Don't like new fastpass plus!

[silenttuba]

I am happy for all of you and I am happy that I had 9 vacations with my children where I didn't have to wait in a single line and could ride almost any ride I wanted to when I wanted. It was fun while it lasted..

If this is the case, than I would say you've not only had good luck, but incredibly exceptional luck. However, I will say that I find it very hard to believe over the course of nine trips, you got to ride anything you wanted with no waiting in line at all. I'm not calling you a liar, and I certainly believe it's possible a few times, if you only go at non-peak season. I do think you are perhaps viewing past trips through rose-colored glasses, and are glossing over/not remembering clearly how much waiting you did. The brain does things like that all the time.

Either way, we are talking about theme parks. Theme parks have rides, and lots of people, which means waiting in line. The old FP system may have allowed some folks who knew what they were doing to avoid waiting in line almost entirely, but for the vast majority of visitors, that was not the case. To visit a theme park, especially the busiest one in the world (MK), and not expect to wait in line is, in my opinion, silly.

 

[over50visits]

...I am happy that I had 9 vacations with my children where I didn't have to wait in a single line and could ride almost any ride I wanted to when I wanted. It was fun while it lasted..

Our experience EXACTLY for many, many years until last year.

So many rides typically had no line (I'll define that as 5 minutes or less), such as Pirates and Haunted Mansion. We would get the FP for the others, then spend wonderful time riding rides with no wait, then go back for the FP ride, get another FP, etc.

We would spend all day riding wonderful rides, some "headliners" several times, and never stand in a line.

Not luck, not empty days, just knowing we didn't need to ride every headliner every day. We were never without a fun ride to go on, and never stood in a line.

Those days are now long gone. With FP+ for just about every ride now (Figment? Pirates? You've got to be kidding), Disney has created lines where there were never any. And with limiting you to 3, forcing them to be a minimum of one hour apart, and forcing you to wait for any more until the third is gone (and if you bit on their fireworks or evening parade FP+ you have no chance until the evening), there is no way we could have the great fun on headliner rides we used to.

I know some people do like FP+. Of course. It is generally better than nothing, so they think they are missing long lines for 3 rides. But perhaps they don't know how good we used to have it. Those days are gone, Disney now wants to track and manage us from the git go, MDE is designed solely to increase profits.

They're doing a good job, I'll say. Parks are crowded with folks trying their best to spend more money and saying how they love FP+!

 

[Suvadoo]

Just got back from WDW and in my opinion, the new fastpass plus has done nothing but deterred me from going back any time soon. We reserved and used our 3 fastpasses a day. They developed my disney experience and have a phone app but you can't use it to get new fast passes so you have to go to a kiosk and get your 4th fastpass. The problem is, by the time you've used your last fastpass, all of the fastpasses for the top rides are already gone. When we were there 2 years ago, we were able to go on Soarin 4 times in one day, 3 with fastpasses and once we stood in the stand by line early. This trip, we could only go on Soarin once over the course of 2 days. We didn't spend as much time in the parks either because we ran out of fastpass options and weren't about to stand in super long lines. I have been there 3 times in the last 6 years and for the first time, we were bored and went back to the resort early. Fastpass plus is a big disappointment.

If this is the case, than I would say you've not only had good luck, but incredibly exceptional luck. However, I will say that I find it very hard to believe over the course of nine trips, you got to ride anything you wanted with no waiting in line at all. I'm not calling you a liar, and I certainly believe it's possible a few times, if you only go at non-peak season. I do think you are perhaps viewing past trips through rose-colored glasses, and are glossing over/not remembering clearly how much waiting you did. The brain does things like that all the time.

Either way, we are talking about theme parks. Theme parks have rides, and lots of people, which means waiting in line. The old FP system may have allowed some folks who knew what they were doing to avoid waiting in line almost entirely, but for the vast majority of visitors, that was not the case. To visit a theme park, especially the busiest one in the world (MK), and not expect to wait in line is, in my opinion, silly.

Personally, I'm tired of the assumption that anyone who does not like FP+ was a legacy super user. We used maybe 2-3 FP's per day maximum and we were never big repeat users. However, I do not like FP+. It has created longer SB lines where none existed before: HM, POC, Spaceship Earth. I also don't like making ride reservations. I know people will now retort, "But you don't have to." However if I want to ride popular attractions with minimal waits, I do have to participate in the FP+ system.
I'm not going to say my family repeatedly rode headliners, but I will say that if a line exceeded 25-30 minutes we didn't wait. Now it seems that every ride has a minumum 25-30minute wait. I realize some of this is increased attendance, but I also think some of it is Disney's manipulation of FP+ and SB lines. Otherwise, why would a whole bunch of FP+ slots suddenly become available for A & E? As a PP said, my family is paying more and experiencing fewer attractions now that FP+ is here. Not a great benefit for my family.

 

[mom2rtk]

But that's my point. Most people don't know this stuff. Disney veterans do and could roll with the system and maximize it, but the average Joe on their first Disney trip wouldn't, and would as a result feel like they didn't get their money's worth and never come back. Disney wants everyone to come back, and that means the people who previously rode things 4 times can't do it anymore because other people are getting chances.

They didn't know that to access a ride or pull a FP you had to be in the park? It didn't occur to them that the world's busiest theme park might have long lines?

 

[Laketravis]

WDW's actions have absolutely nothing to do with a benevolence for first time guests.

 

[snayak]

They didn't know that to access a ride or pull a FP you had to be in the park? It didn't occur to them that the world's busiest theme park might have long lines?

No, they meant with FP- they didn't even know what a FastPass was, how to use the system, or that they were free to everybody with a ticket.

Much like 97% of first time users of the vending machine at work don't realize that it if you hit it just right on the side you get a free Snickers bar. Once somebody shows them, they "get it". Now imagine if we sent out a memo to all new hires telling them how to get a free Snickers at the vending machine. I'd imagine there wouldn't be many left...

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

@ my2minnies...I never used the term "cheaters", so not sure where you got that from...unless it was from someone else's post.

I guess it's just me, but I don't get the outrage and comments like "people will only spend 5 hours in the parks now instead of 10". I can see where if you wanted to ride Space Mountain 10 times a day and now you can only do it 2 or 3 times you might be upset. But I'd go out on a limb and say for every person like that there are 10 people that go to the parks and enjoy being able to get a FP for SM at 4 in the afternoon without worrying about being there at zero dark thirty because the guy that wants to ride 10 times has monopolized the system.

I think Disney will find in the long run that there are many more satisfied customers than disgruntled customers and that is their real goal...because if you get 2 new repeat customers for every 1 "old timer" that swears to never return, Disney wins!

Because that man had some advantage that the other guest didn't?

Actually the fact that said person wasn't at the park in line or pulling a FP is what kept them from getting to ride.

Ding ding ding! People make different choices for their Disney trip. Some people choose to stay at Pop Century over Contemporary. Those at Contemporary have a much easier and shorter trip to Magic Kingdom. They can sleep in longer and still get to the park earlier than the Pop Century guest. Those were decisions that they made, though. A person can choose to spend money at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and then go to Cinderella's Royal Table while another person does their own daughter's hair and they eat at Cosmic Ray's. The first guest will have less time in the park than the other guest, but they each chose what most appealed to them and fit their family and budget. That was how Fast Pass worked. Some people chose to sleep in (which, let's be honest here, isn't what Disney is wanting) and got to the parks at 10:00 or 11:00. The lines at this time were longer and fast pass return times were later or, in some extreme cases, no longer available. Another guest was up at 7:00, at the gate by 8:15, and was on Test Track first thing. That guest was also able to grab fast passes for both Test Track and Soarin' for before the other guest ever arrived. So what? No one was at an advantage here. Both were touring in their own style and reaping the rewards of those styles.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

WDW's actions have absolutely nothing to do with a benevolence for first time guests.

 

[IWannaBuildASnowman]

WDW's actions have absolutely nothing to do with a benevolence for first time guests.

It's not benevolence - it's trying to turn first time guests into return guests and/or people who say good things about Disney to other people.

They didn't know that to access a ride or pull a FP you had to be in the park? It didn't occur to them that the world's busiest theme park might have long lines?

No. It may not have. Especially if they don't know what an FP is. All they know is this ride sounds cool but they can't go on it and why does Disney sell more tickets than the rides can hold?

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

It's not benevolence - it's trying to turn first time guests into return guests and/or people who say good things about Disney to other people.

I'm not exactly sure of what their motives are, but anyone who has ever taken a basic business class will tell you it is cheaper to keep a loyal customer than to create a new one. In fact, I remember it being 6 times cheaper to keep a loyal customer. So, I would think that they thought FP+ would benefit their loyal customers more than they thought it would help them get new ones. Now, whether or not the majority of loyal Disney guests are happy with FP+ or not is not something I know. But, I'm willing to bet it was much more about trying to keep loyal guests happy.

 

[DISNEYD14]

I'm not exactly sure of what their motives are, but anyone who has ever taken a basic business class will tell you it is cheaper to keep a loyal customer than to create a new one. In fact, I remember it being 6 times cheaper to keep a loyal customer. So, I would think that they thought FP+ would benefit their loyal customers more than they thought it would help them get new ones. Now, whether or not the majority of loyal Disney guests are happy with FP+ or not is not something I know. But, I'm willing to bet it was much more about trying to keep loyal guests happy.

**your statement is very true**
I am a loyal guest that loved my experience with FP+ because of the way we like to tour the park (family of 5)
We loved it so much we booked two new trips for next year.

 

[wisblue]

I can understand why people who visited a WDW where there were never standby lines for attractions like POC and HM even in the middle of the afternoon, and FPs for attractions like Space Mountain, Soarin, and Test Track were freely available all day, would find the current WDW less enjoyable for them.

But, because we never found that WDW in any of our visits beginning in 1983, we can't miss it. I still have an Unofficial Guide to WDW from 2003 that suggests riding POC before noon or after 5 PM and HM before 11:30 AM or after 8 PM, so apparently there used to be standby lines at those attractions at least some of the time even way back then.

 

[wdw4rfam]

You can all have FP+, because we used it for our 11 day trip in September, and it can say, It was the final straw to push us away. With all the recent changes, this was it for us. We were rope droppers, that never rode a ride without FP or 15-20 minute lines. We rode half of what we used to with old FP. We also got real fed up with all the reservation times. It seemed like every time we wanted to do something, or found a short line, nope because we had a FP or ADR reservation. We don't use EMH, Disney transportation, etc,, and being able to book FP 60 days instead of 30 is just not enough draw to keep me onsite. On the other hand universal was our best 2 days, and we didn't stay there, or have their express pass. So we are already booked there for next year, where we get express passes for staying onsite, not 30 extra days to book 3 rides and have to choose our times. We love Disney, and I'm sure will go back after a break, but next time, offsite.

 

[SCDisneyfanatic]

Obviously the point I am making has been misinterpreted...I'm guessing because emotion is taking the place of logic. Bottom Line: WDW is in business to make money...ensuring the greatest number of guests have a "good" time means more repeat business...that means more money in the coffers. WDW surely doesn't want to offend any guests, but from a business standpoint adding more returning "first timers" is much better than losing a few old timers (not that I see real WDW fans not showing up because their touring style may have to change). WDW makes changes to meet their corporate goals, not to please every possible customer (because that's impossible no matter what they do). Obviously their research has shown FP+ will be an advantage to WDW...just like FP- was when first introduced. They have just tweaked the system...and I'm sure it will happen again in the future.

 

[MrInfinity]

I'm not exactly sure of what their motives are, but anyone who has ever taken a basic business class will tell you it is cheaper to keep a loyal customer than to create a new one. In fact, I remember it being 6 times cheaper to keep a loyal customer. So, I would think that they thought FP+ would benefit their loyal customers more than they thought it would help them get new ones. Now, whether or not the majority of loyal Disney guests are happy with FP+ or not is not something I know. But, I'm willing to bet it was much more about trying to keep loyal guests happy.

Sort of. That's true if two companies are selling the same thing to the same people. But when it's a monopoly situation like what Disney has where the loyal guests seek out the services of the company, it's entirely different. Disney knows the amount of loyal guests that will stop going because of a change in the queuing system is close to 0. Think about it. You're still going. So they're not losing loyal guests to get new guests. They're processing the loyal guests more efficiently to make space for more new guests.

 

[Mikie]

I can understand why people who visited a WDW where there were never standby lines for attractions like POC and HM even in the middle of the afternoon, and FPs for attractions like Space Mountain, Soarin, and Test Track were freely available all day, would find the current WDW less enjoyable for them.

But, because we never found that WDW in any of our visits beginning in 1983, we can't miss it. I still have an Unofficial Guide to WDW from 2003 that suggests riding POC before noon or after 5 PM and HM before 11:30 AM or after 8 PM, so apparently there used to be standby lines at those attractions at least some of the time even way back then.

Cool reference! Rose colored glasses, indeed!

 

[SCDisneyfanatic]

My first visit was in 1976...August...and everything had lines. In 1981 we spent the first week of our Honeymoon at Disney...and I remember laughing about the way Disney had you walk back and forth to give the illusion the line wasn't as long. We waited for extended periods of time for every ride! But that's what was expected in the World's greatest theme park.

 

[MrInfinity]

I can understand why people who visited a WDW where there were never standby lines for attractions like POC and HM even in the middle of the afternoon, and FPs for attractions like Space Mountain, Soarin, and Test Track were freely available all day, would find the current WDW less enjoyable for them.

But, because we never found that WDW in any of our visits beginning in 1983, we can't miss it. I still have an Unofficial Guide to WDW from 2003 that suggests riding POC before noon or after 5 PM and HM before 11:30 AM or after 8 PM, so apparently there used to be standby lines at those attractions at least some of the time even way back then.

Heh I rember my early trips very clearly. The Space Mountain line went thru all the interior posts where you watch the comets and stuff, and clear out the building and halfway across Tomorrowland. We waited easily an hour. Oddly enough, we didn't care. We were kids, and we were at Disney World, going on Space Mountain. What could be better? You looked at the (then) futuristic stuff and waited it out.

So Disney came out w this magical FP- system wherein instead of standing there for an hour, you just took a ticket and came back in an hour. But then surprise surprise, some ppl figure out how to work the system, and they figure out ways to get on everything fast all the time. Now finally Disney fixes it with an electronic system that provides no such benefit to ppl who would otherwise be able to beat the FP- system and so those ppl feel like their system has been taken away from them. When really, it's what FP- was supposed to do, but failed to.

 

[Dis703]

Yep, I saw the same kind of posts. Sometimes with extra exclamation points and/or all caps.

My personal favorite though were those who called people who didn't get out of bed and make it to rope drop lazy. Umm, hello I'm on vacation!

 

[Dis703]

Personally, I'm tired of the assumption that anyone who does not like FP+ was a legacy super user. We used maybe 2-3 FP's per day maximum and we were never big repeat users. However, I do not like FP+. It has created longer SB lines where none existed before: HM, POC, Spaceship Earth. I also don't like making ride reservations. I know people will now retort, "But you don't have to." However if I want to ride popular attractions with minimal waits, I do have to participate in the FP+ system.

I guess the confusing part to me is that I don't understand how scheduling a FP is worse than grabbing a FP ticket for a designated return time that is completely out of your control? I can recall more than once trying to pull a FP for a ride but the return time they were giving conflicted with dinner or a show or for some that were already giving return times of several hours later and we weren't even going to be in the park by that point.