.
I think the truth of the story behind FP+ changes likely lies somewhere in the middle. I don't believe for a second that Disney had no intentions of changing anything until guest feedback started rolling in. I also don't believe that Disney has had set plans from the start and not deviated from them or taken guest feedback into consideration. There are people on both sides of the debate claiming both of these things.
Either way, the way they've handled the rollout is IMO garbage. They have been very quiet about negative changes (like tiers, removal of KTTW cards etc.) while only being open about their positive changes (lock in your favourites, 4th FP is coming). Did I expect them to add the tiers "feature" into their ads? Of course not, but a little openness would have been nice when you're talking about serious impacts on people's vacations, like the unsuspecting Pop Century guests who arrived to find out they were the only guests not allowed to use FP-. I remember the days leading up to that people would call Disney and speak to the "front desk" at Pop, and were being told it was an internet rumour
Some of the people who are in the "just wait" camp seem to forget there were real actual people who vacationed with their real money during the last few months where FP+ was arguably at it's worst. Technical issues coupled with the most limiting form of FP+ (with tiers, without the 4th) wasn't exactly a party. Some of us don't get down to Disney multiple times a year, every year, every 2 years, etc. Maybe if Disney had been open about where this was headed, some of us may have been able to schedule our trips away from these few months. We may have tried had we known.
People love to remind others that the Dis members and other hardcore WDW fans are a small number in the parks. That's likely true. Since that's the case, how can you expect people to make themselves aware of something Disney wasn't even talking about?
I think the truth of the story behind FP+ changes likely lies somewhere in the middle. I don't believe for a second that Disney had no intentions of changing anything until guest feedback started rolling in. I also don't believe that Disney has had set plans from the start and not deviated from them or taken guest feedback into consideration. There are people on both sides of the debate claiming both of these things.
Either way, the way they've handled the rollout is IMO garbage. They have been very quiet about negative changes (like tiers, removal of KTTW cards etc.) while only being open about their positive changes (lock in your favourites, 4th FP is coming). Did I expect them to add the tiers "feature" into their ads? Of course not, but a little openness would have been nice when you're talking about serious impacts on people's vacations, like the unsuspecting Pop Century guests who arrived to find out they were the only guests not allowed to use FP-. I remember the days leading up to that people would call Disney and speak to the "front desk" at Pop, and were being told it was an internet rumour
Some of the people who are in the "just wait" camp seem to forget there were real actual people who vacationed with their real money during the last few months where FP+ was arguably at it's worst. Technical issues coupled with the most limiting form of FP+ (with tiers, without the 4th) wasn't exactly a party. Some of us don't get down to Disney multiple times a year, every year, every 2 years, etc. Maybe if Disney had been open about where this was headed, some of us may have been able to schedule our trips away from these few months. We may have tried had we known.
People love to remind others that the Dis members and other hardcore WDW fans are a small number in the parks. That's likely true. Since that's the case, how can you expect people to make themselves aware of something Disney wasn't even talking about?
People realize the $1.5 billion spend wasn't just on FP+ right?
Well, either that or all the people at Disney are clueless and evil and they hired engineers who do not know how to design systems. These people are now all being "fixed" by internet message board posters.
But with the addition of the 4th FP the tiers don't cause nearly as many issues as they used to. There have been several reports of headliner availability at midday when you would be able to obtain a 4th FP+. Let's say you opted for Tower of Terror, TSM and Star Tours. You use all three and then pull your 4th for RnR. Once you've used your 4th, you can pull a 5th for ToT etc. It solves the "re-ride" and the "can't see all headliners" elements that were the main complaints of the system with 3 FP+ and tiers
because apparently Disney also operates in a "magical" environment where they don't function as a normal business whose primary objective is to make money 
I think the truth of the story behind FP+ changes likely lies somewhere in the middle. I don't believe for a second that Disney had no intentions of changing anything until guest feedback started rolling in. I also don't believe that Disney has had set plans from the start and not deviated from them or taken guest feedback into consideration. There are people on both sides of the debate claiming both of these things.
Either way, the way they've handled the rollout is IMO garbage. They have been very quiet about negative changes (like tiers, removal of KTTW cards etc.) while only being open about their positive changes (lock in your favourites, 4th FP is coming). Did I expect them to add the tiers "feature" into their ads? Of course not, but a little openness would have been nice when you're talking about serious impacts on people's vacations, like the unsuspecting Pop Century guests who arrived to find out they were the only guests not allowed to use FP-. I remember the days leading up to that people would call Disney and speak to the "front desk" at Pop, and were being told it was an internet rumour
Some of the people who are in the "just wait" camp seem to forget there were real actual people who vacationed with their real money during the last few months where FP+ was arguably at it's worst. Technical issues coupled with the most limiting form of FP+ (with tiers, without the 4th) wasn't exactly a party. Some of us don't get down to Disney multiple times a year, every year, every 2 years, etc. Maybe if Disney had been open about where this was headed, some of us may have been able to schedule our trips away from these few months. We may have tried had we known.
People love to remind others that the Dis members and other hardcore WDW fans are a small number in the parks. That's likely true. Since that's the case, how can you expect people to make themselves aware of something Disney wasn't even talking about?
I totally agree, with everything you said. I think the truth behind the changes is somewhere in the middle, but the lack of info has been frustrating. I had a perfectly nice day at MK during those months, but I kept my expectations low. I feel for those who made very expensive once-in-a-lifetime trips, tried to research and plan, and ended up disappointed by changes or dealing with glitches.
I think the truth of the story behind FP+ changes likely lies somewhere in the middle. I don't believe for a second that Disney had no intentions of changing anything until guest feedback started rolling in. I also don't believe that Disney has had set plans from the start and not deviated from them or taken guest feedback into consideration. There are people on both sides of the debate claiming both of these things.
Either way, the way they've handled the rollout is IMO garbage. They have been very quiet about negative changes (like tiers, removal of KTTW cards etc.) while only being open about their positive changes (lock in your favourites, 4th FP is coming). Did I expect them to add the tiers "feature" into their ads? Of course not, but a little openness would have been nice when you're talking about serious impacts on people's vacations, like the unsuspecting Pop Century guests who arrived to find out they were the only guests not allowed to use FP-. I remember the days leading up to that people would call Disney and speak to the "front desk" at Pop, and were being told it was an internet rumour
Some of the people who are in the "just wait" camp seem to forget there were real actual people who vacationed with their real money during the last few months where FP+ was arguably at it's worst. Technical issues coupled with the most limiting form of FP+ (with tiers, without the 4th) wasn't exactly a party. Some of us don't get down to Disney multiple times a year, every year, every 2 years, etc. Maybe if Disney had been open about where this was headed, some of us may have been able to schedule our trips away from these few months. We may have tried had we known.
People love to remind others that the Dis members and other hardcore WDW fans are a small number in the parks. That's likely true. Since that's the case, how can you expect people to make themselves aware of something Disney wasn't even talking about?
Can't you see from a business perspective that this is EXACTLY why they didn't tell people there might be issues? I get that it wasn't "fair" to guests that vacationed between Jan and Mar but they weren't going to say "oh and by the way, in April we will be fully implementing this system, so why don't you just hold off until then?"
At the end of the day, their primary objective is to make money.
