Disney finally Made Me Mad

I agree. Makes one think that is their intent. :scratchin
. Except that when the park clears out after the fireworks and/or the first ELP most rides are walk on or short waits. It may not mean anything but something does not fit.
 
Yep, with Soarin, TT, and Illuminations all gone day of, as the only thing left for the fourth FP+ it will be hard to get.

It will be a manufactured demand to distract from very little options.

Now wait until they start making Belle, Snow, Mulan, Aurora, and Alice FP M&G. Imagine the nightmare of being told Belle is a Tier 1, as is Snow, but Mulan and the others aren't.
 
Now wait until they start making Belle, Snow, Mulan, Aurora, and Alice FP M&G. Imagine the nightmare of being told Belle is a Tier 1, as is Snow, but Mulan and the others aren't.

If MK had tiering, Belle would be tier 1 already. Because she's only available at ETWB which is always one of the first FP+ spots to run out.
 

Whatever the plan, I'm just glad that DS had a chance to enjoy the characters when they actually roamed. He spent some amazing time with many characters that we just ran into including Goofy who scooped him up and pretended to take off. Great memories. :)

This could still be just a test. I'm still cautiously optimistic but maybe a bit more cautious than before. ;)
 
If MK had tiering, Belle would be tier 1 already. Because she's only available at ETWB which is always one of the first FP+ spots to run out.

Exactly, and that's probably why they'd make her Tier 1 in EPCOT, too. Keep it even, hah. This way, you either pay to see her in Akershus, or FP+ her for you or the kids.

I'm not happy about any of this, in case anyone thinks I am. I find it beyond stupid they want to even consider FP+ing certain M&Gs. Just leave a bad taste in my mouth.
 
Whatever the plan, I'm just glad that DS had a chance to enjoy the characters when they actually roamed. He spent some amazing time with many characters that we just ran into including Goofy who scooped him up and pretended to take off. Great memories. :)

This could still be just a test. I'm still cautiously optimistic but maybe a bit more cautious than before. ;)

Yeah...I remember the days when they roamed..it was so cool to just run into them..so sad its over :(
 
We stumbled upon this m&g when strolling through the world showcase one night last year. No line, just Pooh and Tigger hanging out. They spent several minutes with us before heading in for the night. We got some of my favorite pictures from the trip then. So sad the random encounters like that may be history.
 
The subject of FPs for character greetings isn't important enough for me to bother spending a lot of time thinking or worrying about it. But I do want to comment on the worries that some people have that this is the first step toward establishing a reservation only ride system.

I'm not sure if the people who are concerned about this are worried that ALL rides will go to reservation only or that just the most popular attractions will be treated this way. Either way, though, the fears seem totally unfounded.

If a ride were to be treated as FP only for the whole day, that would mean that when the rope drops nobody would be allowed to walk right to the attraction and ride unless they had a FP. Just think for a second about how ridiculous this is. Based on our own experience and recent reports from Josh at easywdw and other posters on this board, if you walk directly to a ride like Thunder Mountan at rope drop you can ride multiple times with no wait and without a FP. If Disney were to adopt a FP only policy, that would mean that for a certain period of time, they would be operating rides at significantly less than 100% of capacity even though there are plenty of people in the park who would love to fill that capacity. The same thing would happen in the final hour or hours before closing when the capacity exceeds the demand. Depending on how crowded the park is, that could continue for several hours and, for many attractions, it would continue all day. No matter how sinister you think Disney is, you can't possibly think that is what they want to do.

A lot of posters on this board have said that they are unwilling to wait in a standby line of more than 20-30 minutes most of the time. If that is your attitude, a number of the most popular attractions in the parks are already de facto reservation only, and have been that way for years. Using TSMM as the most obvious example, the standby lines there are an hour or longer except at the very beginning and very end of the day. If Disney wants to eliminate my right to wait in a standby line that long, I really don't care because I have forfeited that right voluntarily. If Disney made Anna and Elsa FP only, would that really be a significant development for very many guests?

The absolutely worst case scenario I could see is that Disney would allocate 100% of ride capacity to FPs and the standby line would become a true standby that would be used only to fill gaps that might arise in the arrival of guests with FPs. There would be no guarantee that someone in the standby line would ever get to ride. I really don't see Disney doing that either, but it wouldn't really bother me if they did. I just don't think there are that many rides that would "sell out" of FPs, especially in the first and last few hours of the day, unless Disney significantly increased the number of FPs every guest can make in advance and/ or hold at one time.
 
I'm new to thread (and to FP+, Tier 1's, etc) so forgive me if this has been asked & answered already.........

Are some attractions & rides now "FP+ only"?

What are the different Tiers?

Are these new procedures only in place during "high crowd levels" or always?

Thank you. Celebrating daughter's Sweet 16 in WDW 9-20 - 9/29 :cool1:
 
And yet when posters come on here and say "FP+ stinks and I will be taking my vacation elsewhere " they get attacked. Hmm


Until we put our money where our fingers are Disney will keep providing less but charging more.


And in order to give you the fast passes promised you will soon have fast passes for all the "biggies". The river ride in Mexico, the movies in China, France and Canada, the museum in Japan.....

What? You mean you don't think those are biggies and you used to just walk in. :rotfl2: Under Disney's new system the only walk ins will be gift shops. :cheer2:
 
since I couldn't read through this whole thread, this may have been mentioned, but as a newbie to both FP- and FP+, the idea of having to schedule something in order to be able to do it AT ALL goes against everything I know about theme parks!!! How confusing. I know that when one wants to go on a ride, one needs to sometimes wait, and I'm totally ok with that! Line too long, we leave. Being told that waiting is not an option is totally bizarre
 
Yesterday on the WDW website I saw the FP+ only character meet and greets, but they are not there today. It doesn't even list Donald and Daisy at AK any longer. The red "FP+ only" words are gone on the other two.
 
It would be great to have FP available for all rides. I wouldnt think it would work so well to go FP only. (or appointment only..) for guests who were offsite or even residents, theyd have to be banded and figure out the system which would just be crazy.
Especially since the EMH is reduced to nothing in the offseason, I think FP for all rides still gives the resort-stayers a little perk in the offseason.
 
I'm new to thread (and to FP+, Tier 1's, etc) so forgive me if this has been asked & answered already.........

1. Are some attractions & rides now "FP+ only"?

2. What are the different Tiers?

3. Are these new procedures only in place during "high crowd levels" or always?

Thank you. Celebrating daughter's Sweet 16 in WDW 9-20 - 9/29 :cool1:

1. No. Well, except for the Pooh meet and great being discussed here.

2. Tier 1, Tier 2 at Epcot and HS. See this thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3143281

3. Year round.
 
It would be great to have FP available for all rides. I wouldnt think it would work so well to go FP only. (or appointment only..) for guests who were offsite or even residents, theyd have to be banded and figure out the system which would just be crazy.
Especially since the EMH is reduced to nothing in the offseason, I think FP for all rides still gives the resort-stayers a little perk in the offseason.

What is the point of a FastPass for an attraction that almost never has more than a 5-minute wait anyway (especially in the offseason)?
 
If a ride were to be treated as FP only for the whole day, that would mean that when the rope drops nobody would be allowed to walk right to the attraction and ride unless they had a FP. Just think for a second about how ridiculous this is. Based on our own experience and recent reports from Josh at easywdw and other posters on this board, if you walk directly to a ride like Thunder Mountan at rope drop you can ride multiple times with no wait and without a FP. If Disney were to adopt a FP only policy, that would mean that for a certain period of time, they would be operating rides at significantly less than 100% of capacity even though there are plenty of people in the park who would love to fill that capacity. The same thing would happen in the final hour or hours before closing when the capacity exceeds the demand. Depending on how crowded the park is, that could continue for several hours and, for many attractions, it would continue all day. No matter how sinister you think Disney is, you can't possibly think that is what they want to do.

A lot of posters on this board have said that they are unwilling to wait in a standby line of more than 20-30 minutes most of the time. If that is your attitude, a number of the most popular attractions in the parks are already de facto reservation only, and have been that way for years. Using TSMM as the most obvious example, the standby lines there are an hour or longer except at the very beginning and very end of the day. If Disney wants to eliminate my right to wait in a standby line that long, I really don't care because I have forfeited that right voluntarily. If Disney made Anna and Elsa FP only, would that really be a significant development for very many guests?

The absolutely worst case scenario I could see is that Disney would allocate 100% of ride capacity to FPs and the standby line would become a true standby that would be used only to fill gaps that might arise in the arrival of guests with FPs. There would be no guarantee that someone in the standby line would ever get to ride. I really don't see Disney doing that either, but it wouldn't really bother me if they did. I just don't think there are that many rides that would "sell out" of FPs, especially in the first and last few hours of the day, unless Disney significantly increased the number of FPs every guest can make in advance and/ or hold at one time.

The thing that makes this all possible, from a public relations POV, IMO, is the addition of the 4th FP. It moves the standby lines to the app. I don't think they will ever make all rides FP+ ONLY or even FP+ for that matter. But for some, I could see it happening now that they have done this test with these character meets. Maybe TSMM, Soarin', TT, 7DMT, A&E. In other words, they can do it as they see fit. If they did, the 4th FP gives them an out, they never have to say to anyone, sorry no standby, they can say, sure, go to the kiosk or hopefully the app. It creates a virtual standby line while getting rid of the physical standby line. I don't think they want people standing in hour-long+ lines ever. They have to manage those lines, and more importantly, those people could be spending money.

They are already giving priority to FP+ in ways unlike the old FP, which worked on ratios.

As far as rope drop, again, I don't think they have to put it on all of the rides. But some attractions and rides build a long standby line immediately...those are the ones who would be prime targets for a FP+ ONLY designation. As far as managing close of the park, again, let people use their 4th rolling FP. And of course, you can also give some leeway to the CMs to wave people through at very low crowd times.

I also don't think they want people standing in true standby lines, like what we see for Anna and Elsa.

I also think that the 7DMT reservations are through the roof, and that is part of this possible change. That area is already tight. They don't want a repeat of the Anna and Elsa situation up there.

Just my theory, I hope I'm wrong.
 
We stumbled upon this m&g when strolling through the world showcase one night last year. No line, just Pooh and Tigger hanging out. They spent several minutes with us before heading in for the night. We got some of my favorite pictures from the trip then. So sad the random encounters like that may be history.

Love when that happens. We had a similar experience at AK last time we were there...getting towards the close of the park, no one in line for Pooh and Tigger, so fun. Characters spent a lot of time with us, I love that little area.
 
What is the point of a FastPass for an attraction that almost never has more than a 5-minute wait anyway (especially in the offseason)?

Well, to you or me, there is no point. We know what the walk ons are. People who dont know so much would use their FP option for the shorter wait, and free up some time on the majors. If you're driving traffic to an already busy ride, that doesnt make much sense either.
I see your point tho, for sure.
 
Well, to you or me, there is no point. We know what the walk ons are. People who dont know so much would use their FP option for the shorter wait, and free up some time on the majors. If you're driving traffic to an already busy ride, that doesnt make much sense either.
I see your point tho, for sure.

The point would seem to be to drive some traffic that way and reduce traffic at the other Tier 1 attractions.

And since, as has been said repeatedly, there was almost never a line to see Pooh, very few people would even care that it was FP+ only.
 

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