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

[Disney1fan2002]

I don't have to wait until my FP time block to get another one.

Yes you do. You can't book a FP for a time already blocked. I have a 945-1045 FP for Soarin. I can't book Living with the Land until AFTER 1045.

 

[Roobear77]

Yes you do. You can't book a FP for a time already blocked. I have a 945-1045 FP for Soarin. I can't book Living with the Land until AFTER 1045.

Not really, you start the day with three. With the old system even at the start of the day you only had one in hand at a time.
You can also modify your next FPs once you've tapped the first one, regardless of where in the window you are. We've often moved up the next fastpass into what was the previous fast pass' window once we're past the tapstiles.

 

[loves to dive]

I can take it or leave, I felt the same way about the old one. I'm one of those people who have been going to WDW since the early 80s, I've seen lots of things come and go. I'm like your parents who had to "walk to school uphill in the snow both ways you wipper snapper so don't tell me about how good the good ole days were". We don't use FP that much, didn't use the old system that much either. We had to wait in line when we first started going, no the crowds weren't as large but heck, you didn't even have a system to tell you how long that line was going to take so you paid your nickel and took your chance, you eye balled it. No ADRs, you walked up to a restaurant and asked how long the wait was, you decided if it was too long. Then the system came where you went to guest services and they made your ADRs for the whole week for you, we loved the little TVs at Epcot. We book ADRs day of, just like we did in the old days. We book FPs the night before or more often than not, the morning of or while standing in line. For us, and I admit this might be because we go often, it's not all about getting as many rides as you possibly can in. It's about the place and the experience of being there, we go slow, we enjoy the place.

 

[Skippyboo]

I don't miss the days of running to the kiosk with a stack of tickets then getting a fast pass for 3pm when it's 10am. I love ability the plan for the big rides and the flexibility to move the fast passes around using the MDE app.

 

[Jennasis]

FP+ is not for everyone. It has enhanced plenty of people's visits, and it has detracted from some as well. I dislike FP+. My trips with it have been GREAT despite FP+, not because of it. I detest booking FP 60 days in advance and have yet to be able to book 4th passes and beyond that were of any real value. The days of reriding our favorites are gone. That said, knowing it is her to stay, I've made my peace with it and use it to the best of our ability n our trips are still great. To be honest it has caused us to spend more time out of the parks and spending less money. So take that, Disney.

 

[Nettester]

Pros and cons. I miss being able to pick a park last minute with the old system. I don't miss either myself or my husband taking on the obligatory "fast pass runner" role. Overall, FP+ has given my family much more relaxed and flexible park touring. I LOVE having fast passes to rides in the late afternoon and early evening without having to be in the park early in the morning to gather them up. I hate being tied to my phone on vacation. Overall, once you learn whatever system is in play and embrace it, the better the experience, in my opinion

 

[DisneyOma]

FP+ is not for everyone. It has enhanced plenty of people's visits, and it has detracted from some as well. I dislike FP+. My trips with it have been GREAT despite FP+, not because of it. I detest booking FP 60 days in advance and have yet to be able to book 4th passes and beyond that were of any real value. The days of reriding our favorites are gone. That said, knowing it is her to stay, I've made my peace with it and use it to the best of our ability n our trips are still great. To be honest it has caused us to spend more time out of the parks and spending less money. So take that, Disney.

I'm sure they noticed you not in the parks, LOL! We've been able to book great 4th FP, including 7DMT. Even with regular FP, it was near impossible to reride the big attractions, IMO. We used to go to evening EMH to do the over and over routine, though. That's still an option now, BTW.

 

[flortlebap]

I dislike the new system too, and I say this as a commando style over planner who RDs every day.

It's far more geared towards people who don't want to get up early, which is fine (for them). But I REALLY hate the stupid tier system - I used to be able to FP whatever I wanted and now I can't. I also hate the fact that you HAVE to use three FPs to park hop.

For example, if I want to do Epcot in the morning and hope over to MK in the afternoon/evening, I now have to book and use a FP I don't even want just to be able to get more at MK later in the day. It's daft.

 

[Disneylover99]

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

No. She said she booked her fp's 60 days out, but she doesn't like it because the fp's have her in the park all day.

OP, if you're booking 60 days out, you should be able to get back to back fp's if that's what you want. There's no need to space them out.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

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.

That's us. We use it as it was meant to be used. No extra anything.

And Fastpass+ is the way to go. No more dashing around trying to pull a ticket then finding out that the ticket is for 4 hours later.

Of course, there were people that pulled and held more than one pass at a time. Maybe that is what they remember?

 

[Skippyboo]

I dislike the new system too, and I say this as a commando style over planner who RDs every day.

It's far more geared towards people who don't want to get up early, which is fine (for them). But I REALLY hate the stupid tier system - I used to be able to FP whatever I wanted and now I can't. I also hate the fact that you HAVE to use three FPs to park hop.

For example, if I want to do Epcot in the morning and hope over to MK in the afternoon/evening, I now have to book and use a FP I don't even want just to be able to get more at MK later in the day. It's daft.

You could have just made the fast passes for MK and do Epcot without the fast passes.

 

[shellyj]

It seems like you've already talked yourself into having a miserable trip because you experienced the new system once when it was brand new.
I was nervous when they announced FP+ but I actually like this system better for a lot of reasons.

We don't visit during peak seasons which does help, but with rare exceptions for new tier 1 rides, we've been able to make our fp back-to-back or in half a day. My usual strategy is to choose a park based on EMH and make our fps there for half a day. We leave either the morning or afternoon open for park hopping and more spontaneous touring and we always take a break in the middle of the day (unless we have a long morning at the resort). "Spontaneous" is not the right word. I always have a detailed plan, but I don't stress about sticking to it too much.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

It seems like you've already talked yourself into having a miserable trip because you experienced the new system once when it was brand new.
I was nervous when they announced FP+ but I actually like this system better for a lot of reasons.

I said I didn't like the new FP system. I never said I had/or will have a miserable trip. No Disney trip has ever been miserable for me. Sure, things have come up where I might complain about something...but to equate complaining with being miserable? I don't get the connection

 

[Jennasis]

I'm sure they noticed you not in the parks, LOL! We've been able to book great 4th FP, including 7DMT. Even with regular FP, it was near impossible to reride the big attractions, IMO. We used to go to evening EMH to do the over and over routine, though. That's still an option now, BTW.

I don't care what they notice (I was being facetious with my take that Disney lol). I still enjoy my trips...just differently than I did previously. We spend time at the pool more than we ever did. We enjoy the free live entertainment at Disney Spring. We finally got to see Yee Ha Bob and enjoy the nighttime movies and campfire at our resorts. We are still loving Disney...just discovering lots of fun free things to do outside of rides and such.

 

[Karin1984]

I love it, and I can't stand having to pull FP when I am in Disneyland Paris. With Big Thunder Mountain you first have to queue for 10 - 15 minutes (if you don't speedwalk/run after ropedrop) so that you later don't have to queue. It still saves time, but it's the thought that's annoying me. I had the same in DLR, where I had to run and queue with hunderds of others for Cars and World of Color, instead of leisurely starting my day. Plus it doesn't give me the peace of mind and flexibility FP+ gives.

With every change you will have people who are happy with it, and those who are not happy with it. You will never be able to satisfy everyone's needs.

But the more interesting question is, especially with the crowds growing, what if the legacy FP was still in place, would it still work? Less people would be in the know as Disney didn't promote it as heavily as FP+, but three years later... it certainly wouldn't be the same anymore.

 

[shellyj]

I said I didn't like the new FP system. I never said I had/or will have a miserable trip. No Disney trip has ever been miserable for me. Sure, things have come up where I might complain about something...but to equate complaining with being miserable? I don't get the connection

You said you grumbled and complained and grrr and your family was surprised. You can't have the down time you wanted on your 9 day trip because your fps are scattered through every day. And you hate it! You didn't use the word miserable but I don't think it was a stretch to infer it from your language and tone. I'm glad you're not planning to be miserable! I think this system takes some getting used to and hopefully you will experience it differently this time around

 

[Planogirl]

I don't care much for FP+ either but I don't like to preplan so much. We must go during busy times too because only MK seems to have good availability later in the day.

We did discover one nice advantage though. We enjoy doing other things in the central Florida area. We could book three fastpasses for the evening and then go do something else until later in the day.

 

[cdnjason]

Yes you do. You can't book a FP for a time already blocked. I have a 945-1045 FP for Soarin. I can't book Living with the Land until AFTER 1045.

That's not what I meant. At DL, once I get a FP, I don't have to actually use it to get another one. I just have to wait until that FP window opens, before I can get my next one. For instance, if I have a FP for Soarin in CA for 9:45-10:45, I can wait until 9:45, go get a FP for my next ride, and then go on Soarin. Running around the park for FPs is just so cumbersome.

 

[danikoski]

Yes you do. You can't book a FP for a time already blocked. I have a 945-1045 FP for Soarin. I can't book Living with the Land until AFTER 1045.

Yes, you actually can if you have a phone with the MDE app. You check in for Soarin, and while waiting, modify the living with the land for an earlier time. My mom and I did this for Seas with Nemo in February. We walked off Soarin, stopped and got a bite to eat, I modified our FP for Seas, then walked over and rode the ride.

 

[danikoski]

I dislike the new system too, and I say this as a commando style over planner who RDs every day.

It's far more geared towards people who don't want to get up early, which is fine (for them). But I REALLY hate the stupid tier system - I used to be able to FP whatever I wanted and now I can't. I also hate the fact that you HAVE to use three FPs to park hop.

For example, if I want to do Epcot in the morning and hope over to MK in the afternoon/evening, I now have to book and use a FP I don't even want just to be able to get more at MK later in the day. It's daft.

From what I understand, if you book one fast pass in one park, just one, use it, you can then book 2 in the next park for the afternoon.