Don't like new fastpass plus!

[ncdj2013]

If you are saying that you have had previous visits in which certain rides were walk-ons but that those same rides had waits on your most recent visit, I can't question that. But, you don't know how much those longer lines may have been a result of larger crowds, and not just FP+.

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It's just a fact that going from 2 sb lines to a 1 fp line and 1 sb line that the sb line is going to take longer than it used to. I certainly found that tobe the case on my last visit. Not saying I never had to wait for SW etc but the wait last time was definitely longer.

 

[ncdj2013]

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.

I absolutely stood in line for POC and HM for significant amounts of time before FP+. And there were never FP's available all day for TT and Soarin. They had always run out when our time to get another FP came up.

 

[IWannaBuildASnowman]

Isnt what you're saying a contradiction to what the other fp supporters have been saying. I thought they didn't care if many of the loyal fans didn't come back again because there would be new ones to take their place. Seems to me that what you're now saying is that they value the first timer more than the loyal visitors which quite frankly doesn't seem logical at all.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily a FP+ supporter. In fact I have used the word "loathe" in reference to it more than once But I get what they're trying to do.

Not speaking for Disney, though, but the FP+ in its current iteration levels the playing field for ALL visitors.

Let me give you an example. Last year, we were relative Disney rookies. We stayed off site, so had NO access to FP+. We slept in on our HS day and by the time we got there, the paper FPs for Toy Story were long gone. Then I looked on boards and saw people who had FP+s for later in the day, who got there and grabbed a paper FP so they could ride it twice. That really made me frustrated and feel like a total second class citizen, because I couldn't even access it once. Now I know lots more and I know that in order to get that paper FP I should have been there at open. But most first timers don't know that kind of stuff, and as a result their experience is less than. The new FP system prevents that kind of stuff from happening. It's gonna annoy the person who got the two FPs last year, but now someone new is gonna get to ride it. It evens it out. And if someone decides not to come back because they only got to ride TS once instead of twice... well, I don't know what to say about that.

But here's a whole other scenario, and I don't know the new FP system well enough so you guys will have to answer it. Let's say you book a FP+ for Toy Story for first thing in the morning and book no other FPs. Could you book a second TS ride for later in the day using FP+ once the first one is used, or would you be ineligible for a second TS ride because you hadn't used your full three? If you can book it again, it seems to me the new FP system isn't a lot different than the old.

 

[wisblue]

It's just a fact that going from 2 sb lines to a 1 fp line and 1 sb line that the sb line is going to take longer than it used to. I certainly found that tobe the case on my last visit. Not saying I never had to wait for SW etc but the wait last time was definitely longer.

Yes, I am not disagreeing that some attractions have longer standby lines some of the time. And, I understand that FP+ is probably a cause of some of that, while higher crowds can also be a factor.

When I get testy, though, is when it is suggested that those standby lines are dramatically longer almost all of the time when the objective studies of it that have been done so far have indicated that those average increases are more in the range of 5-10 minutes.

The fact that Figment ever has a posted standby wait of 30 minutes surprises me too. But, I can easily shrug it off because I know that it isn't like that very often or for very long.

 

[Dis703]

I absolutely stood in line for POC and HM for significant amounts of time before FP+. And there were never FP's available all day for TT and Soarin. They had always run out when our time to get another FP came up.

Same here. I've had about 10 trips pre FP+ and 2 since then and haven't noticed much difference. There have always been times we passed rides like POC or HM and saw a long wait and just skipped it until later when the waits went down a bit.

We were only there once during a high crowd time but still always had waits.

 

[Hokie2000]

My goodness Luckybee, you've destroyed the magic! How dare you! I guess people who dislike FP+ have no right posting on a thread entitled, " Don't like new Fast pass plus" because we " destroy the magic"

My understanding of that sentence is that some people complain that FP+ has destroyed the magic, not that the people complaining are destroying the magic.

And people have complained, they've complained and complained and complained. But, at the end of the day, it's the people who like or even feel noncommittal about FP+ who come out ahead. FP+ is here; there's no going back. So I'm really glad that I like it, regardless of what people who dislike it think of me!

 

[ncdj2013]

Yes, I am not disagreeing that some attractions have longer standby lines some of the time. And, I understand that FP+ is probably a cause of some of that, while higher crowds can also be a factor.

When I get testy, though, is when it is suggested that those standby lines are dramatically longer almost all of the time when the objective studies of it that have been done so far have indicated that those average increases are more in the range of 5-10 minutes.

The fact that Figment ever has a posted standby wait of 30 minutes surprises me too. But, I can easily shrug it off because I know that it isn't like that very often or for very long.

My experience (i've been once since FP+started) was that SB lines for rides that did not previously have FP were consistently longer. 1 line is going to be longer than 2. Plain and simple.

 

[ncdj2013]

But here's a whole other scenario, and I don't know the new FP system well enough so you guys will have to answer it. Let's say you book a FP+ for Toy Story for first thing in the morning and book no other FPs. Could you book a second TS ride for later in the day using FP+ once the first one is used, or would you be ineligible for a second TS ride because you hadn't used your full three? If you can book it again, it seems to me the new FP system isn't a lot different than the old.

My experience was that you have to book all 3. You cannot do the same thing twice in the first 3 FP+

 

[Suvadoo]

My experience (i've been once since FP+started) was that SB lines for rides that did not previously have FP were consistently longer. 1 line is going to be longer than 2. Plain and simple.

This was also my experience. I'm not trying to generalize about everyone's experience. I'm talking about when I've been to WDW before and after FP+ implementation.

 

[my2minnies]

I don't think I am using rose colored glasses when I say that I never waited in a line longer than 5 minutes prior to this current trip. I don't care if anyone believes me or not. I didn't say there were no stand by lines but that I never chose to wait in one because I could AlWAYS find an attraction with no wait times. I would pull a fp and then find a ride that didn't have a wait. Usually it was IASW, HM, POTC, Philharmagic, Spaceship earth, figment, Nemo or any of the other rides in that category. Every once in a while there would be a line at POTC or HM and we would skip it and go elsewhere. We did things at rope drop and left the parks by noon with all rides under our belts.

Well with this last trip we had fp+ that were scheduled back to back. We still did rope drop. We would do our fp+ and then search for a ride and they all had lines. We waited for Nemo, IASW, HM, Philharmgic and Spaceship Earth. This is our third time going this week in Nov and our first time waiting. We had to wait or ride nothing. Now the waits were not long--15 minutes or so but not walk ons like we were used to.

Another problem we had with fp+. We did EMH for EPCOT--got there at 7:45 and planned on going on TT. Because of tiering we had Soarin fp not TT. The only ride we wanted to go on in all the parks was TT (it was being refurbished during our last trip) so we went right there at opening. It was broken. Now with the legacy fp we would have walked to Soarin and then checked back to see if it were fixed after and if the line was long pull a fp. We couldn't do that this trip because we had Soarin so we waited in line with about 300 other people for it to become fixed. We waited 40 minutes for it to start working again.

Our last day and we planned HS, but after 8 days there we were exhausted and wanted to rest. Kids wanted to go in the pool which they did for one hour because we had a toy story fp+ for 11-12. Tried to change it the day before and couldn't so if they wanted to go on it they had to sacrifice pool time. On the bus on the way over I get an email that the ride is broken and I could go on any other ride. It was a bummer because we only went to HS so early because of this fp+.

 

[SCDisneyfanatic]

Hokie2000...thanks for a nicely stated reply and clarifying what some readers are unable to comprehend. Yes, there have been lots of people complaining about how they will never return because FP+ has ruined WDW. I just laugh and think "great, more room for me".

 

[Frozen2014]

One question about the old FP system. Could you pick your return time, or did you pull a FP ticket and it told you the hour window? If you couldn't choose then I see that as a big disadvantage.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Could you book a second TS ride for later in the day using FP+ once the first one is used

Yes, if it's available. It has to be available. But I thought you had to book 3 and use all those (or let them expire) before you could get an extra in-park.

One question about the old FP system. Could you pick your return time, or did you pull a FP ticket and it told you the hour window? If you couldn't choose then I see that as a big disadvantage.

The current return window for the fastpass was shown at the machines. If you used your ticket to get a FP at that point, you would get the indicated return window or one only a few minutes later. If you wanted a later return window, you had to wait until the window you wanted was indicated.

 

[Hokie2000]

Hokie2000...thanks for a nicely stated reply and clarifying what some readers are unable to comprehend. Yes, there have been lots of people complaining about how they will never return because FP+ has ruined WDW. I just laugh and think "great, more room for me".

I do too! I think some people genuinely see FP+ creating a long-term problem of future low attendance, but I don't see it. Only time will tell...

In the meantime, I dig it. I can't wait for our next trip!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I think right now there's no way of telling if enough guests are backing off going to WDW because they are disgusted with FP+ to cause a downturn in attendance. If it does, WDW will do something about it. But because there are some guests on the boards who say they won't be going any longer or won't go as much, doesn't yet mean WDW is going to lose attendance.

 

[Suvadoo]

One question about the old FP system. Could you pick your return time, or did you pull a FP ticket and it told you the hour window? If you couldn't choose then I see that as a big disadvantage.

No you could not choose a return time, but the advantage of Legacy was that you could change plans and go to a different park at the last minute. If the weather was cold, you didn't pull a FP for Splash Mountain or Kali. With FP+ you're booked in ahead of time, so changing parks or rides on a whim is trickier. Sometimes you may luck out and get a ride you want at the kiosks other times not. So both systems have draw backs.

 

[Goofdad]

WDW is trying to manage the annual increase in crowds. We all know crowds, lines, and waits have gotten worse each year. They have 2 ways to do this:

1. expansion - create more things for more visitors and thin the crowds
the problem: if you thought it was tough to see everything in one trip before, it is now impossible

2. scheduling - control the crowds by scheduling everything (ADRs, FP+)
the problem: if you do not like to plan/schedule, this will not be appealing to you

And here's the thing - WDW is intended to be more than just an amusement park of "rides" - there are other amusement park better suited for that.
A full day in a WDW park could easily consist of:

1 ADR (1 hour)
1 Quick serve meal (30mins to 1 hour)
1 daytime parade (1 hour)
1 night time Finale (1 hour)
4 FP+ attractions (3 plus bonus) (2 hours)
5 Standby attractions 30 minute wait times (4 hours, and if you are there at Rope Drop, you'll get even more in standby)

That's about a 10 hour day in the park with 9+ attractions, 2 meals, a parade, and a nightime finale.

If your complaint is that you used to be able to do more? OK, I respect that but you were a power user.

If your complaint is that you don't want to be scheduled? Again, I respect that and probably have more sympathy for you and I understand that WDW has changed the rules and they don't fit your ideal vacation.

 

[jahber]

One question about the old FP system. Could you pick your return time, or did you pull a FP ticket and it told you the hour window? If you couldn't choose then I see that as a big disadvantage.

As other have said, no, you couldn't choose your time with legacy FP. However, you can't exactly choose any time you want with FP+, either. By the time you've used your first 3 and go to pull another, there's a good chance that the popular rides will only have limited times available. In my mind, and coupled with the limitations on which rides you can choose FP+ for (ie, only one initial FP+ per ride), it's not actually better.

On a related note, right now there are some (7, actually) rides/parades in the MK that I can't even get a SINGLE FP+ for 30 days out. Even if I wanted one and went to rope drop and ran for the FP machine. Much less at a time I chose. So, not exactly an advantage.

 

[famy27]

Yes, if it's available. It has to be available. But I thought you had to book 3 and use all those (or let them expire) before you could get an extra in-park.

You can actually cancel your unwanted FPs prior to arriving at the park. If you do this in a park with tiers (HS or EP), you can book the same ride or any other Tier 1 or Tier 2 ride immediately after you've redeemed your FP.

So, I prebook only Soarin' at EP. Once I finish riding, I go directly to the kiosk and grab TT. We've had success with this method in June and Aug/Sept. For HS, I prebooked TSMM and ToT and grabbed RNRC after I finished my two rides.

The caveat is that once you cancel one or two of your prebooked FPs, they are gone for good. You can't get them back unless you cancel all of your FPs for the day and start over.

 

[Suvadoo]

You can actually cancel your unwanted FPs prior to arriving at the park. If you do this in a park with tiers (HS or EP), you can book the same ride or any other Tier 1 or Tier 2 ride immediately after you've redeemed your FP.

So, I prebook only Soarin' at EP. Once I finish riding, I go directly to the kiosk and grab TT. We've had success with this method in June and Aug/Sept. For HS, I prebooked TSMM and ToT and grabbed RNRC after I finished my two rides.

The caveat is that once you cancel one or two of your prebooked FPs, they are gone for good. You can't get them back unless you cancel all of your FPs for the day and start over.

This is a great strategy as long as the parks aren't super busy. I don't think I'd try this over Christmas or spring break.