on the app, but it was something new and I was learning as well.

Though we enjoy rides and such, we have never been big users of FP. It is not overly important or necessary for us to hit a lot of rides during our trip. DS is not into the big thrill rides yet and the only "headliner" ride he likes to go on that we really need FP for is TSM. So since we never really exploited or aggressively used the previous FP system the change to FP+ didn't affect our touring style. Plus again, the time we go most lines are usually walk ons or short wait times.

I did have concerns or things I didn't like as much about FP+... only being able to use it in one park (but now that has changed) an, not being able to double up on a favorite ride with your 3 initial choices (have to choose 3 different rides when booking early). However, again, you can now get a 2nd FP+ for a favorite ride after you use up your initial 3.

My family truly enjoys going to Disney and over the years our enjoyment comes from may more things than going on certain rides / attractions and those things have not been affected by Magic Bands of FP+. I really think opinions of Magic Bands and FP+ are directly related to individual touring styles. If you had a FP system you worked out and successfully used before the changes, I can see how you wouldn't like the new system as much. If FPs were never a big part of your touring the change may not affect you at all OR it may improve things as you can plan and think of FP+ before your trip.

As far as crowds and longer lines, I can't say until we go this Aug. and then Sept. These are the times of year we've been going for the past 5-6 years and the crowd levels and lines have been fairly consistent -I'll have to see if I notice any big differences in lines and such when we go.

As far as getting your money's worth...Disney as I think all vacations are what you make of them. There is plenty of opportunities to do different things and have great times at Disney. If a great time and worthwhile Disney trip is based largely on how many rides / attractions you can do / see and repeating favorites multiple times, the new system may affect that. But if you value your trip on good times, laughs, special moments, etc. then there's plenty of that still going on at Disney.

 

[MightyGitis]

I am a long time disney veteran. I visited many times before Legacy Fastpass. Many times during Legacy fastpass. And now twice with FP+ but during testing (ie not everyone was on the system and the rolling 4th was not yet available)

[*]Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid?

Yes. Because you have people selecting FP+ for weird rides you are seeing longer lines for them during peak hours. Sometimes 30 - 40 minutes for Pirates or Haunted Manson. HOWEVER this seemed to wane in the evenings. I still road Pirates and Haunted Mansion 3 or 4 times each on both trips.

I also think there is something to the increased crowds being partially responsible for this.

[*]Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like?

No. It has made it easier. No more strict rope drop attending for Soarin or Toy Story Midway Mania. And because of scheduled FPs many headliner lines seem to have shortened. Allowing multiple rides on some things that we used to not be able to do so. Having the scheduled FP allowed us to ride TSMM or Soarin first thing and then come back thru with the FP+.

[*]Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions?

Partially answered this with the last couple questions. I think if you intend to take advantage of evening EMH in MK you will be able to revise many rides to your hearts content. One EMH night we rode space mountain 3x. Splash mountain 2 x. And Big thunder 2x. Doubled up in Soarin and Toy story using the FP we had booked. I think now that there is the rolling 4th it could be even easier. I will be there in 28 days and my sister and I intend to try to maximize number of FP+ we can nab. Would be glad to report back after that as well.

[*]Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+?

I feel like we did more. I enjoyed not running around just to get paper fastpasses and then run back at the designated time.


I should add though that this adds a level to your planning that was not there before and that we are still adjusting our touring methods to the new system. I think it in time will work just as good if not better than legacy FP. (Which by the way people hated when it first came out because they were worried it would make regular lines longer. I feel like we are just creatures of habit and hate change.)

Right now if you want to meet Anna and Elsa the FP+ is the way to go. You just have to book it early. Everything else is not running out super fast. As I said 28 days out from my trip and though our FP+ is already scheduled I keep looking to see what attractions are sold out and it's mainly A&E and the Mine Train. Funny it's not open yet and already the FPs are gone for it. >.<

I also think that from what I can see KIDS LOVE MAGIC BANDS. lol. They love using them to get into the park. To use fastpasses. And I watched as parents let kids scan bands for dining plan charging. They all seemed really thrilled with them.

 

[BusterCat]

At Disney first 10 days of May -- moderate crowds

Cons:
- Longer waits for secondary rides
- Rope drop window is impacted by FP riders. Felt the standby lines jumped around the 9:40 mark.
- Was unable to change times (no availability) the 2 times I attempted.
- Sapped spontaneity from trip. One day it rained and we wanted to switch parks but it was too risky... we felt we needed to stick to the plan.

All was not doom and gloom

Pros:
- I Loved being able to do major rides on arrival day and move day.
- Enjoyed having the mountains reserved at night. Increased overall enjoyment of MK at night.

Conclusion:
While I don't like FP+ and I deplore Disney for focusing such time and money on MDE, I can live with it. Reluctantly.

 

[JimmyV]

• Do you feel all the complaints about longer lines now are valid?
• Do you feel that the FP+ implementation has made it harder for you to do the attractions you like?
• Do you feel like you are limited on how many times you can ride and see certain attractions?
• Do you feel like you do not get to do as much as you did in the past because of FP+?

These are really hard questions to answer in the abstract because people tour do differently. For example:

Group # 1 (which describes us).
A typical day at Epcot under FP- entailed hitting Soarin' at RD, and pulling FPs for it before getting in the line. Return time for the FP was around 10:00. Standby wait at RD was 5-7 minutes. After riding, the Group would rush over to Test Track and hop in the SB line. The wait would be around 15 minutes. After riding, the Group would bide its time until 10:00 at which point the Group would become eligible for another FP. They would grab one for TT. So by doing this, the Group was assured of two rides each on Soarin' and Test Track with SB waits of 5 and 15 minutes, and FP return waits that were negligible.

Now, because of tiering, Group #1 can pre-book a FP+ for Test Track and hit Soarin' at RD. After finishing Soarin', they can head straight to TT and when they do, they will find a SB line of 30+ minutes. (We encountered a 70 minute SB wait by getting into the SB line at 9:15. Seriously.) After using up their 3 pre-booked FPs, the Group can head to a kiosk and can probably score another FP for either TT or Soarin', but not both. The return time will probably be so far out in the future that getting additional FPs will be tough. So by doing this, the Group was assured of one ride on one of the headliners with a minimal SB wait at RD, is assured of one ride on a headliner as a FP returnee, and can probably get another FP for one of these rides to use later in the day.

Scorecard:
Group #1 under FP- got 4 rides on headliners with minimal waits.
Group #1 under FP+ gets 2 rides on headliners with minimal waits, and probably gets a third. Group #1 is not doing better.

Let's look at Group #2.
They like to enjoy a leisurely character breakfast before heading to Epcot. They used to stroll in at 10:30 to find SB lines at both Soarin' and Test Track to be 70+ minutes. They could get a FP for one of them, with a return time around 2:00-3:00. Two hours later, they would be eligible for a second FP, and by 12:30, perhaps they could get a FP for the other headliner with a return time of around 7:00. So they were not assured of any headliner rides with minimal waits, but could probably get two FPs during the course of the day.

Under FP+, Group #2 enters the park at 10:30 with a locked in FP for a headliner, no if ands, or buts. After they use their 3 FPs, they can try for another FP, but probably won't get it if their last FP is used at 2:00 or later.

Scorecard:
Group #2 used to enter the park with no guarantees, but with a chance of getting a FP for each of the two major headliners.
Group #2 now enters the park with a guaranteed ride on a headliner, and a chance at a FP for a second.

The reason why it is so difficult to answer your questions is that the answers call for value judgments and not everyone shares the same values. Are you a Group #1 or a Group #2? What do you value more--the chance at maximum FPs, or the guarantee of at least one? You simply have to study the system and draw your own conclusions once you use the new system. Yes, secondary attractions have longer lines. The reasoning is clear. These secondary attractions didn't used to have a FP option, and now they do. So FP returnees are cutting off the SB line in ways that didn't happen before. And FP return times commence at RD and not at 9:50. In the past, from RD until 9:50, you were only competing for ride space with other SB people. Now, you are competing for ride space at RD+1 minute with FP returnees who are rushing to burn through their FPs. It is a bit unerving when you show up at the Haunted Mansion at 9:15 and the CM stretches out their arm to bar you from boarding because 10 FP people just arrived. That never happened before. But if you go during a slower time of the year, you can get your 4th-10th FP for rides such as HM and be the person cutting off the SB line instead of being the SB person getting cut off.

We were there on crowded days and absolutely experienced longer SB lines at secondary attractions, but the 4th FP was not an option for us, so we were screwed. Fortunately, Disney has seen its way clear to not treat its guests like this from now on. We were either ther victims of a poorly thought-out system or the victims of a phase of a system that Disney knew was only temporary. Depends on who you ask and who you believe. Either way, our last vacation was taken at a time when the FP system was running at its absolute worst effect for guests. With the recent change over to extra FPs, you should be able to come close to what you experienced before. You might do better. You might do worse. Hard for anyone else to predict that for you.

 

[DebbieB]

I just arrived this afternoon. My flight landed around 2:30. I had the following reserved:

5:00-6:00 Spaceship Earth
6:00-7:00 The Land
7:10-8:10 Soarin

It took me an hour to get from VGF to Epcot, I arrived about 5:45. Spaceship Earth probably had about a 15 min standby. The Land was a walkon, FP+ not needed. Soarin was about 55 min standby. I wouldn't have had a prayer of a Soarin fastpass arriving that late before. After Soarin around 7:40, I went to the kiosk to see if I could get Malestrom but it was soldout. I was able to get Nemo for 7:45, it had a 15 min standby. That's one thing I like - an almost instant fastpass. The only choices left were Character Connection (or whatever it's called), Nemo & Spaceship Earth. I walked back to Maelstrom, it said 30 min standby. I didn't think that was right because people were walking right in, no line outside. So I walked in and it was literally a walk-on so don't trust those times. After I got off I looked and it did say 5 min then.

 

[bshawcrew]

Been going 1-2 times a year for 14 years. Just got back. Dislike it. Entirely too much planning and the standby lines are ridiculous. This is the first trip in 14 years that when I left I was looking other places to vacation vs. planning when to go back to Disney. I'm very sad. We love Disney.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

Your last line here...I asked this question earlier, but no one responded. Regarding DH being a runner, if everything is in my name, do I have to go to the Kiosks to get more fast passes...if so, that would be a bummer, or do all 4 of us have to go...how does that work, in the past, he just took all four of our cards and got the passes

Everything was linked to me and I was scanned to make our 4th FP. No husband or child needed. Sorry if this was already answered.

 

[clouds]

We are pass holders and have been several times since the new system. We love it! Especially now that you can get additional fast passes. I hated racing to fp machines with the kids. Now I book what I want and hit rope drop if possible for walk on rides. Our mob have worked every time every where and the mb is convenient and easier to keep track of. I did think that standby times posted are often longer the the actual wait now. Not sure why that's happening with the new system, but I'll take it. I'm happy to wait 15 min when the sign said 30.