Don't cancel your vacations yet!!!

[think-like-tink]

I am nervous. I am expecting longer lines. But, it's Disney after all and we go in the summer, so really, it's a no brainer that it will be that way. A pro for us: our kids are a little older. And understand how long lines work. Thanks to Disney and Kindergarten we have GREAT line waiting skills. NO BUTTS, NO CUTS!!

I am sure we will have a great time.

 

[dansyr2514]

I am nervous. I am expecting longer lines. But, it's Disney after all and we go in the summer, so really, it's a no brainer that it will be that way. A pro for us: our kids are a little older. And understand how long lines work. Thanks to Disney and Kindergarten we have GREAT line waiting skills. NO BUTTS, NO CUTS!!

I am sure we will have a great time.

I know you will have a great time!! Good thing is..if you book your fp's ahead of time, at least you know you will hit the rides that are priority.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I'm really excited to be at WDW one week from today! (Well, I'll be in the air at this time next Sunday, but we'll be hitting MK). Under the old system, I would have been stressed about getting to MK mid-day on a holiday weekend. With FPP I am not worried at all. I know for sure that we will be doing the LM ride, ETWB, and PP. We can do a few other things standby, but I am completely unstressed because I know that the day won't be a total waste. Similarly, we are going to DHS on President's Day. I already have FPP for TSMM and Star Tours plus Disney Jr. for me and ToT for my cousins. We'll have a great day!

 

[omurice]

For me, the biggest new pro of FP+ was this:

You arrive at a park in the afternoon or evening, and are able to use a FastPass at a popular attraction, where you would never have gotten one before. You do not have to show up for rope drop at Studios to get FP for Toy Story.

For example, first day of my last trip, was checked into the resort about 6:30PM, during first week of Jan. I wanted to see Osborne Lights at Studios because these were ending their seasonal run in the next day or two, so had quick meal at resort and was at Studios by 7:30PM. Strolled around Streets of America to look at the lights, and despite the late hour was able to ride Toy Story Midway Mania using a FastPass+. Paper FP were still offered that week, but of course were gone for Toy Story by 10AM. So in that example, FP+ allowed me to do something I could not do before.

This likewise can reduce stress getting on attractions like Soarin' at Epcot if you're hopping over for lunch or dinner. No dash for morning FPs, you can hop over at 6PM, have dinner, and still get on Soarin' without a long stand-by wait. Or say if Studios closed early at 7PM, you could in theory get on the boat to Epcot, and on the boat ride over with the MDE app on your phone, book a Soarin' or TestTrack FP for 8PM.
These are extreme examples, and perhaps not the best use of 3 FP per day (last example you would only get 1 FP in fact), but there is some flexibility that did not exist before.


Trying to think of other positives, but that new ability was my #1 "warm fuzzy" with FP+ or MM+.

 

[jlm196]

We are headed to WDW from April 30- May 8th with 2 boys 5&7 and both sets of grandparents. I have been doing the planning for all of us and it has been hard to keep a positive outlook with all of the negative FP+/MDE posts. So thanks for starting this thread.
We are coming up on our 60 day mark on March 1st so I have started to think about what FP+ reservations to make. Looking forward to great positive advice here.

 

[oneprincessjo]

I just got back last weekend and enjoyed the new system. I did make my fast pass selections ahead of time but very easily changed them while I was there when I got a better idea of how my day was going to go. Worked out very well for me especially for working around my 2 year old's schedule. If we got stuck on the carousel for 5th time in a row and couldn't make a fast pass I was able to change it to another time that was better for us. Easy peasy... with the old system I would have lost my time and then the fast pass would be gone forever.

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

Just back. Pleased to report had a great trip as always. disney magic is still there. Met many great CMs and people in general. Still did all the rides I wanted to do, fast pass + did not ruin anything. WDW still the best vacation ever.

 

[kP72]

2008 was the last time we visited WDW and 2010 for DLR. So excited to be going back to both parks this year!!!

It was last year, on a cold and snowy spring day, my dear cousin says to me "We want to go to WDW, but your family has to go too us since you know how to plan all this stuff!"

uhhh... twist my arm!!!

So for eight days, we (eight of us) will be enjoying beautiful Florida, staying at BC (a new resort for us), eating new and exciting food, and revisiting some of our favorite rides!
In addition, we will be enjoying MNSSHP and F&WF, which are our favorite WDW bonus parties!

It's fun to plan a WDW trip, but even more fun to plan for a newbie family with two kids (12 & 10)! My children (16 & 11) have been many times and still get excited about the Disney parks... but to see how the cousins react will be like the first time all over again for me!

As for the reviews on FP+, I'm going in with an open mind. No sense of jumping to conclusions over something we've never tried.
Besides, we are not going full-on commando on this trip since it is a first time for the cousins, so I foresee the FP allotments being just fine for what we will be doing.

Oh, may I share some more positive stuff?

Since I love love LOVE planning these trips and surprising the family, I have a few in store...

We always have a limo service, which my family knows about, but the cousins don't! They've never been in a limo, so I'm betting this will be a treat.

I am hooking the hubbies up with Exotic Car Experience! DH did the RPDE which was the highlight of our last visit, so I can't NOT do another Experience for him!

And since we will be there for Halloween, I will be ordering the Mickey's Spooktacular Room Celebration from Disney Florists for my kids' room.

And pending on our time frame, I may book a spa day for Cousin and me. We deserve it!

Thanks for letting me share something positive! It feels good.

 

[PSUGuy]

We were guinea pigs while staying at BoardWalk last Oct., 4 weeks after returning we had a 9 day ressie in the same place via our DVC Angel so I suppose we were satisfied. Actually, I prefer the new way. For years our strategy was, is, to hit a park at rope drop, tour until lines got too long for us, then we hop to Epcot. Now when we hop, we've got FastPasses to rides that we'd miss the old way because FP- would be gone or too late for us.

Bill From PA

 

[CanadianPaco]

On our one and only trip to Universal Studios, I overheard a husband say to his wife: "When I go to Universal, I feel so old. But when I go to Disney World, I feel so young." We get that wonderful feeling each and every time! To be fully immersed in that magical world is priceless (and addictive)!

 

[rajahfan7]

I actually really like the new system ( just got back yesterday). I did RD one day with the FP+ and it was pretty sweet, 5 rides in 2 hours? YES PLEASE. Even without doing rd a lot can be accomplished.

 

[minnie1012]

Like anything many people don't like change whether for good or bad. There are aspects that I don't think I will like but I still love it enough to want to go. Also along with change there are bugs! So hopefully the bugs will be worked out soon!

We live 15 minutes from Six Flags Great Adventure and rarely go. The lines are outrageous, the lines are always outside (no indoor ride waiting), the rides close a lot for mechanical issues and they don't have much for kids especially those that don't like roller coasters. Disney is clean, happy and "magical". Being from the northeast it's amazing how nice everyone is to you there. So many smiles, and pleasant greetings from CM's. Also, there are so many rides there we can all ride as a family. It's unlike anywhere else!

 

[Viva Las Disney]

Add me to the list of people that likes the new system, I went in December and I loved everything about the Magic Bands and even though I dealt with a few glitches with FP+ I loved having my major rides reserved for the afternoon ahead of time. I rode all the majors once or twice in the morning when it was slow, hit the secondary rides in the afternoon when it was busy, and then re-rode the majors again with FP+. I loved it!

I definitely fall into the glass half full category, rain or shine, busy or slow, hot or cold, as long as I'm in a Disney park I'm happy.

 

[kP72]

Disney is clean, happy and "magical". Being from the northeast it's amazing how nice everyone is to you there. So many smiles, and pleasant greetings from CM's. Also, there are so many rides there we can all ride as a family. It's unlike anywhere else!

minnie... Seeing you are from NJ, I wanted to give a positive shout out... Every visit to WDW, we have ran into many NJ people and they have all been so nice and chatty!
Sometimes standing in line, people get to talking and I would have to say 80% of those people are from NJ and they've made our waits tolerable and entertaining!

 

[DebbieB]

I used it in November and loved it. I loved it because you could choose what times you wanted, not having to select the current return time being offered. Plus being able to select in advance and not having to be right at the ride to get the fastpass.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Just the fact that I can book my TSM and Soarin' FPs ahead of time is fantastic. I can get to the park at noon if I want and still get to ride. The tiering even worked out fine.

IMO, the whole system isn't perfect, but neither was the legacy FP system. I think it's been going well for something in its early stages. When we were there in December, most people we spoke to in lines and such liked the new system and the bands. We had no issues.

 

[mommy2mb]

Our last visit was December 2013 at BWV and our family loved the Magic Bands and FP+. We had 4 adults and 2 kids (8 & 2), and never had any problems at all with the system. It was great having tickets on bands no more fumbling for tickets outside gates especially when pushing strollers and kids. My family likes planning our trip out before we leave home so it works really well for us. I understand every family vacations differently, however the new system is a great fit for my family. The only thing I didn't like was that we couldn't chose Soarin and Test Track on the same day , but we are rope drop family so we just rode the non fp+ ride at park opening with no problem. We are visiting the world in March and August and are very excited to use it again!

 

[Minniesgal]

We are currently at WDW staying offsite and our FP+ experience has been great so far. We didn't make rope drop this morning arrived at MK just before 10am and only waited 2 mins to get FP+. We got BTMRr jungle cruise and space mountain at times that worked around out ADR. Perfect for us

 

[minnie1012]

minnie... Seeing you are from NJ, I wanted to give a positive shout out... Every visit to WDW, we have ran into many NJ people and they have all been so nice and chatty!
Sometimes standing in line, people get to talking and I would have to say 80% of those people are from NJ and they've made our waits tolerable and entertaining!

Yes we are very chatty : ) That's nice to hear because we do get a bad rap! Thanks!

 

[dansyr2514]

Minniesgal, I'm so glad to hear it's working for offsite guests as well as onsite guests!