fastpass+ practical mixed feelings

[xipetotec]

This is exactly how we have travelled in the past. We generally decide what parks we are going to do the next day the day before ... although we do "plan" the plan isn't binding in anyway. We planned MK, EP, HS, AK, then Decided to do MK, HS, AK, EP ...

We generally all SAY we are going to do RD in the morning, but someone (often us) decides an extra hour or two of sleep sounds better ... and we meet up later ...

We tour the park together as a group for a while, pull some FP-s together if they are available for something we all want to do, and then, as soon as some people want to do attraction a) and another group wants to do b), we split up, make arrangements to meet at X for food at 6pm ... or back at the resort, or whatever ...

We are heading with a group of 12 this year, and this looks to be impossible, at least in a way that is relaxed, flexible, and doesn't feel like we are showing up to appointments ...

What do we do when, the morning of, people change their minds about what park !??! Do we have a group meeting and change everyone's FPs ??? What happens when in the park, while split up, 2 people out of 12 want to change their FP plans, but then when we are back as a group they have burned their 3rd FP and now we can't all FP ride c) ??? Where as before, they could have pulled an FP, rode it, then pulled another with us later !?

This is made even more complicated with people staying at different resorts, so physically meeting in person to "discuss" FP options and changes is more complicated.

We have an Age range of 10yrs old to 67yrs old .... With a wide spectrum of ride interest and tolerance ... FP+ is just crap for this. Have to make selections in 54 days .... yay ???

Exactly. Basically my mother is like the "matriarch" in all this. We go down with her, me and my kids, my cousin and her kids. My brother and his GF. and whoever else. After the first year of trying to do everything together, we saw the folly there. NOW, mom says she wants to do "this, this and this" and we ride that with her, as a whole group. Other than that, we all get together for most dinners ( with a free night for either "date nights" or whatever ) and the group splits up. THis makes that monumentally harder.

HOWEVER, as I said, it's not ruining my vacation, this is how I worked it out.

We are there 10 days ( some of the group only 7 ). My mom only wants to ride a few rides. So, we've decided on 4 days *specifically* where we'd spend a day in those parks for sure. ( We always do this anyway, and the other days are for park hopping ). I booked everyone's FP+ for those 4 days to include mom. I then told the group that if they don't like the bookings, they can go ahead and change them if they can manage time slots that accomodate the attractions we're supposed to ride together in there ( AT LEAST the site allows you to see what other schedules you can get BEFORE you cancel your current FP+ ). And for the other days, everyone manages their own business. At least I'll only need to manage a very small group beyond that.

 

[2Tiggies]

Welcome to the Dark Side.

We have cookies!

And drinks, really tasty drinks.

And beer!

And if you stick around long enough, someone will bring popcorn

Seriously, I am not feeling the love for FP+ or anything MDE related right now. I was going to stay positive. I did. Then I had to deal with it myself. I have changed my mind. I don't like it. End of.

 

[2Tiggies]

Honestly, I wouldn't try to get all the FP+ lined up to make it perfect or even close to it. It's just going to create more headaches. I'd just do the best you can and know that some aren't going to work. It may lead to some more waiting in Standby lines, but I think that can't be avoided given the new system.

I really believe you're right. My issue is that with the old system, this would not have been a problem. People should be able to travel in a group if they choose to.

 

[pampam]

Did I bring enough for everyone?

 

[shefrn1]

I like beer...

I'll trade my cookies for beer.

As long as you don't toss your cookies after your beer..I.m ok with that

 

[Laketravis]

Did I bring enough for everyone?

 

[xipetotec]

I really believe you're right. My issue is that with the old system, this would not have been a problem. People should be able to travel in a group if they choose to.

Well that's the thing. If my whole group all agree on everything and all wanted to do the same thing at the same time ( ), then it would be easy. We could just book the same FP+ for everyone accross the board

 

[2Tiggies]

Did I bring enough for everyone?

Yeah! It better be hot. What took you so long?

 

[magicbob]

I like beer...

I'll trade my cookies for beer.

Deal.

Here's my beer.

Where's my cookies?

 

[Muddypaws]

Sooooo....... Speaking of large groups....
Has anyone seen how FF+ is going to work with the large tour groups? If they aren't there yet, they will be at any time now. I can't decide whether it could work really well or very badly for others in the park. Will they pre-book them? Or do it when they get there?
So many questions still.

 

[ssledoux]

I have to say as someone who remembers seeing the first test signs for legacy fastpasses many moons ago, and thinking " why the hell would I need that"
who then went to "OMG!!! RUN kid we have to be first at the fastpass machine", to collecting them all morning and using them after break, that this is just the next wave of it.
We will all learn our way around it, figure out the best way to use it, and still have a great time.
Our plan now is still rope drop, hit the headliners early, and FP+ for whatever park we are going to be in after our break in the afternoon. Frankly I think it will be a relief to show up at Epcot at 4 in the afternoon knowing I have a fastpass for Soarin at 5, instead of getting there and know that im completely screwed.
Half the fun for us is the planning, what park what day, where in the morning, where in the afternoon, and we are looking forward actually to the challenge of making teh most of this latest phase of fastpasses.
I just cant get that worked up about it. It's happening no matter how much you moan about it, so get over it, and try to figure out the best way to make it work for you.
I agree that a huge group is chaos with or with out this. At least this way you can try to change stuff on the fly.

Honestly, I agree here. Although I have not used my bands and + yet (we are going next month), I am pretty set on the touring plans that work for me, and am excited to know I can plan things I wouldn't normally do later in the day. For instance, it'll be nice to schedule character times for the grandkids for later in the day and not have to give up early morning rides to go do those things, and now we won't have to stand in those lines later.

I know I can go to HS and hit RnR and ToT and get 2-3 rides each before lines really build up, but I would have to choose Toy Story over that for the grandkids. Well now, we can hit our thrill rides then other things up front, knowing we can mosey on to Toy Story later in the morning.

In AK, we can get 6-7 Everest rides in within an hour if we head straight there, but we know that means a long wait on the Safari, or going pull a fast pass. Now, we can have our Safari ride scheduled.

I'm pretty pumped about it actually!

 

[FlipHipster]

 

[fitzperry]

I jumped on the bandwagon after our early December trip. Do I get a beer too?

We also traveled with a large group (15) we've been to Disney with before. Kids aged 3 to soph in college. Like the op, I was less than thrilled about having to schedule rides 60 days in advance, but I tried to keep an open mind. I have a busy schedule at home; I hate the idea of being locked into a schedule on vacation. But I kept seeing posts here about people who complained the sky was falling when they introduced the original FP system and I didn't want to be a fool and overreact. . . . However, after 9 days of experience with FP+ I can tell you I hate it.

We were lucky in that I made our reservations a day or two before they instituted the tiers, so I was able to get all the rides we wanted. The tiered system is terrible. It is also completely absurd that (1) you have to schedule all 3 FP+'s at the same time and (2) if you want to change one, you can modify the time OR the attraction but not both in one action. As the pp mentioned, this made trying to coordinate with the other families in our group a giant PITA because we want to do some things together, but not everything, and no single person wants to be responsible for making everyone's FP choices. I'd still dislike it just for my immediate family, but for a large group, it's even worse.

Disney seems to be trying to drive guests toward a more all-inclusive experience. I do not care for all-inclusive resorts, and FP+ did nothing to enhance our WDW vacation. Quite the opposite, in fact.

FWIW, I like the idea of getting FP's with a smartphone rather than having to go to the ride to get paper ones. The technology is good. But the notion of scheduling a 2 minute ride on a roller coaster 2 months in advance just seems a little crazy to me. It's a very inflexible system. 15 thumbs down from our family.

 

[Laketravis]

I can tell you I hate it.

You said hate.

Here... have a beer

And some popcorn

But we're starting to run out of cookies

I know, that just isn't fair. Maybe we should ration them out?

 

[Laketravis]

..the notion of scheduling a 2 minute ride on a roller coaster 2 months in advance just seems a little crazy to me.

When you put it that way, it kinda does.

 

[fitzperry]

You said hate. Here... have a beer And some popcorn But we're starting to run out of cookies

Well I'm allergic to corn, so I'll just have to have the beer

 

[mom2rtk]

FWIW, I like the idea of getting FP's with a smartphone rather than having to go to the ride to get paper ones. The technology is good. But the notion of scheduling a 2 minute ride on a roller coaster 2 months in advance just seems a little crazy to me. It's a very inflexible system. 15 thumbs down from our family.

I'm afraid scheduling in advance if you want the good rides goes hand in hand with them making it easier to access FP (in this case with a smartphone). They let the FP genie out of the bottle. It's far "easier" to access than it used to be (because you used to have to be IN the park AT the ride to get one. When you remove barriers to something, you get more use of said thing. And they didn't add ride capacity. So you'll now need to schedule at the earliest possible opportunity (in this case 60 days) if riding something is important to you.

 

[monkistan]

our trip is in less than a month and each time my DF and I have sat down to plan FP+ we get annoyed and worn out quickly.

"Wait, which FP+ option is the best, where do we want to be at what time of day in 3 weeks. That ride doesn't need FP+ it never has a wait. Yes it does. No, it so doesn't. I'm looking at the wait times right now. But right now it's around new year's, we're going in february."

Ok, it's possible that this conversation only happened in my head, but it would have never happened before FP+. I need a vacation from planning.

Can i have a beer? are there any cookies left?

 

[JanaDee]

And beer!

Everyone seems to be ignoring the beer.

OP, I agree with you that the FP+ system is good in theory and an epic fail in practice.

 

[fitzperry]

I'm afraid scheduling in advance if you want the good rides goes hand in hand with them making it easier to access FP (in this case with a smartphone). They let the FP genie out of the bottle. It's far "easier" to access than it used to be (because you used to have to be IN the park AT the ride to get one. When you remove barriers to something, you get more use of said thing. And they didn't add ride capacity. So you'll now need to schedule at the earliest possible opportunity (in this case 60 days) if riding something is important to you.

Just because that all makes good sense doesn't mean I have to like it!

One thing I will say is that the "earliest opportunity" doesn't have to be so early. You'd think they could be made available on a schedule similar to the old system.