Fastpass + seems to be ruining many posters trips to WDW.

[amylevan]

And for people who won't wait for more than 20 minutes for ANYTHING...uh, really? I have to wonder what these people did before FP. I went to WDW in 1995 when I was 12. Know what I did? I waited in line. For everything. I remember the line for SM stretching way out of the building. My choices were to wait in the line or don't ride. So my dad and I waited in line. We met some nice people in line behind us that we talked to. While I agree that waiting in hour plus lines all day is not the best use of time, occasionally you might have to wait more than 20 minutes. It's not that big of a deal. I'm thankful that I don't have to wait in a long line for every single thing like I did back then.

I remember waiting over 2 hours for Splash Mountain out in the blazing sun on a July afternoon. Know what my parents decided? That they were never going back.

Lucky for me, they invented FP.

 

[3Gsandme]

I always find the "I won't wait more than 20 minutes" thing a little weird too. We go to a small amusement park in Western PA every summer. Sometimes we wait, oh, I don't know, 10 or 15 minutes to ride the whip. It's a slow loading, low capacity ride. I guess if I'm willing to wait 15 mintues for the kids to ride the Whip (and do they ever love the whip) I don't see why I can't wait another five or ten minutes to ride something I classify as "better". Shoot, I think we waited 30 minutes for the log ride. Maybe we'll have a better experience because we're used to a wait and won't mind it so much at Disney?

But, just because I don't see a problem with FP+ doesn't mean I drink the Kool-Aid. I just like knowing that when my 60 day mark hits, that I'll be able to ensure we see the things that matter the most to us. Since we still like the minor attractions (I like IASW and CoP and the Tiki Room) we shouldn't have an issue.

 

[sonofanarchy]

All these "What did you do before Fastpass" examples are absolutely ridiculous. What did people do before cars? What did people do before airplanes? What did people do before credit cards?

You can use a million analogies like that but the fact is, when something is around to make your life easier, when it's taken away, it's obviously going to make things crappier. Comparing the rotary phone to the original Fastpass is a really poor analogy. Telephone technology is something that has made the world an easier (if slightly more annoying) place. Fastpass Plus technology is something that is going to make visiting WDW less enjoyable. And that seems to be the point that many people are missing. It's not the technology anyone has a problem with. It's how Disney is using that technology.

 

[Planogirl]

Why the arguing over this? If people don't want to wait in lines then they should have the right to say so. If people don't mind the lines then that is fine too. I have never seen anyone change someone else's mind by telling the other person how wrong they are.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Yeah, but when I had a rotary dial phone, I could make all the calls my little fingers could dial. When we went to push button (and later, cell) no one limited me to 3 calls per day, to only one branch of the family, with just one being to a relative I actually liked while the other 2 calls went to the relatives you hide from at the family reunions.

Exactly.

This is what people aren't getting. Again, technology is great when it's used to make things better, not worse.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Why the arguing over this? If people don't want to wait in lines then they should have the right to say so. If people don't mind the lines then that is fine too. I have never seen anyone change someone else's mind by telling the other person how wrong they are.

I don't think anyone likes waiting in line. I think the lines being blurred here are that Disney, with the advent of Fastpass, made not waiting an option for everyone. Now, they're taking it away.

The one thing that just irks me to the core is how Disney tries to explain how Fastpass+ is such a wonderful enhancement to the guest experience. I just want to reach throgh my computer and strangle the upper management idiot who thinks we're really all that stupid to fall for such complete horse poop.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't think anyone likes waiting in line. I think the lines being blurred here are that Disney, with the advent of Fastpass, made not waiting an option for everyone. Now, they're taking it away.

The one thing that just irks me to the core is how Disney tries to explain how Fastpass+ is such a wonderful enhancement to the guest experience. I just want to reach throgh my computer and strangle the upper management idiot who thinks we're really all that stupid to fall for such complete horse poop.

I couldn't agree more. However some people actually seem to be defending the idea of bringing waiting in long lines back. I don't understand it but if they are OK with them then OK. Personally.

 

[going/again]

My 2cents...
I did like that I could adjust FP times on my iphone on the disney bus riding to the park.

What about visitors from overseas, wont this mean huge data roaming charges?,
to keep using this app, this is a serious question as I really don't know how this works as I never use my I phone while in Florida.

 

[going/again]

And like you we did have an issue with the MS day one. The CM's were great and hooked us up with extra FP's for the trouble; without us asking.

Was this during testing, as we all know Disney's IT is not even close to the best, what happens when everyone can use FP+ and it goes wrong where are they going to get all those extra FP's from.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Great post and my exact thoughts.

Apparently if you listen to the nay sayers paper FP never ran out during the busy times.

I go during slow times for a reason. I don't care how it is when the parks are busy nor do I care if it's "fair" for off-site guests. I pay a premium for my smaller box of a room to enjoy on-site perks.

The system worked great for us and most people that have actually used it are saying the same. They are just not as vocal as the ones that haven't used it yet.

And like you we did have an issue with the MS day one. The CM's were great and hooked us up with extra FP's for the trouble; without us asking.

Paper FP did run out -- nowhere near as quickly as now obviously -- but we could control our own experience through a few simple choices, like arriving at the parks two or three hours after our kids woke up and making a little effort.

Part of my concern about FP+ is that paper FP did run out, which means that demand exceeded supply. With the ease of booking FP+, that demand > supply issue will be worse. That's why there are tiers, but how long before there's a battle at sixty days out to get decent times for popular rides? The experience of early testers will not reflect the final reality. The day-to-day flexibility we knew under paper FP and people enjoyed as FP+ testers will no longer exist.

 

[skriegerjr]

What about visitors from overseas, wont this mean huge data roaming charges?,
to keep using this app, this is a serious question as I really don't know how this works as I never use my I phone while in Florida.

No, because there's free WiFi everywhere in the parks

Sent from my rooted Samsung Galaxy SIII using the DISBoards app

 

[Cheesehead9]

This is gone now, so I guess no harm in mentioning it:

For the last 6 years we have gone during Spring Break and always purchased fastpasses from some group that called themselves Central Florida Ticket Planners, and later, Magical Park Tours.

They delivered stacks of fastpasses to our resort (however many we requested, at around $5 per pass). We originally found them on eBay. They were extremely professional, polite, and friendly. A little investigation uncovered that they were Disney employees of some sort. The service was particularly great prior to the return time enforcement, but became more difficult once return time enforcement began in 2012.

We received a notice from them a few months ago that they are no longer offering the service (likely due to FP+).

We always suspected this was some clandestine Disney operation to gauge what people would pay for Fastpasses. The passes seemed 100% legit and not fakes.

In any event, the only way I see Fastpass+ working is if they turn it into a pay to ride system. Count me among those who's willing to pay 3x park admission for extra FP access, but won't pay the 10x price for a VIP tour.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Many of those who are the most vocal complainers have not taken their trips yet or used FP+. They are anticipating that their trips will be ruined by FP+ because everything about the way they do Walt Disney World will change for them, or they believe it will. and they believe the changes will be to their detriment, because it isn't the way they are used to doing things.

Great point. To believe some, they will not get to ride anything. At all. They will have to walk around the parks and watch everyone else ride stuff.

Even with the old system, there were trips where I didn't ride Test Track, or Mission:Space, or Space Mountain. These are among my favorite rides. Some trips, we only got to ride TSM once, and that was after a 50 minute line. Even in those cases, we did other things and had a great time.

For people who are planning a once in a lifetime trip, I do think canceling or postponing may work for them .Actually, there is no shame for anyone to cancel or postpone. We all make decisions about how to spend our money.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Great point. To believe some, they will not get to ride anything. At all. They will have to walk around the parks and watch everyone else ride stuff.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I don't think that's going to be the case for my family. It just doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math and realize that we will not get to experience everything as often as we used to, and it's all thanks to this new system.

If you've been to WDW enough times, it's very easy to understand the new system without having used it.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I don't think that's going to be the case for my family. It just doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math and realize that we will not get to experience everything as often as we used to, and it's all thanks to this new system.

If you've been to WDW enough times, it's very easy to understand the new system without having used it.

It may end up for your trip this time that things will be different, until everything is set. That's true. But, we can't know for a fact that MB/FP+ will make it a horrible trip. Just different.

 

[WillAustin]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I don't think that's going to be the case for my family. It just doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math and realize that we will not get to experience everything as often as we used to, and it's all thanks to this new system.

If you've been to WDW enough times, it's very easy to understand the new system without having used it.

As someone who has been part of the testing, I can say with 100% certainty that 3 FP+s isn't enough for us. The tiering makes it even worse. It's a very significant downgrade of the experience from our past trips.

 

[sonofanarchy]

As someone who has been part of the testing, I can say with 100% certainty that 3 FP+s isn't enough for us. The tiering makes it even worse. It's a very significant downgrade of the experience from our past trips.

Of course it is. Why people would possibly argue that is as odd to me as Disney's decision to change to this system.

I just can't picture the board meeting where this idea came up. You've got a bunch of theme park execs at Disney sitting around a table discussing the future of the parks. The idea of Magic Bands comes up, and that sounds like a cool idea. Then someone says "How about we implement Fastpass into the system? But, instead of or guests being able to receive as many Fastpasses as they want for any attraction available, let's limit them to 3 per day, and only 1 of those can be for a Headliner. Oh yeah, and they all have to be in the same park, even if they paid the money for the park hopper add-on."

See, I just don't get this. Granted, I'm in a completely different business, but we have meetings all the time, not just about how to raise revenue, but how to make customers happier. I can't imagine hearing an idea like this and not speaking up about how terrible it is.

 

[sonofanarchy]

It may end up for your trip this time that things will be different, until everything is set. That's true. But, we can't know for a fact that MB/FP+ will make it a horrible trip. Just different.

It won't be a horrible trip, but it obviously won't be as enjoyable as past trips, and that's the point. And no, this isn't a case of "The magic is what you make of it." There's no magic in sitting down with my kids beforehand and explaining to them that they can only have a Fastpass for Splash or Thunder Mountain, then getting to the park and trying to explain to them why we can't get a Fastpass for one, and that if they want to ride, they have to wait 2 hours in line.

 

[disnut1149]

We waited in really long lines and vowed to never go back, that is what we did BEFORE FP. Then we read about FP, took our then 4 year old and fell in love with the place. We now have bulit strategies no matter where we go to utilize our time efficiently. Like we are pretty local to Hershey Park, we know when to go, what days are best to avoid crowds and we stay onsite to get in an hour early, we have a strategy to avoid lines. From resaerch and experience, we know how to navigate both places to avoid standing in super long lines. WHY would I want to go backwards and wait in lines again. That is an inefficient use of mine and my family's precious vacation time.

I couldn't' t agree with this more!! I can't understand people so willing to stand in long lines when we didn't have to with FP-. It doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[tinkerbelle8878]

Of course it is. Why people would possibly argue that is as odd to me as Disney's decision to change to this system.

I just can't picture the board meeting where this idea came up. You've got a bunch of theme park execs at Disney sitting around a table discussing the future of the parks. The idea of Magic Bands comes up, and that sounds like a cool idea. Then someone says "How about we implement Fastpass into the system? But, instead of or guests being able to receive as many Fastpasses as they want for any attraction available, let's limit them to 3 per day, and only 1 of those can be for a Headliner. Oh yeah, and they all have to be in the same park, even if they paid the money for the park hopper add-on."

I think maybe they're trying to see what the people will stand for. FP original recipe was kind of a free for all at the end before wait times were enforced. People holding onto 10 a.m. rides until near closing. It was a bit ridiculous and clearly not how the system was supposed to work. So now they're trying to trim it down to a few major and a few minor attractions. Enforce times and have people book up ahead. I see this later going to charging for it.

Having grown up going to WDW and going at various times of year, we waited on lines. There was no fastpass in the 80s and 90s. We managed. We waited or didn't wait. That was it. If the wait times were insane, we either waited until a parade or we remembered 75 Minutes for Splash and scheduled our next trip at a different time of year.

There was no pre-booking of anything. No restaurant pre-books half a year in advance. Maybe a day or so or day of. And we all survived.

As the prices have risen, the quality has fallen drastically. This is just another one in the long line of things that have made the World not the place it once was. I'm betting that either park hopping will be done away with altogether or there will be such an exorbitant fee on it and fast passes associated that it will only be affordable by 1/2 a percent of visitors. Right now this is just the testing. There's got to be bigger plans going forward and its forced on everybody with the bands instead of the key cards.