Fast Pass...still not liking this 'new' system

[Disney1fan2002]

The new Fast Pass+ system went into effect in 2014, a few months before our August '14 trip. We had not been to the parks in a few years, because we had been going on the Disney Cruises. Because I paid cash for our trips, the park passes were the last thing we purchased, after making sure we had enough money for food. I purchased our passes from undercover tourist and linked them to my MDE account 2 weeks prior to check in. Needless to say, all the popular rides had no FP availability.

Let's just say, because of this "new" system that was supposed to be so great, we stood in stand-by lines more that one trip than in the entire 10 years prior. I wanted the old system of just getting your passes when you enter the parks. I grumbled and complained the entire week. My kids were shocked because I NEVER complained about Disney, especially when I was there looking through my rose colored glasses. Not this time...kiddos. Disney done messed up, IMO. What made it more difficult was I was still living in the stone ages with a flip phone..so I did not have all day access to MDE. We had to find a FP+ kiosk to add on, only to discover the rides we wanted had no more availability. GRRRRR.

So now....3 years later and my oldest DS and I are going back in. We cruised last year out of NYC and had a day in the parks. We got 3 "anytime FP's" to walk on any ride.(which kind of made me feel like I stepped back in time. A hard ticket, we walk in the line and give our ticket to the CM) This year, I was able to buy our passes before our 60 day window and actually booked the rides we want. But I still don't like it!!!!

I don't like having to reserve our ride time 2 months before we will even be there. I booked us a 9 day trip, with the hopes of having quite a bit of down time..but as it turns out, these FP times have us in the parks all day.

To all the people who only started going to Disney after 2014..I envy you. This is the only system you know. I hate it.

There I said my peace. I think I have lost hope that Disney will ever go back to the old system. **SIGH**

 

[Roobear77]

I find it interesting that the things you don't like about the system are some of the things I do like. I like having the option of booking my fast passes when I want them (within reason of course based on ride popularity). I can plan in downtime ahead of time, instead of showing up to a much desired ride and pulling a fast pass for many hours later, sometimes later than I wanted to still be in the park. I like being to make changes on my phone if our plans change, instead of being locked into the fast passes I pulled, even if we no longer want to ride at that time. I am a planner by nature, so while at first it did seem strange to have to figure out where I would want to be 60 days ahead of time, even with the old system I had a rough idea of what park on which day, and whether or not we would be RDing or sleeping in based on the previous day's plans.

To each their own. I do agree, I don't think Disney will go back to the old system. Its hard to make change, but there are strategies with the new system to make it easier to have your day go the way you want it to.

 

[Disneylover99]

The new Fast Pass+ system went into effect in 2014, a few months before our August '14 trip. We had not been to the parks in a few years, because we had been going on the Disney Cruises. Because I paid cash for our trips, the park passes were the last thing we purchased, after making sure we had enough money for food. I purchased our passes from undercover tourist and linked them to my MDE account 2 weeks prior to check in. Needless to say, all the popular rides had no FP availability.

Let's just say, because of this "new" system that was supposed to be so great, we stood in stand-by lines more that one trip than in the entire 10 years prior. I wanted the old system of just getting your passes when you enter the parks. I grumbled and complained the entire week. My kids were shocked because I NEVER complained about Disney, especially when I was there looking through my rose colored glasses. Not this time...kiddos. Disney done messed up, IMO. What made it more difficult was I was still living in the stone ages with a flip phone..so I did not have all day access to MDE. We had to find a FP+ kiosk to add on, only to discover the rides we wanted had no more availability. GRRRRR.

So now....3 years later and my oldest DS and I are going back in. We cruised last year out of NYC and had a day in the parks. We got 3 "anytime FP's" to walk on any ride.(which kind of made me feel like I stepped back in time. A hard ticket, we walk in the line and give our ticket to the CM) This year, I was able to buy our passes before our 60 day window and actually booked the rides we want. But I still don't like it!!!!

I don't like having to reserve our ride time 2 months before we will even be there. I booked us a 9 day trip, with the hopes of having quite a bit of down time..but as it turns out, these FP times have us in the parks all day.

To all the people who only started going to Disney after 2014..I envy you. This is the only system you know. I hate it.

There I said my peace. I think I have lost hope that Disney will ever go back to the old system. **SIGH**

Why don't you book your fp times back to back so you don't have to be in the parks all day?

 

[Shanti]

The new Fast Pass+ system went into effect in 2014, a few months before our August '14 trip. We had not been to the parks in a few years, because we had been going on the Disney Cruises. Because I paid cash for our trips, the park passes were the last thing we purchased, after making sure we had enough money for food. I purchased our passes from undercover tourist and linked them to my MDE account 2 weeks prior to check in. Needless to say, all the popular rides had no FP availability.

Let's just say, because of this "new" system that was supposed to be so great, we stood in stand-by lines more that one trip than in the entire 10 years prior. I wanted the old system of just getting your passes when you enter the parks. I grumbled and complained the entire week. My kids were shocked because I NEVER complained about Disney, especially when I was there looking through my rose colored glasses. Not this time...kiddos. Disney done messed up, IMO. What made it more difficult was I was still living in the stone ages with a flip phone..so I did not have all day access to MDE. We had to find a FP+ kiosk to add on, only to discover the rides we wanted had no more availability. GRRRRR.

So now....3 years later and my oldest DS and I are going back in. We cruised last year out of NYC and had a day in the parks. We got 3 "anytime FP's" to walk on any ride.(which kind of made me feel like I stepped back in time. A hard ticket, we walk in the line and give our ticket to the CM) This year, I was able to buy our passes before our 60 day window and actually booked the rides we want. But I still don't like it!!!!

I don't like having to reserve our ride time 2 months before we will even be there. I booked us a 9 day trip, with the hopes of having quite a bit of down time..but as it turns out, these FP times have us in the parks all day.

To all the people who only started going to Disney after 2014..I envy you. This is the only system you know. I hate it.

There I said my peace. I think I have lost hope that Disney will ever go back to the old system. **SIGH**

The new system is not for everyone. If you like the old FP system, it is still in play at Disneyland in California.

A lot of people who once hated the new FP system are now converts, though. You have to learn a new way of doing things, but once you learn, it's great. With the combination of savvy FP+ usage and a good Touring Plan, a tremendous amount can be accomplished in a relatively short time. Or, if you choose, you can go at a very relaxed pace but still easily get some favored rides done. One of the new system's benefits is that it can be used in different ways.

FP+ makes it possible to get on some headliner rides easily even on days that you sleep in and only hit the parks in the afternoon. It also takes away the need for "runners". It also allows you to make a FP for Hollywood Studios while you are still at Magic Kingdom. So it definitely has its advantages.

One other thing you need to realize is that attendance has gone way up since the years in which you used to visit more often. There are going to be more people & lines at the parks for that reason, alone. FP+ is not to blame for that, though some infrequent visitors confuse the two.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not sure how you feel about cross country flights, but our answer was to swap to DLR. We've been very happy with the change.

They have change coming to their fastpass system soon as well, but so far it looks like just an electronic version of legacy FP (nothing scheduled in advance).

Just be aware that some of the biggest supporters of FP+ have employed "strategies" that can't even be discussed here.

 

[DisneyOma]

We've been before any kind of FP existed, right after FP started, multiple times during the 'double dipping' FP frenzy, at the beginning of FP+ and before they cracked down on the old MB access to FP+. Come August, it will be our first trip with the MB fix. We've seen it all.

And every trip we've been able to do everything we wanted to do (except ride TSMM because it was a school trip and most of the kids didn't want to wait 90 minutes in a queue) with a bit of tweaking here and there. I guess we are an analytical family, as problem solving is something we do for fun

I've come to think that FP+ makes the actual trip more relaxing. Everything is already set. No frenzied rush to a FP machine, no waiting in a FP queue to get a ticket to not wait in line. Queuing up for a FP ticket always made me shake my head a little - standing in one (albeit short, most times) queue for another!

 

[vinotinto]

As PP mentioned - we went to Disneyland in April. It was such a throwback - the system is exactly like the old one. Even though we are close enough to WDW to drive to it (we're in GA), it was fun to go cross-country to Disneyland.

New FP+ system definitely requires getting used to...

 

[ChristineOH]

Just be aware that some of the biggest supporters of FP+ have employed "strategies" that can't even be discussed here.

I love FP+, and I only use the system as it is meant to be used. No more RD unless we really feel like it, and FP+ allows for a great amount of same day spontaneity! It's awesome being able to book the 4th, 5th, etc., or just have a lazy day where you go to the park just to use your three FP, without having to be there at park open and run all over to get your FP.

 

[AllieBoo]

I am one of those who loves FP+. I schedule my FP's back to back beginning in the morning. As soon as we're done with the first three, I hop on the app and schedule a 4th. To me, scheduling them ahead of time guarantees we'll be able to ride things like 7DMT, FEA and Soarin without having to send somebody running to a FP kiosk like the old days. We are not rope droppers and that just never worked well for us with the old system. We always take an afternoon break, so once we are through in the am, I schedule our next fp for that evening. I've been able to move times around and score same days passes for Soarin, FEA, Space, etc. When we were there a few weeks ago, we used 6-7 FP's in the am, took a swim break and then were able to come back and use several more in the evening. We never stood in line for anything longer than 20 min (except for FOP) and rode all the headliners multiple times.

 

[Moliphino]

I've been to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris in the past 1.5 years (both have old style paper fastpass). If I had any doubts about FP+ being better those trips put them to rest. When you do rope drop and the line to get a fastpass is already 20 minutes long when you get there it really sucks. Much nicer to pre-book for a good time than wait 20 minutes to get a fastpass for hours later.

 

[Minnesota!]

I agree, OP.

 

[Shanti]

Why don't you book your fp times back to back so you don't have to be in the parks all day?

Because they're doing it last minute (at the park) instead of booking ahead.

 

[Delirium]

Wife to me in the Legacy FP days while exiting Peter Pan. "Honey, the kids and I need to go to the restroom. Can you run over to Space Mountain and get our next FP? We'll ride Small World when you get back." 15 minutes later, I return the heart of Fantasyland from my cross-park excursion. Of course, everyone is done with the bathroom, and my wife managed to squeeze in a 'productive' trip to a gift shop selling grossly overpriced merchandise.

I like FP+ better.

 

[thevolcanogod]

I went in late-July, early-August of 2014 and don't remember the issues you mention. Back then, the hardest things to get were ADRs - I remember fast passes for Soarin were still available right up to a week before. Only one I think was gone much in advance was 7dMT.

Back then you couldn't schedule a 4th fast pass on MDE (MDE was still a huge mess) - you had to use the kiosk. I remember getting 4th, 5th, 6th fast passes for good secondary rides like POTC, Jungle Cruise, HM, even space and BTMRR.

Dunno maybe you've built this thing up as the root of all your evils when it's not. If you relaxed and were more open to it, you might enjoy things more.

 

[tlmadden73]

1) Disney is more crowded now than it has been in 10 years before that. FP+ is not entirely to blame for longer standby lines.

2) Fast Passes are just "perks" -- you don't have to use them. You aren't "forced" to be in the parks all day long. You can (like a lot of people do) schedule all your fast passes in the morning or early afternoon which frees up your afternoon with a lot of flexibility. You aren't "locked in" to them and you have a lot of flexibility in scheduling them especially if you are making them at 60 days.

3) I've used both the Kiosks and MDE to schedule 4th fast passes --- both ways are very convenient (and to me easier than the old way of going all the way to a ride to see what the return times are).

4) I feel you were equally yoked by the old FP system. You just knew how to use it efficiently .. because of your experience with it.



Personally I didn't like the paper FP system. I felt I had to really "work" hard to make efficient use of it. I was on vacation .. I didn't want to spend my time running back and forth between rides to use the FP machines. To me going all the way to the ride to then walk away and come back later is very inefficient.

I prefer knowing that whenever I decide to walk into the park I will have 3 rides I can skip the lines on .. PERIOD. I don't have some mystery.

Because of FP+ . .I finally got on TSMM. Before either the standby line was too long (back when it was fairly new) or the paper fast passes were out (or had a return time that didn't work). I just skipped that attraction on several trips. But thanks to FP+, I make sure I schedule it every time I plan to go to DHS.

 

[danikoski]

FP+ went into play in 2013. I was there in the fall of 2013, and it was crazy. I did not enjoy it a whole lot. I've been back in 2015 and 2017. With the MDE app, it is awesome. My mom and I did all the rides we wanted to at Epcot by noon. We did Safari and FotLK and Tusker House breakfast by noon at AK. We were done with rides at MK by 2:30. HS we were done around 2 after getting to the park at 9:30ish. And for HS, MK, and AK, we booked those FP the week of on Monday afternoon for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If I wanted to, I could modify our next FP once we used one to see if there was an earlier time. There almost always was. The MDE app is powerful. We also made day of ADRs, and tracked wait times with the app. Yet I wasn't attached to the phone. I usually checked the app coming off a ride, waiting in line, or after a break. It worked exceptionally well.

 

[anomamatt]

One of the most interesting things to me about these kinds of threads, is that it's very clear that FP+ has created two "classes" of visitors. Those that know FP+ well, utilize the heck out of it... and those that get their 3 FPs a day and that is it.

I could see hating the system if all I was using it for was 3 FPs (a day) that I had to get 60 days before my trip. But for those of us who either make enough trips to WDW, or spent enough time reading the 100s of pages of FP+ tricks and tips, then the system is great. Because with FP+ I can go to WDW, ride everything we want, and never once wait in a standby line (unless the attraction has no FP queue).

 

[jsmla]

I like FP+ too but I'm a very experienced WDW vet who spends a lot of time researching this kind of thing on the internet-it's kind of a hobby for me. I imagine it would be confusing and annoying to those trying to plan a first trip.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

OK..I admit that most of my issue with the FP+ system is exactly what most people are saying here. I am not experienced with it. The old system, I had that beat. Knew exactly what rides to grab first and knew when my next window opened for the next rides. As with everything else in life..I am done learning. New fangled technology? I hand it to one of my kids and let them set it up. I know there is a way to utilize this system in a much more efficient way, but to me, it is a lot of work and a Disney vacation is already exhausting enough.

I know I will get used to it. It is going to take some time. I am glad to know that there are at least a few people that agree with me.

 

[cdnjason]

I love the new system. I don't have to go running to a kiosk to get a FP. I don't have to wait until my FP time block to get another one. I can book the ones I want in advance and then use the app on my phone to get more. So much more convenient.